Takasaki, Gunma

Takasaki (高崎市, Takasaki-shi, [takasakiɕi]) is a city located in southwestern Gunma Prefecture in the northern Kantō region of Japan. As of December 2015, the city had an estimated population of 371,750 and a population density of 810 persons per km². Its total area was 459.16 square kilometres (177.28 sq mi). Takasaki is famous as the hometown of the Daruma doll, theoretically representing the Buddhist sage Bodhidharma and in modern practice a symbol of good luck.

Geography

Takasaki is located in the southwestern portion of Gunma Prefecture in the flat northern portion of the Kantō Plain.

Surrounding municipalities

History

During the Edo period, the area of present-day Takasaki was the center of the Takasaki Domain, a feudal domain held by a branch of the Matsudaira clan under the Tokugawa shogunate in Kōzuke Province. The area also prospered from its location on the Nakasendō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto. Post stations located within the borders of modern Takasaki were: Shinmachi-shuku, Kuragano-shuku, and Takasaki-shuku. Following the Meiji Restoration, Takasaki was briefly capital of Gunma Prefecture, before the capital was moved to Maebashi in 1881.