1.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
2.
Saitama, Saitama
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Saitama is the capital and the most populous city of Saitama Prefecture in Japan, situated in the south-east of the prefecture. Its area incorporates the cities of Urawa, Ōmiya, Yono. It is a city designated by government ordinance, being in the Greater Tokyo Area and lying 15 to 30 kilometres north of central Tokyo, many of its residents commute into Tokyo. As of 1 February 2016, the city had an population of 1,226,656. Its total area was 217.43 square kilometres, the city was founded on May 1,2001, and was designated on April 1,2003 as a government ordinance. For the histories of Urawa, Ōmiya and Yono before the merger, see, Urawa-ku, Saitama Ōmiya-ku, Saitama and Yono, Saitama, on April 1,2005, Saitama absorbed the city of Iwatsuki to its east, which became a new ward, Iwatsuki-ku. The name Saitama originally comes from the Sakitama district of what is now the city of Gyōda in the part of what is now known as Saitama Prefecture. Sakitama has an ancient history and is mentioned in the famous 8th century poetry anthology Manyōshū, the pronunciation has changed from Sakitama to Saitama over the years. With the merger of Urawa, Ōmiya, and Yono it was decided that a new name, the prefectural name Saitama was changed from kanji into hiragana, thus Saitama City was born. It is the prefectural capital in Japan whose name is always written in hiragana. However, Saitama written in hiragana actually finished in place in public polling to Saitama written in kanji. Despite this, government officials decided to name the new city Saitama in hiragana, in third place in the poll was Ōmiya. In fourth was Saitama, written with a kanji for sai which means colorful. The sai used in the name is a rare form of a common character that means cape or promontory. The city is located 20 to 30 km north of central Tokyo, the western portion of the city lies on the lowland created by the Arakawa River along with those created by small rivers such as the Moto-Arakawa River, Shiba River, and Ayase River. The rest of the area mostly resides on the Ōmiya Plateau lying in the north-south direction, dispersed in this region, major rivers flow southward, almost paralleling to one another. The city is one of commercial centers of the Greater Tokyo area and serves Saitama Prefecture, North Kanto. Saitama is also home to manufacturers, exporting automotive, food, optical, precision
3.
Primula
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Primula /ˈprɪmjʊlə/ is a genus of mainly herbaceous flowering plants in the family Primulaceae. They include the familiar wildflower of banks and verges, the primrose, other common species are P. auricula, P. veris and P. elatior. These species and many others are valued for their ornamental flowers and they have been extensively cultivated and hybridised - in the case of the primrose, for many hundreds of years. Primula are native to the northern hemisphere, south into tropical mountains in Ethiopia, Indonesia and New Guinea. Almost half of the species are from the Himalayas. Primula has about 500 species in traditional treatments, and more if certain related genera are included within its circumscription, Primula is a complex and varied genus, with a range of habitats from alpine slopes to boggy meadows. Some species show a white mealy bloom on various parts of the plant, many species are adapted to alpine climates. The word primula is the Latin feminine diminutive of primus, meaning first, Primula species have been extensively cultivated and hybridised, mainly derived from P. elatior, P. juliae, P. veris and P. vulgaris. Polyanthus is one group of plants, which has produced a large variety of strains in all colours, usually grown as annuals. The classification of the genus Primula has been investigated by botanists for over a century, as the genus is both large and diverse, botanists have organized the species in various sub-generic groups. The most common is division into a series of thirty sections, some of these sections contain many species, others contain only one
4.
Zelkova serrata
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Zelkova serrata is a species of the genus Zelkova native to Japan, Korea, eastern China and Taiwan. It is often grown as a tree, and used in bonsai. Zelkova serrata is a deciduous tree usually growing to 30 m tall. It is characterized by a short trunk dividing into many upright and erect spreading stems forming a broad, the tree grows rapidly when young though the growth rate slows to medium upon middle age and maturity. It has alternately arranged leaves growing to 5 cm long and broad, the leaves themselves are simple and ovate to oblong-ovate with serrated or crenate margins, to which the tree owes its specific epithet serrata. The leaves are acuminate or apiculate, rounded or subcordate at the base, the leaves are rough on top and glabrous or nearly glabrous on the underside. They are green to green in spring and throughout the summer, changing to yellows, oranges. The petioles are 2–5 mm long, Z. serrata develops monoecious flowers in spring with the leaves. Buds are ovoid, acutish, with imbricate, dark brown scales. They diverge at a 45 degree angle from the stem, the staminate flowers are shortly pedicellate and approximately 3mm in diameter, clustered in the axils of the lower leaves. The pistillate flowers are solitary or few in axils of the leaves, sessile. The flowers are yellow-green, not showy, and occur in groups along new stems. They give rise to small, ovate, wingless drupes that ripen in summer to autumn. The drupe is green maturing to brown, subsessile and 2.5 to 3.5 mm in diameter, to identify Zelkova serrata, one would look for a short main trunk, low branching and a vase-shaped habit. The twigs are slender with small, dark conical buds in a zigzag pattern, the bark is grayish white to grayish brown and either smooth with lenticels or exfoliating in patches to reveal orange inner bark. The branchlets are brownish-purple to brown and this tree requires full to partial sun and prefers moist, well drained soils. A fertilizer rich in potassium and nitrogen encourages new vegetation and floral buds and it is adaptable and tolerant of heat, little water, nutrient poor soils and various pH. It should be thinned to allow light into the inner canopy
5.
Eurasian collared dove
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Collared doves are sometimes kept in aviculture, and form strong relationships with each other. The genus name Streptopelia is from Ancient Greek streptos, collar and peleia, the specific decaocto is a latinisation of the Greek word for eighteen, from deca, ten, and octo, eight. In Greek mythology, a servant complained bitterly about pay of just 18 pieces a year, and it is grey-buff to pinkish-grey overall, a little darker above than below, with a blue-grey under wing patch. The tail feathers are grey-buff above, and dark grey tipped white below and it has a black half-collar edged with white on its nape from which it gets its name. The short legs are red and the bill is black, the iris is red, but from a distance the eyes appear to be black, as the pupil is relatively large and only a narrow rim of reddish-brown iris can be seen around the black pupil. The eye is surrounded by an area of bare skin. The two sexes are virtually indistinguishable, juveniles differ in having a poorly developed collar, and a brown iris, there are two subspecies, Streptopelia decaocto decaocto in most of the range, and Streptopelia decaocto xanthocyclus in the southeast of the range from Burma east to southern China. The latter differs in having yellow skin around the eye and it is closely related to the island collared dove of southeast Asia and the African collared dove of sub-Saharan Africa, forming a superspecies with these. The collared dove is not migratory, but is strongly dispersive, over the last century, it has been one of the great colonisers of the bird world, travelling far beyond its native range to colonise colder countries, becoming a permanent resident in several. Its original range at the end of the 19th century was warm temperate and subtropical Asia from Turkey east to southern China, in the east of its range, it has also spread northeast to most of central and northern China, and locally in Japan. It has also reached Iceland as a vagrant, but has not colonised successfully there, in 1974, fewer than 50 Eurasian Collared Doves escaped captivity in Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas. From the Bahamas, the spread to Florida, and is now found in nearly every state in the US. In Arkansas, the species was recorded first in 1989 and since then has grown in numbers and is now present in 42 of 75 counties in the state. It spread from the southeast corner of the state in 1997 to the northwest corner in 5 years and this is more than double the rate of 45 km per year observed in Europe. Interestingly, as of 2012, few negative impacts have been demonstrated in Florida, however, the species is known as an aggressive competitor, and there is concern that as populations continue to grow, native birds will be outcompeted by the invaders. However, one found that Eurasian collared doves are not more aggressive or competitive than native mourning doves. Population growth has ceased in areas where they’ve been established the longest, such as Florida, the population is still growing exponentially in areas of more recent introduction. Carrying capacities appear to be highest in areas with higher temperatures and intermediate levels of development, such as suburban areas and some agricultural areas
6.
Greater Tokyo Area
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The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan, including the Tokyo Metropolis, as well as the prefecture of Yamanashi. In Japanese, it is referred to by terms, the most common of which being National Capital Region. A2016 United Nations estimate puts the population at 38,000,000. It covers an area of approximately 13,500 km², giving it a density of 2,642 person/km². It is the second largest single area in the world in terms of built-up or urban function landmass at 8,547 km². The area has the largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a total GDP of approximately $2 trillion in 2008. According to research published by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the agglomeration of Tokyo had a total GDP of $1.5 trillion in 2008, there are various definitions of the Greater Tokyo Area, each of which tries to incorporate different aspects. Each definition has a different population figure, granularity, methodology, notes & Sources, All figures issued by Japan Statistics Bureau, except for Metro Employment Area, a study by Center for Spatial Information Service, the University of Tokyo. Abbreviations, CF for National Census Final Data, CR for Civil Registry, the government ordinance defined it as Tokyo and all six prefectures in the Kantō region plus Yamanashi Prefecture. While this includes all of Greater Tokyo, it also includes sparsely populated areas as well as far-flung Bonin Islands which are administered under Tokyo. Other metropolitan areas such as Greater Jakarta are considerably more compact as well as densely populated than Greater Tokyo. The South Kantō region is an ambiguous term. Informally, it may mean the One Metropolis, Two Prefectures, in informal occasions, the term National Capital Region often means Greater Tokyo Area. Officially, the term refers to a larger area, namely the whole Kantō region. Tokyo is legally classified as a to, which translates as metropolis, the metropolis is administered by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government as a whole. Central Tokyo, situated in the portion of Tokyo Metropolis, was once incorporated as Tokyo City. Its subdivisions have been reclassified as special wards, the twenty three special wards currently have the legal status of cities, with individual mayors and city councils, and they call themselves cities in English. However, when listing Japans largest cities, Tokyos twenty three wards are often counted as a single city. go, if they are included, Greater Tokyos population would be around 39 million
7.
Tokyo
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Tokyo, officially Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan and one of its 47 prefectures. The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous area in the world. It is the seat of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese government, Tokyo is in the Kantō region on the southeastern side of the main island Honshu and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Formerly known as Edo, it has been the de facto seat of government since 1603 when Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu made the city his headquarters. It officially became the capital after Emperor Meiji moved his seat to the city from the old capital of Kyoto in 1868, Tokyo Metropolis was formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture and the city of Tokyo. The Tokyo metropolitan government administers the 23 Special Wards of Tokyo, the metropolitan government also administers 39 municipalities in the western part of the prefecture and the two outlying island chains. The population of the wards is over 9 million people. The prefecture is part of the worlds most populous metropolitan area with upwards of 37.8 million people, the city hosts 51 of the Fortune Global 500 companies, the highest number of any city in the world. Tokyo ranked third in the International Financial Centres Development IndexEdit, the city is also home to various television networks such as Fuji TV, Tokyo MX, TV Tokyo, TV Asahi, Nippon Television, NHK and the Tokyo Broadcasting System. Tokyo ranked first in the Global Economic Power Index and fourth in the Global Cities Index. The city is considered a world city – as listed by the GaWCs 2008 inventory – and in 2014. In 2015, Tokyo was named the Most Liveable City in the world by the magazine Monocle, the Michelin Guide has awarded Tokyo by far the most Michelin stars of any city in the world. Tokyo ranked first in the world in the Safe Cities Index, the 2016 edition of QS Best Student Cities ranked Tokyo as the 3rd-best city in the world to be a university student. Tokyo hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics, the 1979 G-7 summit, the 1986 G-7 summit, and the 1993 G-7 summit, and will host the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tokyo was originally known as Edo, which means estuary. During the early Meiji period, the city was also called Tōkei, some surviving official English documents use the spelling Tokei. However, this pronunciation is now obsolete, the name Tokyo was first suggested in 1813 in the book Kondō Hisaku, written by Satō Nobuhiro. When Ōkubo Toshimichi proposed the renaming to the government during the Meiji Restoration, according to Oda Kanshi, Tokyo was originally a small fishing village named Edo, in what was formerly part of the old Musashi Province. Edo was first fortified by the Edo clan, in the twelfth century
8.
Edo period
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The Edo period or Tokugawa period is the period between 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when Japanese society was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the countrys 300 regional daimyō. The period was characterized by growth, strict social order, isolationist foreign policies. The shogunate was established in Edo on March 24,1603. The period came to an end with the Meiji Restoration on May 3,1868, instrumental in the rise of the new bakufu was Tokugawa Ieyasu, the main beneficiary of the achievements of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Already powerful, Ieyasu profited by his transfer to the rich Kantō area, after Hideyoshis death, Ieyasu moved quickly to seize control from the Toyotomi family. Ieyasus victory over the western daimyōs at the Battle of Sekigahara gave him control of all Japan. He rapidly abolished numerous enemy daimyō houses, reduced others, such as that of the Toyotomi, Ieyasu still failed to achieve complete control of the western daimyōs, but his assumption of the title of shogun helped consolidate the alliance system. After further strengthening his base, Ieyasu installed his son Hidetada as shogun. The Toyotomi were still a significant threat, and Ieyasu devoted the next decade to their eradication, in 1615, the Tokugawa army destroyed the Toyotomi stronghold at Osaka. The Tokugawa period brought 250 years of stability to Japan, the political system evolved into what historians call bakuhan, a combination of the terms bakufu and han to describe the government and society of the period. In the bakuhan, the shogun had national authority and the daimyōs had regional authority and this represented a new unity in the feudal structure, which featured an increasingly large bureaucracy to administer the mixture of centralized and decentralized authorities. The feudal hierarchy was completed by the classes of daimyō. Closest to the Tokugawa house were the shinpan, or related houses and they were twenty-three daimyōs on the borders of Tokugawa lands, all directly related to Ieyasu. The shinpan held mostly honorary titles and advisory posts in the bakufu, the second class of the hierarchy were the fudai, or house daimyōs, rewarded with lands close to the Tokugawa holdings for their faithful service. By the 18th century,145 fudai controlled such smaller han, members of the fudai class staffed most of the major bakufu offices. Ninety-seven han formed the group, the tozama, former opponents or new allies. The tozama were located mostly on the peripheries of the archipelago, because the tozama were least trusted of the daimyō, they were the most cautiously managed and generously treated, although they were excluded from central government positions. The Tokugawa not only consolidated their control over a reunified Japan, they also had unprecedented power over the emperor, the court, all daimyōs and the religious orders
9.
Chiba Prefecture
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Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region and the Greater Tokyo Area. The sixth most populous prefecture, and 27th largest by area, Chiba is on the east coast of Honshu and largely consists of the Bōsō Peninsula. The name of Chiba Prefecture in Japanese is formed from two kanji characters, the first, 千, means thousand and the second, 葉 means leaves. The name first appears as an ancient kuni no miyatsuko, or regional command office, the name was adopted by a branch of the Taira clan, which moved to the area in present-day Chiba City in the late Heian period. The branch of the Taira adopted the name and became the Chiba clan and this compound is used in terms such as the Keiyō Line, Keiyō Road, Keiyō Rinkai Railway Rinkai Main Line, and the Keiyō Industrial Zone. Chiba Prefecture was settled in times, as evidenced by the Jōmon period remains in every part of the region. The prefecture holds the largest kaizuka sea shell mounds in Japan, evidence of a population in the prefecture that relied on the rich marine products of the Pacific Ocean. Kofun burial mounds are found across the prefecture, with the largest group being in Futtsu along Tokyo Bay, in the Asuka period, under the Taika Reform of 645, the administrative structure of present-day Chiba Prefecture changed significantly. Awa Province at the south of Chiba Prefecture, was separated from Kazusa Prefecture in 718 and these administrative units existed until they were abolished and merged into Chiba Prefecture after the Meiji restoration. The central government established a provincial temple in each province. The imperial court gradually extended its authority over the three provinces in the Nara and Heian periods, shōen feudal estates were established across the three provinces, and the region became an important source of tax revenue, agricultural and other products to the capital in Kyoto. As the Heian period progressed, however, the provincial governors came to exert military power independent of the central government in Kyoto. The Chiba clan broke entirely with the court and was instrumental in the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate. Chiba Prefecture was established on June 15,1873 with the merger of Kisarazu Prefecture, the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake caused widespread destruction in Chiba Prefecture, notably in the southernmost part of the Bōsō Peninsula, where 1,300 residents were killed. Koreans in several neighborhoods of Yachiyo were killed, and a tower was erected in 1972 near Yachiyodai Station to memorialize those killed in the incident, the militarization of Chiba Prefecture dates to the Russo-Japanese War. Coastal fortifications were built along Tokyo Bay as far south as Tateyama to protect the capital of the Japanese Empire from attack, after the United States took control of Saipan the northern part of the prefecture, most notably the city of Chiba and Chōshi, were firebombed. Much of the north of the prefecture was destroyed. Operation Coronet, one of two parts of Operation Downfall, was the land invasion of Tokyo in March 1946 by the United States
10.
Ibaraki Prefecture
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Ibaraki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan, located in the Kantō region on the main island of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture was previously known as Hitachi Province, in 1871, the name of the province became Ibaraki. It also has a border on the southwest with Saitama Prefecture, the northernmost part of the prefecture is mountainous, but most of the prefecture is a flat plain with many lakes. As of 1 April 2012, 15% of the land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely Suigo-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park. The Hitachi company was founded in the Ibaraki city of the same name, as of March 2011, the prefecture produced 25% of Japans bell peppers and Chinese cabbage. Ibarakis population is increasing modestly as the Greater Tokyo region spreads out, Ibaraki is known for nattō, or fermented soybeans, in Mito, watermelons in Kyōwa, and chestnuts in the Nishiibaraki region. Ibaraki is famous for the art of Aikido founded by Ueshiba Morihei. Ueshiba spent the part of his life in the town of Iwama, now part of Kasama. There are castle ruins in many cities, including Mito, Kasama, Kasama is famous for Shinto, art culture and pottery. The capital Mito is home to Kairakuen, one of Japans three most celebrated gardens, and famous for its over 3,000 Japanese plum trees of over 100 varieties, however, the correct pronunciation is Ibaraki. According to the author of Not Ibaragi, Ibaraki, this is most likely due to a mishearing of the softening of the k sound in Ibaraki dialect. Official Ibaraki Prefecture homepage The E-Ibaraki Report, articles and commentary of foreigners living in Ibaraki, produced by the International Affairs Division, Ibaraki Prefecture Ibaraki Japan
11.
Tochigi Prefecture
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Tochigi Prefecture is a prefecture located in the Kantō region on the island of Honshu, Japan. The capital is the city of Utsunomiya, Nikkō, whose ancient Shintō shrines and Buddhist temples UNESCO has recognized by naming them a World Heritage Site, is in this prefecture. Other famous parts of Tochigi include a region called Nasu known for onsen and local sake, the Imperial Family has a villa in Nasu. Nasu-Shiobara is a major Shinkansen station, situated among the inland prefectures of the northern part of the Kantō region, Tochigi is contiguous with Ibaraki, Gunma, Saitama, and Fukushima Prefectures. The climate of Tochigi may be classified as a temperate zone with broad variations in temperature. Winters are arid with dry winds, while summers are humid with frequent thunderstorms, the population of Tochigi as of November 2010 is approximately 2,005,096. Located in the center of the prefecture is the largest open plain in the Kantō region, shirane, Nantai and Nasudake mountain are in the northern part of the area. Kinugawa, Nakagawa, and Watarase River originate in this region, Tochigi is the 20th largest prefecture in Japan with a total area of 6,408 square km. As of 1 April 2012, 21% of the land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely Nikkō National Park, Oze National Park. Before the Meiji Restoration, Tochigi was known as Shimotsuke Province, in the early 15th century, Ashikaga Gakko, Japans oldest school of higher education, was re-established, holding over 3,000 students by the 16th century. Saint Francis Xavier introduced Ashikaga to the world as the best university in Japan, in the early 17th century, Japan was unified by the shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu. After his death, Tōshō-gū shrine was built in Nikko on what the thought of as holy ground to protect. The establishment of the Nikkō Tōshō-gū in 1617 brought Nikkō to national attention, the Tokugawa shogunate developed the Nikkō Kaidō and required lavish processions to worship Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa line of shoguns. In the late 19th century, the Tokugawa Shogunate fell and the new government established the prefectures, the prefectural capital was established in the city of Tochigi after the unification of Utsunomiya Prefecture and Tochigi Prefecture in 1873. By 1884, however, the capital was transferred to Utsunomiya, in March 2011, following the Fukushima I nuclear accidents, levels of radioactivity in Utsunomiya were 33 times higher than normal. The chief city of Utsunomiya is famous for its many gyoza specialist shops, also located in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture has one of the largest shopping malls in the North Kantō region, Bell Mall. Industrial manufacturing accounts for 36. 6% of the total output. Vehicle parts and accessories are the products, followed by vehicles, radios and televisions, pharmaceuticals
12.
Gunma Prefecture
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Gunma Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the northwest corner of the Kantō region on the main Honshu island. Japan was without horses until around the fifth century CE, the ancient province of Gunma was a center of the horsebreeding and trading activities for the newly immigrated continental peoples. The arrival of horses and the remains of horse-tackle coincides with the arrival of a migration from the mainland. From this point forward, the became a vital part of Japanese military maneuvers. When Mount Haruna erupted in the late 6th century, Japan was still in the pre-historical phase, the Gunma Prefectural archaeology unit in 1994 was able to date the eruption through zoological anthropology at the corral sites that were buried in ash. In the past, Gunma was joined with Tochigi Prefecture and called Kenu Province and this was later divided into Kami-tsu-ke and Shimo-tsu-ke. The area is referred to as Jomo. For most of Japanese history, Gunma was known as the province of Kozuke, the first modern silk factories were built with Italian and French assistance at Annaka in the 1870s. The modern Japanese army gunned down farmers with new repeating rifles built in Japan, the farmers in Gunma were said to be the first victims of the Murata rifle. In the twentieth century, the Japanese aviation pioneer Nakajima Chikushi of Oizumi, Gunma Prefecture, the factory now produces Subaru motorcars and other products under the name of Fuji Heavy Industries. In the 1930s, German architect Bruno Julius Florian Taut lived and conducted research for a while in Takasaki, the Girard Incident, which disturbed US-Japanese relations in the 1950s, occurred in Gunma in 1957, at Soumagahara Base near Shibukawa. Four modern prime ministers are from Gunma, namely, Takeo Fukuda, Yasuhiro Nakasone, Keizo Obuchi, and Yasuo Fukuda, one of only eight landlocked prefectures in Japan, Gunma is the northwestern-most prefecture of the Kantō plain. Except for the central and southeast areas, where most of the population is concentrated, to the north are Niigata and Fukushima prefectures, while to the east lies Tochigi Prefecture. To the west lies Nagano Prefecture, and Saitama Prefecture is to the south, some of the major mountains in Gunma are Mount Akagi, Mount Haruna, Mount Myōgi, Mount Nikkō-Shirane and Mount Asama, which is located on the Nagano border. Major rivers include the Tone River, the Agatsuma River, and this is because of the kara-kaze, a strong, dry wind which occurs in the winter when the snow falls on the coasts of Niigata. The wind carrying clouds with snow are obstructed by the Echigo Mountains, for this reason, the wind changes into the kara-kaze. More traditional industries include sericulture and agriculture, gunmas major agricultural products include cabbages and konjacs. Gunma produces 90% of Japans konjacs, and two-thirds of the farms in the village of Tsumagoi are cabbage farms, also, the city of Ōta is famous for car industry, notably the Subaru factory
Mexico State, Mexico, affiliated on October 2, 1979
Shanxi province, China, affiliated on October 27, 1982
Queensland, Australia, affiliated on October 27, 1984
Ohio, United States, affiliated on October 22, 1990
Brandenburg, Germany, affiliated on August 26, 1998
