Gunma Prefecture Specialty Products, Souvenirs, Shrines and Temples, and Travel | 47 Prefecture Guide

Gunma is a prefecture that makes full use of differences in elevation. What is produced is clearly divided between the plains, mountains, and highlands.

Specialties

Konjac potato production accounts for about 90% of Japan’s total. The main areas are the mountain regions around Shimonita and Tomioka.

Konjac potatoes take three years to grow and are vulnerable to both cold and disease They are a difficult crop. The well-drained slopes of volcanic ash soil were suitable, and the land was hard for other crops to grow in These factors came together to make it a production area.

Tsumagoi Village’s summer-autumn cabbage is also No. 1 in Japan. Using the cool climate at around 1,000 meters above sea level, it ships cabbage in summer, when the plains cannot produce it. Elevation is used as a tool for shifting the season.

Shimonita leeks, Joshu beef, and sericulture connected to UNESCO.

Souvenirs

Yaki-manju is made by skewering fermented buns with no bean paste inside, brushing them with miso sauce, and grilling them. It is a food born from the area’s history as a wheat-producing region.

processed konjac products, Shimonita leeks, and Kiryu-ori ties and scarves.

Shrines and Temples

Haruna Shrine in Takasaki City is a shrine whose main hall is built as if embedded into a massive rock in total.

Behind the main hall, A rock called Misugata-iwa serves as the sacred object itself. The building is only a frame for worshipping the rock. As with Omiwa Shrine in Nara and the utaki of Okinawa, the object of worship is a natural object. The approach follows the ravine for about 700 meters. The shrine buildings within the grounds are Important Cultural Properties of Japan.

Ichinomiya Nukisaki Shrine in Tomioka City is the ichinomiya, or highest-ranking shrine, of the former Kozuke Province. After passing through the torii gate, visitors descend stone steps toward the main hall in a “descending approach” This form is rare even across Japan. Myogi Shrine in Tomioka City stands with the craggy Mount Myogi behind it.

Sightseeing

Tomioka Silk Mill was registered as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 2014. It is a mechanized silk-reeling mill built by the government in 1872.

What was recognized was not only the buildings. The mass-production technology established here lowered the price of silk worldwide and turned silk from something for a limited few into something widely used — that was the point.

Kusatsu Onsen is, is said to have the largest natural hot spring output in Japan The hot spring water is cooled in the yubatake to lower its temperature so that its strength can be maintained without adding water.

Traditional Crafts

Nationally designated items are Kiryu textiles and Isesaki kasuri two items. Both are textiles.

“Nishijin in the west, Kiryu in the east” is compared alongside it, and Kiryu-ori seven techniques are designated together as a single craft.

For details, see 【VILLAGE Report vol.40】Nishijin in the West, Kiryu in the East

Articles About This Prefecture

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References: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries "Crop Statistics Survey," Gunma Prefecture, Tomioka City, Kusatsu Town, Haruna Shrine, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries — Value Village Editorial Team