Gunma

Gunma lies in the plain of central Kōzuke, where roads from the mountains meet the routes toward Edo. In 1598 Ii Naomasa, acting on Tokugawa Ieyasu's orders, moved his seat from Minowa and built Takasaki Castle at Wada. The town grew at a junction made important by the Nakasendō highway. Its castle and road traffic gave Takasaki a new role in the government and movement of the eastern provinces.