| From ancient times to the Nara Period (BC20000 to the 9th century) |
Maebashi’s history dates back to the Stone Age, when the first settlers came to this region. In fact, traces of the Old Stone Age have been recognized at the site of Kuma-no-ana, discovered in Nishiomuro-machi. The Jomon Period began about ten thousand years ago and ruins of houses from that period have been discovered in the northeastern and western area of the city.
In the Yayoi Period, about 2300 years ago, a local family began to rule the region and many burial mounds were built. About eight hundred ancient tombs were discovered in the city.
During the Nara Period, the Kozuke Provincial Government was placed in the area that now corresponds to Moto-Soja-machi and the Kokubunji Temple was built. Since the area prospered as a center of politics in eastern Japan, it was called “the Nara of the East”.
At that time, there was a stall (umaya in Japanese) where travelers rest their horses on the Tozan Street, which connected the East with the capital. Since there was a bridge (hashi in Japanese) near the stall, the area was called Umayabashi and changed its name to Maebashi in the Edo Period.
| From the Heian Period to the Sengoku Period (the 10th century to the 16th century) |
Maebashi was involved in the wars in the capital. One of the examples was the occupation of the Kozuke Provincial Government by Masakado Taira in 939. As a result, Maebashi was devastated from the end of the Heian Period to the beginning of the Muromachi Period. After that, a strong society ruled by samurai families gained power.
In the beginning of the 15th century, the flow path of the Tone River changed as that of toda, and the Umabayashi Castle was built in 1475. During the Sengoku Period, the warlord Kenshin Uesugi moved into the Kanto region and chose the castle as a base. Later on, lords of the castle changed rapidly as those in power at that time were continually deposed and defeated.
| The Edo Period (the 17th century to the 19th century) |
In 1601 Ieyasu Tokugawa, who won the battle of Sekigahara and conquered the whole country, ordered Tadashige Sakai, his chief retainer, as a lord of the Umayabashi Castle. It is said that at that time Tokugawa told Sakai that he gave Sakai the best area in the Kanto region. The area of the castle was about 50 hectares, twenty times larger than that of the Green Dome Maebashi. It was known as one of the four greatest castles together with the castles of Utsunomiya, Kawagoe and Oshi (known as Gyoda Castle nowadays). The Sakai family continued to rule the area for nine generations, under which Maebashi flourished as a castle town. The name of the town, Umabayashi, was changed into Maebashi around 1649. In particular, Tadakiyo Sakai, the fourth lord, became a great steward of the Edo feudal government and gained power under the nickname of Geba Shogun, because the residence of Maebashi Domain's lord in the capital Edo was located close to the geba-fuda (the signboard notifying prohibition to enter on a horse) of the main gate (Otemon) of Edo Castle.
In the late Edo Period, after the opening ofthe Yokohama Port, Japan actively traded silk. Since Maebashi had a large silk growing district, they raised the silk crop. Soon, Maebashi's silk became famous because of its high quality and the town flourished. Maebashi Domain also protected silk merchants and promoted the development of silk industry, setting up a direct sales store of silk in Yokohama.
| From the Meiji Period to the Taisho Period (the 19th century to the beginning of 20th century) |
Right after the Meiji Restoration, Maebashi called over specialists from abroad and also built the first silk factory of Japan. That made Maebashi famous as one of major silk-growing areas in Japan. At first, the prefectural office was built in Takasaki. However, it was officially transferred to Maebashi in 1881 after silk merchants like Zentaro Shimomura promoted donating huge amount of his own funds to build quarters and schools. In 1892, Maebashi was given city status and Zentaro Shimomura became the first city mayor.In the Taisho Period, the silk industry in Maebashi flourished at its highest in the postwar economic boom and Maebashi prospered as a silk city. There was a forest of factory chimneys in the city. Being ahead of its times, Maebashi became culturally rich, thanks to the favorable economic development. During this period it gave birth to a lot of major modern poets including Sakutaro Hagiwara due to its liberal culture.
| From the Showa Period to present (the middle of 20th century to the beginning of 21st century) |
In the Showa Period, the transportation system got extensive: the entire portion of the Jomo electric railway and the Joetsu line opened and the road network was improved. Besides, civil engineering projects for rural development and river improvement works were done and Maebashi grew further. However, even though Maebashi was prosperous as a silk city, it had to switch to war industry as a national policy. As a consequence, the silk export dramatically decreased during the Pacific War. In 1945, most part of the city was destroyed in an air raid. However, the city recovered from devastation and it started developing its silk industry again after the war, but it didn't go well as foreign silk was risen into the market. Maebashi actively started attracting car and electric appliance factories by improving industrial complexes. The city of silk changed into a well-balanced city in the field of industry, commerce and agriculture. The Green Dome Maebashi was built in 1990, and The World Cycling Championships and The IAAF World Indoor Championship were held there. Today Maebashi has lots of visitors from home and abroad as an international convention city.
◆ Historical Chronology of Maebashi
| BC24000 | Mudslides occurred and Maebashi plateau was formed |
| 20000 | The Old Stone Age culture spread in the southern base of Mt. Akagi |
| 2300 | Rice culture started, and new culture using metal and Yayoi wares spread through the region |
| AC300 | The Tenjinyama Burial Mound, the oldest in the East, was built |
| 700 | The Kozuke Provincial Government was placed in Moto-soja-machi |
| 939 | The Provincial Government was occupied by Masakado Taira |
| 1180 | Toshitsuna Ashikaga burned down the Provincial Government |
| 1475 | The Umayabashi Castle was built |
| 1560 | Kagetora Nagao (Kenshin Uesugi) became the lord of the castle and used it as a base |
| 1602 | Tadashige Sakai became the lord of the castle |
| 1617 | Hon-machi and Ren-jaku-cho started a market, which was the beginning of Hatuichi, a market held in the New Year |
| 1649 | Umabayashi was changed to Maebashi |
| 1749 | Tomonori Matudaira took over the Maebashi clan from Sakai |
| 1859 | Maebashi started the export of silk as the Yokohama Port was opened |
| 1876 | The Gumma Prefectural Government was temporary placed in the Old Maebashi Castle |
| 1881 | The Prefectural Government was officially placed in Maebashi |
| 1892 | Given city status. Zentaro Shimomura became the first city mayor |
| 1929 | Town waterworks were completed. The ceremony was held |
| 1945 | 80 percent of the city area was burnt out in an air aid during the WWII |
| 1954 | Merged with its eight neighboring towns/villages |
| 1990 | The construction of the Green Dome Maebashi was completed. The World Cycling Championships was held |
| 1992 | The 100th anniversary of the Maebashi city |
| 1999 | The IAAF World Indoor Championship was held |
| 2004 | Merged with its three neighboring town/villages |
Bibliography : "The History of Maebashi as a Manga"
(published by Maebashi City)
