Annaka

Annaka is a city in the southwestern part of Gunma Prefecture, Japan, at the northernmost point of the Kanto Plain and on the border with Nagano Prefecture. The Usui Pass links it with neighbouring Karuizawa, and the Chausuyama and Mount Myogi highlands lie within its bounds. In the Edo period central Annaka was the castle town of Annaka Domain, held by the Itakura clan, and it prospered on the Nakasendo highway between Edo and Kyoto. The modern city was raised to city status on 1 November 1958 and absorbed the town of Matsuida in 2006. It serves as a regional commercial and transportation hub, with Toho Zinc and Shin-Etsu Chemical operating large plants, and visitors come for its onsen, the Usui Pass railway heritage park and the Yanase Futagozuka Kofun.