Gyōda

Gyōda is a city in north-central Saitama Prefecture, Japan, where the Tone River separates it from Gunma Prefecture. The whole city stands on the alluvial plain of the Tone and Arakawa rivers at about 20 meters above sea level. It contains many Kofun period burial mounds, and Oshi Castle there famously withstood a siege by Ishida Mitsunari in 1590; in the Edo period the castle was the seat of Oshi Domain, ruled by a branch of the Matsudaira clan until 1871, and the castle town prospered on the Nakasendo highway. The town was created in 1889 and raised to city status on April 23, 1949, and it later annexed neighboring villages, with Minamikawara joining in 2006. The economy mixes agriculture with light manufacturing, especially automobile components, and the suspension maker Showa Corporation is headquartered in the city.