Why don't you take a peek into the era that Tone-Numata has walked?

The changing scenery of this land and the stories of the people who lived there await you.

The Tone-Numata region is believed to have been inhabited by people since the Jomon period, and archaeological sites have also been discovered. During the Kofun period, the Tone River was important as a key point for transportation and distribution, and it is thought that people and goods moved, based in settlements along the river. Many burial items such as weapons, horse harnesses, and accessories have been excavated from the "Nara Tumulus Group（奈良古墳群）" in Numata City.

In the Heian and Kamakura periods, the rule of the samurai progressed, and in the Sengoku（戦国） period, the wars between Takeda（武田） and Uesugi（上杉） affected this region. Numata Castle was particularly famous and played a military role. In 1554, the Takeda Shingen's（武田信玄） army captured Numata Castle（沼田城） and came under the influence of the Takeda family. After that, it was used as a defense base, and its importance as a stepping stone for invasion into northern Kanto increased. After Nobunaga's death, the battle over Shinano（信濃） and Kamituke（上野） ”Gunma Prefecture” continued, but Numata Castle（沼田城） was repeatedly contested due to its strategic position and came under the control of the Uesugi family. After that, the Sengoku daimyo, the Sanada（真田） and Hojo（北条） clans, used it as a base, playing an important role politically and militarily.

In the early Edo period, the Sanada family（真田家） owned this land, but in the 1700s, the Honda family（本多家） took over, followed by the Kuroda and Toki families, until the abolition of feudal domains and the establishment of prefectures in the Meiji era. From the Edo period to the Meiji era, flood control projects on the Tone River（利根川） progressed, and agriculture and forestry developed under the rule of the Numata domain（沼田藩）.

After the abolition of feudal domains and the establishment of prefectures, this area was incorporated into Gunma Prefecture. The development of transportation networks progressed, and agriculture and forestry continued to form the foundation of the regional economy. In the 1900s, tourism utilizing the nature of the Tone River basin and Oze developed and played an important role in the regional economy.

The Tone-Numata region has developed as an agricultural center, and even now, fruit cultivation, including apples, and tourism utilizing the clear streams of the upper reaches of the Tone River are regional characteristics. Ecotourism, which utilizes agritourism (initiatives that connect agriculture and tourism) and natural scenic spots such as Oze National Park（尾瀬国立公園） and Mikuni Pass（三国峠）, is also attracting attention. The history of the Tone-Numata region tells a rich story of the fusion of nature and human activities in Japan from ancient times to the present.