Ashikaga, Tochigi

Ashikaga (足 利市jap, -shi) is a city of Tochigi Prefecture in the interior of Honshu the main island of Japan.

Ashikaga is also a center for Chinese culture and Confucianism and has a library with a rich Chinese literature as well as an academy for the Chinese language.

Geography

Ashikaga is located about 60 km north of Tokyo on the river Watarase in the Kanto plain. The river Watarase crosses the city from west to east.

Traffic

• Road National Road 50, according to Maebashi or Mito
• National Road 122, according to Tōkyō or Nikko
• National Road 293, according to Hitachi
• National Road 407, according to Iruma

• Ryomo JR Takasaki Line to Oyama or
• Tōbu Isesaki Line to Asakusa or Isesaki

Economy

Economic factors are silk processing, trade in cotton and synthetic fiber industries.

Sons and daughters of the town

• Mitsuo Aida (1924-1991), poet and calligrapher
• Toshimitsu Motegi ( politician)

Adjacent Cities and Towns

• Tochigi Prefecture Sano

• Ōta
• Kiryu
• Tatebayashi
• ORA

Twin Cities

• China People's Republic of Jining, China, since 1989
• United States Springfield, Illinois, since 1990