city, Gumma ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It is situated northwest of Tokyo along the Karasu River, a tributary of the Tone River. A typical castle town, Takasaki became increasingly important as a commercial and transport centre with the expansion of the railway network after the Meiji era. Various traditional industries such as silk-reeling, woodworking, and brewing were supplemented after World War II by new ones, including the production of machines, metals, synthetic textiles, and chemicals. The statue of Kannon, the Japanese version of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, 138 feet (42 m) high, stands atop Mount Kannon to the southwest. Pop. (2005) 339,932.