Ota Region

Aspiration for knitted fabrics

The Ota textile region extends around the namesake city in Gunma Prefecture and is known as a producer of knitwear using both staples and filaments. Given its advantageous proximity to Tokyo, the region produces items such as sweaters and cardigans for women. Post war saw the knitting industry rapidly boom, with the volume of shipping peaking in the 1980s, although the general trend to outsource apparel production overseas in the 90s impacted the Ota region as well as most other centres of knit production. This marked a sharp downturn and put the knitting industry in Ota City under severe pressure. Even so, the passion for manufacturing knitted fabrics from the remaining companies remains unchanged to this day.

Stand-out items from the Ota textile region include non-prickly mufflers and shawls alongside washable knit masks, sold under the original ‘OTA KNIT‘ brand. Furthermore, OTA KNIT products from this Ota region were adopted as a ‘regional brand created by the region’ in the ‘Business to support development/settlement of salable regional brand in the FY 2020-21’ scheme organised by the Kanto Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry.