Ōta, city, Gumma ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, on the Tone River. During the Tokugawa period (1603–1867) it was a market town, a post town on the Nikkō Highway, and a temple town for the Daiko Temple. Japan’s first civil-aircraft manufacturing plant was established in Ōta in 1918. During World War II, aircraft factories moved to Ōta, and the population subsequently grew. Industrial products now include automobiles, electrical machinery, rubber, plastics, and knitted clothing. Pop. (2005) 213,299; (2010) 216,465.