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Template:Japanese cityNagoya (名古屋市, Nagoya-shi) is the fourth largest city in Japan. Located on the Pacific coast in the Chūbu region on central Honshū, it is the capital of Aichi Prefecture and is one of Japan's major ports along with those of Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Yokohama, Chiba, and Hakata. It is also the center of Japan's third largest metropolitan region, known as the Chūkyō Metropolitan Area (see also Chūkyō region). As of 2000, Chūkyō Metropolitan Area has 8.74 million people, of which 2.17 million live in the city of Nagoya.[1]

History

In 1610, Tokugawa Ieyasu moved the capital of Owari province from Kiyosu around seven kilometers to a more strategic location that we now call Nagoya.

A new large castle, Nagoya castle, was constructed partly from materials sourced from Kiyosu Castle and along with the construction, the entire town of sround 60,000 people, including the temples and shrines moved from Kiyosi to the new planned town around Nagoya castle.[1]

Around the same time not far away, the ancient Atsuta Shrine was designated as a way-station called Miya (meaning temple) on the important Tōkaidō Road that linked the two capitals of Kyoto and Edo(Tokyo). This caused designation meant that town developed around the temple to support the travellers.

The combination of these two towns forms what we now call Nagoya.

Through the following years Nagoya became an industrial hub for the surrounding region. Its economic sphere included Tokoname, Tajimi and Seto, all famed for their pottery as well as Okazaki, one of the only places that gunpowder was produced under the shogunate. Other industries in the area included cotton and complex mechanical dolls called Karakuri.

Part of the modernisation efforts of the Meiji restoration saw a restructuring of Japan's provinces into prefectures and the government changed from family rule to that by government officials. Nagoya as a city was proclaimed on October 1, 1889, and was designated on September 1, 1956 by government ordinance. The city's name was historically written as the older Emperor of that time (also read as Nagoya), and as the city is located between Kyoto, Shikoku and Tokyo, it was also historically known as "central capital" (中京, Chūkyō).

Sightseeing

Nagoya Castle

Nagoya's famous sightseeing spots include Nagoya Castle (名古屋城, Nagoya-jō) and Atsuta Shrine (熱田神宮, Atsuta-jingū).

Nagoya Castle was built in 1612. Although a large part of it was burned down by the fires of World War II, the castle was restored in 1959, though some modern amenities such as elevators were added. Nagoya-jō is very famous for two magnificent Golden Orca (金の鯱, Kin no Shachihoko) on the roof. They are often used as the symbol of Nagoya.

Atsuta-jingū is known as the second-most venerable shrine in Japan. It enshrines the Kusanagi sacred sword (草薙神剣, Kusanagi no mitsurugi) one of the three imperial regalia of Japan. It holds around 70 festivals in a year, and many people visit the shrine year-round. Also, the shrine has over 4,400 national treasures representing its 2,000 years' history.

Nagoya TV Tower

Modern attractions include the Nagoya TV Tower, JR Central Towers of Nagoya Station, the Nagoya Port area, the Higashiyama Zoo and botanical gardens and Italia Mura.

Midland Square, the new headquarters of the Toyota Motor Corporation, features Japan's highest open-air observation deck.[2]

Wards

Nagoya has 16 wards (区, ku):

Demographics

One of the earliest censuses, carried out in 1889, gave Nagoya's population as 157,496. It reached the 1 million mark in 1934 and, as of 2004, the city had an estimated population of 2,202,111 with a density of 6,745 persons per km². There are estimated to be 945,328 households in the city — a significant increase from 153,370 at the end of World War II, in 1945.

The total area is 326.45 km². Its metropolitan area extends into Mie and Gifu prefectures, with a total population of about 9 million people, with only Osaka and Tokyo being larger.

Transportation

Entrace to Shiyakusho Subway Station.

Nagoya is served by Chūbu Centrair International Airport (NGO) in the city of Tokoname and by Nagoya Airport (Komaki Airport) (NKM) which is located in the cities of Komaki and Kasugai. On February 17,2005, all of Nagoya Airport's commercial flights (except for flights operated by J-Air) moved to Centrair. Nagoya Airport is now used as a general aviation and airbase facility.

Nagoya Station, the world's largest train station by floor area, is on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, Tōkaidō Main Line, and Chūō Main Line, among others. The Nagoya Railroad and Kinki Nippon Electric Railway provide regional rail service to points in the Tōkai and Kansai regions. The city is also serviced by the Nagoya Subway.

Economy

An aerial view of Nagoya.
International design center NAGOYA (IdcN).

Nagoya's main industry is the automotive business, as many Japanese automotive companies are based out of Nagoya, akin to how many U.S. automakers are based out of Detroit. Toyota is headquartered in the nearby city of Toyota. Major automotive suppliers such as PPG also have a presence in Nagoya.

The Japanese confectionery company Marukawa is headquartered in Nagoya, as is the fine ceramics company Noritake. There is also a sizable aerospace and electronics industry in the area.

Nagoya is also known as the birthplace of pachinko. Ibanez Guitars is based in Nagoya

Breakdown of Nagoya's GDP by economic activity
(from the 2005 city profile published by the City of Nagoya)

  • Service 26.5%
  • Wholesale and Retail 20.2%
  • Manufacturing 12.3%
  • Shipping and Communications 10.4%
  • Real Estate 9.8%
  • Administrative Services Supply 5.9%
  • Construction 5.8%
  • Finance and Insurance 5.4%
  • Others 3.7%

The World Expo 2005, also known as Aichi Expo was held just outside of Nagoya in the neighboring cities of Nagakute and Seto. The event was held from March 25 to September 25, 2005.

Education and culture

Nagoya is home to the Nagoya/Boston Museum of Fine Arts, a sister museum to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which was founded to bring aspects of the MFA's collection to Japan. Several universities are also located in Nagoya, including Nagoya University and Nanzan University.

The Nagoya dialect is referred to as Nagoya-ben.

Some famous Nagoya foods: misokatsu (pork cutlet with miso sauce), tebasaki (a type of yakitori), kishimen (flat udon noodles), misonikomi udon (noodles in thick miso soup), Nagoya kōchin (a special breed of chicken).

Sports

Nagoya is home to several professional sports teams:

Club Sport League Venue Established
Chunichi Dragons Baseball Central League Nagoya Dome 1936
Nagoya Grampus Eight Football J. League Mizuho Athletic Stadium,
Toyota Soccer Stadium 		1992

Nagoya is also home of the Shonai FC amateur football club and Nagoya Barbarians amateur rugby football club. Since 1984 the city has hosted the Nagoya Marathon; an annual marathon race for women over the classic distance of 42km and 195 metres.

Sister cities

Nagoya has 5 sister cities:[3]

The Nagoya International Center promotes international exchange in the local community.

Notable people

Great Leaders

The three great men who unified Japan in the 16th century all have strong links to Nagoya.

Oda Nobunaga – 1534-1582 came from Kiyosu Castle in Owari province (the western part of modern Aichi prefecture). With brutality, strong allies and good generals he began a process of conquest and unification, but he died because of treachery before he could complete his task. After his death, it was Oda Nobunaga's town of Kiyosu that was moved seven kilometers and became Nagoya.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi – 1536-1598 was one of Oda Nobunaga’s top generals. Born in Nakamura-ku, Nagoya(reputedly near the current Nagoya JR Station) He rose from the position of servant to become a general and then the successor to Oda Nobunaga after his death in 1582. Because of Hideyoshi's lowly birth, he was unable to get the emperor to pronounce him Shogun, nevertheless by 1590 he had conquered Japan. With failing health, Hideyoshi instituted an invasion of Korea in 1591 and then another in 1597. With the war failing, he died in 1598.

Tokugawa Ieyasu– 1543 – 1616 was born in Mikawa Province (the eastern part of modern Aichi prefecture). An ally of sorts to Nobunaga he was able to maintain a level of independence through Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s rule. To maintain this independance in 1590 Ieyasu made a bargain and relinquished his traditional home (which bordered on Hideyoshi’s) and moved himself and his army to Edo (now Tokyo). After Hideyoshi’s death, Japan split as different lords backed different contenders, but in 1600 after the decisive battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu was victorious. Later it was Tokugawa Ieyasu who decided to shift the town of Kiyosu and to build Nagoya castle.


Inventors/industrialists

Sakichi Toyoda - 1867 - 1930 a prolific inventor from Shizuoka established his loom business in Nagoya where his sequence of inventions revolutionised the weaving business. In 2005 Forbes magazine ranked Sakichi Toyoda the 13th most influential businessman of all time. . Kiichiro Toyoda - 1894 - 1952, Son of Sakichi Toyoda. With his fathers encouragement took the Toyoda company into auto manufacturing and started Toyota Motor Corporation.


Sports Stars

References

  • "Population of Japan". Japanese Statistics Bureau. 2000. Retrieved 2007-04-20.
  • "Midland Square". 2006-12. Retrieved 2007-04-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  • "Nagoya's Sister Cities". Retrieved 2007-04-20.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nagoya.


  1. ^ http://www.city.kiyosu.aichi.jp/en/sightseeing01.html
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