is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

in the eastern part of Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 183,930 in 72,949 households, and a population density of 1,141 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Toyokawa, famous for its

Toyokawa Inari , popularly known as Toyokawa Inari ('' shinjitai'': 豊川稲荷; '' kyūjitai'': 豐川稲荷), is a Sōtō Zen Buddhist temple located in the city of Toyokawa in eastern Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Although the temple's main image is that of ...

temple, is blessed with a good balance of industry, commerce, agriculture and forestry, and is situated in an area rich in history, traditions, and culture.

Geography

Toyokawa is located in an area of rolling hills in southeastern Aichi Prefecture. It has a short coastline with Mikawa Bay.

Climate

The city has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively mild winters (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Toyokawa is 15.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1751 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 27.5 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.8 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Toyokawa has been increasing over the past 60 years.

Surrounding municipalities

; Aichi Prefecture *

Toyohashi is a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 377,453 in 160,516 households and a population density of 1,400 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . By area, Toyohashi was Aichi Prefecture's second-lar ...

* Okazaki * Shinshiro * Gamagōri

History

Origins

The area of modern Toyokawa was settled in prehistoric times. During the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the c ...

, the kokubunji of Mikawa Province was established in 741.

Middle Ages

Muromachi Period

The temple of

, a popular pilgrimage destination, dates from 1441.

Sengoku Period

A number of ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominal ...

'' clans under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

originate in what are now parts of Toyokawa, most notably the

Makino clan The are a ''daimyō'' branch of the ''samurai'' Minamoto clan in Edo period Japan.Alpert, Georges. (1888) ''Ancien Japon,'' p. 70./ref> In the Edo period, the Makino were identified as one of the '' fudai'' or insider ''daimyō'' clans which we ...

Early modern period

Edo Period

The area prospered during the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

with two

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in the address increases ...

s along the Tōkaidō,

Goyu-shuku was the thirty-fifth of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō. It is located in Goyu-chō in the city of Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. A pine tree colonnade, one of the few remnants from the Edo period post town, is a well-known touri ...

and Akasaka.

Late modern period

Meiji Period

After the Meiji Restoration, on October 1, 1889, several villages were organized with the establishment of the modern municipalities system within Hoi District, Aichi Prefecture, including Toyokawa Village. On March 13, 1893, Toyokawa was promoted to town status.

Showa Period

Toyokawa City was founded on June 1, 1943, by the merger of Toyokawa town with neighboring Ushikubo Town and Yawata Village, all from Hoi District. In 1939 the massive

Toyokawa Naval Arsenal The was a major production facility for aviation ordnance, light arms, and ammunitions for the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. It was located in what is now part of the city of Toyokawa, Aichi, Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It was ...

was established, one of the largest producers of machine guns, aviation ordnance and ammunition in the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...

. It was also had sections that produced military-issue ''katana'', bayonets, and glass lenses for use in cameras, binoculars, and similar equipment. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, many thousands of civilians were conscripted or volunteered to work at the Arsenal, and towards the end of the war, this workforce included hundreds of middle school students and high school girls. On August 7, 1945, the Toyokawa Naval Arsenal was targeted by a flight of B-29 bombers. About 2,500 people were killed during the Toyokawa Air Raid. Toyokawa was one of the last places to be targeted using conventional explosive and incendiary bombs in the closing days of World War II, occurring the day after Hiroshima was destroyed by an atomic bomb.''Air War Pacific Chronology: America's Air War Against Japan in East Asia and the Pacific 1941–1945'' by Eric Hammel, (Pacifica, CA: Pacifica Press, 1988, )

Contemporary history

After WWII

After the war, on April 12, 1955, Toyokawa annexed Mikami village from Yana District. This was followed by the neighboring town of Goyu from Hoi District on April 1, 1959. Toyokawa further expanded on February 1, 2006, by annexing Ichinomiya, On January 15, 2008, the towns of Otowa and Mito became part of Toyokawa, and finally on February 1, 2010, the town of Kozakai likewise was merged into Toyokawa City. File:Toga Shrine (main hall 2).jpg, Toga Shrine File:Toyokawa Inari (Hatsumoude).jpg,

File:Ruins of the Ina Castle 1.jpg, Ina Castle File:GoyuMatsunamiki Sidewalk.jpg,

File:Oohasiya Inn.jpg, Akasaka-juku (Tōkaidō) File:Toyokawatezutsu.jpg, Toyokawa Tezutsu Fireworks Festival File:Toyokawa Air Raid memorial.jpg, Memorial to the victims of the Toyokawa Air Raid

Government

Toyokawa has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 30 members. The city contributes one member to the Aichi Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Aichi District 8 of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Military facilities

* JGSDF Camp Toyokawa

External relations

Twin towns/sister cities

International

;Sister cities *

Cupertino, California Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 57,82 ...

（California, United States of America） **since, 1978 ;Friendship city * Xinwu District（ Wuxi, Jiangsu, China） **since April 15, 2009

Education

Toyokawa has 26 public elementary schools and 10 public junior high schools operated by the city government, and five public high schools operated by the Aichi Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private high school. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Transportation

Railways

Conventional lines

;

Central Japan Railway Company *

Tōkaidō Main Line The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallel ...

：- – – *

Iida Line The is a Japanese railway line connecting Toyohashi Station in Toyohashi, Aichi with Tatsuno Station in Tatsuno, Nagano, operated by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). The line links eastern Aichi Prefecture and southern Nagano Prefe ...

：- – – – – – – – ; Meitetsu logomark 2

Meitetsu , referred to as , is a private railway company operating around Aichi Prefecture and Gifu Prefecture of Japan. Some of the more famous trains operated by Meitetsu include the ''Panorama Car'' and the '' Panorama Car Super'', both of which of ...

* Nagoya Main Line：- – – – – – – * Toyokawa Line：- – – – –

Roads

Expressways

* Tōmei Expressway

Japan National Route

* * * * *

Seaways

Seaport

*Port of Mito（Port of Mikawa）

Local attractions

;Castles *Ina Castle *Makino Castle *Ushikubo Castle ;Temples *

– noted Buddhist temple * Mikawa Kokubun-ji ;Shrines * Toga Shrine – '' ichinomiya'' of Mikawa Province

Notable people from Toyokawa

* Atsuya Ota,

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player *

Yuka Kato is a Japanese butterfly swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive s ...

, Olympic swimmer *

Gakuto Kondo is a former Japanese football player. He last played for FC Osaka. Career After a long career with Vissel Kobe is a Japanese professional football club based in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top ...

, professional soccer player * Masahiko Morifuku,

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player *

Sion Sono Sion may refer to * an alternative transliteration of Zion People * Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name Plac ...

, movie director * Yukinari Sugawara, professional soccer player * Yamamoto Kansuke, Japanese Samurai of the Sengoku period *

Yusuke Yamamoto is a Japanese actor and DJ. He was born in Aichi, Japan. His debut role was as Tsurugi Kamishiro, a.k.a. Kamen Rider Sasword, in ''Kamen Rider Kabuto''. On July 10, 2020, he had been tested positive for COVID-19. A week later, his agency announ ...

, Japanese Actor

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Cities in Aichi Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan