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 ...

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectur ...

, 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-largest city until March 31, 2005 when it was surpassed by the city of Toyota, which had merged with six peripheral municipalities.

Geography

Toyohashi is located in southeastern Aichi Prefecture, and is the capital of the informal "Higashi-Mikawa Region" of the prefecture. It is bordered by

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

to the east, and by

Mikawa Bay Mikawa Bay (Landsat photo) Mikawa Bay (三河湾 ''Mikawa-wan'') is a bay to the south of Aichi Prefecture, Japan, surrounded by Chita Peninsula to the west and Atsumi Peninsula to the east and south. Its area is approximately 604 km2. Pollu ...

and the headlands of the Atsumi Peninsula to the west. To the south is the Enshu Bay of the Pacific Ocean. The presence of the warm Kuroshio Current offshore gives the city a temperate climate. The in Toyohashi is a sea turtle nesting spot.

Climate

The city has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively mild winters ( Köppen climate classification ''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Toyohashi is . The average annual rainfall is with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Toyohashi has grown steadily over the past 60 years.

Neighboring municipalities

;

* Toyokawa *

Shinshiro is a city located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 44,581 in 17,691 households, and a population density of 89.3 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Shinshiro is located in east-cent ...

* Tahara ;

: * Kita-ku, Hamamatsu * Kosai

City scape

File:ToyohashiSkyline03.jpg, Skyline of Toyohashi File:聳える市役所と吉田城.JPG, Yoshida Castle File:Toyohashi Aichi - in front of Toyohashi station Jan 3 2022.webm, The street in front of Toyohashi Station, 2022 File:豊橋（橋）.jpg,

Toyokawa Bridge The is a bridge over the Toyo River (''Toyo-gawa'') in Japan. It connects the cities of Toyohashi and Toyokawa is a city in the eastern part of Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 183,930 in 72,949 households, ...

and

Toyo River Toyo may refer to: Places *Tōyō, Kōchi, a town in Japan *Tōyo, Ehime, a former city in Japan *Toyo Province, a Japanese province divided in 683 *Tōyō, Kumamoto, a village located in Yatsuhiro District, Kumamoto, Japan * Tōyō, Tokyo, a ...

File:Playground BotanicalGarden.jpg, Toyohashi Zoo and Botanical Park

History

Origins

The area around present-day Toyohashi has been inhabited for many thousands of years. Archaeologists have found human remains from the

Japanese Paleolithic The is the period of human inhabitation in Japan predating the development of pottery, generally before 10,000 BC. The starting dates commonly given to this period are from around 40,000 BC; although any date of human presence before 35,000 BC ...

period, which have been carbon dated to more than 10,000 BC along with the bones of Naumann elephants. Numerous remains from the

Jōmon period The is the time in Japanese history, traditionally dated between 6,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a c ...

, and especially from the Yayoi and

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

s have also been found, including many

kofun are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century CE.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞典』� ...

burial mounds. During the Nara period, the area was assigned to Atsumi, Hoi and Yana Districts of Mikawa Province and prospered during subsequent periods as a post town on an important river crossing of the Tōkaidō connecting the capital with the eastern provinces.

Sengoku period

During the Sengoku period, the area was a highly contested zone between the Imagawa clan based in

Suruga Province was an old province in the area that is today the central part of Shizuoka Prefecture. Suruga bordered on Izu, Kai, Sagami, Shinano, and Tōtōmi provinces; and was bordered by the Pacific Ocean through Suruga Bay to the south. Its abbrevia ...

and various local warlords, who built a number of fortifications in the area, including Yoshida Castle. The rising power of the Matsudaira clan and its alliance with

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unify ...

eventually neutralized the threat posed by the Imagawa, and the area became part of the holdings of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Following the Battle of Odawara in 1590, Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered the Tokugawa clan to relocate to the

Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Slight ...

and assigned the castle to

Ikeda Terumasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. His court title was '' Musashi no Kami''. Terumasa was also known by the nickname ''saigoku no shōgun'', or, "The ''Shōgun'' of Western Japan". Terumasa fought in many of the battles of the ...

. Ikeda developed the surrounding castle town and embarked on a massive and ambitious plan to rebuild Yoshida Castle. However, following the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...

, he was relocated to Himeji Castle.

Edo period

After the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, Yoshida Castle became the center of

Yoshida Domain was a Japanese feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Mikawa Province located in eastern Mikawa Province (modern-day eastern Aichi Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Yoshida Castle in what is now the city o ...

, a clan fief. The domain was assigned to several different '' fudai daimyō'' clans until coming into the possession of the Matsudaira (Nagasawa-Ōkōchi) clan in 1752, which remained in residence at Yoshida until the Meiji Restoration. The final ''daimyō'' of Yoshida,

Matsudaira Nobuhisa The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan. It originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture). During the Sengoku period, the chieftain of the main line of ...

, surrendered the domain to the Meiji government in 1868. In 1869, the name of the domain was formally changed from Yoshida to Toyohashi.

Meiji period

With the establishment of the modern municipalities system under the Meiji government in 1879, Toyohashi Town was created within Atsumi District,

. Toyohashi Zoo was established in 1899. The town achieved city status in 1906.

Taishō period

A tram system (the present-day Toyohashi Railway Asumadai Main Line) was established in 1925.

Shōwa period

In 1932, Toyohashi expanded its borders by annexing Shimoji Town (Hoi District), Takashi Village, Muroyoshida Village (Atsumi District), and Shimokawa Village (Yana District). Toyohashi suffered considerable damage during the

1944 Tōnankai earthquake The 1944 Tōnankai earthquake occurred at 13:35 local time (04:35 UTC) on 7 December. It had an estimated magnitude of 8.1 on the moment magnitude scale (making it the strongest known earthquake of 1944) and a maximum felt intensity of greater th ...

, and even more damage during the Toyohashi Air Raid, which destroyed more than 60% of the city in June 1945.

Modern Toyohashi

In 1955, Toyohashi's geographic extent was expanded again with the annexation of neighboring Maeshiba Village (Hoi District), Futagawa Village, Takatoyo Village, Oitsu Village (Atsumi District) and Ishimaki Village (Yana District). Toyohashi achieved core city status in 1999 with increased autonomy from the prefectural government.

Government

Mayor-council

Toyohashi has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 36 members.

Prefectural Assembly

The city contributes five members to the Aichi Prefectural Assembly.

House of Representatives

In terms of national politics, the city is part of Aichi District15 of the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...

List of mayors of Toyohashi (from 1907)

Public

Police

* Aichi Prefectural Police **Toyohashi police station

Firefighting

*Toyohashi Fire department **Toyohashi-Minami fire department **Toyohashi-Naka fire department

Health care

*Hospital **Toyohashi City Hospital

Post office

*Toyohashi Post office *Toyohashi-Minami Post office

Library

*Toyohashi City Library **Toyohashi City Central Library **Toyohashi City Mukaiyama Liburary **Toyohashi City Oshimizu Liburary（Minakuru） File:Toyohashi Police Station 1.jpg, Toyohashi Police Station File:Toyohashi City Hall 3.jpg, Toyohashi Fire Department File:Toyohashi Municipal Hospital.jpg, Toyohashi City Hospital File:Toyohashi Post Office (2017-09-18).jpg, Toyohashi Post Office File:Toyohashi City Central Library in Jan. 2019 ac.jpg, Toyohashi City Central Library

International relations

Twin towns/sister cities

;Sister cities * – Nantong, Jiangsu, China, since May 1987 * – Toledo, Ohio, United States since April 2000 * – Panevėžys, Lithuania since June 2019 ;Friendship cities * -

Jinju Jinju () is a city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It was the location of the first (1592) and second (1593) Sieges of Jinju by Japanese forces during the Imjin War. The Republic of Korea Air Force Education and Training Command is ...

South Gyeongsang South Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상남도, translit=Gyeongsangnam-do, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World ...

, South Korea, since 1992 * - Paranavaí, Paraná, Brazil, since 2008 * – Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany since 2011

Economy

Primary sector of the economy

Agriculture

Cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.&nb ...

* Napa cabbage * Tomato * Diospyros kaki * Pyrus pyrifolia * Grape * Chikuwa ; Japan Agricultural Cooperatives * JA Toyohashi

Secondary sector of the economy

Industrial production is centered around the production of automotive-related components for Toyota,

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

, Suzuki Motors, and Honda, all of whom have factories in the region. ;Motors * Toyota *

* Suzuki Motors * Honda * VOLKSWAGEN Group Japan

Tertiary sector of the economy

;Worldwide trade Mikawa Port is a major port for worldwide trade, and its presence has made Toyohashi the largest import and export hub in Japan for automobiles, in volume terms. Compared to other ports around the world, Mikawa is roughly on a par with the German port of Bremerhaven. ;Shopping center * APiTA Mukaiyama * Æon Toyohashi-Minami Shopping center * Æon Town Toyohasihashira *Cocola Avenue File:Cabbage field in Oshimizu-cho, Toyohashi city ac (1).jpg, Cabbage field in Oshimizu-cho File:Golden Volkswagen Golf TSI Highline (DBA-AUCPT).jpg, Volkswagen Golf Mk7 File:花園タウン(Hanazono Town) - panoramio.jpg, Shopping Street File:Cocola Avenue.JPG, Cocola Avenue

Media

Studio

FM Toyohashi (JOZZ6AA-FM, 84.3 MHz) is a community FM radio station in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It is the third "community FM radio station" opened in Japan. Its broadcast reach an area roughly bounded by Hamamatsu, Shizuoka in the east, a ...

(''JOZZ6AA-FM, 84.30 MHz'')

Newspaper

*Higashi Aichi Newspaper *Tonichi Shimbun Newspaper

Education

University

;National university * Toyohashi University of Technology ;Private university *

Aichi University is a private university in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Its campuses are located in Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Toyohashi and Higashi-ku, Nagoya. History The university's predecessor was founded by Konoe Atsumaro as an overseas Japanese institution of hi ...

Toyohashi Sozo College is a private university in Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japa ...

Primary and secondary schools

*Toyohashi has 52 public elementary schools and 22 public middle schools operated by the city government, and eight public high schools operated by the Aichi Prefectural Board of Education. The city also has one private middle school and three private high schools. The prefecture also operated three special education schools for the handicapped.

International schools

* - Brazilian schoolEscolas Brasileiras Homologadas no Japão

Archive
. Embassy of Brazil in Tokyo. Retrieved on October 13, 2015. * - Brazilian primary school * EJA Interativo – Educação de Jovens e Adultos - Brazilian institution * - North Korean school

Transportation

Railway

Toyohashi Station is on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen and the Tōkaidō Main Line. '' Hikari'' shinkansen services stop at Toyohashi Station approximately once every two hours, and '' Kodama'' services stop twice an hour. Toyohashi Station is also the terminus of the Iida Line, Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line, Toyohashi Railroad Atsumi Line, and the Toyohashi Railroad Azumada Main Line, making it an important transportation hub.

Highspeed rail

;

Central Japan Railway Company is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as JR Tōkai ( ja, JR東海, links=no). ''Tōkai'' is a reference to the geographical ...

* Tōkaidō Shinkansen：

Conventional lines

;

* Tōkaidō Main Line： * Iida Line： ; Meitetsu logomark 2

Meitetsu * Meitetsu Nagoya Line： ; Toyotetsu logomark

Toyotetsu * Toyohashi Railroad Atsumi Line：

Tramway

;

Toyotetsu * Toyohashi Railroad Azumada Main Line：Ekimae-ōdōriShinkawaFudagiShiyakushomaeToyohashi-kōenmaeHigashi-hatchōMaehataAzumada-sakaueAzumadaKeirinjōmaeIharaAkaiwaguchi *IharaUndōkōen-mae

Bus

Almost all services are operated by Toyotetsu Bus, a subsidiary of Toyohashi Railroad.

Roads

Highway

* Tomei Expressway

Japan National Route

* * * * * *

Sea port

*Port of Toyohashi（Port of Mikawa） File:160321 Toyohashi Station Toyohashi Aichi pref Japan05n.jpg, Toyohashi Station File:160321 Toyohashi Station Toyohashi Aichi pref Japan13n.jpg, Ekimae-Ôdôri Main street File:T1000 toyohashi.jpg, Toyohashi Railroad File:豊鉄バス KK-MK27HM.JPG, Toyotetsu Bus File:Toyohashi Tollgate1.jpg, Toyohashi Tollgate File:港湾技能研修センター遠景.jpg, Port of Toyohashi

Local attractions

Places of interest

*Toyohashi Park, which includes the site of , and the

Toyohashi City Museum Art and History is a purpose-built municipal art museum and local cultural museum in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It opened in 1979. The permanent collections of the museum are concentrated around five themes: # Archaeological finds from local shell m ...

. *Site of

Nirengi Castle was a Japanese castle in what is now the city of Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, during the Sengoku period. There are no extant structures left; however, a park was built on the site where the castle once stood, and a stone monument and some explan ...

*, a National Important Cultural Property .Toyohashi Culture Map
/ref> *, a National Important Cultural Property * Futagawa-juku ''

honjin The ''honjin'' at Inaba Kaidō's Ōhara-shuku.">Ōhara-shuku.html" ;"title="Inaba Kaidō's Ōhara-shuku">Inaba Kaidō's Ōhara-shuku. is the Japanese word for an inn for government officials, generally located in post stations (''shukuba'') dur ...

'' museum * Toyohashi Zoo * Toyohashi Natural History Museum *Toyohashi Museum of Natural Resources

Facilities and parks

Toyohashi has many parks, including the Natural History Museum and Zoological Park, the Imou swamp, Mikawa Seaside Forest, Kamo Iris Garden, and the Mukaiyama '' Ume'' Garden. It also has what is considered one of the best

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

beaches in Aichi and the surrounding region.

Culture

Festivals

Toyohashi Festival, Spring Festival, Iris Flower Festival, Gion Festival, Demon Festival (February), and traditional marionette performances (Akumi joruri). At some of these festivals, especially the summer festivals, the use of traditionally handcrafted fireworks is showcased, and include hand-held bamboo-tube fireworks known as ''tezutsu hanabi''.

Special products

Chikuwa (a type of baked sausage roll made from fish), , beach fermented soybeans, food boiled in goby fish and soy, top producer of quail eggs in Japan, .

In popular culture

In the fictional Harry Potter universe, Toyohashi is the hometown of the professional Quidditch team, the Toyohashi Tengu. In the Takeshi Kitano movie '' Kikujiro'', the story revolves around the characters' trip from Tokyo to Toyohashi.

Sports

Basketball

San-en NeoPhoenix is a B.League professional basketball team, based in the eastern Mikawa and Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture region of central Japan. The team was founded in 1965 as the company team of the OSG Corporation, a Toyokawa-based machine parts manufa ...

（ Toyohashi City General Gymnasium）

Baseball

* Chunichi Dragons（Toyohashi Municipal Baseball Stadium）

Gallery

File:Cocola Avenue.JPG, Cocola Avenue File:松葉公園 - panoramio - Roman Suzuki.jpg, Matsuba Park File:Hotel Seapalace Resort, In Toyohashi.jpg, Seapalace Resort File:Aquarena Toyohashi 2.jpg, Aquarena Toyohashi File:Mukaiyama-Oike.JPG, Mukaiyama-Oike Ponds File:Toyohashi Orthodox Church 1.jpg, Toyohashi Orthodox Church File:手筒花火(Tezutsu Fireworks) (10421329123).jpg, Tezutsu Fireworks File:Toyohasioni3.jpg, Toyohashi Oni Festival File:Yoshida at Tokaido.jpg,

Hokusai , known simply as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. He is best known for the woodblock printing in Japan, woodblock print series ''Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji'', which includes the ...

Notable people from Toyohashi

Katsuhito Asano is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature). He represents the 14th District of Aichi prefecture, which includes the cities of Toyokawa, Gamagori, and Shinshi ...

Japanese politician Politics of Japan are conducted in a framework of a dominant-party bicameral parliamentary constitutional monarchy, in which the Emperor is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government and the head of the Cabinet, which d ...

* Buyūzan Takeyoshi, sumo wrestler *

Daniel (Nushiro) of Japan Metropolitan is a Japanese clergyman and monk of the Japanese Orthodox Church. He has been the primate of the Japanese Orthodox Church since 2000, by virtue of the office of the Archbishop of Tokyo. He is thus the spiritual leader of approxima ...

, primate of Japanese Orthodox Church *

Atsushi Fujii Atsushi Fujii (藤井淳志, born May 20, 1981) is a retired Japanese professional outfielder. He spent his career playing for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. ...

, professional baseball player * Emi Fujino, mixed martial artist,

kickboxer Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general ...

and professional wrestler * Mizuki Inoue,

and mixed martial artist * Yoshitaka Iwamizu, Olympic long-distance runner * Kitaro, musician *

Aya Kitō was a Japanese diarist. She wrote about her personal experiences living with spinocerebellar ataxia which was later published in the book '' 1 ...

, writer *

Masaji Kiyokawa was a Japanese businessman, sports administrator and backstroke swimmer who won two medals at the 1932 and 1936 Olympics. During his swimming career Kiyokawa set one world record, in the 400-metre backstroke. Kiyokawa was born in Toyohashi, Aic ...

, Olympic gold-medalist swimmer * Masatoshi Koshiba, Nobel Prize winner * Ken Matsudaira, actor * Rena Matsui, actress, former member of SKE48 * Yūji Mitsuya, actor, voice actor *

Masahiko Morifuku is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Yomiuri Giants of the Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''P ...

, professional baseball player * Sakura Nogawa, voice actress * Kenichi Ogawa, boxer * Yoshio Sawai, manga artist *

Akiko Suzuki (born March 28, 1985) is a Japanese former competitive figure skater. She is the 2012 World Championships bronze medalist, a three-time Grand Prix Final medalist ( 2011 silver, 2009 & 2012 bronze), a two-time Four Continents silver medalist ( ...

, professional figure skater * Sakon Yamamoto, professional race car driver * Yua Aida, AV idol and model

References

External links

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