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 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-largest city until March 31, 2005 when it was surpassed by the city of

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

, 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 to the east, and by Mikawa Bay and the headlands of the

Atsumi Peninsula is a peninsula in southern Aichi Prefecture, central Honshū, Japan. It has an approximate length of east-west, separating Mikawa Bay (to the north) from the Philippine Sea to the south, with Ise Bay is a bay located at the mouth of ...

to the west. To the south is the Enshu Bay of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

. The presence of the warm

Kuroshio Current The , also known as the Black or or the is a north-flowing, warm ocean current on the west side of the North Pacific Ocean basin. It was named for the deep blue appearance of its waters. Similar to the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic, the Ku ...

offshore gives the city a temperate climate. The in Toyohashi is a

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhe ...

nesting spot.

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 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

; Aichi Prefecture *

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 a population density of 1,141 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Toyokawa, famous for its Toyoka ...

* Shinshiro * Tahara ; Shizuoka Prefecture: *

Kita-ku, Hamamatsu is one of seven wards of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan, located in the north of the city. It is bordered by Tenryū-ku to the north, Higashi-ku and Naka-ku to the east, Hamakita-ku Minami-ku and Kosai to the south, and the cities of Toyohashi ...

* Kosai

City scape

File:ToyohashiSkyline03.jpg,

Skyline A skyline is the outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city’s overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the land. City skyline ...

of Toyohashi File:聳える市役所と吉田城.JPG,

Yoshida Castle is a Japanese castle located in Toyohashi, southeastern Aichi Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Yoshida Castle was home to the Inaba clan, ''daimyō'' of Tateyama Domain. The castle was also known as , and later as Toyohashi Cast ...

File:Toyohashi Aichi - in front of Toyohashi station Jan 3 2022.webm, The street in front of

Toyohashi Station is an interchange railway station in Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan, operated by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Tōkai) and the private railway operator Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu). Lines Toyohashi Station is served by the high-speed Tokaido Shin ...

, 2022 File:豊橋（橋）.jpg, Toyokawa Bridge and Toyo River 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 period, which have been

carbon dated Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was dev ...

to more than 10,000 BC along with the bones of Naumann elephants. Numerous remains from the Jōmon period, and especially from the

Yayoi The started at the beginning of the Neolithic in Japan, continued through the Bronze Age, and towards its end crossed into the Iron Age. Since the 1980s, scholars have argued that a period previously classified as a transition from the Jōmon p ...

and Kofun periods have also been found, including many kofun burial mounds. 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 area was assigned to Atsumi, Hoi and

Yana Yana may refer to: Locations *Yana, Burma, a village in Hkamti Township in Hkamti District in the Sagaing Region of northwestern Burma *Yana, India, a village in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, India * Yana, Nigeria, an administrative ca ...

Districts of

Mikawa Province was an old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mikawa''" in . Its abbreviated form name was . Mikawa bordered on Owari, Mino, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Provinces. Mi ...

and prospered during subsequent periods as a

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 ...

on an important river crossing of the Tōkaidō connecting the capital with the eastern provinces.

Sengoku period

During the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

, the area was a highly contested zone between the

Imagawa clan was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji by way of the Kawachi Genji. It was a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Ashikaga clan. Origins Ashikaga Kuniuji, grandson of Ashikaga Yoshiuji, established himself in ...

based in Suruga Province and various local warlords, who built a number of

fortifications A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

in the area, including

. The rising power of the

Matsudaira clan 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 t ...

and its alliance with Oda Nobunaga eventually neutralized the threat posed by the Imagawa, and the area became part of the holdings of

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fello ...

. Following the Battle of Odawara in 1590,

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

ordered the

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty that was formerly a powerful ''daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji) through the Matsudaira clan. The early history of this clan r ...

to relocate to the Kantō region 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 A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, a ...

and embarked on a massive and ambitious plan to rebuild Yoshida Castle. However, following the Battle of Sekigahara, he was relocated to

Himeji Castle is a hilltop Japanese castle complex situated in the city of Himeji which is located in the Hyōgo Prefecture of Japan. The castle is regarded as the finest surviving example of prototypical Japanese castle architecture, comprising a network o ...

Edo period

After the establishment of 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 ...

, 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 cit ...

, a clan fief. The domain was assigned to several different '' fudai

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 until coming into the possession of the Matsudaira (Nagasawa-Ōkōchi) clan in 1752, which remained in residence at Yoshida until the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

. 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 t ...

, surrendered the domain to the

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

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

in 1879, Toyohashi Town was created within Atsumi District, Aichi Prefecture. 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 The was a strategic bombing operation on the night of 19 June 1945 against the city of Toyohashi, Japan. The air raid was part of the Allies' aerial campaign against the Home Islands of the Empire of Japan during World War II. Background Dur ...

, 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 In urban planning, a core city, principal city metropolitan core, or central city, is the largest or most important city or cities of a metropolitan area. A core city is surrounded by smaller satellite cities, towns, and suburbs. A central 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 Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

city legislature of 36 members.

Prefectural Assembly

The city contributes five members to the

Aichi Prefectural Assembly The is the legislative assembly of Aichi Prefecture. Its 103 members are elected in 57 districts by single non-transferable vote (SNTV) to four-year terms. The assembly is responsible for enacting and amending prefectural ordinances, voting on ...

House of Representatives

In terms of national politics, the city is part of Aichi District15 of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

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

Economy

Primary sector of the economy

Agriculture

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

Secondary sector of the economy

Industrial production is centered around the production of automotive-related components for Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota, Mitsubishi Motors, Mitsubishi, Suzuki Motors, and Honda, all of whom have factories in the region. ;Motors *Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota *Mitsubishi Motors, Mitsubishi *Suzuki Motors *Honda *Volkswagen, VOLKSWAGEN Group Japan

Tertiary sector of the economy

;Worldwide trade Mikawa Port is a major port for International trade, 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 *Uny, APiTA Mukaiyama *Æon Group, Æon Toyohashi-Minami Shopping center *Æon Group, 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, 84.30 MHz'')

Newspaper

*Higashi Aichi Newspaper *Tonichi Shimbun Newspaper

Education

University

;National university *Toyohashi University of Technology ;Private university *Aichi University *Toyohashi Sozo College

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 schools in Japan, 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 * - Chosen gakko, North Korean school

Transportation

Railway

is on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen and the Tōkaidō Main Line. ''Hikari (Shinkansen), Hikari'' shinkansen services stop at Toyohashi Station approximately once every two hours, and ''Kodama (Shinkansen), Kodama'' services stop twice an hour. Toyohashi Station is also the terminal station, 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 *Tōkaidō Shinkansen：

Conventional lines

;

Central Japan Railway Company *Tōkaidō Main Line： *Iida Line： ; Meitetsu logomark 2

Meitetsu *Meitetsu Nagoya Line： ; Toyotetsu logomark

Toyohashi Railroad, Toyotetsu *Toyohashi Railroad Atsumi Line：

Tramway

;

Toyohashi Railroad, 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,

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. *Site of Nirengi Castle *, a National Important Cultural Property .Toyohashi Culture Map
/ref> *, a National Important Cultural Property *Futagawa-juku ''honjin'' 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 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（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

Notable people from Toyohashi

*Katsuhito Asano, Politics of Japan, Japanese politician *Buyūzan Takeyoshi, sumo wrestler *Daniel (Nushiro) of Japan, primate of Japanese Orthodox Church *Atsushi Fujii, professional baseball player *Emi Fujino, mixed martial artist, kickboxer and Joshi puroresu, professional wrestler *Mizuki Inoue, kickboxer and mixed martial artist *Yoshitaka Iwamizu, Olympic long-distance runner *Kitaro, musician *Aya Kitō, writer *Masaji Kiyokawa, 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, professional baseball player *Sakura Nogawa, voice actress *Kenichi Ogawa, boxer *Yoshio Sawai, manga artist *Akiko Suzuki, professional figure skater *Sakon Yamamoto, professional race car driver *Yua Aida, AV idol and model

References

External links

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