is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Aichi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the ...

, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 57,872 in 24,872 households, and a population density of 1,035 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Tokoname is located on the western coast of the

Chita Peninsula The Chita Peninsula (知多半島 ''Chita Hantō'') is a peninsula to the south of Aichi Prefecture, central Honshū, Japan. It runs approximately north-south. To the west is Ise Bay, while to the east it encloses Mikawa Bay. It faces the Atsu ...

in southern Aichi Prefecture, facing

Ise Bay is a bay located at the mouth of the Kiso Three Rivers between Mie prefecture, Mie and Aichi prefecture, Aichi Prefectures in Japan. Ise Bay has an average depth of and a maximum depth of . The mouth of the bay is and is connected to the small ...

Climate

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

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Tokoname is 15.5 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1674 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 27.4 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.6 °C.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Tokoname has been relatively steady over the past 50 years.

Neighboring municipalities

;

* Agui * Chita * Handa * Mihama * Taketoyo

History

Ancient history

Tokoname has been associated with ceramics production since at least the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

, and ''Tokoname-yaki'' works from this period have been found in locations as far away as

Aomori Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori (city), Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is border ...

in the north of Japan and

Kagoshima prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,527,019 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 9,187 Square kilometre, km2 (3,547 Square m ...

in the south.

Feudal period

By the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

, over 3000 kilns were active. During the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

, the area came under the control of the

Isshiki clan is a Japanese kin group of the Sengoku period.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Isshiki," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 16 retrieved 2013-5-25. History ...

, and later came under the rule of

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

and

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

Early modern period

During the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, the area around present-day Tokoname was part of Owari Domain.

Late modern period

In the post

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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

cadastral reforms of 1889, the town of Tokoname was created with the establishment of the modern municipalities system.

Contemporary history

Tokoname was elevated to city status on April 1, 1954, by the merger of Tokoname town with the towns of Onizaki (鬼崎), Nishiura (西浦) and Ōno (大野), and the village of Miwa (三和村).

Government

Tokoname 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 consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city legislature of 18 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 A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

. Chubu Centrair International Airport, built on an artificial island off the coast of Tokoname, opened on February 17, 2005, providing a major boost to local development.

Sister cities

Yixing Yixing () is a county-level city administered under the prefecture-level city of Wuxi in southern Jiangsu province, China, and is part of the Yangtze Delta, Yangtze River Delta. The city is known for its traditional Yixing ware, Yixing clay ware t ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

, China, friendship city since April 25, 2018

Economy

Secondary sector of the economy

Ceramic engineering

Tokoname is a regional commercial center, and has been known since the

for its production of ceramics, notably ''Tokoname-yaki'', and ceramics production remains the mainstay of the local economy. One of the main producing companies is INAX. About 60 climbing kilns formerly operated, most of which were constructed starting in the

Meiji era The was an Japanese era name, era of History of Japan, Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feu ...

. The chimneys became a landmark of the town, but many were closed and taken down after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as production methods modernised and burning of ovens was regulated by the authorities to protect the air quality. The Tōei Kiln (陶栄窯) is a climbing kiln (''nobori-gama'') that was constructed in 1887 and used until 1974. It is the largest climbing kiln existing in Japan. It was designated as an Important Tangible Cultural Property by the government in 1982. It has eight firing chambers running a 17° incline and ten chimneys of varying height. With its long coastline,

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for Commerce, commercial Profit (economics), profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice ...

also plays an important role in the local economy.

Education

Tokoname has nine public elementary schools, four public junior high schools operated by the city government, and one public high school operated by the Aichi Prefectural Board of Education.

High school

* Tokoname Senior High School

Junior high schools

* Nanryo Junior High School * Onizaki Junior High School * Seikai Junior High School * Tokoname Junior High School

Elementary schools

* Kosugaya Elementary School * Miwa Elementary School * Onizaki North Elementary School * Onizaki South Elementary School * Ono Elementary School * Nishiura North Elementary School * Nishiura South Elementary School * Tokoname East Elementary School * Tokoname West Elementary School

Transportation

Airways

Airport

* Chūbu Centrair International Airport

Railways

Conventional lines

;

Meitetsu * Tokoname Line: – – – – – * Airport Line: – –

Buses

Bus services

;Chita Bus ( Chita Noriai) * Kariya-Central Japan International Airport Route ** Chiryu – Kariya – Ogawa – Central Japan International Airport * Tokoname Route ** Chintahanda – Narawabashi – Tokoname – Central Japan International Airport /- RinkuTokoname – Tokoname – Tokoname Public Hospital * Tokoname South Route ** Kaminomae – Tokoname – *Central Japan International Airport/ – RinkuTokoname – Tokoname – Tokoname Public Hospital ** *All passengers going to Central Japan International Airport need to get a transfer ticket and change to Tokoname Route Services at Tokoname Station. ;Tokoname City North Bus * Tokoname Municipal Government – Tokoname – Tokoname Public Hospital – YadaCentral – Ogura Public Hall

Roads

Expressway

Chitaōdan Road　(Tollroad) * JP Expressway E87

Chubu International Airport Connecting Road (Tollroad)

Japan National Route

* *

Local attractions

Inax MuseumAkio Morita Library
* Ōno Castle

Notable people from Tokoname

* Tatsutoshi Goto, professional wrestler * The Peanuts, singers * Kotaro Suzumura, economist * Tetsuzō Tanikawa, philosopher, father of Shuntarō Tanikawa * Shibayama Tomotaka, ''

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

'' director of the 2020 '' A Whisker Away'', which takes place in Tokoname * Tetsu Watanabe, actor

References

External links

* (with link to pages in English) {{Aichi Cities in Aichi Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan