, formerly known as Koromo, 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 de ...

in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 426,162 and a population density of 464 people per km². The total area was . It is located about 35 minutes from

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most p ...

by way of the Meitetsu Toyota Line. Several of Toyota Motor Corporation's manufacturing plants, including the Tsutsumi plant, are located here. The longstanding ties between the Toyota Motor Corporation and the town of Toyota-shi, formerly known as , gave the town its current name. The city's flag (and seal), is a unicursal hexagram.

Geography

Toyota is located in north-central Aichi Prefecture, and is the largest city in the prefecture in terms of area. The city area is mountainous to the north, with peaks averaging around 1000 feet (328 m) in height along its northern border with Nagano and Gifu Prefectures. Much of the mountainous northern portion of the city is within the Aichi Kōgen Quasi-National Park. Toyota is within a two-hour drive of

.Jacob, Vinod.
In Toyota land
." '' The Hindu Business Line''. August 18, 2006. Retrieved on May 9, 2013. File:View of Yahagi River from Nomiyama Viewing Platform, Toyota 2013.jpg, Downtown File:Iyama03.jpg, Iyama File:Kurodacho, Toyota, Aichi Prefecture 441-2524, Japan - panoramio (1).jpg, Kuroda Lake File:View of Lake Mikawa, Habu-cho Toyota 2012.JPG, Mikawa Lake File:Asahi Ohashi, Ushiji&Odakino-cho Toyota 2012.JPG, Okuyahagi Lake

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, nota ...

, ''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Toyota 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 Toyota has been increasing rapidly steadily over the past 50 years.

Surrounding municipalities

; Aichi Prefecture * Anjō *

Okazaki Okazaki may refer to: *Okazaki (surname) *Okazaki, Aichi, a city in Japan *Okazaki Castle, a castle in Japan *Okazaki fragments Okazaki fragments are short sequences of DNA nucleotides (approximately 150 to 200 base pairs long in eukaryotes) w ...

* Kariya * Shinshiro * Seto * Chiryu * Nisshin * Nagakute * Miyoshi * Shitara ;

Gifu Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...

* Toki * Mizunami * Ena ; Nagano Prefecture * Neba

City scape

File:Toyota City Skyline001.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 Toyota File:Koromo-jo Castle（Shichishū-jo Castle）.jpg,

Koromo Castle is a Japanese castle located in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Koromo Castle was home to the Naitō clan, '' daimyō'' of Koromo Domain. The castle was also known as . History A fortification was built near th ...

File:Toyota-Pedestrian-Deck-1.jpg,

Toyotashi Station 270px, Platforms is a junction railway station in the city of Toyota, Aichi, Japan, operated by Meitetsu. Lines Toyotashi Station is served by the Meitetsu Mikawa Line and is 15.7 kilometers from the terminus of the line at Chiryū Station. It ...

Pedestrian Deck File:Pedestrian Deck, Wakamiya-cho Toyota 2018.jpg, Downtown of Toyota

History

Origins

The area of present-day Toyota City has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and archaeologists have found a continuous record of artifacts 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 onwards. In early proto-historic times, the area was under the control of the Mononobe clan, who built numerous '' kofun'' burial mounds. The local place name "Koromo" is mentioned in the '' Kojiki'' and other early Japanese documents.

Edo period

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 character ...

, parts of the area of the current city were under the control of Koromo Domain, a feudal ''han'' under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in ...

; however, most of the area of the current city was '' tenryō'' territory controlled directly by the government in

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

and administered through '' hatamoto'' class appointed administrators. The village of "Matsudaira", from which

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 fel ...

took his clan name, was located within what is now the city of Toyota.

Meiji period

After 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 r ...

, the area was organized into the towns of Asuke and Koromo and numerous villages under Higashikamo District and Nishikamo District with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. The area was a major producer of

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...

and prospered from the

Meiji period The is an era of 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 feudal society at risk of colonization ...

through the Taishō periods. As the demand for raw silk declined in Japan and abroad, Koromo entered a period of gradual decline after 1930. The decline encouraged

Kiichiro Toyoda was a Japanese businessman and the son of Toyoda Loom Works founder Sakichi Toyoda. His decision to change Toyoda's focus from automatic loom manufacture into automobile manufacturing created what would become Toyota Motor Corporation. Toyo ...

, cousin of Eiji Toyoda, to look for alternatives to the family's automatic loom manufacturing business. The search led to the founding of what became the Toyota Motor Corporation. Toyota built the first manufacturing facility, known as Toyota Honsha plant in November 1938, breaking ground in December 1935.

Modern history

On March 1, 1951, Koromo gained city status, and absorbed the village of Takahashi from Nishikamo District on September 30, 1956. Due to the fame and economic importance of its major employer, the city of changed its name to Toyota on January 1, 1959. Toyota became a sister city with

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

in 1960. It continued to expand by annexing the towns of Kamigo (Hekikai District) on March 1, 1964, and Takaoka (Hekikai District) on September 1, 1965, and Sanage (Nishikamo District) on April 1, 1967, as well as the village of Matsudaira (Higashikamo District) on April 1, 1970. In 1979 the

Nagoya Railroad , 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 ...

(Meitetsu) opened the Toyota New Line (now Toyota Line), and in 1988: The

Aichi Loop Line The is a Japanese railway line connecting Okazaki Station in Okazaki, Aichi, Okazaki and Kōzōji Station in Kasugai, Aichi, Kasugai, operated by the . The company or the line is abbreviated as . This is the only line the company operates. Despi ...

was opened, thus considerably improving access to the city via rail transport. Toyota became a Core City in 1998, with increased local autonomy. On March 25, 2005, Expo 2005 opened with its main site in Nagakute and additional activity in Seto and Toyota. The Expo continued until September 25, 2005. On April 1, 2005, Toyota absorbed the town of Fujioka, and the village of Obara (both from Nishikamo District), the towns of Asuke, Asahi and Inabu, and the village of Shimoyama (all from Higashikamo District) to create the new and expanded city of Toyota. Mitsuru Obe and Eric Pfanner of ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' stated that by 2015 Toyota was recovering from an economic depression "so deep that some were comparing it to Detroit." File:Sanage-jinja Torii.jpg, Sanage shinto shrine File:Chuma no Ohinasan 2012.jpg, Asuke area ( Groups of Traditional Buildings) File:Toyota museum 101.JPG, Koromo Castle File:Toyota Sangokan exterior 2017-06 (1).jpg, City center of Toyota

Government

Toyota City Hall West-East Office02, Toyota 2018

Mayor-council

Toyota 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 45 members.

Prefectural Assembly

The city contributes five members to the Aichi Prefectural Assembly.

House of Representatives

In terms of national politics, the city is divided between Aichi District 11 and Aichi District 14 of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Public

Police

* Aichi Prefectural Police **Asuke police station **Toyota police station

Firefighting

*Fire department **Toyota-Kita fire department **Toyota-Minami fire department **Toyota-naka fire department **Asuke fire department

Health care

*Hospital **Asuke Hospital **Toyota Kosei Hospital **TOYOTA Memorial Hospital

Post office

*Toyota Post office

Library

*Toyota City Library File:Toyota Police station 2018.jpg, Toyota Police Station File:Toyota City Fire Fighting Head Office, Chokoji Toyota 2019.jpg, Toyota Fire Department File:Toyota-Kosei-Hospital-1.jpg, Toyota Kosei Hospital File:Toyota Post Office, Totsuka-cho Toyota 2018.jpg, Toyota Post Office File:Toyota City Central Library exterior ac (2).jpg, Toyota City Library

External relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

International

;Sister City *

（

） **Since September 21, 1960 *

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gain ...

（

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

） **Since November 16, 1998 * South Derbyshire（

） **Since November 16, 1998

Economy

Primary sector of the economy

;Agriculture *

Peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non- ...

* Pyrus pyrifolia（Atago） ;Forestry *

Cryptomeria ''Cryptomeria'' (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae, formerly belonging to the family Taxodiaceae. It includes only one species, ''Cryptomeria japonica'' (syn. ''Cupressus japonica'' ...

* Chamaecyparis obtusa

Secondary sector of the economy

The main headquarters 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 ...

is located in a 14-story building in Toyota. As of 2006 the head office has the "Toyopet" Toyota logo and the words "Toyota Motor". The Toyota Technical Center, a 14-story building, and the original Honsha plant, Toyota's first plant engaging in mass production and formerly named the Koromo plant, are adjacent to one another in a location near the headquarters. Vinod Jacob from '' The Hindu'' described the main headquarters building as "modest". In 2013 company head Akio Toyoda reported that it had difficulties retaining foreign employees at the headquarters due to the lack of amenities in Toyota.Greimel, Hans.
Dreary HQ city is a handicap in global glitz plan
"
Archive
'' Automotive News''. May 6, 2013. Retrieved on May 9, 2013.

Tertiary sector of the economy

;Shopping center * Æon Toyota * Æon Takahashi（GREEN CITY） *KiTARA *Lut's *Meglia *T-FACE File:Azakai-cho Toyota 2011.JPG, Azakai Town File:Inabucho, Toyota, Aichi Prefecture 441-2513, Japan - panoramio (1).jpg, Inabu Town File:JA Aichi Toyota, Nishi-machi Toyota 2018.jpg, JA Aichi Toyota File:Toyota 86 GT Red.jpg, Toyota 86 File:Aeon-Style-Toyota-1.jpg, Æon Toyota File:Toyota-KiTARA-1.jpg, KiTARA

Education

Aichi Institute of Technology - panoramio (7)

Colleges and universities

* Aichi Gakusen University *

Aichi Institute of Technology is a private university at Toyota, 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 Japan, w ...

* Toyota National College of Technology * Aichi Mizuho College * Ohkagakuen University – Toyota campus * Chukyo University – Toyota campus * Japanese Red Cross Toyota College of Nursing *

Junior College of Toyota was a private junior college in 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 Japan, while exten ...

(1990–1999)

Primary and secondary education

Toyota has 78 public elementary schools and 27 public middle schools operated by the city government and 12 public high schools operated by the Aichi Prefectural Board of Education. There are also two private middle schools and eight private high schools. The prefecture also operates two special education schools for the disabled.

International schools

* Escola Alegria de Saber – Brazilian schoolEscolas Brasileiras Homologadas no Japão

Archive
. Embassy of Brazil in Tokyo. Retrieved on October 13, 2015. * Escola NECTAR – Brazilian primary school * Escola Pintando o Sete – Brazilian primary school

Transportation

Toyota, as the home city of Toyota Motor Corporation is well-served by expressways and national highways. However, it was the largest city in Japan which was not served by the Japanese National Railways (JNR) during its existence. The closest Shinkansen station is

Mikawa-Anjō Station is a railway station in the city of Anjō, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, operated by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Tōkai). Lines Mikawa-Anjō Station is served by the Tokaido Shinkansen and Tōkaidō Main Line, and is located from the starting ...

in the city of Anjō, although the limited-stop '' Nozomi'' and '' Hikari'' services do not stop there.

Railways

Conventional lines

;

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 ...

* Toyota Line： – – *

Mikawa Line The is a railway line in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu) connecting Sanage Station in Toyota and Hekinan Station in Hekinan. It originally extended beyond Hekinan to Kira Yoshida, ...

： – – – – – – – – – ; Aikan logomark

Aichi Loop Railway *

： – – – – – – – – – – – ; 60px Linimo * Aichi High-Speed Transit： –

Roads

Expressways

Tōmei Expressway The is a national expressway on the island of Honshū in Japan. It is operated by Central Nippon Expressway Company. The expressway is designated as E1 under the "2016 Proposal for Realization of Expressway Numbering", because it parallels Na ...

* Shin-Tōmei Expressway * Isewangan Expressway * Tōkai-Kanjō Expressway

Japan National Route

* * * * * * * * File:Meitetsu Toyotashi Station ac.jpg, Toyotashi Station File:Aichi_Kanjo_Tetudo_Line_Shin_Toyota_Sta.jpg, Shin-Toyota Station File:TOYOTA_Interchange_on_TOMEI_EXPWY_and_SHIN-TOMEI_EXPWY.jpg, Toyota JCT File:Shin-Tomei20180826B.jpg, Toyota-Higashi JCT File:Route153 Umetsubo.JPG, National Route 153 File:豊田スタジアム TOYOTA Stadium - panoramio.jpg, Toyota big bridge File:TOYOTA_ARROWS_Bridge.jpg, Toyota Arrows Bridge

Local attractions

* Asuke area ( Groups of Traditional Buildings) *

Toyota Municipal Museum of Art The is an art museum located in the city of Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. History The museum features works by Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Edvard Munch, and others. The museum building was constructed by Yoshio Taniguchi, who also renovated ...

* Toyota Automobile Museum *Toyota Kaikan Exhibition Hall *Toyota Kuragaike Commemorative Hall *Kampachi Gorge * Kōrankei Gorge *Kuragaike park *Obara shikizakura *The ruins of Matsudaira File:Manrin-kouji Alley in 2019 ac.jpg, Asuke area File:足助城高櫓.JPG, Asuke Castle File:Toyota museum 051.JPG,

File:Toyota Kaikan3.jpg, Toyota Kaikan Exhibition Hall File:Kiichiro Toyoda's Residence 02, Ikeda-cho Toyota 2019.jpg, Toyota Kuragaike Commemorative Hall File:Kampachi Gorge, Toyota-city 2018.jpg, Kampachi Gorge File:Kōrankei.jpg, Kōrankei Gorge File:Korankei3.jpg, Sanshu Asuke Yashiki File:Korankei4.jpg, Kōjaku-ji File:Senmishikizakura1.jpg, Obara shikizakura File:Matsudairago1.jpg, The ruins of Matsudaira File:Kuragaike Park 03, Toyota 2019.jpg, Kuragaike park File:Koromo festival4.jpg, Koromo Festival

Culture

Sports

Sports Team

Sports Facilities

Sky Hall Toyota Sky Hall Toyota is an arena in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. Events *2007 Fed Cup *Dunlop World Challenge The Dunlop World Challenge is a tournament for professional tennis players played on indoor carpet courts. The event is classified as a €35,000+H ...

* Toyota Athletic Stadium *

Toyota Sports Center The Toyota Sports Center (formerly the HealthSouth Training Center) is a practice facility for the Los Angeles Kings, and the Ontario Reign, located on 555 North Nash Street in El Segundo, California. The $24 million, facility broke ground on Ap ...