Toyohashi


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-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 to the east, and by Mikawa Bay 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 Katahama Jusan-ri Beach in Toyohashi is a sea turtle nesting spot.

Neighboring municipalities

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

Climate

The city has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively mild winters. The average annual temperature in Toyohashi is 15.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1828 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 27.3 °C, and lowest in January, at around 5.1 °C.

History

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 to more than 10,000 BC along with the bones of Naumann elephants. Numerous remains from the Jōmon period, and especially from the Yayoi and Kofun periods have also been found, including many kofun 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. During the Sengoku period, the area was a highly contested zone between the Imagawa clan based in Suruga Province 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 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 and assigned the castle to Ikeda Terumasa. Ikeda developed the surrounding castle town and embarked on a massive and ambitious plan to rebuild Yoshida Castle. However, following the Battle of Sekigahara, he was relocated to Himeji Castle.
After the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, Yoshida Castle became the center of Yoshida Domain, a clan fief. The domain was assigned to several different fudai daimyō clans until coming into the possession of the Matsudaira clan in 1752, which remained in residence at Yoshida until the Meiji Restoration. The final daimyō of Yoshida, Matsudaira Nobuhisa, surrendered the domain to the Meiji government in 1868. In 1869, the name of the domain was formally changed from Yoshida to Toyohashi.
With the establishment of the modern municipalities system under the Meiji government in 1879, Toyohashi Town was created within Atsumi District, Aichi Prefecture. Toyohashi Zoo was established in 1899. The town achieved city status in 1906. A tram system was established in 1925. In 1932, Toyohashi expanded its borders by annexing Shimoji Town, Takashi Village, Muroyoshida Village, and Shimokawa Village. Toyohashi suffered considerable damage during the 1944 Tōnankai earthquake, and even more damage during the Toyohashi Air Raid, which destroyed more than 60% of the city in June 1945.
In 1955, Toyohashi's geographic extent was expanded again with the annexation of neighboring Maeshiba Village, Futagawa Village, Takatoyo Village, Oitsu Village and Ishimaki Village. Toyohashi achieved core city status in 1999 with increased autonomy from the prefectural government.

Government

Toyohashi has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 36 members. The city contributes five members to the Aichi Prefectural Assembly. 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)

MayorTerm
Kiroku Okuchi

7 January 1907 to 10 January 1912
27 April 1914 to 20 February 1916
17 September 1938 to 10 December 1940
Shojuro Takahashi

12 February 1912 to 8 March 1913
Bengo Sakakibara

29 August 1913 to 28 March 1914
Tadao Hosotani

18 January 1917 to 20 August 1923
Ichitaro Yoshikawa

10 June 1924 to 8 December 1925
Katsuzo Tamegai

5 August 1926 to 4 August 1930

MayorTerm
Tohei Marumo

30 August 1930 to 29 August 1934
Shotaro Kanbe

3 September 1934 to 7 July 1938
Junichiro Kondo

18 April 1941 to 17 April 1945
Tamotsu Mizuno

6 May 1945 to 29 January 1946
Shinobu Yokota

29 March 1946 to 4 April 1947
Fujitomo Otake

5 April 1947 to 28 June 1952

MayorTerm
Sacho Ono

28 July 1952 to 30 June 1960
Mutsuro Kawai

1 July 1960 to 26 March 1975
Shigeru Aoki

30 April 1975 to 26 April 1983
Akira Takahashi

27 April 1983 to 2 October 1996
Masaru Hayakawa

17 November 1996 to 16 November 2008
Koichi Sahara

17 November 2008 to present

Economy

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.
Industrial production is centered around the production of automotive-related components for Toyota, Mitsubishi, Suzuki Motors, and Honda, all of whom have factories in the region.

Education

University

;National university
;Private university

Railway

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.
Central Japan Railway Company - Tōkaidō Main Line
Central Japan Railway Company - Iida Line
Meitetsu – Meitetsu Nagoya Line
Toyohashi Railroad Atsumi Line
Toyohashi Railroad Azumada Main Line

Expressways

Bus

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

Media

;Sister cities
;Friendship cities

Places of interest

, Gohei rice cake, beach fermented soybeans, food boiled in goby fish and soy, top producer of quail eggs in Japan, Toyohashi calligraphy brush.

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.

Festivals

Toyohashi Festival, Spring Festival, Iris Flower Festival, Gion Festival, Demon Festival, and traditional marionette performances. 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.

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.

Gallery

Notable people from Toyohashi