Toyokawa, Aichi

Toyokawa is located in an area of rolling hills in southeastern Aichi Prefecture. It has a short coastline with Mikawa Bay.

Per Japanese census data,[2] the population of Toyokawa has been increasing over the past 60 years.

The area of modern Toyokawa was settled in prehistoric times. During the Nara period, the kokubunji of Mikawa Province was established in 741. The temple of Toyokawa Inari, a popular pilgrimage destination, dates from 1441. A number of daimyō clans under the Tokugawa shogunate originate in what are now parts of Toyokawa, most notably the Makino clan. The area prospered during the Edo period with two post towns along the Tōkaidō, Goyu-shuku and Akasaka.

After the Meiji Restoration, on October 1, 1889 several villages were organized with the establishment of the modern municipalities system within Hoi District, Aichi Prefecture, including Toyokawa Village. On March 13, 1893, Toyokawa was promoted to town status. Toyokawa City was founded on June 1, 1943 by the merger of Toyokawa town with neighboring Ushikubo Town and Yawata Village, all from Hoi District.

In 1939 the massive Toyokawa Naval Arsenal was established, one of the largest producers of machine guns, aviation ordnance and ammunition in the Empire of Japan. It was also had sections that produced military-issue katana, bayonets, and glass lenses for use in cameras, binoculars, and similar equipment. During World War II, many thousands of civilians were conscripted or volunteered to work at the Arsenal, and towards the end of the war, included hundreds of middle school students and high school girls. On August 7, 1945 the Toyokawa Naval Arsenal was targeted by a flight of B-29 bombers. About 2,500 people were killed during the Toyokawa Air Raid. Toyokawa was one of the last places to be targeted using conventional explosive and incendiary bombs in the closing days of World War II, occurring the day after Hiroshima was destroyed by an atomic bomb.[4]

After the war, on April 12, 1955 Toyokawa annexed Mikami village from Yana District. This was followed by the neighboring town of Goyu from Hoi District on April 1, 1959. Toyokawa further expanded on February 1, 2006 by annexing Ichinomiya, On January 15, 2008 the towns of Otowa and Mito became part of Toyokawa, and finally on February 1, 2010 the town of Kozakai likewise was merged into Toyokawa City.

• 
  Toga Shrine
• 
  Toyokawa Inari
• 
  Ina Castle
• 
  Goyu-shuku
• 
  Akasaka-juku (Tōkaidō)
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  Toyokawa Tezutsu Fireworks Festival

Toyokawa has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 30 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 of the Diet of Japan.

Toyokawa has 26 public elementary schools and 10 public junior high schools operated by the city government, and five public high schools operated by the Aichi Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private high school. The prefecture also operates one special education school for the handicapped.

Toyokawa Inari Omotesando

Castles

• Ina Castle
• Makino Castle
• Ushikubo Castle

Temples

• Toyokawa Inari – noted Buddhist temple
• Mikawa Kokubun-ji

Shrines

• Toga Shrine - ichinomiya of Mikawa Province

• JGSDF Camp Toyokawa

• Yuka Kato, Olympic swimmer
• Gakuto Kondo, professional soccer player
• Sion Sono, movie director
• Yukinari Sugawara, professional soccer player

• Wuxi New Area, China.[5]
• Santa Rosa, Laguna, Philippines
• Cupertino, California, United States[6]

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Geographic data related to Toyokawa, Aichi at OpenStreetMap

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