Toyota, Aichi

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 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, parts of the area of the current city were under the control of Koromo Domain, a feudal han under the Tokugawa shogunate; however, most of the area of the current city was tenryō territory controlled directly by the government in Edo and administered through hatamoto class appointed administrators. The village of "Matsudaira", from which Tokugawa Ieyasu took his clan name, was located within what is now the city of Toyota.

Meiji period

After the Meiji restoration, 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 and prospered from the Meiji period 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, 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 Koromo (挙母市) changed its name to Toyota on January 1, 1959.

Toyota became a sister city with Detroit, Michigan, United States 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 (Meitetsu) opened the Toyota New Line (now Toyota Line), and in 1988, the Aichi Loop Line 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 stated that by 2015 Toyota was recovering from an economic depression "so deep that some were comparing it to Detroit."

Government

Mayor-council

Toyota has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral 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
  • Asuke fire department
  • Toyota-Kita fire department
  • Toyota-Minami fire department
  • Toyota-naka fire department

Health care

• Hospital
  • Asuke Hospital
  • Toyota Kosei Hospital
  • TOYOTA Memorial Hospital

Post office

• Toyota Post office

Library

• Toyota City Library

Sister cities

Toyota is twinned with:

• Detroit, Michigan, United States, since 1960
• Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom, since 1998

Economy

Primary sector of the economy

Agriculture

• Peach
• Pyrus pyrifolia (Atago)

Forestry

• Cryptomeria
• Chamaecyparis obtusa

Secondary sector of the economy

The main headquarters of Toyota 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.

Tertiary sector of the economy

Shopping center

• Æon Takahashi (GREEN CITY)
• Æon Toyota
• KiTARA
• Lut's
• Meglia
• T-FACE

Education

Colleges and universities

• Aichi Gakusen University
• Aichi Institute of Technology
• Aichi Mizuho College
• Chukyo University – Toyota campus
• Japanese Red Cross Toyota College of Nursing
• Junior College of Toyota (1990–1999)
• Ohkagakuen University – Toyota campus
• Toyota National College of Technology

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

Railways

Conventional lines

Meitetsu

• Toyota Line: Umetsubo – Kamitoyota – Jōsui
• Mikawa Line: Sanage – Hiratobashi – Koshido – Umetsubo – Toyotashi – Uwagoromo – Tsuchihashi – Takemura – Wakabayashi – Mikawa Yatsuhashi

Aichi Loop Railway

• Aichi Loop Line: Mikawa-Kamigō – Ekaku – Suenohara – Mikawa-Toyota – Shin-Uwagoromo – Shin-Toyota – Aikan-Umetsubo – Shigō – Kaizu – Homi – Sasabara – Yakusa

Linimo

• Aichi High-Speed Transit: Tōji-shiryōkan-minami – Yakusa

Roads

Expressways

• Tōmei Expressway
• Shin-Tōmei Expressway
• Isewangan Expressway
• Tōkai-Kanjō Expressway

Japan National Route

• National Route 153
• National Route 155
• National Route 248
• National Route 301
• National Route 419
• National Route 420
• National Route 257
• National Route 473

Local attractions

• Asuke area (Groups of Traditional Buildings)
• Kampachi Gorge
• Kōrankei Gorge
• Kuragaike park
• The ruins of Matsudaira
• Obara shikizakura
• Toyota Automobile Museum
• Toyota Kaikan Exhibition Hall
• Toyota Kuragaike Commemorative Hall
• Toyota Municipal Museum of Art

Culture

Sports

Sports Team

Sports Facilities

• Sky Hall Toyota
• Toyota Athletic Stadium
• Toyota Sports Center
• Toyota Stadium

Notable people from Toyota

• Miliyah Kato, singer
• Yoshio Markino, artist, author
• Masami Mitsuoka, singer
• Masato Naito, Olympic hurdler
• Etsuko Nishio, singer, actress
• Suzuki Shōsan, Edo period Zen prelate
• Tadashi Sugiura, professional baseball player
• Katsuaki Watanabe, former president of Toyota Motors
• Yoshiko Nagata, famous comedian