愛知

Aichi is a prefecture in the Chubu/Tokai region of Japan. It is Japan's most industrialized prefecture, and its fourth most populous (6.8 million): most Japanese cars, aircraft, and rockets are made there.

It is bordered by Mie to the west, Gifu to the north, Nagano to the northeast, and Shizuoka to the east: Ise Bay and Mikawa Gulf form its southern seaboard, and lead into the Pacific Ocean. Half of Aichi is taken up by the metropolitan area of Nagoya: the other half is highlands, foothills of the Japan Alps.

In the olden days, Aichi was three fiefs known as Owari, Mikawa, and Ho: the Taika reform merged Owari and Ho. These fiefs, straddling the Tokaido road, were the site of some of Oda Nobunaga's most famous battles in the 1500's. In 1871, Owari became known as Nagoya Prefecture: the eastern half of Aichi was known as Nukata. The two prefectures merged into a single Aichi prefecture in November 1872.

The name ("knowledge of love") comes from the Manyoshu, and was originally used to refer to a county of Nagoya Prefecture immediately surrounding Nagoya Castle. When the castle was chosen to be the seat of the new prefectural government, the entire prefecture was renamed.

Aichi is on the Shinkansen, and can also be reached by flying into Nagoya Airport. A new Chubu International Airport is currently under construction, and is scheduled for completion by 2005, when Expo 2005 will be held in the prefecture.

Cities in Aichi:

  1. Nagoya 2,085,000
  2. Toyohashi 349,000
  3. Toyota 335,000
  4. Okazaki 323,000
  5. Kasugai 277,000
  6. Ichinomiya 270,000
  7. Anjo 151,000
  8. Komaki 137,000
  9. Seto 127,000
  10. Kariya 125,000
  11. Toyokawa 114,000
  12. Handa 108,000
  13. Nishio 99,000
  14. Tokai 98,000
  15. Inazawa 98,000
  16. Konan 97,000
  17. Gamagori 83,000
  18. Chita 80,000
  19. Obu 72,000
  20. Owariasahi 72,000
  21. Inuyama 71,000
  22. Hekinan 67,000
  23. Tsushima 64,000
  24. Toyoake 64,000
  25. Nisshin 62,000
  26. Chiryu 59,000
  27. Bisai 58,000
  28. Tokoname 52,000
  29. Iwakura 46,000
  30. Shinshiro 37,000
  31. Takahama 36,000

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