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:
- Nagoya 2,085,000
- Toyohashi 349,000
- Toyota 335,000
- Okazaki 323,000
- Kasugai 277,000
- Ichinomiya 270,000
- Anjo 151,000
- Komaki 137,000
- Seto 127,000
- Kariya 125,000
- Toyokawa 114,000
- Handa 108,000
- Nishio 99,000
- Tokai 98,000
- Inazawa 98,000
- Konan 97,000
- Gamagori 83,000
- Chita 80,000
- Obu 72,000
- Owariasahi 72,000
- Inuyama 71,000
- Hekinan 67,000
- Tsushima 64,000
- Toyoake 64,000
- Nisshin 62,000
- Chiryu 59,000
- Bisai 58,000
- Tokoname 52,000
- Iwakura 46,000
- Shinshiro 37,000
- Takahama 36,000