Nagoya

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**Nagoya City**
**名古屋市**
Nagoya City's location in Aichi prefecture, Japan.
Location
Country	Japan
Region	Chūbu
Prefecture	Aichi prefecture
Physical characteristics
Area	326.45 km²
Population (as of 2006/12/1)
Total	2,225,866
Density	6,818/km²
Location	35°07′N, 136°56′E
Symbols
Tree	Camphor Laurel
Flower	Lilium
Symbol of Nagoya City
Nagoya City City Hall
Mayor	Takehisa Matsubara
Address	〒460-0001 Nagoya-shi, Naka-ku, Sannomaru 3-chome 1-1
Phone number	052-972-2017
Official website: Nagoya City

Coordinates: 35°07′N, 136°56′E Nagoya (名古屋市, nagoya-shi^?) is the fourth largest city in Japan. Located on the Pacific coast in the Chūbu region on central Honshū, it is the capital of Aichi Prefecture and is one of Japan's major ports along with those of Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Yokohama, Chiba, and Hakata. It is also the center of Japan's third largest metropolitan region, known as the Chukyo Metropolitan Area(see also Chūkyō region). Chūkyō Metropolitan Area (Nagoya metropolitan area) has 9.48 million people.^{[citation needed]}

1 History
2 Sightseeing
3 Wards
4 Demographics
5 Transportation
6 Economy
7 Education and culture
8 Sports
9 Sister cities
10 Notable people
11 External links

[edit] History

The city was founded on October 1, 1889, and was designated on September 1, 1956 by government ordinance. The city's name was historically written as the older Emperor of that time (also read as Nagoya), and as the city is located between Kyoto, Shikoku and Tokyo, it was also historically known as "central capital" (中京, Chūkyō^?). The city was destroyed on 1945, when the american dropped bombs on the city.

[edit] Sightseeing

Nagoya Castle

Nagoya's famous sight seeing spots include Nagoya Castle (名古屋城, Nagoya-jō^?) and Atsuta Shrine (熱田神宮, Atsuta Jingū^?).

Nagoya Castle Nagoya jō was built in 1612. Although a large part of it was burned down by the fires of World War II, the castle was restored in 1959, though some modern amenities such as elevators were added. Nagoya-jō is very famous for two magnificent Golden Orca (金の鯱, Kin no Shachihoko^?) on the roof. They are often used as the symbol of Nagoya.

Atsuta jingū is known as the second-most venerable shrine in Japan. It enshrines the Kusanagi sacred sword (草薙神剣, Kusanagi no mitsurugi^?) one of the three imperial regalia of Japan. It holds around 70 festivals in a year, and many people visit the shrine year-round. Also, the shrine has over 4,400 national treasures representing its 2,000 years' history.

Nagoya TV Tower

Modern attractions include the Nagoya TV Tower, JR Central Towers of Nagoya Station, the Nagoya Port area, the Higashiyama Zoo and botanical gardens and Italia Mura.

Midland Square, the new headquarters of the Toyota Motor Corporation, features Japan's highest open-air observation deck. [1]

[edit] Wards

Nagoya has 16 wards (ku, 区^?):

[edit] Demographics

One of the earliest censuses, carried out in 1889, gave Nagoya's population as 157,496. It reached the 1 million mark in 1934 and, as of 2004, the city had an estimated population of 2,202,111 with a density of 6,745 persons per km². There are estimated to be 945,328 households in the city — a significant increase from 153,370 at the end of World War II, in 1945.

The total area is 326.45 km². Its metropolitan area extends into Mie and Gifu prefectures, with a total population of about 9 million people, with only Osaka and Tokyo being larger.

[edit] Transportation

Entrace to Shiyakusho Subway Station.

Nagoya is served by Chūbu Centrair International Airport (NGO) in the city of Tokoname and by Nagoya Airport (Komaki Airport) (NKM) which is located in the cities of Komaki and Kasugai. On February 17, 2005, all of Nagoya Airport's commercial flights (except for flights operated by J-Air) moved to Centrair. Nagoya Airport is now used as a general aviation and airbase facility.

Nagoya Station, the world's largest train station by floor area, is on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, Tōkaidō Main Line, and Chūō Main Line, among others. The Nagoya Railroad and Kinki Nippon Electric Railway provide regional rail service to points in the Tōkai and Kansai regions. The city is also serviced by the Nagoya Subway.

[edit] Economy

An aerial view of Nagoya.

International design center NAGOYA (IdcN).

Nagoya's main industry is the automotive business, as many Japanese automotive companies are based out of Nagoya (akin to U.S. automakers being based in the Detroit) area. Toyota is headquartered in the nearby city of Toyota. Major automotive suppliers such as PPG also have a presence in Nagoya.

The Japanese confectionery company Marukawa is headquartered in Nagoya, as is the fine ceramics company Noritake. There is also a sizable aerospace and electronics industry in the area.

Nagoya is also known as the birthplace of pachinko. Ibanez Guitars are based in Nagoya

Breakdown of Nagoya's GDP by economic activity
(from the 2005 city profile published by the City of Nagoya)

Service 26.5%
Wholesale and Retail 20.2%
Manufacturing 12.3%
Shipping and Communications 10.4%
Real Estate 9.8%
Administrative Services Supply 5.9%
Construction 5.8%
Finance and Insurance 5.4%
Others 3.7%

The World Expo 2005, also known as Aichi Expo was held just outside of Nagoya in the neighboring cities of Nagakute and Seto. The event was held from March 25 to September 25, 2005.

[edit] Education and culture

Nagoya is home to the Nagoya/Boston Museum of Fine Arts, a sister museum to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which was founded to bring aspects of the MFA's collection to Japan. Several universities are also located in Nagoya, including the University of Nagoya and Nanzan University.

The Nagoya dialect is referred to as Nagoya-ben.

Some famous Nagoya foods: misokatsu (pork cutlet with miso sauce), tebasaki (a type of yakitori), kishimen (flat udon noodles), "misonikomi" (noodles in thick miso soup), "nagoya kouchin" (chicken).

[edit] Sports

Nagoya is home to several professional sports teams:

Club	Sport	League	Venue	Established
Chunichi Dragons	Baseball	Central League	Nagoya Dome	1936
Nagoya Grampus Eight	Football	J. League	Mizuho Athletic Stadium, Toyota Soccer Stadium	1992

Nagoya is also home of the Shonai FC amateur football club and Nagoya Barbarians amateur rugby football club. Since 1984 the city has hosted the Nagoya Marathon; an annual marathon race for women over the classic distance of 42km and 195 metres.