Toyokawa, Aichi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Toyokawa**
**豊川市**
Toyokawa's location in Aichi, Japan.
Location
Country	Japan
Region	Chūbu,Tōkai
Prefecture	Aichi
Physical characteristics
Area	150.71 km² (58.19 sq mi)
Population (as of April 1, 2008)
Total	161,494
Density	1,070 /km² (2,771 /sq mi)
Location	34°50′N, 137°23′E
Symbols
Tree	Japanese Black Pine
Flower	Dwarf azalea
Flag
Toyokawa Government Office
Mayor	Minoru Yamawaki
Address	〒442-0068 1-1 Suwa-chō, Toyokawa-shi, Aichi-ken
Phone number	0533-89-2111
Official website: City of Toyokawa

Toyokawa (豊川市, Toyokawa-shi^?) is a city located in Aichi, Japan. It was formerly known as Ushikubo (牛窪). The city was founded on June 1, 1943, and has a population of about 160,000 people.

1 History
2 Sister City Relations
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

During the Edo period, Toyokawa's Goyu-chō was separate from Toyokawa and was known as Goyu-shuku. It thrived as a post town along the Tōkaidō, a historical travel route.

During World War II, the Toyokawa Naval Base was the site of an important munitions factory complex. Numerous civilians were employed in the manufacture of arms and ammunition for the war effort. These civilian employees of the Imperial Navy were mainly from the local Mikawa region (eastern Aichi), and included many high school and junior high school girls. According to a memorial plaque erected in downtown Toyokawa, the naval base was the target of an air raid by American bombers on the night of August 7, 1945. About 2500 people were killed in the raid (the spirits of some of these victims were later enshrined at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, where their photos can still be seen). This air raid made Toyokawa the last place to be targeted using conventional explosive and incendiary bombs in the closing days of World War II. The significance of this event in history has been overshadowed by the fact that it occurred the day after Hiroshima was destroyed by an atomic bomb, and two days before an atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.

[edit] Sister City Relations

Toyokawa is sister cities with Cupertino, California in the United States^[1]. The two have been sister cities for nearly 30 years and have an ongoing student exchange program. They have been exchanging students every year since the beginning of the program thirty years ago. Sixteen students from Toyokawa and twelve students from Cupertino are chosen to represent their respective cities and countries in the exchange.