Outline of Nagoya
Geographically located around the center of main island of Japan, Nagoya has been a cultural crossroads since ancient times. Due to its convenient location, it has served as a meeting place for the nation's eastern and western cultures.
Nagoya has outstanding features both in historical and modern aspects. Back in 16th century three Samurai heroes - Oda, Toyotomi, Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa were all born in and out of Nagoya.
At present, the city enjoys the prosperity as a center of various industries with the population of 2.20million, making it the 4th largest city in Japan.
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Historical Nagoya
Although its history can be dated back to the ancient time when Atsuta Grand Shrine, one of the most important Shinto shrines in Japan, Nagoya started to develop as a typical castle town of feudal Japan. It grew up around several castles built in the 16th century.
Tokugawa Ieyasu, most famous Shogun ,built the famous Nagoya Castle for his 9th son, Yoshinao
in 1614. Nagoya enjoyed prosperity as the castle town of the Tokugawas of Owari, one of the three closest relatives to the main lineage of the Tokugawa Shogunate up to middle of the 19th century. Artifacts that belonged to the ruling family can be observed at the Tokugawa Art Museum.
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Nurturing the traditional arts & culture
During the Edo period (17th - middle 19th century), the successive lords of this province patronized the various arts and cultures which included such as Noh and Kabuki, Japanese traditional dancing, tea ceremonies, and flower arrangement. Such local industries as ceramics, tie-dying method for kimono fabric and paper- making were also promoted by the local government. Even today much of this can be enjoyed and experienced by the visitors to Nagoya.
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Industry
Nagoya and its vicinities are best known as an industrial powerhouse. From high-tech sectors such as automobile, machine tools, electronics and aerospace to traditional industries like textiles and ceramics, the city has built a strong industrial base. Accordingly various kinds of Industrial tourism such as the plant tour of Toyota Motor Corporation, Japanese dinnerware makers such as Noritake and Narumi or the visit to the industrial museums are booming here.
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The Nagoyan character
Nagoya has always been a center of manufacturing industry since feudal days. Some of its earliest industries include pottery and porcelain making, cotton- weaving, tie-dyeing for kimono, and karakuri mechanical doll making. These industries not only laid the foundation for the development of the modern industries but contributed to the molding the unique Nagoyan character - a hard-working, diligent and moreover, good at saving up for a rainy day!
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Specialty of Nagoya
The long history of Nagoya as a thriving castle town nurtured various specialties. These specialties include not only various kinds of special dishes but also arts and crafts such as cloisonne, kimono fabrics, pottery and porcelain.
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Design City
Thanks to its well-done city planning, Nagoya is popular among foreign residents as a pleasant city to live in. Its wide streets laid out in an easily-navigated lattice network combined with a very convenient subway network system also make it easy for visitors to get around. Since it hosted the Design Expo in 1989, Nagoya has been transforming into the design-conscious city, particularly emphasizing on increasing the areas of greenery and parkland within the city. For further development as a design city, such a new place as the International Design Center was also established.
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Evolving into the International City
In 2005, The EXPO is to be held in the outskirts of Nagoya. The first World Exposition of the 21st century will serve as a venue for interactive exchanges of culture, tradition and technology.
The new international airport- the Central Japan International Airport is also scheduled to be completed in 2005, serving as a hub in the aviation network linking Japan and the world. The airport- which will be operating around the clock- is under construction on a manmade island in Ise Bay, offshore from Tokoname City on Chita peninsula. The airport is accessible in 30 minutes from central Nagoya by rail or road.
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