Nagoya

Nagoya (名古屋市, Nagoya-shi) is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is Japan's third-largest incorporated city and the fourth most populous urban area. It is located on the Pacific coast on central Honshu. 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 Kitakyushu. It is also the center of Japan's third-largest metropolitan region, known as the Chūkyō Metropolitan Area. As of 2010, 2.27 million people lived in the city, part of Chūkyō Metropolitan Area's 9.10 million people.

History

Etymology

The city's name was historically written as 那古野 or 名護屋 (both read as Nagoya). One possible origin is the adjective nagoyaka (なごやか), meaning 'peaceful'.

The name Chūkyō (中京, consisting of chū (middle) + kyō (capital)) is also used to refer to Nagoya. Notable examples of the use of the name Chūkyō include the Chūkyō Industrial Area, Chūkyō Metropolitan Area, Chūkyō Television Broadcasting, Chukyo University and the Chukyo Racecourse.

Japan

Coordinates: 35°N 136°E / 35°N 136°E / 35; 136

Japan (ⁱ/dʒəˈpæn/; Japanese: 日本 Nippon [nip̚põ̞ɴ] or Nihon [nihõ̞ɴ]; formally 日本国  Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku, "State of Japan") is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The kanji that make up Japan's name mean "sun origin", and Japan is often called the "Land of the Rising Sun".

Japan is a stratovolcanic archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku, which make up about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan's population of 126 million is the world's tenth largest. Approximately 9.1 million people live in Tokyo, the capital city of Japan, which is the sixth largest city proper in the OECD. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the world's largest metropolitan area with over 35 million residents and the world's largest urban agglomeration economy.

Nagoya Castle

Nagoya Castle (名古屋城, Nagoya-jō) is a Japanese castle located in Nagoya, central Japan. During the Edo period, Nagoya Castle was the center of one of the most important castle towns in Japan—Nagoya-juku— and it included the most important stops along the Minoji, which linked the Tōkaidō with the Nakasendō.

History

In order to advance into Owari, Suruga Province, military governor Imagawa Ujichika built Yanagi-no-maru during the Taiei era from 1521–1528 for his son, Imagawa Ujitoyo. The original castle at Nagoya, it was located near the site of the later Ninomaru residence. Oda Nobuhide seized it from Imagawa Ujitoyo in March 1532 (Kyōroku 5). He moved in and changed the name to Nagoya Castle. Oda Nobunaga was supposedly born there in 1534 (Tembun 3), although this is subject to debate. After he defeated Oda Nobutomo at Kiyosu Castle in April 1555 (Kōji 1), he established his residence there. Around 1582 (Tenshō 10), the castle at Nagoya was abandoned.

After various upheavals in Japan, Tokugawa Ieyasu emerged victorious. He decided in November 1609 (Keichō 14) to rebuild the castle at Nagoya. Up until the Meiji Restoration, Nagoya Castle would flourish as the castle where the Owari branch, the foremost of the three Tokugawa clan lineages, resided. Castle construction technology had been extensively developed and consolidated since the construction of Azuchi Castle in 1576 by Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582). One of the main architects who designed and directed the building of the castle was Nakai Masakiyo, who was previously involved in the construction of the Nijo, Fushimi, Edo, and Sunpu castles. He had gathered and refined existing castle and fortification construction technology and techniques and ultimately formulated the standards for the Tokugawa Shogunate's castles, as exemplified by Nagoya Castle.

Nagoya Station

Nagoya Station (名古屋駅, Nagoya-eki) is a major railway station in Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Japan. It is one of the world's largest train stations by floor area (410,000 m²), and houses the headquarters of the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). Much of this space is located in the JR Central Towers atop the station, as well as in underground concourses. The current station complex was completed on December 20, 1999. The station and the area around it is officially called Meieki (名駅) in the Japanese addressing system.

The station is adjacent to Meitetsu Nagoya Station, the terminal of the Nagoya Railroad, and Kintetsu Nagoya Station, the terminal of the Kintetsu Nagoya Line.

The twin-towered station rises over 50 stories. There is the 59-story tall Hotel Tower and the 55-story tall office tower (with a helipad on top).

Lines

JR Central