Toyota (豊田市, Toyota-shi, pronounced[toꜜjotaɕi]), formerly known as Koromo, is a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 October 2019[update], the city had an estimated population of 426,162 and a population density of 464 people per km2. The total area was 918.32 square kilometres (354.57 sq mi). It is located about 50 minutes from Nagoya by way of the Meitetsu Toyota Line.
Several of Toyota Motor Corporation's manufacturing plants, including the Tsutsumi plant, are located there. The longstanding ties between the Toyota Motor Corporation and the town of Toyota, formerly known as Koromo (挙母市, Koromo-shi), gave the town its current name. The city's flag (and seal), is a unicursal hexagram.
Geography
Toyota is located in north-central Aichi Prefecture, and is the largest city in the prefecture in terms of area. The city area is mountainous to the north, with peaks averaging around 1000 feet (328 m) in height along its northern border with Nagano and Gifu Prefectures. Much of the mountainous northern portion of the city is within the Aichi Kōgen Quasi-National Park.
The city has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively mild winters (Köppen climate classification, Cfa). The average annual temperature in Toyota is 15.3 °C (59.5 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,470.4 mm (57.89 in) with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 27.4 °C (81.3 °F), and lowest in January, at around 3.6 °C (38.5 °F).[2]
Climate data for Toyota (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1979−present)
The area of present-day Toyota City has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and archaeologists have found a continuous record of artifacts from the Japanese paleolithic period onwards.
In early proto-historic times, the area was under the control of the Mononobe clan, who built numerous kofun burial mounds. The local place name "Koromo" is mentioned in the Kojiki and other early Japanese documents.
Edo period
During the Edo period, parts of the area of the current city were under the control of Koromo Domain, a feudal han under the Tokugawa shogunate; however, most of the area of the current city was tenryō territory controlled directly by the government in Edo and administered through hatamoto class appointed administrators. The village of "Matsudaira", from which Tokugawa Ieyasu took his clan name, was located within what is now the city of Toyota.
The area was a major producer of silk and prospered from the Meiji period through the Taishō periods. As the demand for raw silk declined in Japan and abroad, Koromo entered a period of gradual decline after 1930.[7] The decline encouraged Kiichiro Toyoda, cousin of Eiji Toyoda, to look for alternatives to the family's automatic loom manufacturing business. The search led to the founding of what became the Toyota Motor Corporation. Toyota built the first manufacturing facility, known as Toyota Honsha plant in November 1938, breaking ground in December 1935.[8]
Modern history
On March 1, 1951, Koromo gained city status, and absorbed the village of Takahashi from Nishikamo District on September 30, 1956. Due to the fame and economic importance of its major employer, the city of Koromo (挙母市) changed its name to Toyota on January 1, 1959.
Toyota became a sister city with Detroit, Michigan, United States in 1960. It continued to expand by annexing the towns of Kamigo (Hekikai District) on March 1, 1964, and Takaoka (Hekikai District) on September 1, 1965, and Sanage (Nishikamo District) on April 1, 1967, as well as the village of Matsudaira (Higashikamo District) on April 1, 1970.
In 1979 the Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu) opened the Toyota New Line (now Toyota Line), and in 1988: The Aichi Loop Line was opened, thus considerably improving access to the city via rail transport.
Toyota became a Core City in 1998, with increased local autonomy.
On March 25, 2005, Expo 2005 opened with its main site in Nagakute and additional activity in Seto and Toyota. The Expo continued until September 25, 2005.
The main headquarters of Toyota is located in a 14-story building in Toyota. As of 2006 the head office has the "Toyopet" Toyota logo and the words "Toyota Motor". The Toyota Technical Center, a 14-story building, and the original Honsha plant, Toyota's first plant engaging in mass production and formerly named the Koromo plant, are adjacent to one another in a location near the headquarters. Vinod Jacob from The Hindu described the main headquarters building as "modest".[1] In 2013 company head Akio Toyoda reported that it had difficulties retaining foreign employees at the headquarters due to the lack of amenities in Toyota.[13]
Toyota has 78 public elementary schools and 27 public middle schools operated by the city government and 12 public high schools operated by the Aichi Prefectural Board of Education. There are also two private middle schools and eight private high schools. The prefecture also operates two special education schools for the disabled.
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