Aichi

Aichi lies midway between Tokyo and Osaka on the Pacific side of Honshu. Its western half, the old province of Owari, occupies the eastern Nōbi Plain around Nagoya and Ise Bay; its eastern half, Mikawa, stretches from the Okazaki Plain and the Chita and Atsumi peninsulas to the Mikawa highlands on the Nagano border. It is densely populated and, after Tokyo, Kanagawa and Osaka, the fourth most populous prefecture in Japan.

Aichi has long led the country in the value of its manufactured goods. The Toyota group grew here from a loom maker into one of the world's largest carmakers, and the prefecture's industry extends to aerospace, machine tools, ceramics and textiles. The Port of Nagoya is one of Japan's largest ports, and Chūbu Centrair International Airport serves the region.

Historically, Aichi can claim more influence over Japanese history than almost any other prefecture: Nobunaga and Hideyoshi came from Owari and Ieyasu from Mikawa, and many of the daimyo families of the Edo period traced their roots here. Nagoya Castle, Atsuta Shrine, the pottery towns of Seto and Tokoname and a distinctive food culture are its best-known attractions.

The name comes from Aichi District in Owari, recorded in ancient times as Ayuchi, an area around present-day Nagoya and Atsuta whose name is thought to refer to its tidal flats. In 1872 Nagoya Prefecture, formed from the Owari domain, was renamed Aichi and merged with Nukata Prefecture, which covered Mikawa, creating the present prefecture.

The Owari half of the prefecture is almost entirely lowland, the eastern part of the Nōbi Plain drained by the Kiso and Shōnai rivers; its south-western corner, around Yatomi and Tobishima, lies below sea level. The Chita Peninsula extends south between Ise Bay and Mikawa Bay, and the long Atsumi Peninsula closes Mikawa Bay from the Pacific, ending at Cape Irago.

Mikawa rises from the Okazaki and Toyohashi plains, watered by the Yahagi and Toyo rivers, into the forested Mikawa highlands, where the prefecture's highest peak, Chausu-yama (1,415 m), stands near the Nagano border. Mikawa Bay and the Atsumi coast form a quasi-national park with beaches and small islands such as Himakajima and Shinojima.

Aichi has a Pacific climate with hot, humid summers and mild, dry winters. Nagoya's summers are among the most oppressive of Japan's large cities, while in winter the cold ibuki-oroshi wind blows from the mountains to the north-west and occasionally brings snow to the plain. The Atsumi Peninsula is mild enough for year-round flower growing, and the Mikawa highlands are cool in summer.

Atsuta Shrine, which holds the sacred sword Kusanagi, one of the three imperial regalia, made Owari religiously important from ancient times. In the sixteenth century the region produced Japan's unifiers: Oda Nobunaga defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto at Okehazama in 1560, Toyotomi Hideyoshi rose from a farmer's son in Nakamura, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, born at Okazaki Castle, founded the shogunate after Sekigahara. Their armies' victory at Nagashino in 1575 is famous for the use of massed firearms.

In 1610 Ieyasu ordered the building of Nagoya Castle and moved the entire town of Kiyosu to the new site. Nagoya became the seat of the Owari Tokugawa, one of the three senior branches of the shogunal house. In the Meiji era Owari became a centre of textile production, and in the twentieth century of machinery, aircraft and automobiles.

Aichi suffered heavily in the Second World War from air raids on its aircraft factories, and in 1959 the Isewan Typhoon killed more than 5,000 people around Ise Bay. The 2005 World Exposition in Nagakute and Seto and the opening of Centrair marked the region's international profile.

Aichi's culture reflects the samurai heritage of Owari and Mikawa and the thrift and practicality associated with its merchants and manufacturers. Karakuri, mechanical puppets that perform on festival floats, are a regional speciality and a forerunner of the area's engineering tradition. The prefecture has more float festivals inscribed by UNESCO than any other.

Nagoya's popular culture is known for its generous hospitality, including the "morning" service in which cafés include toast and eggs with a morning coffee, its elaborate weddings and its dialect. Pottery has been made in Seto and Tokoname for a thousand years; the word setomono is still used throughout Japan for ceramics.

Nagoya meshi, Nagoya food, is one of Japan's most distinctive regional cuisines. Its hallmark is dark, rich Hatchō miso from Okazaki, made from soybeans alone and aged for years, which flavours miso-katsu and miso-nikomi udon. Eel from Mikawa, chicken wings, flat kishimen noodles and sweet bean toast complete the repertoire. Chita and Handa are known for vinegar, sake and soy sauce, and Nishio for matcha.

Aichi has ranked first among Japan's prefectures in the value of manufactured goods for decades. The core is the automotive industry, centred on Toyota and its suppliers in western Mikawa, together with aerospace in Nagoya and Komaki, machine tools, fine ceramics, steel, and textiles in the Bisai area. The Port of Nagoya handles large volumes of vehicle exports.

Agriculture is also strong: the Atsumi Peninsula is a leading producer of chrysanthemums grown under electric light, cabbages and flowers, and Aichi is known for eel farming at Isshiki and matcha from Nishio.