Toyokawa, Aichi

Infobox City Japan
Name= Toyokawa
JapaneseName= 豊川市
Map

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Region= Chūbu,Tōkai
Prefecture= Aichi
District=
Area_km2= 150.71
PopDate= April 1, 2008
Population= 161,494
Density_km2= 1070
Coords=
LatitudeDegrees= 34
LatitudeMinutes= 50
LatitudeSeconds=
LongtitudeDegrees= 137
LongtitudeMinutes= 23
LongtitudeSeconds=
Tree= Japanese Black Pine
Flower= Dwarf azalea
Bird=
Symbol
!border
SymbolDescription= Flag
Mayor= Minoru Yamawaki
CityHallPostalCode= 442-0068
CityHallAddress= 1-1 Suwa-chō, Toyokawa-shi, Aichi-ken
CityHallPhone= 0533-89-2111
CityHallLink= [http://www.city.toyokawa.lg.jp/ City of Toyokawa]

nihongo|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.

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.

Sister City Relations

Toyokawa is sister cities with Cupertino, California in the United States" [http://www.sf.us.emb-japan.go.jp/pdf/Local_Government.pdf Consolidation of Local Governments in Japan and Effects on Sister City Relationships] ," "Consulate General of Japan, San Francisco"] . 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.

References

External links

* [http://www.city.toyokawa.lg.jp/english/index.html Toyokawa official website in English] (with link to pages in Japanese)