Aichi Prefecture

Aichi Prefecture is located at the center of Tokai District.

The east part of the prefecture is mountainous, and the west part is flatland.
Many cities including Nagoya are in the west part.
The prefecture has two peninsula, western Chita Peninsula and eastern Atsumi Peninsula.
There is Mikawa Bay inside both peninsulas. To the west of Chita Peninsula, there is Ise Bay.

From the late 16th century to the early 17th century, three outstanding feudal warlords were produced in this prefecture.
They were Nobunaga Oda, Hideyoshi Toyotomi and Ieyasu Tokugawa, and they are the most famous figures in Japanese history.

The main industry is manufacturing, and car industry is particularly known.
Toyota city located to the east of Nagoya has the name of the worldwide car company "Toyota".

In 2005, the World Exposition was held in Aichi Prefecture.

Nagoya is the prefectural capital, and is also the central city of Tokai District.
It has a population of 2.25 million people, and is the fourth largest city in Japan, after Tokyo, Yokohama and Osaka.
It is between Tokyo metropolitan area (Tokyo, Yokohama, Saitama and Chiba) and Kansai area (Osaka, Kyoto,Kobe), and a large city area is formed.

The busy shopping areas in Nagoya are Nagoya station area and Sakae area.

To visit Aichi Prefecture, Tokaido Shinkansen is very convenience.
From Tokyo, we can reach Nagoya within 2 hours. And from Kyoto, we can come within only 40 minutes.

There is Chubu Centrair International Airport is in Tokoname city located about 35 km south of Nagoya.
It has the flights from many local cities in Japan and many cities in foreign countries in the world.

And Prefectural Nagoya Airport is located about 10 km northeast of Nagoya.
It has the flights from some other local cities in Japan.

A sightseeing Guide to Aichi Prefecture
Chubu Centrair International Airport official website
Prefectural Nagoya Airport official website
Nagoya Raiload (Meitetsu) official website : the railroad company accessing to Centrair
Transportation Bureau of Nagoya city official website

To tour around some spots in Nagoya city, the sightseeing route bus "Me-guru" is operated.

Nagoya Info

Around Nagoya city

Around Nagoya station /1/
Nagoya Castle /2/
Nagoya TV Tower /3/
Oosu district /4/
Tokugawa Art Museum /5/
Nittaiji temple /6/
Atsuta Shrine /7/
Kiyosu Castle /8/

Other spots in Aichi Prefecture

Inuyama Castle /11/
Urakuen garden /12/
Museum Meiji-mura /13/
Seto city /14/
Tokoname city /15/
Okazaki Castle /16/
Toyokawa Inari temple /17/
Houraiji temple /18/

Scenic or Nature / Park or Garden / Resort / City, Town or Village / Quarter or Street /
Temple or Shrine / Museum or Laboratory / Market or Commercial facility / Factory /
Other Building or Construction / Historic place / Remains / World Heritage Site

Kounomiya Hadaka Festival (Mid-February)

It is the unique traditional festival, and is held at Kounomiya Shrine in Inazawa city located about 10 km northwest of Nagoya. "Hadaka" means "naked".
A sacred man is selected from candidates. The selected man purifies himself in the shrine for three days.
On the day, thousand of men with only a loincloth gather this shrine from surrounding area. They are 25 or 42 years old which are the unlucky year in men's life in Shinto.
After they jostle each other, the sacred man without a stitch of clothing enter the crowd.
All men try to touch the sacred man to drive away their unlucky, so the crowd becomes very exciting.
After about an hour, the sacred man enter into the shrine.
The sacred man sucking much unlucky is removed from the shrine in the midnight, then the festival is finished.

Inuyama Festivel (First Saturday and Sunday in April)

It is the festival held in Inuyama city. It is said that this festival has been held since 1635.
Thirteen floats parade throughout the city.
The float has three stories.
On the floor, Karakuri Doll (Japanese mechanized puppets) is set up.
And the operators on the second floor operate the doll, and the musicians play music on the lowest floor.
Not only the parade of the floats but also the show of the Karakuri Dolls is the main attraction.

Kishimen

Udon is one of popular noodle in Japan.
Kishimen is the thin and wide noodle made from the same dough as udon.
There are the various dishes of kishimen like udon, so kishimen is served in most noodle restaurants in Nagoya city.
Most basic kishimen dish is the boiled noodle in hot soup of dashi and soy sauce.
And a piece of age (fried tofu), kamaboko and boiled spinach are topped, and heaped shaved dried-bonito is added on the dish.

Miso-nikomi udon

It is the udon noodle dish stewed in miso soup, and it is one of popular dishes in Japan.
But the one around Nagoya is unique.
Haccho-miso (red miso made from only soy beans and mainly made in Okazaki city) is used, so the soup has a thick taste.
And the udon noodle is thick and hard. So the people who eat it first may think that the noodle is half-cooked.

Hitsumabushi

It is also the dish in Nagoya.
A bowl of rice topped with grilled eel with dipping soy sauce, mirin and sugar is served.
First, you put a quarter of the dish into a small bowl by yourself, and eat it.
Secondly, you put a quarter of dish into the small bowl, and eat it after topping with nori (dried laver), wasabi and chopped negi (green onion).
Thirdly, you put a quarter of dish into the small bowl, and top in the same way. Additionally you pour green tea or dashi soup over it and eat it.
Finally, you eat the last quarter by your favorite way.

Uirou

It is the steamed cake made of rice flour and sugar. The confectionery is made in some area in western Japan, but uirou in Nagoya is well-known.
There are several variations of the cake.
White uirou is made with white sugar, and brown uirou is made with brown sugar.
And there are other various flavored uirou such as green tea, red bean, coffee, citrus, and so on. They are colorful.

Ebi-senbei (Shrimp cracker)

It is a Japanese cracker with shrimp, and most productions in Japan is made in the towns facing Mikawa Bay and in Chita Peninsula.
Especially, Issiki town is well-known.
Ebi-senbei is made by baking starch with water in a circle.
Shrimp is used with adding in whole on the starch, or minched shrimp is mixed in the starch.