Nagoya

Nagoya is a big city in Japan. More than two million people live there.

It sits on a wide, flat plain near the sea.

Nagoya is the capital of Aichi Prefecture, in central Japan. At the 2025 census (preliminary results), 2,345,892 people lived there, making it Japan's fourth-biggest city.

It lies on the Nobi Plain, one of the largest plains in Japan, by Ise Bay. Universalis says Nagoya is the heart of the Chūkyō, Japan's third urban region after Tokyo and Osaka, with about ten million people.

Statistics Bureau of Japan (via City Population): Nagoya City had 2,152,184 people in 1995, 2,215,062 in 2005, 2,295,638 in 2015, 2,332,176 at the 2020 census and 2,345,892 at the 2025 census (preliminary, 1 October 2025), fourth after Tokyo, Yokohama and Osaka.

Universalis (Rémi Scoccimarro): capital of Aichi and the core of a megalopolis reaching into Gifu and Mie prefectures, on the Nobi Plain; together they form the Chūkyō, Japan's third urban region, with about ten million people.

Look at the castle! It has white walls and green roofs, piled up high on a big stone base.

At the very top shine two golden roof ornaments.

This photo shows the keep of Nagoya Castle on 24 July 2008: white walls and layers of green roofs rising above a wall of big fitted stones, with a smaller tower beside it.

The castle's official site says the main tower keep was completed in 1612. It was destroyed in the air raids of 1945 and rebuilt in steel-reinforced concrete after the war. The golden ornaments on top, called kinshachi, were restored in 1959; the taller one is 2.621 meters high, and the scales of both are covered in 18-karat gold.

Commons: 'The keep of Nagoya Castle', 24 July 2008, own work by Base64, CC BY-SA 3.0; camera location about 0.18 km SE of Wikidata's point for the castle.

Nagoya Castle official site: Tokugawa Ieyasu had construction of a new castle at Nagoya begun in 1610; the main keep was completed in 1612; the Hommaru Palace, completed in 1615, was rebuilt from Edo-period plans in 2018; the castle is a Special Historic Site. The keep, rebuilt after the war, is currently closed because of its age and earthquake-resistance concerns. The northern kinshachi is 2.621 m tall and weighs 1,272 kg; the southern one is 2.579 m and 1,215 kg.

Long ago, Nagoya's craftspeople made moving dolls called karakuri. Later, the Toyota car company grew near the city.

Nagoya has long been a city of makers. In the 18th century its craftspeople were already known for karakuri, mechanical dolls that move by themselves, Universalis says. In the 20th century the region became a center of heavy industry and machine building, and the Toyota group grew in Nagoya's eastern suburbs.

In the rebuilt center, the Nagoya TV Tower, 180 meters tall, opened in 1954 in Hisaya Ōdōri Park, Wikidata says.

Universalis: in the 18th century many of Nagoya's people were craftsmen, already specializing in mechanics with karakuri automaton dolls; from the early 20th century the Chūkyō was Japan's third industrial center, in heavy industry and machine building, helped by the rise of the Toyota group in the eastern suburbs. The Tokugawa family, from the province, long took special care over the city's development.

Wikidata: Nagoya TV Tower, construction begun 1953-07-21, opened 1954-06-20, height 180 m, 1.71 km SSE of the castle; Hisaya Ōdōri Park 2.07 km SSE.