GETTING YOUR BEARINGS

Toyota City Aichi Prefecture Honshu Island JAPAN

TOYOTA CITY AND NAGOYA

Toyota City is in the Aichi prefecture, essentially in the centre of the main island of Honshu.

Nagoya is the largest city in Aichi and one of the larger cities in Japan with a population of around 2.4 million. Nagoya is one of the busiest ports in Japan, with enormous volumes of cars and parts being shipped in an out.

Toyota City is 30 minutes to 45 minutes from Nagoya depending on traffic and both cities are served by Chubu Centrair Airport – although tickets from New Zealand will say Nagoya is the final destination.

Chubu Centrair Airport is about a 45 minute drive from Nagoya and closer to an hour from Nagoya.

Korean Air fly to Incheon Seoul direct from Auckland and have a connecting flight to Nagoya.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

The beauty of Japan is that it has a supremely efficient and reliable public transport network.

There is a regular bus from Chubu Centrair Airport to Toyota and rail and bus links within the city that will take you to the Toyota Automobile Museum and Asuke.

There are also good links between Toyota City and Nagoya and the latter is well served by the Shinkansen – the bullet train. The journey from Tokyo to Nagoya takes about two hours 40 minutes.

NAGOYA CASTLE

A visit to Nagoya is going to almost certainly involve visiting the castle. It is an impressive, picture-postcard structure – with five stories, a working moat and a long and rich history.

Intriguingly Nagoya Castle survived in its original form until 1945 when it was damaged in a bomb raid. But fortunately it has been rebuilt in what would appear to be traditional form.

The castle was reflective of the importance of Nagoya during the Edo period of Japanese history. Nagoya was one of five key staging posts on a vital trading route.

The castle provides a superb insight into the history of the Samurai period.