Nagoya

Nagoya rose to power as a castle town during the feudal age. Three of Japan’s great historic heroes were born here or nearby. Oda Nobunaga who seized power from the imperial court in Kyoto in 1568; Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Oda’s most able commander who extended unification until the whole country was under his rule; and Tokugawa Ieyasu who built Nagoya Castle, then set up his field headquarters at Edo (now Tokyo) and assumed the title of shogun, while the emperor and court in Kyoto exercised authority in name only. Today, Nagoya is Japan’s fourth largest city and a commercial and industrial centre.