[3] Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and most populous city of Aichi Prefecture, with the Port of Nagoya being Japan's largest seaport.

In 1610, the warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu, a retainer of Oda Nobunaga, moved the capital of Owari Province from Kiyosu to Nagoya.

The arrival of the 20th century brought a convergence of economic factors that fueled rapid growth in Nagoya during the Meiji Restoration, and it became a major industrial hub for Japan.

The traditional manufactures of timepieces, bicycles, and sewing machines were followed by the production of special steels, ceramic, chemicals, oil, and petrochemicals, as the area's automobile, aviation, and shipbuilding industries flourished.

It is linked with Tokyo, Kyōto, and Osaka by the Tokaido Shinkansen, and is home to the Nagoya Stock Exchange as well as the headquarters of Brother Industries, Ibanez, Lexus, and Toyota Tsusho, among others.

The Atsuta Shrine is of ancient origin, it is home to the Imperial Regalia of Japan, the legendary sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi.

Oda Nobunaga and his protégés Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu were powerful warlords based in the Nagoya area who gradually succeeded in unifying Japan.

In 1610, Tokugawa Ieyasu moved the capital of Owari Province from Kiyosu, about seven kilometers (4.3 miles) away, to a more strategic location in present-day Nagoya.

Its economic sphere included the famous pottery towns of Tokoname, Tajimi and Seto, as well as Okazaki, one of the only places where gunpowder was produced under the shogunate.

The availability of space and the central location of the region and the well-established connectivity were some of the major factors that lead to the establishment of the aviation industry there.

The Nagoya area also produced machine tools, bearings, railway equipment, metal alloys, tanks, motor vehicles and processed foods during the war.

The XXI Bomber Command established a new U.S. Army Air Force record with the greatest tonnage ever released on a single target in one mission—3,162 tons of incendiaries.

[9][full citation needed] Nagoya Castle, which was being used as a military command post, was hit and mostly destroyed on May 14, 1945,[10] followed by the Yokkaichi bombing in June 1945.

After the war the city was able to rebuild and take up its role again as one of the country's leading industrial and manufacturing centers, it became known as the "Houston and Montreal of the Orient".

It also plays an increasing role in the meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions (MICE) industry, hosting the Expo 2005 and the Nagoya Protocol conference in 2010.

Its metropolitan area extends into the Mie and Gifu prefectures, with a total population of about 10 million people, surpassed only by Osaka and Tokyo.

Spark plug maker NGK and Nippon Sharyo, known for manufacturing rolling stock including the Shinkansen are headquartered there.

Ofukei ware started under the first Owari lord Tokugawa Yoshinao and was interrupted once, but continued on until the end of the Edo period.

The lord's taste in ceramics was also imitated by other Owari samurai, such as Hirasawa Kurō and Masaki Sōzaburō, who made their own pieces.

[31] Brother Industries, which is known for office electronics such as multifunction printers is based in Nagoya, as is Hoshizaki Electric, which is known for commercial ice machines and refrigeration equipment.

The Hōsa Library dates to the 17th century and houses 110,000 items, including books of classic literature such as historic editions of The Tale of Genji that are an heirloom of the Owari Tokugawa and were bequeathed to the city.

Most local bus routes complement existing rail service to form an effective intermodal transit network.

[36] Other attractions include: Nagoya is a starting point for visits to the surrounding area, such as Inuyama, Little World Museum of Man, Meiji Mura, Tokoname, Himakajima, Tahara, Toyohashi and Toyokawa and Hamamatsu.

They encouraged trade and the arts under their patronage, especially Tokugawa Muneharu, the 7th lord, who took a keen interest in drama and plays and lived lavishly.

The Honmaru Palace, destroyed in the Pacific War, was reconstructed in 2018;[40] it is a prime example of the Shoin-zukuri architecture of the feudal era.

Developed during the Edo period, one of Japan's kabuki grand stages is Misono-za, which also hosts various other Japanese entertainment such as concerts.

[48] The anime The Wind Rises by Hayao Miyazaki, released in 2013, is a highly fictionalized biography of the Mitsubishi A6M Zero's chief engineer Jiro Horikoshi and takes mostly place in Nagoya of the 1920s and 1930s.

[49][50] Nagoya is also the setting for the manga and anime series Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki, which highlights many of the sites and traditions of the city.

Haruki Murakami called Nagoya "another world" (異界, ikai) in the book "Tokyo Surume Club: Chikyuu no Hagurekata".

Nagoya is home to several professional sports teams: In 2007, the Chunichi Dragons won the Japan Series baseball championship.