Tōkai is located in the far northwestern neck of Chita Peninsula in southern Aichi Prefecture, and is bordered by Ise Bay to the east, and the metropolis of Nagoya to the north.

[2] Per Japanese census data,[4] the population of Tōkai greatly expanded in the 1960s, and has continued to grow at a reduced rate from that period over the past 50 years.

During the Edo period, the area around Tōkai consisted of a number of fishing settlements and was governed as part of Owari Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate.

With the establishment of the modern municipalities system after the start of the Meiji period, the area was organized into a number of villages within Chita District, Aichi.

Tōkai has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 22 members.