Anjō, Aichi

Anjō (安城市, Anjō-shi) is a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

As of August 2011, the city has an estimated population of 179,614 and a population density of 2,090 persons per km². The total area is 86.01 km².

Geography

Anjō is situated in southern Aichi Prefecture, approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) from central Nagoya.

Neighboring municipalities

• Okazaki
• Hekinan
• Kariya
• Toyota
• ChiryÅ«
• Nishio

History

The area of present-day Anjō has been continuously occupied since preshistoric times. Archaeologists have found numerous remains from the Japanese Paleolithic period and burial mounds from the Kofun period. During the Nara period, the area was assigned to ancient Hekikai County, and was divided into several shōen during the Heian period, largely under the control of the Fujiwara clan or the Taira clan. However, in the Kamakura period, parts of the territory came under the control of the Jōdo Shinshū sect, who challenged the secular authority of the various samurai clans, most notably the Matsudaira clan. During the Sengoku period, numerous fortifications were erected in the area. Tokugawa Ieyasu unified the region and destroyed the power of the Jōdo Shinshū sect in the Battle of Azukizaka (1564). During the Edo period, half of present-day Anjō was controlled by Okazaki Domain and the other half by Kariya Domain with some scattered portions of tenryō territory ruled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate in between.

At the start of the Meiji period, on October 1, 1889 Anjō was a collection of villages within Hekikai District, Aichi Prefecture. It was elevated to town status on May 1, 1906. The opening of the Meiji Irrigation Canal transformed the area in the 1920s and 1930s into one of the most agriculturally productive regions of the period, sparking the comparison with Denmark, then regarded the most highly advanced agricultural nation in the world. This led to Anjō's moniker of "Japan's Denmark" (日本デンマーク), which remains in the form of Den Park, a Danish theme park, as well as Den Beer, a microbrew available in the park.

Anjō was elevated to city status on May 3, 1952. On April 1, 1967, it annexed the neighboring town of Sakura.

Economy

Anjō is a regional commercial center with a mixed economy of manufacturing and agriculture. Due to its proximity to the various factories of Toyota in neighboring Toyota City, Anjō is host to many factories supplying components into the automobile industry. The famous Japanese power tool company Makita was founded in Anjō, 1915. In addition to rice, wheat, and soybeans, notable agricultural products include figs, Japanese pears, and cucumbers.

Education

• Aichi University of Technology

Transportation

Railway

The Tōkaidō Shinkansen stops at Mikawa-Anjō Station, but Anjō Station on the Tōkaidō Main Line and Shin-Anjō Station on the Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line and Nishio Line serve the commercial center of the city.

• JR Central â€" Tōkaidō Shinkansen
  • Mikawa-Anjō

• JR Central â€" Tōkaidō Main Line
  • Anjō • Mikawa-Anjō

• Meitetsu â€" Nagoya Main Line
  • Shin-Anjō

• Meitetsu â€" Nishio Line
  • Shin-Anjō • Kita-Anjō • Minami-Anjō • Hekikai-Furui • Horiuchi-Kōen • Sakurai • Minami-Sakurai •

Highway

National Route 1 and National Route 23 provide the main east-west access through the city, with Aichi Prefectural Route 48 running between the two.

Local attractions

• Honsho-ji â€" Buddhist temple that was the site of the Battle of Azukizaka (1564)
• Site of Anjo Castle, built in 1480, destroyed in 1562

Sister cities

• Huntington Beach, California, USA, since July 4, 1992
• Hobsons Bay, Australia, since October 15, 1994
• Kolding, Denmark, since January 21, 2009

Notable people from Anjō

• Tohru Fukuyama, organic chemist
• Kazuchika Okada, professional wrestler
• Ayumi Tanimoto, Olympic gold-medalist judo wrestler
• Ryōka Yuzuki, voice actress

References

External links

• Official website (Japanese)