Aichi Prefecture and Tokugawa Ieyasu
- Tony Boccia
- 5 hours ago
- 2 min read
Aichi Prefecture 愛知県 in the Chubu Region of Japan is home to a wide variety of things to see and do. From iconic Mt. Fuji to snowy Nagano and the rice fields of Niigata, there's incredible food, outdoor activities, and charming villages to see and visit. The cornerstone of this prefecture is Nagoya, the fourth-largest city in Japan by population and one of the more diverse of Japan's many urban sprawls. I've been to Nagoya a few times; it's one of my favorite large cities for food, culture, history, and of course, the awesome people.
I recently added some links and locations to the PHG page on Aichi Prefecture, as I've poked around and found some of the monuments and memorials to Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was born here. Ieyasu is known as the man who helped end the Sengoku Period, the 150-year era of near-constant civil war in the 15th and 16th centuries. Ieyasu and his predecessors Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, are known as the 'Great Unifiers' of Japan, and the Tokugawa Shogunate that Ieyasu founded lasted for 265 years, from 1603 to 1868.
Ieyasu's life and times have been captured in print, film, and the stage; the monuments that bear his name are far more than statues and markers; these are the very foundations of the Japanese state itself. From manufacturing to medicine, finance to farming, the Tokugawa clan built much of what we consider 'Japanese' during their reign. If you're interested in knowing more, there's some fantastic sources on the reading list. I also recommend going to some of the monuments and museums built to honor Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Check it out, next time you're in Nagoya or the surrounding area! Pacific History Guide is here to get you connected to the museums, monuments and memorials where you are, off the beaten path and away from the tourist traps.
Happy discovering!
Tony