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Toyota (豊田市; -shi), or Toyota City, is a
city located in the
Mikawa region of
Aichi,
Japan, ESE of
Nagoya.
As of
2003, the city has an estimated
population of 358,241 (including nearly 12,000
foreign nationals) and a
density of 1,234.85 persons per
km². The total area is 290.11 km².
Koromo Town, the predecessor of present day Toyota, was a major
producer of
silk, and prospered in the Mikawa Region from the
Meiji Era through the
Taisho period. As the demand for raw silk declined in Japan and
abroad, the town entered a period of gradual decline. That decline
encouraged
Kiichiro Toyoda, cousin of
Eiji Toyoda, to look for manufacturing alternatives to the family's
automatic loom manufacturing business. This in turn led to the founding of
what became the
Toyota Motor Corporation.
The town changed its name to Toyota in
1959 and became the
sister city of another
automotive industry headquarters,
Detroit, Michigan, one year later.
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