Toyota (豊田) is the largest city in Aichi Prefecture by area, and the sixth largest city in the entire Chūbu region by population. 30 km southeast of Nagoya, it is best known as the home of (it was in fact named after) Toyota Motor Corporation.
Understand
[edit]Tourist information site
[edit]The local tourist association has a multilingual guide site.
Get in
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By plane
[edit]Toyota is served by Nagoya's two airports, Centrair and Komaki.
Meitetsu Bus runs 18 buses a day from Centrair, taking 1 hour 30 minutes and costing ¥1900. These buses take one of two different routes, but they all go to Toyota-shi Station. This is definitely an easier option than taking the train, which will require you to change twice.
In the unlikely event that you use the domestic-only Komaki Airport instead, the easiest way is to take the bus into Nagoya (25 minutes, ¥700). For a direct train to Toyota-shi, get off at Fushimi-chō; for the highway bus, change at Sakae.
By train
[edit]Toyota's two main stations are Toyota-shi (豊田市), run by Meitetsu, and Shin-Toyota (新豊田), which is on the Aichi Loop Railway (also known as Aikan: Aichi Kanjo Tetsudo).
The main way into Toyota is the Meitetsu Toyota Line, which is basically an extension of Nagoya's Tsurumai Subway Line. There are usually four trains per hour to Toyota-shi; from Fushimi, these take 50 minutes and ¥780. Note that some Tsurumai Line trains stop short at Akaike. While this is the best way to travel between Toyota and most of Nagoya, the Tsurumai Line serves neither Sakae nor Nagoya Station, and so may be too much of a hassle for long-distance passengers.
An alternative route from Nagoya or Kanayama Stations is to take a Meitetsu Limited Express or Rapid Limited Express train to Chiryū, where you can change to the Mikawa Line towards Sanage; this takes 1 hour and ¥810. For an extra ¥360, you can buy a reserved seat ticket for the Limited Express to Chiryū.
Toyota is not on the JR network. Japan Rail Pass users can get from the Tōkaidō Line to Toyota in 40 minutes for just ¥510 by using the Aichi Loop Line from Okazaki to Shin-Toyota, or Meitetsu from Kariya to Toyota-shi (changing at Chiryū). Going through Okazaki is the best way from Toyohashi, which is served by Kodama and some Hikari trains on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen. If coming from the Chūō Line, it is 35 minutes and ¥620 on the Aichi Loop Line from Kōzōji.
By bus
[edit]The following buses serve Central Toyota:
- JR Tōkai Bus runs the overnight Dream Toyota, which connects Shin-Toyota Station to Tokyo Station, taking 6 hours 45 minutes and costing up to ¥7740.
- Meitetsu Bus runs at least 9 buses a day, usually every hour or two, between Toyota-shi and Nagoya (Meitetsu Bus Center, Fushimi-chō, Nishikidōri-Honmachi, and Sakae Oasis 21), taking 1 hour 15 minutes and costing ¥820.
The following serve Toyota Interchange on the Tōmei Expressway (sometimes known as Tōmei Toyota):
- JR Tōkai Bus, JR Bus Kantō, and JR Bustech run the Tōmei Highway Bus service (9 buses a day between Tokyo and Nagoya, and 1 bus a day between Shizuoka and Nagoya). From Tokyo this takes 5 hours 10 minutes and costs ¥4970.
- Ibaraki Kōtsu runs an overnight bus from Tsukuba, Mito and Hitachi, taking 9 hours and costing between ¥7290 and ¥11,700.
- Meitetsu Bus and Fukushima Transportation run an overnight bus from Tochigi and Fukushima Prefectures (Sano, Kanuma, Utsunomiya, Nishigō for Shirakawa, Sukagawa, Kōriyama, Nihonmatsu, and Fukushima), taking 9 hours 45 minutes and up to ¥11,500 from Fukushima (6 hours 45 minutes and up to ¥10,000 from Utsunomiya).
Tōmei Toyota is connected to Toyota-shi by only 4 Meitetsu Bus services a day (20 minutes, ¥320). More frequent alternatives are to walk 20 minutes north to Toyota-Tōshinchō bus stop, from where it is 20 minutes and ¥270 on the bus to Toyota-shi, or walk 25 minutes south-east to Tsuchihashi Station on the Meitetsu Mikawa Line, from where it is 7 minutes and ¥230 to Toyota-shi on the train.
Get around
[edit]Toyota is, atypical for Japan, a car city with a very good road network and very sparse public transportation, which is quite fitting, considering that Toyota is a popular car brand!
See
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There is a really nice bridge that looks like it is constructed out of dinosaur bones. It makes for some interesting pictures and a nice stroll in the afternoon.
- 1 Toyota Municipal Museum of Art (豊田市美術館).
- Toyota Automobile Museum is in Nagakute City, not here.
- Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology is not here, either. It is in Nagoya City.
- 2 Toyota Kaikan Museum (トヨタ会館), 愛知県豊田市トヨタ町１ (20 minutes walk or 5 minutes bus ride from Mikawa-Toyota Station), ☏ +81 565-29-3345. 9:30-17:00. Fortunately, this Toyota museum is here. You can see some cars made by Toyota, and try some small vehicles here. You may still want to visit some other facilities related to Toyota, anyways. free.
Do
[edit]- 1 Toyota Stadium (豊田スタジアム). Home stadium of Nagoya Grampus soccer team.
Buy
[edit]Eat
[edit]Drink
[edit]Sleep
[edit]- 1 Plaza Hotel Toyota (プラザホテル豊田), 愛知県豊田市豊栄町1丁目88番地 (7 minutes walk after arriving at Mikawa-Toyota Station, or 8 minutes drive after arriving at Toyata Higashi Interchange), ☏ +81 565-29-1811. Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 11:00. The simple hotel is across from Toyota headquarters. You can see it from the hotel. The hotel provides capsule rooms, single rooms, and double rooms. An Artificial Hot Spring is also available.
- 2 Hotel Route-Inn Tyota Jinnaka (ホテルルートイン豊田陣中), 愛知県豊田市陣中町2丁目18-13 (15~20 minutes from Toyota Interchange and Toyota Higashi Interchange. Should take their free shuttle bus from Toyotashi Station). Check-in: 15:00, check-out: 10:00. There's a small mall across from the hotel, and restaurants nearby. The hotel features an artificial hot spring as well.
Connect
[edit]Go next
[edit]
| Routes through Toyota |
| Yokkaichi ← Nagoya-Minami ← Toyoake ← | W  E
|
→ END |
| END ← | W  E
|
→ Seto → Mino |
| into Meishin Expwy ← Nagoya ← | W  E
|
→ Okazaki → Hamamatsu |