The city of Nagoya is part of a metropolitan area of over 9.5 million people as of 2025. It was destroyed by the bombing of World War II, and was rebuilt as a modern, well planned city. Compared to the other metro areas of Japan, you’ll notice an abundance of trees, flowers, gardens, parks and WIDE roads. Nagoya is known as the “Detroit” of Japan. Do you see all the Toyotas on the road? That’s because the world’s top car maker is right here in our back yard.
Nagoya is the fourth-‐largest incorporated city (2.43 million) and the third most populous urban area (10.1 million) in Japan.
Nagoya is located on the Pacific coast of Japan. It is the capital of the Aichi Prefecture and is one of Japan’s largest economic ports. It sits right in the middle of the Chukyo Metropolitan Area – an area of 10.1 million people. As far as urban development and population size goes, Nagoya is a great deal like the city of Chicago. However, economically, Nagoya has been dubbed the ‘Detroit of Japan’. This is because Nagoya’s main source of revenue is the automotive industry. Over 40% of Japanese autos are produced here and it is harbors headquarters, manufacturing operations, and distribution points for companies like Toyota, Honda, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, and General Motors. It also is known for its aerospace industry.
The people of Nagoya can be difficult to get to know, but of course it’s dangerous to generalize. They say if you can succeed in business in Nagoya, you can succeed anywhere. Maybe there is a parallel in ministry. Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture is listed year after year as the most unreached part of Japan. The national average is one church for every 16,000 people; in Aichi, it’s one for every 21,000-26,000.
Currently there are five JEMS’ families in Nagoya. Three are assigned to Christ Bible Seminary, one family is church planting in the eastern suburbs of Nagoya and we are church planting downtown.