The conference I’m attending this week is hosted in Toyota City. The city is east of Nagoya and about an hour train ride away, and there seemed to be at least different routes from Nagoya Station itself at least. The route I took was to hop on the Higashiyama Line and get to Fushimi Station – one stop away – then a longer 50 minute ride from Fushimi to Toyotashi Station along the Tsurumai Line. Selected train timings do not require passengers traveling to Toyotashi to change trains at the mid-point i.e. Akaike Station, so that was the option I took.
I departed Nagoya at just after 10AM and got to Toyotashi Station just after 11AM, with the property I’m staying – Hotel Toyota Castle – a short 1 minute walk from the station itself. My first impression of this city, home to the famous car manufacturer, was ‘not too bad’ . The last two Japanese cities that hosted this conference were Matsue, and Tokuyama, and both of those two plces were far more sedate. Toyota City, or more specifically the station area, has a few shopping malls with F&B options, and mid-size multi-floor department store in one of them, a cinema, and also two fairly large supermarkets. There was a fair bit of construction going around the station area though, so construction boards were in place to guide people walking around where to walk. I also observed a fair number of Caucasian persons around the hotels at the station area, and I suspect most of them would be here for business.
Comfort-wise: there’s a McDonald’s and also Starbucks just outside and on the second floor of the T-Face shopping mall, and also a Dunkin’ Donuts cafe in Toyota Kitara just opposite the hotel.
Generally, Toyota City felt for me a fairly quiet and serene city, and the area where the station is has all of the amenities you’d need. Beyond that though, I reckon if you’re visiting this place, it’d be for business rather than leisure. Nagoya is basically a much better base for you to play an itinerary around!