Ever since playing host to Oda Nobunaga in the 1500's, Nagoya has taken advantage of their central location between the Keihanshin and Tōkyō metropolitan areas to develop into one of Japan's three great economic centers.

It is the birthplace of the A6M Zero fighter - with Mitsubishi Aircraft continuing to base its headquarters in the city - and a center of Japan's automotive industry, with Toyota Motor Corporation based out of the neighboring Toyota city. The beating heart of Japan's heavy industry works tirelessly, even as Manchukuo and Guangdong become new centers of industry in their own right.