Nagoya serves as the capital and most populous city within Aichi Prefecture, situated in the Chūbu region of central Honshu, Japan. Located on the Pacific coast north of Ise Bay on the fertile Nōbi Plain, it functions as the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area. The city is built on low-level plateaus designed to ward off floodwaters, with the Kiso and Shōnai rivers defining its western and northeastern borders respectively.