Tahara is located at the southernmost tip of Aichi Prefecture, Japan, and is embraced by the picturesque Mikawa Bay to the north and the Atsumi Peninsula to the south. It is a scenic city where nature finds a harmonious coexistence with urban life. Spanning an area of approximately 191 km², this enchanting city is home to around 59,000 residents.

In Tahara, there is a Tahara Rinkai Industrial Zone centered around Mikawa Bay. Since Toyota Motor Corporation built its Tahara Plant in the 1970s, this area has blossomed into a magnet for automobile-related enterprises. In more recent times, with the development of wind and solar power generation facilities, it has become a dynamic industrial hub where manufacturing and renewable energy sectors flourish in mutual harmony.

Tahara is blessed with a temperate winter climate with plenty of sunshine, making it one of the few agricultural regions in Japan. It boasts one of the highest vegetable yields in all of Japan. The city is also a major seafood producer, a leading livestock breeder in Aichi Prefecture, and the foremost flower supplier in Japan.

Among the local luminaries, Watanabe Kazan (1793–1841) was not only a renowned scholar and artist but also an outstanding statesman who played an active role in the late Edo period as one of the ministers of Tahara Han (present Tahara City), a feudal domain.

The Tahara Festival, a local traditional festival dating back to the Edo period, is said to have originated from rituals at Kumano shrines. The festival is widely known for its floats, which, decorated with captivating mechanical puppets, carry on the legacy of the city’s castle town culture.

In October 2005, Kunshan and Tahara established a friendly-exchange relationship.