How many of these are cities of Japan: Hitachi, Nikko, Sanyo, Toyota?

Three of the names presented are indeed prominent cities across Japan, each with its own unique character and history. Hitachi, found in Ibaraki Prefecture, is a significant industrial city on the coast, which famously lent its name to the global electronics and machinery conglomerate, the Hitachi Group, established there in 1910. Further inland in Tochigi Prefecture, Nikko is a mountainous city celebrated for its stunning UNESCO World Heritage shrines and temples, including the intricately decorated Toshogu Shrine, making it a major spiritual and tourist destination. Then there is Toyota, located in Aichi Prefecture, a city so synonymous with its automotive giant that it was officially renamed from Koromo in 1959 to honor the Toyota Motor Corporation, which still maintains its global headquarters there.

These three municipalities stand as testament to Japan's diverse landscape, from industrial hubs to cultural treasures and economic powerhouses. Their names are deeply embedded in their local identity and often resonate globally due to the companies or historical sites associated with them.

The lone exception in the list is Sanyo. Unlike the other three, Sanyo is not a city or any geographical location in Japan. Instead, it was a major Japanese electronics company, founded in 1947 by Toshio Iue, a former employee of Matsushita Electric (now Panasonic). Sanyo was once a well-known brand, producing everything from batteries to televisions and washing machines, before it was eventually acquired by Panasonic in 2009. This makes Sanyo a corporate entity rather than a place, highlighting how some company names can misleadingly sound like geographical locations, especially in a country where many businesses are named after their founding cities.