The most northern large island, and the only main island with only one prefecture. Fukushima was one of the primary regions hit by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. [6] When the ancient ritsuryō districts were reactivated as administrative units in 1878, Tokyo was subdivided into 15 [urban] districts (-ku) and initially six [rural] districts (-gun; nine after the Tama transfer from Kanagawa in 1893, eight after the merger of East Tama and South Toshima into Toyotama in 1896). {"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}. Fukuoka is the largest prefecture in Kyushu and Fukuoka City is the most populated. The inland prefecture Yamanashi means “mountain pear” and Mt. 9. Here are some territories that were lost after World War II. But it was not until the year 2000 that the special wards were fully recognized as municipal-level entities. They are as follows: Hokkaido: Hokkaido.
But to make up for this embarrassment, Matsue, the capital, takes #1 as having the smallest population out of all the 47 prefectural capitals. The Emperor moved to Tokyo in 1868. Japan is divided into 47 prefectures (Japanese: 都道府県, todōfuken, [todoːɸɯ̥ꜜkeɴ]), forming the country's first level of jurisdiction and administrative division. These subprefectures still exist today, although they have much less power than they possessed before and during World War II. However, some of the prefectures acquired non-urban land or were amalgamated into other territories.
the Tōkaidō east-coast region, and Saikaido west-coast region). 11. Ishikawa In 1871, all remaining feudal domains (han) were also transformed into prefectures, so that prefectures subdivided the whole country.
Nagano 6.
35. in many policy areas, the basic framework is set tightly by national laws, and prefectures and municipalities are only autonomous within that framework. However, the country has a tradition of ordering prefectures into geographic regions. Yamaguchi is one of the few prefectures whose largest city, Shimonoseki, isn’t the capital (Yamaguchi City). “Do” or circuit was a term used to refer to regions of Japan with several provinces. Sometimes Okinawa is given its own category as 沖縄地方(おきなわちほう) 25. Okayama 2.
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It was later divided into three prefectures which were again consolidated as Hokkaido Department in 1886. All maps, graphics, flags, photos and original descriptions © 2020 worldatlas.com. Japan has 8 regions and 47 Prefectures. Akagi, and Mt. The prefecture's government calls itself the "Hokkaido Government" rather than the "Hokkaido Prefectural Government". There are some differences in terminology between Tokyo and other prefectures: police and fire departments are called chō (庁) instead of honbu (本部), for instance. Nagoya is Japan’s fourth largest city. 22. 4.
Hyogo prefecture borders two seas: the Sea of Japan to the north and the Inland Sea to the south. 11. Many decisive battles took place in Gifu including Sekigahara, which was the battle that led to Tokugawa Ieyasu consolidating his power. Okinawa. The creator of the beloved children’s character, With all its traditional crafts, Kanazawa is a great place to buy, The many mountains make it a popular place for, Iga City is the birthplace of the most famous haiku poet. 43 of the 47 prefectures are referred to as ken (県, pronounced [keꜜɴ] when a separate word but [ꜜkeɴ] when part of the full name of a prefecture, e.g. Both urban and rural districts, like everywhere in the country, were further subdivided into urban units/towns/neighbourhoods (-chō/-machi) and rural units/villages (-mura/-son). The underwater Kanmon Tunnel connects Yamaguchi to Kyushu. Tokyo is made of 23 main city wards and several other cities, towns, and islands. Ōita 30. Although there were initially over 300 prefectures, many of them being former han territories, this number was reduced to 72 in the latter part of 1871, and 47 in 1888. 17. Haruna, Mt.