Japan's Geography

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Prefectures of Japan - Complete list
 

Japan is divided into 47 local jurisdictions. Namely, one metropolitan district (; To), Tokyo; one circuit (; Do), Hokkaido; two urban prefectures (; Fu), Osaka and Kyoto); and 43 rural prefectures (; Ken). In Japanese they are commonly referred to as Todofuken (都道府県).

The current system was established by the Meiji government in 1871 and is known as the abolition of the Han system. In 2003, Prime Minister Koizumi proposed that the government consolidate the current prefectures into about 10 regional states. The plan called for each region to have greater autonomy than existing prefectures.

Prefecture

Japanese

Capital

Region

Island

Population 1

Area 2

Density 3

Districts

Municipalities

ISO 3166-2

Aichi

愛知県

Nagoya

Chubu

Honshu

7,043,235

5,153.81

1,366

15

88

JP-23

Akita

秋田県

Akita

Tohoku

Honshu

1,189,215

11,612.11

102

9

69

JP-05

Aomori

青森県

Aomori

Tohoku

Honshu

1,475,635

9,606.26

154

8

67

JP-02

Chiba

千葉県

Chiba

Kanto

Honshu

5,926,349

5,156.15

1,149

9

80

JP-12

Ehime

愛媛県

Matsuyama

Shikoku

Honshu

1,493,126

5,676.44

263

11

70

JP-38

Fukui

福井県

Fukui

Chubu

Honshu

828,960

4,188.76

198

10

35

JP-18

Fukuoka

福岡県

Fukuoka

Kyushu

Kyushu

5,015,666

4,971.01

1,009

17

97

JP-40

Fukushima

福島県

Fukushima

Tohoku

Honshu

2,126,998

13,782.54

154

15

90

JP-07

Gifu

岐阜県

Gifu

Chubu

Honshu

2,107,687

10,598.18

199

17

99

JP-21

Gunma

群馬県

Maebashi

Kanto

Honshu

2,024,820

6,363.16

318

12

70

JP-10

Hiroshima

広島県

Hiroshima

Chugoku

Honshu

2,878,949

8,476.95

340

15

86

JP-34

Hokkaido

北海道

Sapporo

Hokkaido

Hokkaido

5,682,950

83,452.47

68

66

212

JP-01

Hyogo

兵庫県

Kobe

Kinki

Honshu

5,550,742

8,392.42

661

19

88

JP-28

Ibaraki

茨城県

Mito

Kanto

Honshu

2,985,424

6,095.62

490

14

84

JP-08

Ishikawa

石川県

Kanazawa

Chubu

Honshu

1,180,935

4,185.32

282

8

41

JP-17

Iwate

岩手県

Morioka

Tohoku

Honshu

1,416,198

15,278.51

93

12

59

JP-03

Kagawa

香川県

Takamatsu

Shikoku

Shikoku

1,022,843

1,861.70

549

7

43

JP-37

Kagoshima

鹿児島県

Kagoshima

Kyushu

Kyushu

1,786,214

9,132.42

196

12

96

JP-46

Kanagawa

神奈川県

Yokohama

Kanto

Honshu

8,489,932

2,415.42

3,515

7

37

JP-14

Kochi

高知県

Kochi

Shikoku

Shikoku

813,980

7,104.70

115

7

53

JP-39

Kumamoto

熊本県

Kumamoto

Kyushu

Kyushu

1,859,451

6,908.45

269

11

94

JP-43

Kyoto

京都府

Kyoto

Kinki

Honshu

2,644,331

4,612.93

573

12

44

JP-26

Mie

三重県

Tsu

Kinki

Honshu

1,857,365

5760.72

322

14

69

JP-24

Miyagi

宮城県

Sendai

Tohoku

Honshu

2,365,204

6,861.51

325

15

71

JP-04

Miyazaki

宮崎県

Miyazaki

Kyushu

Kyushu

1,170,023

6,684.67

175

8

44

JP-45

Nagano

長野県

Nagano

Chubu

Honshu

2,214,409

12,598.48

163

16

120

JP-20

Nagasaki

長崎県

Nagasaki

Kyushu

Kyushu

1,516,536

4,092.80

371

9

79

JP-42

Nara

奈良県

Nara

Kinki

Honshu

1,442,862

3,691.09

391

8

47

JP-29

Niigata

新潟県

Niigata

Chubu

Honshu

2,475,724

12,582.37

197

16

111

JP-15

Oita

大分県

Oita

Kyushu

Kyushu

1,221,128

5,804.24

210

12

58

JP-44

Okayama

岡山県

Okayama

Chugoku

Honshu

1,950,656

7,008.63

278

18

78

JP-33

Okinawa

沖縄県

Naha

Kyushu

Okinawa

1,318,281

2,271.30

580

5

53

JP-47

Osaka

大阪府

Osaka

Kinki

Honshu

8,804,806

1,893.18

4,652

5

44

JP-27

Saga

佐賀県

Saga

Kyushu

Kyushu

876,664

2,439.23

359

8

49

JP-41

Saitama

埼玉県

Saitama

Kanto

Honshu

6,938,004

3,767.09

1,827

9

90

JP-11

Shiga

滋賀県

Otsu

Kinki

Honshu

1,342,811

4,017.36

334

11

50

JP-25

Shimane

島根県

Matsue

Chugoku

Honshu

761,499

6,707.32

114

12

59

JP-32

Shizuoka

静岡県

Shizuoka

Chubu

Honshu

3,767,427

7,328.61

484

12

74

JP-22

Tochigi

栃木県

Utsunomiya

Kanto

Honshu

2,004,787

6,408.28

313

7

49

JP-09

Tokushima

徳島県

Tokushima

Shikoku

Shikoku

823,997

4,145.26

199

10

50

JP-36

Tokyo

東京都

Shinjuku

Kanto

Honshu

12,059,237

2,187.08

5,514

1

39

JP-13

Tottori

鳥取県

Tottori

Chugoku

Honshu

613,229

3,507.19

175

6

39

JP-31

Toyama

富山県

Toyama

Chubu

Honshu

1,120,843

4,247.22

264

7

35

JP-16

Wakayama

和歌山県

Wakayama

Kinki

Honshu

1,069,839

4,725.55

226

7

50

JP-30

Yamagata

山形県

Yamagata

Tohoku

Honshu

1,244,040

9,323.34

133

9

44

JP-06

Yamaguchi

山口県

Yamaguchi

Chugoku

Honshu

1,528,107

6,110.76

250

11

56

JP-35

Yamanashi

山梨県

Kofu

Chubu

Honshu

888,170

4,465.37

199

8

64

JP-19

Notes: 1 as of 2000, 2 km2, 3 per km2

Article text is from Wikipedia and licensed under terms of GFDL. The original article can be found here.
 
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