都道府県 — Prefectures of Japan
February 22nd, 2009I find that, as a part of learning about Japan, the language, culture, history, diversity, etc., it’s valuable to have a sense of Japanese geography, and there’s no better way to do that than to start by learning the prefectures. Japan has 47 prefectures, or prefecture-level divisions.
- 44 of them are 県 [けん, ken], or prefecture
- Two of them are 府 [ふ, fu]. They are the major metropolitan areas of 京都府 (Kyōto) and 大阪府 (Ōsaka).
- One is 都 [と, to]. That’s 東京都 (Tōkyō), the capital.
- One is 道 [どう, dō]. That’s 北海道 (Hokkaidō), the northernmost of the major islands.
地域 [ちいき, chi iki]
Much like the East and West Coast of the United States, there are two regions (地域) of Japan that seem to represent the main cultural split of cosmopolitan Japan: 関東 and 関西. At the heart of 関東 is 東京, and at the heart of 関西 are 大阪 and 京都. Between them there is a difference of dialect, food, pace of life, and general outlook. There are three other regions of 本州: 東北, 中部, and 中国 (not to be confused with China). Add the islands of 九州 and 四国, as well as the northernmost island 北海道 and the southernmost prefecture 沖縄, and you have Japan.
The eight 地域 [ちいき, chi iki] of Japan:
- 北海道 [ほっかいどう, Hokkaidō]
- 本州: 東北 [とうほく, Tōhoku]
- 本州: 関東 [かんとう, Kantō]
- 本州: 中部 [ちゅうぶ, Chūbu]
- 本州: 関西 [かんさい, Kansai]
- 本州: 中国 [ちゅうごく, Chūgoku]
- 四国 [しこく, Shikoku]
- 九州 [きゅうしゅう, Kyūshū] and 沖縄県 [おきなわけん, Okinawa-ken]
1. 東北地方 [とうほくちほう, Tōhoku-chihō]
One thing I remember about 東北 is that when I was living in 東京, most of the dairy products and a lot of other produce came from either 北海道 or 東北 (especially 青森県 and 岩手県). There are six prefectures in 東北地方:
- 青森県 [あおもりけん, Aomori-ken]
- 岩手県 [いわてけん, Iwate-ken]
- 宮城県 [みやきけん, Miyagi-ken]
- 秋田県 [あきたけん, Akita-ken]
- 山形県 [やまがたけん, Yamagata-ken]
- 福島県 [ふくしまけん, Fukushima-ken]
2. 関東地方 [かんとうちほう, Kantō-chihō]
関東地方 is basically 東京, its three suburb prefectures, and the three more rural prefectures of 茨城, 栃木 (where 日光 [にっこう, Nikkō] is), and 群馬. 東京 is its own prefecture, and is subdivided into 23 little cities on the Western side and 23 特別区 (special wards) on the Eastern side.
- 茨城県 [いばらきけん, Ibaraki-ken]
- 栃木県 [とちぎけん, Tochigi-ken]
- 群馬県 [ぐんまけん, Gunma-ken]
- 埼玉県 [さいたまけん, Saitama-ken]
- 千葉県 [ちばけん, Chiba-ken]
- 東京都 [とうきょうと, Tōkyō-to]
- 神奈川県 [かながわけん, Kanagawa-ken]
3. 中部地方 [ちゅうぶちほう, Chūbu-chihō]
中部地方 covers a large stretch along the Japan sea from 新潟 to 福井, as well as everything between 東京 and 関西. 新潟 has most of the best rice (as well as my favorite 日本酒). 岐阜, in the mountains, has the historical tourist town 飛騨高山 [ひだたかやま, Hida Takayama] where, among other things, you can get excellent 味噌. 静岡 is famous for its tea. I’ve heard it also has swaths of forest that are very nice to drive through. 富士山 (Mt. Fuji) straddles the boundary between 静岡 and 山梨. 山梨 is supposed to be the best place to go hiking that’s easy to get to from 東京. 名古屋, one of the biggest cities in Japan is located in 愛知, which is one of the more distinctively shaped prefectures. 長野 was not only the site of the 1998 Winter Olympics, but is also known for its skiing and hot springs with wild bathing snow monkeys.
- 新潟県 [にいがたけん, Niigata-ken]
- 福山県 [ふくやまけん, Fukuyama-ken]
- 石川県 [いしかわけん, Ishikawa-ken]
- 福井県 [ふくいけん, Fukui-ken]
- 山梨県 [やまなしけん, Yamanashi-ken]
- 長野県 [ながのけん, Nagano-ken]
- 岐阜県 [ぎふけん, Gifu-ken]
- 静岡県 [しずおかけん, Shizuoka-ken]
- 愛知県 [あいちけん, Aichi-ken]
4. 関西地方 [かんさいちほう, Kansai-chihō] or 近畿地方 [きんきちほう, Kinki-chihō]
When referring to the region, I’m not sure whether it’s more common to refer to it as 関西 or 近畿地方. 関西弁, particularly 大阪弁, is the most notable dialect of Japanese outside of 東京. 関西 is also the land of お好み焼き and たこ焼き. 大阪 is the major city of Kansai, and along with 京都 it gets its own prefectural level designation similar to 東京: 大阪府 and 京都府. Another notable city, 神戸, is in 兵庫県 and the ancient capital 奈良 is in 奈良県.
- 三重県 [みえけん, Mie-ken]
- 滋賀県 [しがけん, Shiga-ken]
- 京都府 [きょうとふ, Kyōto-fu]
- 大阪府 [おおさかふ, Ōsaka-fu]
- 兵庫県 [ひょうごけん, Hyōgo-ken]
- 奈良県 [ならけん, Nara-ken]
- 和歌山県 [わかやまけん, Wakayama-ken]
5. 中国地方 [ちゅうごくちほう, Chūgoku-chihō]
It seems to me that it would be pretty confusing for 中国地方 to share the same name as China (中国), but I guess it’s no stranger than ambiguities like America (the U.S. vs. the continents), United States (United States of America versus United States of Mexico), and the town of Mexico, Texas. The most well-known place in 中国地方 is the city of 広島, the site of the world’s first nuclear attack. 広島 is also known for its お好み焼き and 焼きそば. 鳥取 is the least populous prefecture in Japan, and has the only major area of sand dunes in the country.
- 鳥取県 [とっとりけん, Tottori-ken]
- 島根県 [しまねけん, Shimane-ken]
- 岡山県 [おかやまけん, Okayama-ken]
- 広島県 [ひろしまけん, Hiroshima-ken]
- 山口県 [やまぐちけん, Yamaguchi-ken]
6. 四国 [しこく, Shikoku]
四国 is the smallest of the four main Japanese islands. It is separated from the main island 本州 by the 瀬戸内海 [せとないかい, Setonaikai] (also known as the “Inland Sea”. Donald Richie wrote a wonderful novel/memoir called The Inland Sea about travelling along 瀬戸内海 from 淡路島 [あわじしま, Awajishima] to 広島). The name 四国 comes from the fact that, in the old days, the island comprised four kingdoms: 阿波国 [あわのくに, Awa-no-kuni], 土佐国 [とさのくに, Tosa-no-kuni], 讃岐国 [さぬきのくに, Sanuki-no-kuni], and 伊予国 [いよのくに, Iyo-no-kuni] (these names should be familiar to anyone that grew up playing the Milton-Bradley board game Shogun. Each of these 国 corresponds to one of the 県 that now compose 四国: 阿波国 -> 徳島県, 土佐国 -> 高知県, 讃岐国 -> 香川県, and 伊予国 -> 愛媛県. 香川県 is particularly well-known for its udon, made in a style which is known elsewhere as 讃岐うどん. This うどん is the subject of the movie Udon.
There is a pilgrimage that some make to 88 shrines spread across 四国, called 四国八十八箇所 [しこくはちじゅうはちかしょ, Shikoku hachi-jū-hachi kasho].
- 徳島県 [とくしまけん, Tokushima-ken]
- 香川県 [かがわけん, Kagawa-ken]
- 愛媛県 [えひめけん, Ehime-ken]
- 高知県 [こうちけん, Kōchi-ken]
7. 九州 [きゅうしゅう, Kyūshū]
九州 is both the Southernmost and Westernmost of the main islands of Japan. For much of Asia it has long been the main location of traffic and trade into Japan. Its name comes from the nine kingdoms that it used to comprise, which have now been reconfigured into the seven 県 that it comprises now. 長崎 is known as the site of the second (and so far, last) nuclear attack. It was also the main source of European influence up to and during the 江戸時代 [えどじだい, Edo-jidai] (Edo period). 福岡県 contains two of the largest cities in Japan (the two largest cities in 九州): 福岡市 and 北九州 [きたきゅうしゅう, Kitakyūshū].
- 福岡県 [ふくおかけん, Fukuoka-ken]
- 佐賀県 [さがけん, Saga-ken]
- 長崎県 [ながさきけん, Nagasaki-ken]
- 熊本県 [くまもとけん, Kumamoto-ken]
- 大分県 [おおいたけん, Ōita-ken]
- 宮崎県 [みやざきけん, Miyazaki-ken]
- 鹿児島県 [かごしまけん, Kagoshima-ken]
Here is a map of the 47 prefectures. Below, I’ve attached a map with the names blanked out that you can print out and quiz yourself with, as well as just the legend of the map to reference for correcting yourself. Click on each image to see a larger version. These are all based on images from the Wikipedia. You can also download this as a three-page PDF here: map-quiz.pdf.
With the names blanked out:
Just the legend:
