Prefectures of Japan

Japan is divided into 47 prefectures (Template:Category handler, , ), which rank immediately below the national government and form the country's first level of jurisdiction and administrative division. They include 43 prefectures proper (Template:Category handler, ken), two urban prefectures (Template:Category handler, fu: Osaka and Kyoto), one regional prefecture (Template:Category handler, dō: Hokkaidō) and one metropolis (Template:Category handler, to: Tokyo). In 1868, the Meiji Fuhanken sanchisei administration created the first prefectures (urban fu and rural ken) to replace the urban and rural administrators (bugyō, daikan, etc.) in the parts of the country previously controlled directly by the shogunate and a few territories of rebels/shogunate loyalists who had not submitted to the new government such as Aizu/Wakamatsu. In 1871, all remaining feudal domains (han) were also transformed into prefectures, so that prefectures subdivided the whole country. In several waves of territorial consolidation, today's 47 prefectures were formed by the turn of the century. In many instances, these are contiguous with the ancient ritsuryō provinces of Japan.

Each prefecture's chief executive is a directly elected . Ordinances and budgets are enacted by a unicameral whose members are elected for four-year terms.

Under a set of 1888–1890 laws on local government until the 1920s, each prefecture (then only 3 -fu and 42 -ken; Hokkaidō and Okinawa-ken were subject to different laws until the 20th century) was subdivided into and and each district into and . Hokkaidō has 14 subprefectures that act as and of the prefecture. Some other prefectures also have branch offices that carry out prefectural administrative functions outside the capital. Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is a merged city-prefecture; a metropolis, it has features of both cities and prefectures.

Each prefecture has its own mon for identification, the equivalent of a coat of arms in the West.

Background

The West's use of "prefecture" to label these Japanese regions stems from 16th-century Portuguese explorers and traders use of "prefeitura" to describe the fiefdoms they encountered there. Its original sense in Portuguese, however, was closer to "municipality" than "province". Today, in turn, Japan uses its word ken (), meaning "prefecture", to identify Portuguese districts while in Brazil the word "Prefeitura" is used to refer to a city hall.

Those fiefs were headed by a local warlord or family. Though the fiefs have long since been dismantled, merged, and reorganized multiple times, and been granted legislative governance and oversight, the rough translation stuck.

The Meiji government established the current system in July 1871 with the abolition of the han system and establishment of the . 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. The Local Autonomy Law of 1947 gave more political power to prefectures, and installed prefectural governors and parliaments.

In 2003, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi proposed that the government consolidates the current prefectures into about 10 regional states (so-called dōshūsei). The plan called for each region to have greater autonomy than existing prefectures. This process would reduce the number of subprefecture administrative regions and cut administrative costs. The Japanese government also considered a plan to merge several groups of prefectures, creating a subnational administrative division system consisting of between nine and 13 states, and giving these states more local autonomy than the prefectures currently enjoy. As of August 2012, this plan was abandoned.

Powers

Japan is a unitary state. The central government delegates many functions (such as education and the police force) to the prefectures and municipalities, but retains the overall right to control them. Although local government expenditure accounts for 70 percent of overall government expenditure, the central government controls local budgets, tax rates, and borrowing.

Prefectural government functions include the organization of the prefectural police force, the supervision of schools and the maintenance of prefectural schools (mainly high schools), prefectural hospitals, prefectural roads, the supervision of prefectural waterways and regional urban planning. Their responsibilities include tasks delegated to them by the national government such as maintaining most ordinary national roads (except in designated major cities), and prefectures coordinate and support their municipalities in their functions. De facto, prefectures as well as municipalities have often been less autonomous than the formal extent of the local autonomy law suggests, because of national funding and policies. Most of municipalities depend heavily on central government funding – a dependency recently further exacerbated in many regions by the declining population which hits rural areas harder and earlier (cities can offset it partly through migration from the countryside). In many policy areas, the basic framework is set tightly by national laws, and prefectures and municipalities are only autonomous within that framework.

Types of prefecture

Historically, during the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate established around the nine largest cities in Japan, and 302 elsewhere. When the Meiji government began to create the prefectural system in 1868, the nine bugyō-ruled zones became , while the township-ruled zones and the rest of the bugyō-ruled zones became . Later, in 1871, the government designated Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto as fu, and relegated the other fu to the status of ken. During World War II, in 1943, Tokyo became a to, a new type of pseudo-prefecture.

Despite the differences in terminology, there is little functional difference between the four types of local governments. The subnational governments are sometimes collectively referred to as in Japanese, which is a combination of the four terms.

To

Tokyo, capital city of Japan is referred to as , which is often translated as "metropolis". The Japanese government translates as "Tokyo Metropolis" in almost all cases, and the government is officially called the "Tokyo Metropolitan Government".

Following the capitulation of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1868, Tōkyō-fu (an urban prefecture like Kyoto and Osaka) was set up and encompassed the former city area of Edo under the Fuhanken sanchisei. After the abolition of the han system in the first wave of prefectural mergers in 1871/72, several surrounding areas (parts of Urawa, Kosuge, Shinagawa and Hikone prefectures) were merged into Tokyo, and under the system of (numbered) "large districts and small districts" (daiku-shōku), it was subdivided into eleven large districts further subdivided into 103 small districts, six of the large districts (97 small districts) covered the former city area of Edo. 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). 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 yet unincorporated communities on the Izu (previously part of Shizuoka) and Ogasawara (previously directly Home Ministry-administrated) island groups became also part of Tokyo in the 19th century. When the modern municipalities – [district-independent] cities and [rural] districts containing towns and villages – were introduced under the Yamagata-Mosse laws on local government and the simultaneous Great Meiji merger was performed in 1889, the 15 -ku became wards of Tokyo City, initially Tokyo's only independent city (-shi), the six rural districts of Tokyo were consolidated in 85 towns and villages. In 1893, the three Tama districts and their 91 towns and villages became part of Tokyo. As Tokyo city's suburbs grew rapidly in the early 20th century, many towns and villages in Tokyo were merged or promoted over the years. In 1932, five complete districts with their 82 towns and villages were merged into Tokyo City and organised in 20 new wards. Also, by 1940, there were two more cities in Tokyo: Hachiōji City and Tachikawa City.

In 1943, Tokyo City was abolished, Tōkyō-fu became Tōkyō-to, and Tokyo-shi's 35 wards remained Tokyo-to's 35 wards, but submunicipal authorities of Tokyo-shi's wards which previously fell directly under the municipality, with the municipality now abolished, fell directly under prefectural or now "Metropolitan" authority. All other cities, towns and villages in Tokyo-fu stayed cities, towns and villages in Tokyo-to. The reorganisation's aim was to consolidate the administration of the area around the capital by eliminating the extra level of authority in Tokyo. Also, the governor was no longer called chiji, but chōkan (~"head/chief [usually: of a central government agency]") as in Hokkaidō). The central government wanted to have greater control over all local governments due to Japan's deteriorating position in World War II – for example, all mayors in the country became appointive as in the Meiji era – and over Tokyo in particular, due to the possibility of emergency in the metropolis.

After the war, Japan was forced to decentralise Tokyo again, following the general terms of democratisation outlined in the Potsdam Declaration. Many of Tokyo's special governmental characteristics disappeared during this time, and the wards took on an increasingly municipal status in the decades following the surrender. Administratively, today's special wards are almost indistinguishable from other municipalities.

The postwar reforms also changed the map of Tokyo significantly: In 1947, the 35 wards were reorganised into the 23 special wards, because many of its citizens had either died during the war, left the city, or been drafted and did not return. In the occupation reforms, special wards, each with their own elected assemblies (kugikai) and mayors (kuchō), were intended to be equal to other municipalities even if some restrictions still applied. (For example, there was during the occupation a dedicated municipal police agency for the 23 special wards/former Tokyo City, yet the special wards public safety commission was not named by the special ward governments, but by the government of the whole "Metropolis". In 1954, independent municipal police forces were abolished generally in the whole country, and the prefectural/"Metropolitan" police of Tokyo is again responsible for the whole prefecture/"Metropolis" and like all prefectural police forces controlled by the prefectural/"Metropolitan" public safety commission whose members are appointed by the prefectural/"Metropolitan" governor and assembly.) But, as part of the "reverse course" of the 1950s some of these new rights were removed, the most obvious measure being the denial of directly elected mayors. Some of these restrictions were removed again over the decades. But it was not until the year 2000 that the special wards were fully recognised as municipal-level entities.

Independently from these steps, as Tokyo's urban growth again took up pace during the postwar economic miracle and most of the main island part of Tokyo "Metropolis" became increasingly core part of the Tokyo metropolitan area, many of the other municipalities in Tokyo have transferred some of their authority to the Metropolitan government. For example, the Tokyo Fire Department which was only responsible for the 23 special wards until 1960 has until today taken over the municipal fire departments in almost all of Tokyo. A joint governmental structure for the whole Tokyo metropolitan area (and not only the western suburbs of the special wards which are part of the Tokyo prefecture/Metropolis") as advocated by some politicians such as former Kanagawa governor Shigefumi Matsuzawa has not been established (see also Dōshūsei). Existing cross-prefectural fora of cooperation between local governments in the Tokyo metropolitan area are the Kantō regional governors' association (Kantō chihō chijikai) and the "Shutoken summit" (formally "conference of chief executives of nine prefectures and cities", 9 to-ken-shi shunō kaigi). But, these are not themselves local public entities under the local autonomy law and national or local government functions cannot be directly transferred to them, unlike the "Union of Kansai governments" (Kansai kōiki-rengō) which has been established by several prefectural governments in the Kansai region.

There are some differences in terminology between Tokyo and other prefectures: police and fire departments are called instead of , for instance. But the only functional difference between Tōkyō-to and other prefectures is that Tokyo administers wards as well as cities. Today, since the special wards have almost the same degree of independence as Japanese cities, the difference in administration between Tokyo and other prefectures is fairly minor.

In Osaka, several prominent politicians led by Tōru Hashimoto, then mayor of Osaka City and former governor of Osaka Prefecture, proposed an Osaka Metropolis plan, under which Osaka City, and possibly other neighboring cities, would be replaced by special wards similar to Tokyo's. The plan was narrowly defeated in a 2015 referendum, and again in 2020.

Dō

Hokkaidō is referred to as a or circuit. This term was originally used to refer to Japanese regions consisting of several provinces (e.g. the Tōkaidō east-coast region, and Saikaido west-coast region). This was also a historical usage of the character in China. (In Korea, this historical usage is still used today and was kept during the period of Japanese rule.)

, the only remaining dō today, was not one of the original seven dō (it was known as Ezo in the pre-modern era). Its current name is believed to originate from Matsuura Takeshiro, an early Japanese explorer of the island. Since Hokkaidō did not fit into the existing dō classifications, a new dō was created to cover it.

The Meiji government originally classified Hokkaidō as a , and later divided the island into three prefectures (Sapporo, Hakodate, and Nemuro). These were consolidated into a single in 1886, at prefectural level but organized more along the lines of a territory. In 1947, the department was dissolved, and Hokkaidō became a full-fledged prefecture. The -ken suffix was never added to its name, so the -dō suffix came to be understood to mean "prefecture".

When Hokkaidō was incorporated, transportation on the island was still underdeveloped, so the prefecture was split into several that could fulfill administrative duties of the prefectural government and keep tight control over the developing island. These subprefectures still exist today, although they have much less power than they possessed before and during World War II. They now exist primarily to handle paperwork and other bureaucratic functions.

"Hokkaidō Prefecture" is, technically speaking, a redundant term because dō itself indicates a prefecture, although it is occasionally used to differentiate the government from the island itself. The prefecture's government calls itself the "Hokkaidō Government" rather than the "Hokkaidō Prefectural Government".

Fu

Osaka and Kyoto Prefectures are referred to as . The Classical Chinese character from which this is derived implies a core urban zone of national importance. Before World War II, different laws applied to fu and ken, but this distinction was abolished after the war, and the two types of prefecture are now functionally the same.

Ken

43 of the 47 prefectures are referred to as . The Classical Chinese character from which this is derived carries a rural or provincial connotation, and an analogous character is used to refer to the counties of China, counties of Taiwan and districts of Vietnam.

Lists of prefectures

The different systems of parsing frame the ways in which Japanese prefectures are perceived:

By Japanese ISO

The prefectures are traditionally grouped into eight regions (地方, chihō). Those regions are not formally specified, they do not have elected officials, nor are they corporate bodies. This ordering is mirrored in Japan's International Organization for Standardization (ISO) coding. From north to south (numbering in ISO 3166-2:JP order), the prefectures of Japan and their commonly associated regions are:

• Hokkaidō Template:Ordered list
• Tōhoku Template:Ordered list
• Kantō Template:Ordered list
• Chūbu Template:Ordered list
• KansaiTemplate:Efn　　 Template:Ordered list
• Chūgoku Template:Ordered list
• Shikoku Template:Ordered list
• Kyūshū Template:Ordered list

By English name

The default alphabetic order in this sortable table can be altered to mirror the traditional Japanese regions and ISO parsing.

Prefecture		Capital		Region	Major Island	Population (estimated 1 April 2023)	Population (census conducted 1 October 2020)	Population change	Area (km2)	Density (per km2)	Distr.	Template:Vert header	ISO	Area code
Aichi	Template:Category handler	Nagoya	Template:Category handler	Chūbu	Honshū	Template:Change	5,173.07	1,458	7	54	JP-23	052
Akita	Template:Category handler	Akita	Template:Category handler	Tōhoku	Honshū	Template:Change	11,637.52	82.4	6	25	JP-05	018
Aomori	Template:Category handler	Aomori	Template:Category handler	Tōhoku	Honshū	Template:Change	9,645.64	128.3	8	40	JP-02	017
Chiba	Template:Category handler	Chiba	Template:Category handler	Kantō	Honshū	Template:Change	5,157.57	1,218.5	6	54	JP-12	043
Ehime	Template:Category handler	Matsuyama	Template:Category handler	Shikoku	Shikoku	Template:Change	5,676.19	235.2	7	20	JP-38	089
Fukui	Template:Category handler	Fukui	Template:Category handler	Chūbu	Honshū	Template:Change	4,190.52	183	7	17	JP-18	077
Fukuoka	Template:Category handler	Fukuoka	Template:Category handler	Kyūshū	Kyūshū	Template:Change	4,986.51	1,029.8	12	60	JP-40	092
Fukushima	Template:Category handler	Fukushima	Template:Category handler	Tōhoku	Honshū	Template:Change	13,784.14	133	13	59	JP-07	024
Gifu	Template:Category handler	Gifu	Template:Category handler	Chūbu	Honshū	Template:Change	10,621.29	186.3	9	42	JP-21	058
Gunma	Template:Category handler	Maebashi	Template:Category handler	Kantō	Honshū	Template:Change	6,362.28	304.8	7	35	JP-10	027
Hiroshima	Template:Category handler	Hiroshima	Template:Category handler	Chūgoku	Honshū	Template:Change	8,479.65	330.2	5	23	JP-34	082
Hokkaido	Template:Category handler	Sapporo	Template:Category handler	Hokkaidō	Hokkaidō	Template:Change	83,424.44	66.6	66	180	JP-01	011–016
Hyōgo	Template:Category handler	Kōbe	Template:Category handler	Kansai	Honshū	Template:Change	8,401.02	650.5	8	41	JP-28	073
Ibaraki	Template:Category handler	Mito	Template:Category handler	Kantō	Honshū	Template:Change	6,097.39	470.2	7	44	JP-08	029
Ishikawa	Template:Category handler	Kanazawa	Template:Category handler	Chūbu	Honshū	Template:Change	4,190.94	270.5	5	19	JP-17	076
Iwate	Template:Category handler	Morioka	Template:Category handler	Tōhoku	Honshū	Template:Change	15,275.01	79.2	10	33	JP-03	019
Kagawa	Template:Category handler	Takamatsu	Template:Category handler	Shikoku	Shikoku	Template:Change	1,876.78	506.3	5	17	JP-37	087
Kagoshima	Template:Category handler	Kagoshima	Template:Category handler	Kyūshū	Kyūshū	Template:Change	9,187.06	172.9	8	43	JP-46	099
Kanagawa	Template:Category handler	Yokohama	Template:Category handler	Kantō	Honshū	Template:Change	2,416.11	3,823.2	6	33	JP-14	045
Kōchi	Template:Category handler	[[Kōchi, Kōchi|Template:HsKōchi]]	Template:Category handler	Shikoku	Shikoku	Template:Change	7,103.63	97.3	6	34	JP-39	088
Kumamoto	Template:Category handler	Kumamoto	Template:Category handler	Kyūshū	Kyūshū	Template:Change	7,409.46	234.6	9	45	JP-43	096
Kyōto	Template:Category handler	Kyōto	Template:Category handler	Kansai	Honshū	Template:Change	4,612.20	559	6	26	JP-26	075
Mie	Template:Category handler	Tsu	Template:Category handler	Kansai	Honshū	Template:Change	5,774.49	306.6	7	29	JP-24	059
Miyagi	Template:Category handler	Sendai	Template:Category handler	Tōhoku	Honshū	Template:Change	7,282.29	316.1	10	35	JP-04	022
Miyazaki	Template:Category handler	Miyazaki	Template:Category handler	Kyūshū	Kyūshū	Template:Change	7,735.22	138.3	6	26	JP-45	098
Nagano	Template:Category handler	Nagano	Template:Category handler	Chūbu	Honshū	Template:Change	13,561.56	151	14	77	JP-20	026
Nagasaki	Template:Category handler	Nagasaki	Template:Category handler	Kyūshū	Kyūshū	Template:Change	4,130.98	317.7	4	21	JP-42	095
Nara	Template:Category handler	Nara	Template:Category handler	Kansai	Honshū	Template:Change	3,690.94	358.8	7	39	JP-29	074
Niigata	Template:Category handler	Niigata	Template:Category handler	Chūbu	Honshū	Template:Change	12,583.96	174.9	9	30	JP-15	025
Ōita	Template:Category handler	[[Ōita, Ōita|Template:HsŌita]]	Template:Category handler	Kyūshū	Kyūshū	Template:Change	6,340.76	177.2	3	18	JP-44	097
Okayama	Template:Category handler	Okayama	Template:Category handler	Chūgoku	Honshū	Template:Change	7,114.33	265.4	10	27	JP-33	086
Okinawa	Template:Category handler	Naha	Template:Category handler	Ryūkyū Islands	Ryūkyū Islands	Template:Change	2,282.59	642.9	5	41	JP-47	098
Ōsaka	Template:Category handler	Ōsaka	Template:Category handler	Kansai	Honshū	Template:Change	1,905.32	4,638.4	5	43	JP-27	06x
Saga	Template:Category handler	Saga	Template:Category handler	Kyūshū	Kyūshū	Template:Change	2,440.69	332.5	6	20	JP-41	095
Saitama	Template:Category handler	Saitama	Template:Category handler	Kantō	Honshū	Template:Change	3,797.75	1,934	8	63	JP-11	048
Shiga	Template:Category handler	Ōtsu	Template:Category handler	Kansai	Honshū	Template:Change	4,017.38	351.9	3	19	JP-25	077
Shimane	Template:Category handler	Matsue	Template:Category handler	Chūgoku	Honshū	Template:Change	6,707.89	100.1	5	19	JP-32	085
Shizuoka	Template:Category handler	Shizuoka	Template:Category handler	Chūbu	Honshū	Template:Change	7,777.35	467.2	5	35	JP-22	054
Tochigi	Template:Category handler	Utsunomiya	Template:Category handler	Kantō	Honshū	Template:Change	6,408.09	301.7	5	26	JP-09	028
Tokushima	Template:Category handler	Tokushima	Template:Category handler	Shikoku	Shikoku	Template:Change	4,146.75	173.5	8	24	JP-36	088
Tōkyō	Template:Category handler	Tōkyō	Template:Category handler	Kantō	Honshū	Template:Change	2,194.03	6,402.6	1	39	JP-13	03x/042
Tottori	Template:Category handler	Tottori	Template:Category handler	Chūgoku	Honshū	Template:Change	3,507.14	157.8	5	19	JP-31	085
Toyama	Template:Category handler	Toyama	Template:Category handler	Chūbu	Honshū	Template:Change	4,247.58	243.6	2	15	JP-16	076
Wakayama	Template:Category handler	Wakayama	Template:Category handler	Kansai	Honshū	Template:Change	4,724.65	195.3	6	30	JP-30	075
Yamagata	Template:Category handler	Yamagata	Template:Category handler	Tōhoku	Honshū	Template:Change	9,323.15	114.6	8	35	JP-06	023
Yamaguchi	Template:Category handler	Yamaguchi	Template:Category handler	Chūgoku	Honshū	Template:Change	6,112.54	219.6	4	19	JP-35	083
Yamanashi	Template:Category handler	Kōfu	Template:Category handler	Chūbu	Honshū	Template:Change	4,465.27	181.4	5	27	JP-19	055

Former prefectures

1880s

Prefecture	Japanese	Year of Abolition	Fate
Kanazawa	Template:Category handler	1869	Renamed as Ishikawa
Sendai	Template:Category handler	1871	Renamed as Miyagi
Morioka	Template:Category handler	1872	Renamed as Iwate
Nagoya	Template:Category handler	1872	Renamed as Aichi
Nukata	Template:Category handler	1872	Merged into Aichi
Nanao	Template:Category handler	1872	Merged into Ishikawa and Shinkawa
Iruma	Template:Category handler	1873	Merged into Kumagaya and Kanagawa
Inba	Template:Category handler	1873	Merged into Chiba
Kisarazu	Template:Category handler	1873	Merged into Chiba
Utsunomiya	Template:Category handler	1873	Merged into Tochigi
Asuwa	Template:Category handler	1873	Merged into Tsuruga
Kashiwazaki	Template:Category handler	1873	Merged into Niigata
Ichinoseki→Mizusawa→Iwai	Template:Category handler	1875	Merged into Iwate and Miyagi
Okitama	Template:Category handler	1875	Merged into Yamagata
Niihari	Template:Category handler	1875	Merged into Ibaraki and Chiba
Sakata→Tsuruoka	Template:Category handler	1876	Merged into Yamagata
Taira→Iwasaki	Template:Category handler	1876	Merged into Fukushima and Miyagi
Wakamatsu	Template:Category handler	1876	Merged into Fukushima
Chikuma	Template:Category handler	1876	Merged into Nagano and Gifu
Tsuruga	Template:Category handler	1876	Merged into Ishikawa and Shiga
Niikawa	Template:Category handler	1876	Merged into Ishikawa
Sakai	Template:Category handler	1881	Merged into Osaka
Ashigara	Template:Category handler	1876	Merged into Kanagawa and Shizuoka
Kumagaya	Template:Category handler	1876	Merged into Gunma and Saitama
Aikawa	Template:Category handler	1876	Merged into Niigata
Hamamatsu	Template:Category handler	1876	Merged into Shizuoka
Hakodate	Template:Category handler	1886	Merged into Hokkaidō
Sapporo	Template:Category handler	1886	Merged into Hokkaidō
Nemuro	Template:Category handler	1886	Merged into Hokkaidō
Tokyo	Template:Category handler	1943	Reorganized as Tokyo Metropolis (東京都)

Lost after World War II

Here are some territories that were lost after World War II. This does not include all the territories of the Empire of Japan such as Manchukuo.

Territory	Prefecture			Allied occupation	Current status
	Name	Japanese	Capital		Country	Name	Capital
Mainland	Okinawa	Template:Category handler	Naha	United States		Okinawa	Naha
	Karafuto	Template:Category handler	Toyohara	Soviet Union		part of Template:Country data Sakhalin	Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
Korea	Heianhoku	Template:Category handler	Shingishū			North Pyongan	Sinuiju
	Heian'nan	Template:Category handler	Heijō			South Pyongan	Pyongyang
	Kankyōhoku	Template:Category handler	Seishin			North Hamgyong	Chongjin
	Kankyōnan	Template:Category handler	Kankō			South Hamgyong	Hamhung
	Kōkai	Template:Category handler	Kaishū			Hwanghae	Haeju
	Kōgen	Template:Category handler	Shunsen			Kangwon	Chuncheon
				United States		Gangwon
	Chūseihoku	Template:Category handler	Seishū			North Chungcheong	Cheongju
	Chūseinan	Template:Category handler	Taiden			South Chungcheong	Daejeon
	Keiki	Template:Category handler	Keijō			Gyeonggi	Seoul
	Keishōhoku	Template:Category handler	Taikyū			North Gyeongsang	Daegu
	Keishōnan	Template:Category handler	Fuzan			South Gyeongsang	Busan
	Zenrahoku	Template:Category handler	Zenshū			North Jeolla	Jeonju
	Zenranan	Template:Category handler	Kōshū			South Jeolla	Gwangju
Taiwan (History)	Hōko	Template:Category handler	Makō	Template:ROC-1928		Penghu	Magong
	Karenkō	Template:Category handler	Karenkō			Hualien	Hualien
	Shinchiku	Template:Category handler	Shinchiku			Hsinchu	Hsinchu
	Taichū	Template:Category handler	Taichū			Taichung	Taichung
	Taihoku	Template:Category handler	Taihoku			Greater Taipei	Taipei
	Tainan	Template:Category handler	Tainan			Tainan	Tainan
	Taitō	Template:Category handler	Taitō			Taitung	Taitung
	Takao	Template:Category handler	Takao			Kaohsiung	Kaohsiung
Kantō		Template:Category handler	Dairen	Soviet Union		part of Dalian, Liaoning
Nan'yō		Template:Category handler	Korōru	United States			Ngerulmud
							Majuro
							Palikir
						Northern Mariana Islands	Saipan

See also

• List of Japanese prefectural name etymologies
• List of Japanese prefectures by area
• List of Japanese prefectures by population
• List of Japanese prefectures by GDP
• List of Japanese prefectures by GDP per capita
• List of Japanese prefectures by Human Development Index
• List of Japanese prefectures by life expectancy
• List of Japanese prefectures by highest mountain
• List of prefectural capitals in Japan
• List of Prefecture songs of Japan
• ISO 3166-2 codes for Japan
• List of prefectural governors in Japan
• Flags of Japanese prefectures
• Provinces of Japan

General

• List of regions of Japan
• Government of Japan

External links

• National Governors' Association website
• Map of Japan showing prefectures Template:Webarchive
• Japanese essay on types of prefectures
• CityMayors.com profile of prefectures