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Jump to navigationJump to searchCreated page with "*''Japanese'': 都道府県 ''(todoufuken)'' Japan is today divided into 47 prefectures, including one ''to'' 都, or "Metropolitan Prefecture" (Tôkyô-to), two ''fu'' 府, ..."
*''Japanese'': 都道府県 ''(todoufuken)''
Japan is today divided into 47 prefectures, including one ''to'' 都, or "Metropolitan Prefecture" (Tôkyô-to), two ''fu'' 府, or "Urban Prefectures" (Ôsaka-fu and Kyôto-fu), one ''dô'' 道 (lit. "circuit", Hokkaidô), and 43 ''ken'' 県.<ref>While all the ''fu'' and ''ken'' are referred to as "X prefecture" in English, and are governed by "prefectural governments," Hokkaidô is called simply Hokkaidô, not Hokkaidô Prefecture, and Tokyo is officially called Tokyo Metropolis; its prefectural-level government is known as the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.</ref> The names of the old [[provinces]] (''kuni'') survive today in the names of local customs, foods, and universities, including [[Awa odori]], [[Sanuki udon]], and [[Shinshu University|Shinshû University]], to give just a few examples. However, they no longer have any official status as political geographical units.
The first prefectures were established in [[1868]], when the [[Tokugawa shogunate|shogunal]] domains (''[[tenryo|tenryô]]'') were abolished. [[Tokyo]], [[Osaka]], and [[Kyoto]] were at that time designated ''fu'', and the remainder of the shogunal lands were divided up into ''ken'' (a borrowing from the Chinese ''xiàn''). [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]] was annexed in [[1869]], and the rest of Japan was divided up into ''ken'' in [[1871]], as the [[abolition of the han|''han'' were abolished]], with the final step being the abolition of [[Ryukyu han|Ryûkyû han]] and establishment of [[Okinawa Prefecture]] in [[1879]]. The borders, names, and numbers of prefectures fluctuated considerably over the course of the [[Meiji period]], but eventually settled into the 47 we know today.
A note in the July [[1878]] ''Japan Weekly Mail'' set the precedent for ''ken'' to be called "provinces" in English, and their heads (''kenrei'') to be called "prefects." It was from this that the term "prefectures" soon afterwards came into common usage, replacing "provinces," even as, ironically, the "prefects" came to be referred to in English as "governors."
==List of Prefectures==
===Hokkaidô===
*[[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]]
===Tôhoku===
* [[Aomori prefecture]]
* [[Iwate prefecture]]
* [[Miyagi prefecture]]
* [[Akita prefecture]]
* [[Yamagata prefecture]]
* [[Fukushima prefecture]]
===Kantô===
* [[Ibaraki prefecture]]
* [[Tochigi prefecture]]
* [[Gunma prefecture]]
* [[Saitama prefecture]]
* [[Chiba prefecture]]
* [[Tokyo|Tōkyō Metropolis]]
* [[Kanagawa prefecture]]
===Chûbu===
* [[Niigata prefecture]]
* [[Toyama prefecture]]
* [[Ishikawa prefecture]]
* [[Fukui prefecture]]
* [[Yamanashi prefecture]]
* [[Nagano prefecture]]
* [[Gifu prefecture]]
* [[Shizuoka prefecture]]
* [[Aichi prefecture]]
===Kansai===
* [[Mie prefecture]]
* [[Shiga prefecture]]
* [[Kyoto prefecture|Kyōto prefecture]]
* [[Osaka prefecture|Ōsaka prefecture]]
* [[Hyogo prefecture|Hyōgo prefecture]]
* [[Nara prefecture]]
* [[Wakayama prefecture]]
===Chûgoku===
* [[Tottori prefecture]]
* [[Shimane prefecture]]
* [[Okayama prefecture]]
* [[Hiroshima prefecture]]
* [[Yamaguchi prefecture]]
===Shikoku===
* [[Tokushima prefecture]]
* [[Kagawa prefecture]]
* [[Ehime prefecture]]
* [[Kochi prefecture|Kōchi prefecture]]
===Kyûshû===
* [[Fukuoka prefecture]]
* [[Saga prefecture]]
* [[Nagasaki prefecture]]
* [[Kumamoto prefecture]]
* [[Oita prefecture|Ōita prefecture]]
* [[Miyazaki prefecture]]
* [[Kagoshima prefecture]]
===Okinawa===
*[[Okinawa prefecture]]
==References==
*Ben-Ami Shillony, "Restoration, Emperor, Diet, Prefecture, or: How Japanese Concepts were Mistranslated into Western Languages," ''Collected Writings of Ben-Ami Shillony'', Synapse (2000), 73-74.
<references/>
[[Category:Resource Articles]]
[[Category:Locations]]
Japan is today divided into 47 prefectures, including one ''to'' 都, or "Metropolitan Prefecture" (Tôkyô-to), two ''fu'' 府, or "Urban Prefectures" (Ôsaka-fu and Kyôto-fu), one ''dô'' 道 (lit. "circuit", Hokkaidô), and 43 ''ken'' 県.<ref>While all the ''fu'' and ''ken'' are referred to as "X prefecture" in English, and are governed by "prefectural governments," Hokkaidô is called simply Hokkaidô, not Hokkaidô Prefecture, and Tokyo is officially called Tokyo Metropolis; its prefectural-level government is known as the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.</ref> The names of the old [[provinces]] (''kuni'') survive today in the names of local customs, foods, and universities, including [[Awa odori]], [[Sanuki udon]], and [[Shinshu University|Shinshû University]], to give just a few examples. However, they no longer have any official status as political geographical units.
The first prefectures were established in [[1868]], when the [[Tokugawa shogunate|shogunal]] domains (''[[tenryo|tenryô]]'') were abolished. [[Tokyo]], [[Osaka]], and [[Kyoto]] were at that time designated ''fu'', and the remainder of the shogunal lands were divided up into ''ken'' (a borrowing from the Chinese ''xiàn''). [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]] was annexed in [[1869]], and the rest of Japan was divided up into ''ken'' in [[1871]], as the [[abolition of the han|''han'' were abolished]], with the final step being the abolition of [[Ryukyu han|Ryûkyû han]] and establishment of [[Okinawa Prefecture]] in [[1879]]. The borders, names, and numbers of prefectures fluctuated considerably over the course of the [[Meiji period]], but eventually settled into the 47 we know today.
A note in the July [[1878]] ''Japan Weekly Mail'' set the precedent for ''ken'' to be called "provinces" in English, and their heads (''kenrei'') to be called "prefects." It was from this that the term "prefectures" soon afterwards came into common usage, replacing "provinces," even as, ironically, the "prefects" came to be referred to in English as "governors."
==List of Prefectures==
===Hokkaidô===
*[[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]]
===Tôhoku===
* [[Aomori prefecture]]
* [[Iwate prefecture]]
* [[Miyagi prefecture]]
* [[Akita prefecture]]
* [[Yamagata prefecture]]
* [[Fukushima prefecture]]
===Kantô===
* [[Ibaraki prefecture]]
* [[Tochigi prefecture]]
* [[Gunma prefecture]]
* [[Saitama prefecture]]
* [[Chiba prefecture]]
* [[Tokyo|Tōkyō Metropolis]]
* [[Kanagawa prefecture]]
===Chûbu===
* [[Niigata prefecture]]
* [[Toyama prefecture]]
* [[Ishikawa prefecture]]
* [[Fukui prefecture]]
* [[Yamanashi prefecture]]
* [[Nagano prefecture]]
* [[Gifu prefecture]]
* [[Shizuoka prefecture]]
* [[Aichi prefecture]]
===Kansai===
* [[Mie prefecture]]
* [[Shiga prefecture]]
* [[Kyoto prefecture|Kyōto prefecture]]
* [[Osaka prefecture|Ōsaka prefecture]]
* [[Hyogo prefecture|Hyōgo prefecture]]
* [[Nara prefecture]]
* [[Wakayama prefecture]]
===Chûgoku===
* [[Tottori prefecture]]
* [[Shimane prefecture]]
* [[Okayama prefecture]]
* [[Hiroshima prefecture]]
* [[Yamaguchi prefecture]]
===Shikoku===
* [[Tokushima prefecture]]
* [[Kagawa prefecture]]
* [[Ehime prefecture]]
* [[Kochi prefecture|Kōchi prefecture]]
===Kyûshû===
* [[Fukuoka prefecture]]
* [[Saga prefecture]]
* [[Nagasaki prefecture]]
* [[Kumamoto prefecture]]
* [[Oita prefecture|Ōita prefecture]]
* [[Miyazaki prefecture]]
* [[Kagoshima prefecture]]
===Okinawa===
*[[Okinawa prefecture]]
==References==
*Ben-Ami Shillony, "Restoration, Emperor, Diet, Prefecture, or: How Japanese Concepts were Mistranslated into Western Languages," ''Collected Writings of Ben-Ami Shillony'', Synapse (2000), 73-74.
<references/>
[[Category:Resource Articles]]
[[Category:Locations]]
