Prefectures of Japan

Japan is divided into 47 local jurisdictions. Namely, one metropolitan district (都; To), Tokyo; one circuit (道; Dō), Hokkaido; two urban prefectures (府; Fu), Osaka and Kyoto); and 43 rural prefectures (県; Ken). In Japanese they are commonly referred to as Todōfuken (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.

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	Shikoku	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	83,453.57	72	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	Okinawa	Okinawa	1,318,281	2,271.57	581	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	2,102.35	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	4,725.58	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

References

National Governers' Association (http://www.nga.gr.jp/) (Japanese)

Prefectures of Japan

References

See also