The four types of prefectures in
Japan are
to,
do (or
dō),
fu, and
ken. The differences between the four types aren't much, however
to is unique because it is reserved for
Tokyo, a.k.a.
Tokyo Metropolis. Prefectures are further separated into municipalities -
shi,
ku,
cho (or
chō), and
son, which are cities, wards, towns, and villages respectively. The 23 wards of
Tokyo are more like cities within Tokyo rather than only being named areas of the city, since each ward has an elected mayor and a certain degree of autonomy from the main
Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
prefecture type capital population area(km^2) density shi ku cho son
Hokkaido do Sapporo 5,683,062 78,516.84 72.38 34 10 154 24
Aomori ken Aomori 1,475,728 9,606.33 155.84 8 34 25
Iwate ken Morioka 1,416,180 15,278.40 93.06 13 29 16
Miyagi ken Sendai 2,365,320 7,285.07 322.19 10 5 59 2
Akita ken Akita 1,189,279 11,612.11 103.13 9 50 10
Yamagata ken Yamagata 1,244,147 9,323.34 133.15 13 27 4
Fukushima ken Fukushima 2,126,935 13,782.48 154.79 10 52 28
Ibaraki ken Mito 2,985,676 6,095.58 491.44 22 45 17
Tochigi ken Utsunomiya 2,004,817 6,408.28 312.61 12 35 2
Gunma ken Maebashi 2,024,852 6,363.16 317.41 11 33 26
Saitama ken Saitama 6,938,006 3,797.25 1,816.64 41 40 9
Chiba ken Chiba 5,926,285 5,156.09 1,148.23 33 6 42 5
Tokyo to Shinjuku 12,064,101 2,187.05 5,404.01 26 23 5 8
Kanagawa ken Yokohama 8,489,974 2,415.41 3,488.34 19 25 17 1
Niigata ken Niigata 2,475,733 12,582.37 196.85 20 56 35
Toyama ken Toyama 1,120,851 4,247.22 264.74 9 18 8
Ishikawa ken Kanazawa 1,180,977 4,185.22 281.13 8 27 6
Fukui ken Fukui 828,944 4,188.75 197.68 7 22 6
Yamanashi ken Kofu 888,172 4,465.37 198.43 7 37 20
Nagano ken Nagano 2,215,168 13,585.22 162.27 17 36 67
Gifu ken Gifu 2,107,700 10,598.18 199.07 14 55 30
Shizuoka ken Shizuoka 3,767,393 7,779.46 483.85 21 49 4
Aichi ken Nagoya 7,043,300 5,155.84 1,345.08 31 16 47 10
Mie ken Tsu 1,857,339 5,776.40 321.81 13 47 9
Shiga ken Otsu 1,342,832 4,017.36 332.21 8 41 1
Kyoto fu Kyoto 2,644,391 4,612.94 555.67 12 11 31 1
Osaka fu Osaka 8,805,081 1,892.86 4,558.50 33 24 10 1
Hyogo ken Kobe 5,550,574 8,392.03 659.84 22 9 66
Nara ken Nara 1,442,795 3,691.09 392.44 10 20 17
Wakayama ken Wakayama 1,069,912 4,725.55 230.16 7 36 7
Tottori ken Tottori 613,289 3,507.17 175.95 4 31 4
Shimane ken Matsue 761,503 6,707.29 113.63 8 41 10
Okayama ken Okayama 1,950,828 7,112.13 275.24 10 56 12
Hiroshima ken Hiroshima 2,878,915 8,476.95 338.82 13 8 67 6
Yamaguchi ken Yamaguchi 1,527,964 6,110.45 250.22 14 37 5
Tokushima ken Tokushima 824,108 4,145.10 200.54 4 38 8
Kagawa ken Takamatsu 1,022,890 1,875.88 550.81 6 33
Ehime ken Matsuyama 1,493,092 5,676.22 265.82 12 44 14
Kochi ken Kochi 813,949 7,104.66 115.12 9 25 19
Fukuoka ken Fukuoka 5,015,699 4,971.01 1,001.65 24 14 65 8
Saga ken Saga 876,654 2,439.23 361.85 7 37 5
Nagasaki ken Nagasaki 1,516,523 4,092.44 373.22 8 70 1
Kumamoto ken Kumamoto 1,859,344 7,403.68 252.63 11 63 20
Oita ken Oita 1,221,140 6,337.97 194.77 11 36 11
Miyazaki ken Miyazaki 1,170,007 7,734.40 153.15 9 28 7
Kagoshima ken Kagoshima 1,786,194 9,186.71 194.11 14 73 9
Okinawa ken Naha 1,318,220 2,271.30 587.38 11 17 24
TOTAL = 126,925,843 377,873.06 335.90 675 151 1981 562
Little known fact: Osaka used to be the smallest area prefecture until the Kansai International Airport was built. Good luck Kagawa prefecture!
source: Japanese government, year 2000 census
This writeup of mine was originally found under "Prefectures of Japan."