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Division of Japan - Provinces, prefectures, and cities

Have you ever wondered how the division of states is done in Japan? What is the difference between state and province? What are the main cities in Japan? What is city hall? In this article, we will answer the main questions about the division of Japan in addition to sharing a large list of provinces and cities in Japan.

Japan has a total of 47 Provinces (state), divided into 8 regions. Each province is divided into Cities (市 shi) and Districts (郡 gun). Thus, districts are divided into villages (村 mura) or neighborhoods (町 machi). On the map of Japan below you will find the division of the 8 regions and the name of each province.

Division of Japan - provinces, prefectures, and cities
Division of Japan - Provinces, prefectures, and cities

State or Province?

Many confuse state with province. In some countries the word province is a territorial division of many states, both currently and historically.

Even though Japan is smaller than some states in some countries, the provinces are istered as states, they have their own government and culture.

There are 47 jurisdictions or sub-bodies, which are groups of cities, towns, and villages. Originally there were over 300 when this system was first established in 1871, but this number was reduced to 47 in 1888.

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Todōfuken

There are 4 istrative designations that together form the word todoufuken (都道府県) which means “Prefectures” which is also a generic name used to refer to a province or state. So the 47 prefectures in Japan are divided as follows:

  • 都 (to) - 1 metropolis (東京都 - Tokyoto);
  • 道 (do) - 1 istrative area (北海道 - Hokkaidō);
  • 府 (fu) - 2 urban municipalities (大阪府 - Osakafu);
  • 県 (ken) - 43 prefectures - (愛知県 - Aichiken);

The curious thing is that the ancient capital of Japan, Kyoto is written Kyoto-fu (京都府), with Kyoto's 都 (to) meaning metropolis like 東京都 (Tokyoto), but ending with 府 (fu) for urban area..

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The 47 Provinces and their capitals!

See below for the 47 prefectures or prefectures, and their respective capitals, written in Kanji and Hiragana.

Kanji Province Hiragana Capital Hiragana
愛知県 Aichi あいち Nagoya なごや
青森県 Aomori あおもり Aomori あおもり
秋田県 Akita あきた Akita あきた
石川県 Ishikawa いしかわ Kanazawa かなざわ
茨城県 Ibaraki いばらき Mito みと
栃木県 Tochigi とちぎ Utsunomiya うつのみや
岩手県 Iwate いわて Morioka もりおか
愛媛県 Ehime えひめ Matsuyama まつやま
大分県 Oita おおいた Oita いた
大阪府 Osaka おおさか Osaka おおさか
岡山県 Okayama おかやま Okayama おかやま
沖縄県 Okinawa おきなわ Naha なは
香川県 Kagawa かがわ Takamatsu たかまつ
鹿児島県 Kagoshima かごしま Kagoshima かごしま
京都府 Kyōto きょうと Kyōto きょうと
岐阜県 Gifu ぎふ Gifu ぎふ
熊本県 Kumamoto くまもと Kumamoto くまもと
群馬県 Gunma ぐんま Maebashi まえばし
高知県 Kōchi こうち Kōchi こうち
埼玉県 Saitama さいたま Saitama さいたま
佐賀県 Saga さが Saga さが
滋賀県 Shiga しが Otsu おお
静岡県 Shizuoka しずおか Shizuoka しずおか
神奈川県 Kanagawa かながわ Yokohama よこはま
島根県 Shimane しまね Matsue まつえ
千葉県 Chiba ちば Chiba ちば
東京都 Tōkyō とうきょう Oficial: Shinjuku しんじゅく
徳島県 Tokushima とくしま Tokushima とくしま
鳥取県 Tottori とっとり Tottori とっとり
富山県 Toyama とやま Toyama とやま
長崎県 Nagasaki ながさき Nagasaki ながさき
長野県 Nagano ながの Nagano ながの
奈良県 Nara なら Nara なら
新潟県 Niigata にいがた Niigata にいがた
兵庫県 Hyōgo ひょうご Kōbe こうべ
広島県 Hiroshima ひろしま Hiroshima ひろしま
福井県 Fukui ふくい Fukui ふくい
福岡県 Fukuoka ふくおか Fukuoka ふくおか
福島県 Fukushima ふくしま Fukushima ふくしま
北海道 Hokkaidō ほっかいどう Sapporo さっぽろ
三重県 Mie みえ Tsu
宮城県 Miyagi みやぎ Sendai せんだい
宮崎県 Miyazaki みやざき Miyazaki みやざき
山形県 Yamagata やまがた Yamagata やまがた
山口県 Yamaguchi やまぐち Yamaguchi やまぐち
山梨県 Yamanashi やまなし Kōfu こうふ
和歌山県 Wakayama わかやま Wakayama わかやま

Cities of Japan

The map at the beginning of Post shows the name and location of the 47 Provinces. Below, there is a huge list of the 790 Cities in Japan, with their names in Kanji, romaji, and the population of each city. Use the captions below to identify.

We also recommend reading: List of Cities in Japan - Complete

  • Sub-provinces (支庁 shichō)
  • Designated cities (政令指定都市 seirei-shitei-toshi)
  • Districts (郡 gun)
  • Core Cities (中核市 chūkaku-shi)
  • Special cities (特例市 tokurei-shi)
  • Cities (市 shi)
  • Special Divisions (Tokyo) (特別区 tokubetsu-ku)
  • Divisions (区ku)
  • Cities (Small) (町 chō, machi)
  • Villages (村 son, wall)