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.
Table of Contents
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..
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 | おおいた |
| 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 | おおつ |
| 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 | つ |
| 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)
