Prefectures of Japan - Wikipedia Prefectures of Japan Prefecture 都 道府県 Todōfuken Category Unitary State Location Japan Number 47 Populations 584,982 ( Tottori ) -- 12,059,237 ( Tōkyō ) Areas 1,861.7 km ( 718.8 sq mi ) ( Kagawa ) -- 83,453.6 km ( 32,221.6 sq mi ) ( Hokkaido ) Government Prefecture Government, Central Government Subdivisions Subprefectures Japan is divided into 47 prefectures ( 都 道府県, Todōfuken ), forming the first level of jurisdiction and administrative division. They consist of 43 prefectures ( 県, ken ) proper, two urban prefectures ( 府, fu, Osaka and Kyoto ), one `` circuit '' or `` territory '' ( 道, dō, Hokkaido ) and one `` metropolis '' ( 都, to, Tokyo ). The Meiji Fuhanken sanchisei administration created the first prefectures ( urban - fu and rural - ken ) from 1868 to replace the urban and rural administrators ( bugyō, daikan, etc. ) in the parts of the country previously controlled directly by the shogunate and a few territories of rebels / shogunate loyalists who had not submitted to the new government such as Aizu / Wakamatsu. In 1871, all remaining feudal domains ( han ) were also transformed into prefectures, so that prefectures subdivided the whole country. In several waves of territorial consolidation, today 's 47 prefectures were formed by the turn of the century. In many instances, these are contiguous with the ancient ritsuryō provinces of Japan. Each prefecture 's chief executive is a directly - elected governor ( 知事, chiji ). Ordinances and budgets are enacted by a unicameral assembly ( 議会, gikai ) whose members are elected for four - year terms. Under a set of 1888 -- 1890 laws on local government until the 1920s, each prefecture ( then only 3 - fu and 42 - ken ; Hokkai - dō and Okinawa - ken were subject to different laws until the 20th century ) was subdivided into cities ( 市, shi ) and districts ( 郡, gun ) and each district into towns ( 町, chō / machi ) and villages ( 村, son / mura ). Hokkaido has 14 subprefectures that act as branch offices ( 総合 振興 局, sōgō - shinkō - kyoku ) and branch offices ( 振興 局, shinkō - kyoku ) of the prefecture. Some other prefectures also have branch offices that carry out prefectural administrative functions outside the capital. Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is a merged city - prefecture ; a metropolis, it has features of both cities and prefectures. Contents 1 Prefectures under the Local Autonomy Law 2 Background 3 Powers 4 Types of prefecture 4.1 Fu 4.2 Ken 4.3 Dō 4.4 To 5 Lists of prefectures 5.1 By Japanese ISO 5.2 By English name 6 Former prefectures 6.1 1870s 6.2 1880s 6.3 Territories lost after World War II 7 See also 7.1 General 8 References 9 External links Prefectures under the local autonomy law Under chapter 8 of the postwar constitution and the 1947 Local Autonomy Law, Japan is subdivided into 47 prefectures ( 1 - to, 1 - dō, 2 - fu, 43 - ken ), largely equal in autonomy although the ( Tōkyō ) - to retains some additional municipal authority for part of its territory ( former Tokyo City ), and there is central government intervention in its own autonomy ( police chief ) because of its capital functions. All prefectures are further subdivided into municipalities : cities ( - shi ), towns ( - machi / - chō ), villages ( - mura / - son ) and ( special ) wards ( ( tokubetsu ) - ku ; not to be confused with the wards of designated cities, the latter are administrative subdivisions below municipalities ). The institutions -- a chief executive and a legislative assembly directly elected separately for four - year terms -- and mechanisms -- by - laws / ordinances, jōrei, executive ordinances, kisoku, popular petitions, initiatives and recalls, chokusetsu seikyū ( lit. `` direct demands '' ) -- of local autonomy are largely the same for all prefectures and municipalities, but the extent of municipal autonomy varies by type, in descending order : three special forms for large cities ( major cities designated by government order, core cities, special case cities ), ordinary cities, towns & villages. The special wards are in a special category : In some areas ( e.g. municipal elections ), they are treated like major cities, in others ( taxation ), they have less autonomy than villages. Prefectural government functions include the organization of the 47 prefectural police forces, the supervision of schools and the maintenance of prefectural schools ( mainly high schools ), prefectural hospitals, prefectural roads, the supervision of prefectural waterways and regional urban planning. Their responsibilities include tasks delegated to them by the national government such as maintaining most ordinary national roads ( except in designated major cities ), and prefectures coordinate and support their municipalities in their functions. De facto, prefectures as well as municipalities have often been less autonomous than the formal extent of the local autonomy law suggests because most of them depend heavily on central government funding -- a dependency recently further exacerbated in many regions by the demographic transition which hits rural areas harder / earlier as cities can offset it partly through migration from the countryside --, and because in many policy areas, the basic framework is set tightly by national laws, and prefectures and municipalities are only autonomous within that framework. In recent decades, there have been several reforms to try to reduce the fiscal dependency of local governments. By fiscal 2007, prefectural and municipal taxes constituted 43.3 % of the total tax revenue, while prefectural and municipal governments accounted for 58.9 % of total government spending ; central government transfers and loans still cover a substantial part of local expenditures. Background Administrative divisions of Japan Prefectural Prefectures Sub-prefectural Subprefectures Districts Municipal Designated cities Core cities Special cities Cities Special wards ( Tokyo ) Towns Villages Sub-municipal Wards The West 's use of `` prefecture '' to label these Japanese regions stems from 16th - century Portuguese explorers ' and traders ' use of `` prefeitura '' to describe the fiefdoms they encountered there. Its original sense in Portuguese, however, was closer to `` municipality '' than `` province ''. Today, in turn, Japan uses its word ken ( 県 ), meaning `` prefecture '', to identify Portuguese districts while in Brazil the word `` Prefeitura '' is used to refer to a city hall. Those fiefs were headed by a local warlord or family. Though the fiefs have long since been dismantled, merged, and reorganized multiple times, and been granted legislative governance and oversight, the rough translation stuck. The Meiji government established the current system in July 1871 with the abolition of the han system and establishment of the prefecture system ( 廃藩置県, haihan - chiken ). Although there were initially over 300 prefectures, many of them being former han territories, this number was reduced to 72 in the latter part of 1871, and 47 in 1888. The Local Autonomy Law of 1947 gave more political power to prefectures, and installed prefectural governors and parliaments. In 2003, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi proposed that the government consolidate the current prefectures into about 10 regional states. The plan called for each region to have greater autonomy than existing prefectures. This process would reduce the number of subprefecture administrative regions and cut administrative costs. The Japanese government is also considering a plan to merge several groups of prefectures, creating a subnational administrative division system consisting of between nine and 13 states, and giving these states more local autonomy than the prefectures currently enjoy. As of August 2012, no reorganization has been scheduled. Powers Main article : Government of Japan § Local Government Japan is a unitary state. The central government delegates many functions ( such as education and the police force ) to the prefectures and municipalities, but retains the overall right to control them. Although local government expenditure accounts for 70 percent of overall government expenditure, the central government controls local budgets, tax rates, and borrowing. Types of prefecture Historically, during the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate established bugyō - ruled zones ( 奉行 支配 地 ) around the nine largest cities in Japan, and 302 township - ruled zones ( 郡 代 支配 地 ) elsewhere. When the Meiji government began to create the prefectural system in 1868, the nine bugyō - ruled zones became fu ( 府 ), while the township - ruled zones and the rest of the bugyo - ruled zones became ken ( 県 ). Later, in 1871, the government designated Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto as fu, and relegated the other fu to the status of ken. During World War II, in 1943, Tokyo became a to, a new type of pseudo-prefecture. Despite the differences in terminology, there is little functional difference between the four types of local governments. The subnational governments are sometimes collectively referred to as to - dō - fu - ken ( 都 道府県 ) in Japanese, which is a simple combination of the four terms. Fu Main article : Fu ( country subdivision ) Osaka and Kyoto Prefectures are referred to as fu ( 府 ). The Classical Chinese character from which this is derived implies a core urban zone of national importance. Before World War II, different laws applied to fu and ken, but this distinction was abolished after the war, and the two types of prefecture are now functionally the same. Ken 43 of the 47 prefectures are referred to as ken ( 県 ). The Classical Chinese character from which this is derived carries a rural or provincial connotation, and an analogous character is used to refer to the counties of China, counties of Taiwan and districts of Vietnam. Dō Hokkaido is referred to as a dō ( 道 ) or circuit. This term was originally used to refer to Japanese regions consisting of several provinces ( e.g. the Tōkaidō east - coast region, and Saikaido west - coast region ). This was also a historical usage of the character in China. ( In Korea, this historical usage is still used today and was kept during the period of Japanese rule. ) Hokkaido, the only remaining dō today, was not one of the original seven dō ( it was known as Ezo in the pre-modern era ). Its current name is believed to originate from Matsuura Takeshiro, an early Japanese explorer of the island. Since Hokkaido did not fit into the existing dō classifications, a new dō was created to cover it. The Meiji government originally classified Hokkaido as a `` Settlement Envoyship '' ( 開拓 使, kaitakushi ), and later divided the island into three prefectures ( Sapporo, Hakodate, and Nemuro ). These were consolidated into a single Hokkaido Department ( 北海道 庁, Hokkaido - chō ) in 1886, at prefectural level but organized more along the lines of a territory. In 1947, the department was dissolved, and Hokkaido became a full - fledged prefecture. The - ken suffix was never added to its name, so the - dō suffix came to be understood to mean `` prefecture. '' When Hokkaido was incorporated, transportation on the island was still underdeveloped, so the prefecture was split into several `` subprefectures '' ( 支庁, shichō ) that could fulfill administrative duties of the prefectural government and keep tight control over the developing island. These subprefectures still exist today, although they have much less power than they possessed before and during World War II. They now exist primarily to handle paperwork and other bureaucratic functions. `` Hokkaido Prefecture '' is, technically speaking, a redundant term, although it is occasionally used to differentiate the government from the island itself. The prefecture 's government calls itself the `` Hokkaido Government '' rather than the `` Hokkaido Prefectural Government ''. To Tokyo is referred to as to ( 都 ), which is often translated as `` metropolis. '' The Japanese government translates Tōkyō - to as `` Tokyo Metropolis '' in almost all cases, and the government is officially called the `` Tokyo Metropolitan Government ''. Following the capitulation of shogunate Edo in 1868, Tōkyō - fu ( an urban prefecture like Kyoto and Osaka ) was set up and encompassed the former city area of Edo under the Fuhanken sanchisei. After the abolition of the han system in the first wave of prefectural mergers in 1871 / 72, several surrounding areas ( parts of Urawa, Kosuge, Shinagawa and Hikone prefectures ) were merged into Tokyo, and under the system of ( numbered ) `` large districts and small districts '' ( daiku - shōku ), it was subdivided into eleven large districts further subdivided into 103 small districts, six of the large districts ( 97 small districts ) covered the former city area of Edo. When the ancient ritsuryō districts were reactivated as administrative units in 1878, Tokyo was subdivided into 15 ( urban ) districts ( - ku ) and initially six ( rural ) districts ( - gun ; nine after the Tama transfer from Kanagawa in 1893, eight after the merger of East Tama and South Toshima into Toyotama in 1896 ). Both urban and rural districts, like everywhere in the country, were further subdivided into urban units / towns / neighbourhoods ( - chō / - machi ) and rural units / villages ( - mura / - son ). The yet unincorporated communities on the Izu ( previously part of Shizuoka ) and Ogasawara ( previously directly Home Ministry - administrated ) island groups became also part of Tokyo in the 19th century. When the modern municipalities -- ( district - independent ) cities and ( rural ) districts containing towns and villages -- were introduced under the Yamagata - Mosse laws on local government and the simultaneous Great Meiji merger was performed in 1889, the 15 - ku became wards of Tokyo City, initially Tokyo 's only independent city ( - shi ), the six rural districts of Tokyo were consolidated in 85 towns and villages. In 1893, the three Tama districts and their 91 towns and villages became part of Tokyo. As Tokyo city 's suburbs grew rapidly in the early 20th century, many towns and villages in Tokyo were merged or promoted over the years. In 1932, five complete districts with their 82 towns and villages were merged into Tokyo City and organized in 20 new wards. Also, by 1940, there were two more cities in Tokyo : Hachiōji City and Tachikawa City. In 1943, Tokyo City was abolished, Tōkyō - fu became Tōkyō - to, and Tokyo 's 35 wards remained Tokyo 's 35 wards, submunicipal authorities falling directly under the municipality, but since the municipality was abolished, Tokyo 's wards fell directly under prefectural or now `` Metropolitan '' authority. All other cities, towns and villages in Tokyo stayed cities, towns and villages in Tokyo. The reorganization 's aim was to consolidate the administration of the area around the capital by eliminating the extra level of authority in Tokyo. Also, the governor was no longer called chiji, but chōkan ( ~ `` head / chief ( usually : of a central government agency ) '' ) as in Hokkaidō ). The central government wanted to have greater control over all local governments due to Japan 's deteriorating position in World War II -- for example, all mayors in the country became appointive as in the Meiji era -- and over Tokyo in particular, due to the possibility of emergency in the metropolis. After the war, Japan was forced to decentralize Tokyo again, following the general terms of democratization outlined in the Potsdam Declaration. Many of Tokyo 's special governmental characteristics disappeared during this time, and the wards took on an increasingly municipal status in the decades following the surrender. Administratively, today 's special wards are almost indistinguishable from other municipalities. The postwar reforms also changed the map of Tokyo significantly : In 1947, the 35 wards were reorganized into the 23 special wards, because many of its citizens had either died during the war, left the city, or been drafted and did n't return. In the occupation reforms, special wards, each with their own elected assemblies ( kugikai ) and mayors ( kuchō ), were intended to be equal to other municipalities even if some restrictions still applied. ( For example, there was during the occupation a dedicated municipal police agency for the 23 special wards / former Tokyo City, yet the special wards public safety commission was not named by the special ward governments, but by the government of the whole `` Metropolis ''. In 1954, independent municipal police forces were abolished generally in the whole country, and the prefectural / `` Metropolitan '' police of Tokyo is again responsible for the whole prefecture / `` Metropolis '' and like all prefectural police forces controlled by the prefectural / `` Metropolitan '' public safety commission whose members are appointed by the prefectural / `` Metropolitan '' governor and assembly. ) But, as part of the `` reverse course '' of the 1950s some of these new rights were removed, the most obvious measure being the denial of directly elected mayors. Some of these restrictions were removed again over the decades. But it was not until the year 2000 that the special wards were fully recognized as municipal - level entities. Independently from these steps, as Tokyo 's urban growth again took up pace during the postwar economic miracle and most of the main island part of Tokyo `` Metropolis '' became increasingly core part of the Tokyo metropolitan area, many of the other municipalities in Tokyo have transferred some of their authority to the Metropolitan government. For example, the Tokyo Fire Department which was only responsible for the 23 special wards until 1960 has until today taken over the municipal fire departments in almost all of Tokyo. A joint governmental structure for the whole Tokyo metropolitan area ( and not only the western suburbs of the special wardswhich are part of the Tokyo prefecture / Metropolis `` ) as advocated by some politicians such as former Kanagawa governor Shigefumi Matsuzawa has not been established ( see also Dōshūsei ). Existing cross-prefectural fora of cooperation between local governments in the Tokyo metropolitan area are the Kantō regional governors ' association ( Kantō chihō chijikai ) and the `` Shutoken summit '' ( formally `` conference of chief executives of nine prefectures and cities '', 9 to - ken - shi shunō kaigi ). But, these are not themselves local public entities under the local autonomy law and national or local government functions can not be directly transferred to them, unlike the `` Union of Kansai governments '' ( Kansai kōiki - rengō ) which has been established by several prefectural governments in the Kansai region. There are some differences in terminology between Tokyo and other prefectures : police and fire departments are called chō ( 庁 ) instead of honbu ( 本部 ), for instance. But the only functional difference between Tōkyō - to and other prefectures is that Tokyo administers wards as well as cities. Today, since the special wards have almost the same degree of independence as Japanese cities, the difference in administration between Tokyo and other prefectures is fairly minor. In Osaka, several prominent politicians led by Tōru Hashimoto, then mayor of Osaka City and former governor of Osaka Prefecture, proposed an Osaka Metropolis plan, under which Osaka City, and possibly other neighboring cities, would be replaced by special wards similar to Tokyo 's. The plan was narrowly defeated in a 2015 referendum. Lists of prefectures The different systems of parsing frame the ways in which Japanese prefectures are perceived : By Japanese ISO The prefectures are also often grouped into eight regions ( Chihō ). Those regions are not formally specified, they do not have elected officials, nor are they corporate bodies. But the practice of ordering prefectures based on their geographic region is traditional. This ordering is mirrored in Japan 's International Organization for Standardization ( ISO ) coding. From north to south ( numbering in ISO 3166 - 2 : JP order ), the prefectures of Japan and their commonly associated regions are : Hokkaidō Tōhoku Kantō Chūbu Kansai Chūgoku Shikoku Kyūshū 1. Hokkaidō 2. Aomori 3. Iwate 4. Miyagi 5. Akita 6. Yamagata 7. Fukushima 8. Ibaraki 9. Tochigi 10. Gunma 11. Saitama 12. Chiba 13. Tōkyō 14. Kanagawa 15. Niigata 16. Toyama 17. Ishikawa 18. Fukui 19. Yamanashi 20. Nagano 21. Gifu 22. Shizuoka 23. Aichi 24. Mie 25. Shiga 26. Kyōto 27. Ōsaka 28. Hyōgo 29. Nara 30. Wakayama 31. Tottori 32. Shimane 33. Okayama 34. Hiroshima 35. Yamaguchi 36. Tokushima 37. Kagawa 38. Ehime 39. Kōchi 40. Fukuoka 41. Saga 42. Nagasaki 43. Kumamoto 44. Ōita 45. Miyazaki 46. Kagoshima 47. Okinawa By english name The default alphabetic order in this sortable table can be altered to mirror the traditional Japanese regions and ISO parsing. Prefecture Kanji Capital Region Major Island Population 1 Area 2 Density 3 Distr. Municip. ISO Area code Aichi 愛知 県 Nagoya Chūbu Honshu 7,484,094 5,172.4 1,446.9 7 54 JP - 23 052 Akita 秋田 県 Akita Tōhoku Honshu 1,022,839 11,637.54 87.9 6 25 JP - 05 018 Aomori 青森 県 Aomori Tōhoku Honshu 1,308,649 9,645.4 135.7 8 40 JP - 02 017 Chiba 千葉 県 Chiba Kantō Honshu 6,224,027 5,157.64 1,206.8 6 54 JP - 12 043 Ehime 愛媛 県 Matsuyama Shikoku Shikoku 1,385,840 5,676.1 244.2 7 20 JP - 38 089 Fukui 福井 県 Fukui Chūbu Honshu 787,099 4,190.43 187.8 7 17 JP - 18 077 Fukuoka 福岡 県 Fukuoka Kyushu Kyushu 5,102,871 4,986.4 1,023.4 12 60 JP - 40 092 Fukushima 福島 県 Fukushima Tōhoku Honshu 1,913,606 13,783.75 138.8 13 59 JP - 07 024 Gifu 岐阜 県 Gifu Chūbu Honshu 2,032,533 10,621.29 191.4 9 42 JP - 21 058 Gunma 群馬 県 Maebashi Kantō Honshu 1,973,476 6,362.28 310.2 7 35 JP - 10 027 Hiroshima 広島 県 Hiroshima Chūgoku Honshu 2,844,963 8,479.38 335.5 5 23 JP - 34 082 Hokkaido 北海道 Sapporo Hokkaido Hokkaido 5,383,579 83,424.22 68.6 66 180 JP - 01 011 -- 016 Hyōgo 兵庫 県 Kōbe Kansai Honshu 5,536,989 8,400.9 659.1 8 41 JP - 28 017 Ibaraki 茨城 県 Mito Kantō Honshu 2,917,857 6,096.93 478.6 7 44 JP - 08 029 Ishikawa 石川 県 Kanazawa Chūbu Honshu 1,154,343 4,186.15 275.8 5 19 JP - 17 076 Iwate 岩手 県 Morioka Tōhoku Honshu 1,279,814 15,275.01 83.8 10 33 JP - 03 019 Kagawa 香川 県 Takamatsu Shikoku Shikoku 976,756 1,876.73 520.5 5 17 JP - 37 087 Kagoshima 鹿児島 県 Kagoshima Kyushu Kyushu 1,648,752 9,188.1 179.4 8 43 JP - 46 099 Kanagawa 神奈川 県 Yokohama Kantō Honshu 9,127,323 2,415.81 3,778.2 6 33 JP - 14 045 Kochi Kōchi 高知 県 Kochi Kōchi Shikoku Shikoku 728,461 7,103.91 102.5 6 34 JP - 39 088 Kumamoto 熊本 県 Kumamoto Kyushu Kyushu 1,786,969 7,409.32 241.2 9 45 JP - 43 099 Kyoto 京都 府 Kyoto Kansai Honshu 2,610,140 4,612.2 565.9 6 26 JP - 26 017 Mie 三重 県 Tsu Kansai Honshu 1,815,827 5,774.39 314.5 7 29 JP - 24 059 Miyagi 宮城 県 Sendai Tōhoku Honshu 2,334,215 7,282.14 320.5 10 35 JP - 04 022 Miyazaki 宮崎 県 Miyazaki Kyushu Kyushu 1,104,377 7,735.31 142.8 6 26 JP - 45 098 Nagano 長野 県 Nagano Chūbu Honshu 2,099,759 13,561.56 154.8 14 77 JP - 20 026 Nagasaki 長崎 県 Nagasaki Kyushu Kyushu 1,377,780 4,132.32 333.4 21 JP - 42 095 Nara 奈良 県 Nara Kansai Honshu 1,365,008 3,690.94 369.8 7 39 JP - 29 074 Niigata 新潟 県 Niigata Chūbu Honshu 2,305,098 12,584.1 183.2 9 30 JP - 15 025 Oita Ōita 大分 県 Oita Ōita Kyushu Kyushu 1,166,729 6,340.61 184 18 JP - 44 097 Okayama 岡山 県 Okayama Chūgoku Honshu 1,922,181 7,114.62 270.2 10 27 JP - 33 086 Okinawa 沖縄 県 Naha Kyushu Ryukyu Islands 1,434,138 2,281 628.7 5 41 JP - 47 098 Osaka 大阪 府 Ōsaka Kansai Honshu 8,838,908 1,904.99 4,639.9 5 43 JP - 27 06x Saga 佐賀 県 Saga Kyushu Kyushu 833,245 2,440.64 341.4 6 20 JP - 41 095 Saitama 埼玉 県 Saitama Kantō Honshu 7,261,271 3,797.75 1,912 8 63 JP - 11 048 Shiga 滋賀 県 Ōtsu Kansai Honshu 1,413,184 4,017.38 351.8 19 JP - 25 077 Shimane 島根 県 Matsue Chūgoku Honshu 694,188 6,708.23 103.5 5 19 JP - 32 085 Shizuoka 静岡 県 Shizuoka Chūbu Honshu 3,701,181 7,778.7 475.8 5 35 JP - 22 054 Tochigi 栃木 県 Utsunomiya Kantō Honshu 1,974,671 6,408.09 308.2 5 26 JP - 09 028 Tokushima 徳島 県 Tokushima Shikoku Shikoku 756,063 4,146.93 182.3 8 24 JP - 36 088 Tokyo 東京 都 Tokyo Kantō Honshu 13,513,734 2,190.9 6,168.1 39 JP - 13 03x 042 Tottori 鳥取 県 Tottori Chūgoku Honshu 573,648 3,507.05 163.6 5 19 JP - 31 085 Toyama 富山 県 Toyama Chūbu Honshu 1,066,883 4,247.61 251.2 15 JP - 16 076 Wakayama 和歌山 県 Wakayama Kansai Honshu 963,850 4,724.68 204 6 30 JP - 30 073 Yamagata 山形 県 Yamagata Tōhoku Honshu 1,122,957 9,323.15 120.4 8 35 JP - 06 023 Yamaguchi 山口 県 Yamaguchi Chūgoku Honshu 1,405,007 6,112.3 229.9 19 JP - 35 083 Yamanashi 山梨 県 Kōfu Chūbu Honshu 835,165 4,464.99 187 5 27 JP - 19 055 Notes : 1 as of 2015 ; 2 km2 ; 3 per km2 Former prefectures 1870s See this Japanese Wikipedia article for all the changes back then. 1880s Prefecture Japanese Year of Abolishment Fate Kanazawa 金沢 県 1869 Renamed as Ishikawa Sendai 仙台 県 1871 Renamed as Miyagi Morioka 盛岡 県 1872 Renamed as Iwate Nagoya 名古屋 県 1872 Renamed as Aichi Nukata 額田 県 1872 Merged into Aichi Nanao 七尾 県 1872 Merged into Ishikawa and Shinkawa Iruma 入間 県 1873 Merged into Kumagaya and Kanagawa Inba 印旛 県 1873 Merged into Chiba Kisarazu 木更津 県 1873 Merged into Chiba Utsunomiya 宇都宮 県 1873 Merged into Tochigi Asuwa 足羽 県 1873 Merged into Tsuruga Kashiwazaki 柏崎 県 1873 Merged into Niigata Ichinoseki → Mizusawa → Iwai 一関 県 → 水沢 県 → 磐井 県 1875 Merged into Iwate and Miyagi Okitama 置賜 県 1875 Merged into Yamagata Shinji 新治 県 1875 Merged into Ibaraki and Chiba Sakata → Tsuruoka 酒田 県 → 鶴岡 県 1876 Merged into Yamagata Taira → Iwasaki 平 県 → 磐 前 県 1876 Merged into Fukushima and Miyagi Wakamatsu 若松 県 1876 Merged into Fukushima Chikuma 筑摩 県 1876 Merged into Nagano and Gifu Tsuruga 敦賀 県 1876 Merged into Ishikawa and Shiga Shinkawa 新川 県 1876 Merged into Ishikawa Sakai 堺 県 1881 Merged into Osaka Ashigara 足柄 県 1876 Merged into Kanagawa and Shizuoka Kumagaya 熊谷 県 1876 Merged into Gunma and Saitama Aikawa 相川 県 1876 Merged into Niigata Hamamatsu 浜松 県 1876 Merged into Shizuoka Hakodate 函館 県 1886 Merged into Hokkaido Sapporo 札幌 県 1886 Merged into Hokkaido Nemuro 根室 県 1886 Merged into Hokkaido Tokyo 東京 府 1943 Reorganized as Tokyo Metropolis ( 東京 都 ) Territories lost after World War II Territory Prefecture Allied occupation Present status Name Japanese Capital Country Name Capital Mainland Okinawa 沖縄 県 Naha United States Japan Okinawa Naha Karafuto 樺太 庁 Toyohara Soviet Union Russia part of Sakhalin Yuzhno - Sakhalinsk Korea Heian - hoku 平安 北道 Shingishū Soviet Union North Korea North Pyongan Sinuiju Heian - nan 平安 南 道 Heijō South Pyongan Pyongyang Kankyō - hoku 咸鏡 北道 Ranan North Hamgyong Ranam Kankyō - nan 咸鏡 南 道 Kankō South Hamgyong Hamhung Kōkai 黃海 道 Kaishū Hwanghae Haeju Kōgen 江原 道 Shunsen Kangwon Chuncheon United States South Korea Gangwon Chūsei - hoku 忠清 北道 Seishū North Chungcheong Cheongju Chūsei - nan 忠清 南 道 Taiden South Chungcheong Daejeon Keiki 京畿 道 Keijō Gyeonggi Seoul Keishō - hoku 慶 尚 北道 Taikyū North Gyeongsang Daegu Keishō - nan 慶 尚 南 道 Fusan South Gyeongsang Busan Zenra - hoku 全 羅 北道 Zenshū North Jeolla Jeonju Zenra - nan 全 羅南道 Kōshū South Jeolla Gwangju Taiwan Hōko 澎湖 庁 Makō United States Taiwan Penghu Magong Karenkō 花蓮 港 庁 Karenkō Hualien Hualien Shinchiku 新竹 州 Shinchiku Hsinchu Hsinchu Taichū 台中 州 Taichū Taichung Taichung Taihoku 台北 州 Taihoku Taipei Taipei Tainan 台南 州 Tainan Tainan Tainan Taitō 台東 庁 Taitō Taitung Taitung Takao 高雄 州 Takao Kaohsiung Kaohsiung Kantō 関東 州 Dairen Soviet Union China part of Dalian, Liaoning Nan'yō 南洋 庁 Korōru United States Palau Koror City Marshall Islands Majuro Federated States of Micronesia Palikir United States Northern Mariana Islands Saipan See also List of Japanese prefectures by population List of Japanese prefectures by GDP List of Japanese prefectures by area List of prefectural capitals in Japan List of Prefecture songs of Japan ISO 3166 - 2 codes for Japan List of prefectural governors in Japan General List of regions of Japan Government of Japan References ^ Jump up to : Nussbaum, Louis - Frédéric, 2002 : `` Provinces and prefectures '' in Japan encyclopedia, p. 780. Jump up ^ prefectural code ( fukensei, ja : 府県 制 ), district code ( gunsei, ja : 郡 制 ), city code ( shisei, ja : 市 制 ), town & village code ( chōsonsei, ja : 町村 制 ) Jump up ^ Council of Local Authorities for International Relations / Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications : Local Autonomy in Japan 2009 Jump up ^ `` An Outline of Local Government in Japan '' ( PDF ). Jump up ^ Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications : Local Self - Government in Japan 2014 Jump up ^ Historical Development of Japanese Local Governance ( bilingual Japanese / English series of papers by the Institute for Comparative Studies in Local Governance, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies ) : Volume 9 : Atsushi Konishi, The Promotion of Decentralization ( 1 ) ( 1993 -- 2000 ), Volume 10 : Atsushi Konishi, The Promotion of Decentralization ( 2 ) Decentralization and a Change of Government ( 2001 -- 2009 ) ( Links are to the English versions ; English translations of Japanese administrative units, government institutions and regulations often vary ( even within this series ) ; in this bilingual series, one can refer directly to the Japanese articles for verification which are accessible from the main page ) Jump up ^ Mabuchi, Masaru, `` Municipal Amalgamation in Japan '', World Bank, 2001. Jump up ^ `` Doshusei Regional System '' Archived 2006 - 09 - 26 at the Wayback Machine. National Association for Research Advancement. Jump up ^ Mochida, `` Local Government Organization and Finance : Japan '', in Shah, Anwar ( 2006 ). Local Governance in Industrial Countries. World Bank. Jump up ^ National Archives of Japan : 『 明治 東京 全 図 』 Jump up ^ Tokyo Metropolitan Archives : 大 東京 35 区 物語 ~ 15 区 から 23 区 へ ~ 東京 23 区 の 歴史 Jump up ^ The Japan Times, December 4, 2003 : Few warm to greater - Tokyo assembly idea. Kanagawa chief pushes new administrative body to deal with regional issues Jump up ^ Kanagawa prefectural government : 関東 地方 知事 会 Jump up ^ Saitama prefectural government : 関東 地方 知事 会 Jump up ^ `` 九 都 県 市 首脳 会議 ''. www.9tokenshi-syunoukaigi.jp. Jump up ^ `` ホーム - 関西 広域 連合 ''. Jump up ^ See ISO 3166 Jump up ^ 都庁 の 所在地 Archived 2014 - 04 - 19 at the Wayback Machine. Shinjuku is the location of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office. But Tokyo is not a `` municipality ''. Therefore, for the sake of convenience, the notation of prefectural is `` Tokyo ''. Jump up ^ Post-war administrative division changes are not reflected in this table. The capital of the former Japanese administration is not necessarily the capital of the present - day equivalent. Jump up ^ Administrated by the United States Military Government of the Ryukyu Islands. Returned to Japan in 1972 Jump up ^ Due to the division of Korea, Kōgen ( Kangwon / Gangwon ), Keiki ( Gyeonggi ) and Kōkai ( Hwanghae ) are divided between North Korea and South Korea. While each Korea has its own Kangwon / Gangwon Province, the North Korean portion of Gyeonggi and the South Korean portion of Hwanghae have been absorbed into other provinces. Jump up ^ Shunsen ( Chuncheon ) is in present - day South Korea. Jump up ^ Leased from Qing dynasty, subsequently Republic of China and Manchukuo. Jump up ^ After World War II, the Soviet Union occupied the territory. The Soviet Union turned it over to the People 's Republic of China in 1955. Jump up ^ League of Nations mandate Jump up ^ Then administrated by the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Prefectures of Japan. National Governors ' Association website Map of Japan showing prefectures Japanese essay on types of prefectures CityMayors.com profile of prefectures Japan articles History Chronology Prehistory Paleolithic Ancient history Jōmon Yayoi Kofun Antiquity history Asuka Nara Heian Post-antiquity history Kamakura Muromachi Azuchi -- Momoyama Edo Modern history Bakumatsu Empire of Japan Meiji Taishō Shōwa Post-war Post-occupation Heisei By topic Economic Education Military Naval Imperial Army Imperial Navy Overseas actions Geography Addresses Archipelago Cities Districts Earthquakes Environment Extreme points Islands Lakes Prefectures Regions Rivers Towns Villages Politics Constitution Pre-war Elections Emperor list Foreign relations Human rights LGBT Judiciary Law Law enforcement National Diet House of Councillors House of Representatives Political parties Self - Defense Forces Air Ground Maritime Government Cabinet Fiscal policy Foreign policy Ministries Prime Minister list Deputy Prime Minister Economy Agriculture, forestry, fishing Central bank International rankings Labor Manufacturing Energy solar power Telecommunications Transport Yen Society Crime Demographics Education Etiquette Gambling Housing Languages Religion Sexuality Smoking Women Kyariaūman Culture Aesthetics Anime / Manga Architecture Art Bonsai Cinema Cuisine Festivals Folklore folktales Gardens Geisha Games Ikebana Kawaii Literature Martial arts Media Music Mythology Names Onsen / Sentō Sport Tea ceremony Television Theatre Japan portal Category Regions and administrative divisions of Japan Regions Hokkaido Tōhoku Kantō Nanpō Islands Chūbu Hokuriku Kōshin'etsu Shin'etsu Tōkai Kansai Chūgoku San'in San'yō Shikoku Kyushu Northern Southern Okinawa 47 Prefectures Hokkaido Hokkaido Tōhoku Aomori Iwate Miyagi Akita Yamagata Fukushima Kantō Ibaraki Tochigi Gunma Saitama Chiba Tokyo Kanagawa Chūbu Niigata Toyama Ishikawa Fukui Yamanashi Nagano Gifu Shizuoka Aichi Kansai Mie Shiga Kyoto Osaka Hyōgo Nara Wakayama Chūgoku Tottori Shimane Okayama Hiroshima Yamaguchi Shikoku Tokushima Kagawa Ehime Kōchi Kyushu Fukuoka Saga Nagasaki Kumamoto Ōita Miyazaki Kagoshima Okinawa Articles on first - level administrative divisions of Asian countries Sovereign states Afghanistan Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China province autonomous region municipality SAR Cyprus Egypt Georgia India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan North Korea province special city South Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Oman Pakistan Palestine Philippines Qatar Russia Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Syria Tajikistan Thailand Timor - Leste ( East Timor ) Turkey Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen States with limited recognition Northern Cyprus Taiwan Country spanning more than one continent ( transcontinental country ). List of administrative divisions by country Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Prefectures_of_Japan&oldid=853492134 '' Categories : Subdivisions of Japan Prefectures of Japan Lists of subdivisions of Japan Country subdivisions in Asia First - level administrative country subdivisions Lists of places in Japan Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Articles containing Japanese - language text Pages using deprecated image syntax Articles containing potentially dated statements from August 2012 All articles containing potentially dated statements All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from April 2013 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Languages Afrikaans অসমীয়া Asturianu বাংলা Bahasa Banjar Беларуская Български Bosanski Català Dansk Deutsch Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Gaeilge Galego 한국어 हिन्दी Hrvatski Ilokano Italiano עברית Kiswahili Кырык мары Latviešu Lietuvių Magyar Македонски Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Português Română Русский Scots සිංහල Simple English Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Basa Sunda Suomi Svenska Tagalog தமிழ் ไทย Türkçe Українська اردو Tiếng Việt 文言 Winaray ייִדיש Žemaitėška 中文 50 more Edit links This page was last edited on 5 August 2018, at 04 : 49 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: the 47 political subdivisions in japan are called
Answer: Prefecture