Mie Prefecture

is a prefecture of in the Kansai region of Japan on the island of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Mie prefecture" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 628; "Kansai" at p. 477.  The capital city is Tsu.Nussbaum, "Tsu" at p. 995.

 History 
Mie prefecture was created by merging the area of Ise Province, Shima Province, Iga Province and Kii Province.Nussbaum, "Provinces and prefectures" at p. 780.

In 1871, the area from the Kisosansen River in the north to the city of Tsu became Anōtsu Prefecture. The area south of Tsu became Watarai Prefecture. In 1876, Anōtsu Prefecture and Watarai Prefecture joined to become Mie Prefecture.

Mie has four dialects: Iga, Ise, Shima, and Kisyuu.

 Geography 
Mie Prefecture is on the eastern side of the Kii Peninsula. The prefectures that surround Mie are Aichi Prefecture, Gifu Prefecture, Shiga Prefecture, Kyoto Prefecture, Nara Prefecture, and Wakayama Prefecture. 

 Cities 
There are fourteen cities in Mie Prefecture:
 Iga
 Inabe
 Ise
 Kameyama
 Kumano
 Kuwana
 Matsusaka
 Nabari
 Owase
 Shima
 Suzuka
 Toba
 Tsu (capital)
 Yokkaichi

National Parks
About 35% of the total land area of the prefecture is National Parks.Japan Ministry of the Environment, "General overview of area figures for Natural Parks by prefecture"; retrieved 2012-3-13.

Shrines and Temples
Aekuni jinja, Tsubaki jinja, and Izawa jinja are the chief Shinto shrines (ichinomiya) in the prefecture.  
"Nationwide List of Ichinomiya," pp. 1-3 ; retrieved 2012-3-13.

Related pages
 Provinces of Japan
 Prefectures of Japan
 List of regions of Japan
 List of islands of Japan

References

Other websites