Prefectures of Japan

are one of the basic local entities of Japan.Web-Japan.org,  "Local self-government," p. 1; retrieved 2012-12-19.   They are the 47 subdivisions of the country. Prefectures are the governmental bodies of Japan which are larger than cities, towns, and villages.

History
The former provinces of Japan were converted into prefectures between 1876 and 1879.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2002).  "Provinces and prefectures" in Japan encyclopedia, p. 780.

The word todōfuken combines the suffixes of the names of the 47 prefectures. The four suffixes are: 

 -to .... one metropolis, or large city (都 -to), Tokyo (東京都, Tōkyōto) 


-dō .... one “circuit” (道 -dō), Hokkaido (北海道, Hokkaidō)
-fu .... two city prefectures (府 -fu), Osaka (大阪府, Ōsakafu) and Kyoto (京都府, Kyōtofu)
-ken ... forty-three other prefectures (県 -ken)
Before World War II, different laws applied to fu and ken, but now two types of prefecture are the same, outside of their names.

 Lists of prefectures 
List in Japanese ISO order

The prefectures are often grouped into these nine regions (Chihō). The regions are not formally specified, they do not have elected officials, and they are not corporate bodies.  However, 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.See ISO 3166  From north to south, the prefectures of Japan and their commonly associated regions are listed in traditional and in ISO 3166-2:JP order:

Hokkaidō

1. Hokkaidō 
Tōhoku

2. Aomori 
3. Iwate 
4. Miyagi 
5. Akita 
6. Yamagata 
7. Fukushima 
Kantō

8. Ibaraki 
9. Tochigi 
10. Gunma 
11. Saitama 
12. Chiba 
13. TokyoTokyo Prefecture means ; and Tokyo, Tokyo means . Tokyo means the . 
14. Kanagawa  
Chūbu

15. Niigata 
16. Toyama 
17. Ishikawa 
18. Fukui 
19. Yamanashi 
20. Nagano 
21. Gifu 
22. Shizuoka 
23. Aichi 
Kansai

24. Mie 
25. Shiga 
26. Kyoto 
27. Osaka 
28. Hyōgo 
29. Nara 
30. Wakayama

Chūgoku

31. Tottori 
32. Shimane 
33. Okayama 
34. Hiroshima 
35. Yamaguchi  
Shikoku

36. Tokushima 
37. Kagawa 
38. Ehime 
39. Kōchi

Kyūshū

40. Fukuoka 
41. Saga 
42. Nagasaki 
43. Kumamoto 
44. Ōita 
45. Miyazaki 
46. Kagoshima

Okinawa

47. Okinawa

Okinawa Prefecture is traditionally thought of as part of the Kyūshū region of Japan.Kanno, Eiji. (1998). New Japan Solo, p. 397; excerpt, "Administratively, Okinawa is part of Kyushu Region, even though it is l .000 km (625 miles) southwest of Kagoshima."   Okinawa Prefecture is made up of islands which are southwest of the island of Kyushu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Okinawa-ken" in Japan Encyclopedia, pp. 746-747.  The Japanese government recognizes the prefecture as its own region in new 9-region, 11-region and 13-region systems.Hook, Glenn D. (2011).  Decoding Boundaries in Contemporary Japan: The Koizumi Administration and Beyond, pp. 145-146.

List in Western alphabetical order
The default alphabetic order in this sortable table can be altered to mirror the traditional Japanese regions and ISO parsing.
 Prefecture Japanese Capital 50pxRegion Island Population1 Area2 Density3 Distr. Municip. ISO Aichi 愛知県 NagoyaChūbu Honshū 7,043,235 5,153.81 1,366 15 88 JP-23 Akita 秋田県 AkitaTōhoku Honshū 1,189,215 11,612.11 102 8 29  JP-05 Aomori 青森県 AomoriTōhoku Honshū 1,475,635 9,606.26 154 8 61 JP-02 Chiba 千葉県 ChibaKantō Honshū 5,926,349 5,156.15 1,149 9 80 JP-12 Ehime 愛媛県 MatsuyamaShikoku Shikoku 1,493,126 5,676.44 263 7 28 JP-38 Fukui 福井県 FukuiChūbu Honshū 828,960 4,188.76 198 10 29 JP-18 Fukuoka 福岡県 FukuokaKyūshū Kyūshū 5,015,666 4,971.01 1,009 17 91 JP-40 Fukushima 福島県 FukushimaTōhoku Honshū 2,126,998 13,782.54 154 14 85 JP-07 Gifu 岐阜県 GifuChūbu Honshū 2,107,687 10,598.18 199 11 49 JP-21 Gunma 群馬県 MaebashiKantō Honshū 2,024,820 6,363.16 318 12 61 JP-10 Hiroshima 広島県 HiroshimaChūgoku Honshū 2,878,949 8,476.95 340 10 37 JP-34 Hokkaidō 北海道 SapporoHokkaidō Hokkaidō 5,682,950 83,452.47 68 66 207 JP-01 Hyōgo 兵庫県 KobeKansai Honshū 5,550,742 8,392.42 661 13 60 JP-28 Ibaraki 茨城県 MitoKantō Honshū 2,985,424 6,095.62 490 13 61 JP-08 Ishikawa 石川県 KanazawaChūbu Honshū 1,180,935 4,185.32 282 7 25 JP-17 Iwate 岩手県 MoriokaTōhoku Honshū 1,416,198 15,278.51 93 12 46 JP-03 Kagawa 香川県 TakamatsuShikoku Shikoku 1,022,843 1,861.70 549 5 17 JP-37 Kagoshima 鹿児島県 KagoshimaKyūshū Kyūshū 1,786,214 9,132.42 196 11 49 JP-46 Kanagawa 神奈川県 YokohamaKantō Honshū 8,489,932 2,415.42 3,515 7 35 JP-14 Kōchi  高知県 KōchiShikoku Shikoku 813,980 7,104.70 115 6 35 JP-39 Kumamoto 熊本県 KumamotoKyūshū Kyūshū 1,859,451 6,908.45 269 10 48 JP-43 Kyoto 京都府 KyotoKansai Honshū 2,644,331 4,612.93 573 6 28 JP-26 Mie 三重県 TsuKansai Honshū 1,857,365 5760.72 322 7 29 JP-24 Miyagi 宮城県 SendaiTōhoku Honshū 2,365,204 7,285.16 325 10 36 JP-04 Miyazaki 宮崎県 MiyazakiKyūshū Kyūshū 1,170,023 6,684.67 175 8 30 JP-45 Nagano 長野県 NaganoChūbu Honshū 2,214,409 12,598.48 163 16 120 JP-20 Nagasaki 長崎県 NagasakiKyūshū Kyūshū 1,516,536 4,092.80 371 9 79 JP-42 Nara 奈良県 NaraKansai Honshū 1,442,862 3,691.09 391 8 47 JP-29 Niigata  新潟県 NiigataChūbu Honshū 2,475,724 12,582.37 197 16 111 JP-15 Ōita 大分県 ŌitaKyūshū Kyūshū 1,221,128 5,804.24 210 12 58 JP-44 Okayama 岡山県 OkayamaChūgoku Honshū 1,950,656 7,008.63 278 18 78 JP-33 Okinawa 沖縄県 NahaKyūshū RyūkyūIslands 1,318,281 2,271.30 580 5 41 JP-47 Osaka 大阪府 OsakaKansai Honshū 8,804,806 1,893.18 4,652 5 44 JP-27 Saga 佐賀県 SagaKyūshū Kyūshū 876,664 2,439.23 359 8 49 JP-41 Saitama 埼玉県 SaitamaKantō Honshū 6,938,004 3,767.09 1,827 9 90 JP-11 Shiga 滋賀県 ŌtsuKansai Honshū 1,342,811 4,017.36 334 11 50 JP-25 Shimane 島根県 MatsueChūgoku Honshū 761,499 6,707.32 114 12 59 JP-32 Shizuoka 静岡県 ShizuokaChūbu Honshū 3,767,427 7,328.61 484 12 74 JP-22 Tochigi 栃木県 UtsunomiyaKantō Honshū 2,004,787 6,408.28 313 7 33 JP-09 Tokushima 徳島県 TokushimaShikoku Shikoku 823,997 4,145.26 199 10 50 JP-36 Tokyo 東京都 ShinjukuKantō Honshū 12,059,237 2,187.08 5,514 1 39 JP-13 Tottori 鳥取県 TottoriChūgoku Honshū 613,229 3,507.19 175 6 39 JP-31 Toyama 富山県 ToyamaChūbu Honshū 1,120,843 4,247.22 264 6 27 JP-16 Wakayama 和歌山県 WakayamaKansai Honshū 1,069,839 4,725.55 226 7 50 JP-30 Yamagata 山形県 YamagataTōhoku Honshū 1,244,040 9,323.34 133 9 44 JP-06 Yamaguchi 山口県 YamaguchiChūgoku Honshū 1,528,107 6,110.76 250 11 56 JP-35 Yamanashi 山梨県 KōfuChūbu Honshū 888,170 4,465.37 199 8 64 JP-19
Notes: 1- Population as of 2000; 2- Area km2; 3- Density per km2

Related pages

 Provinces of Japan
 List of regions of Japan
 List of islands of Japan

References

Further reading

 Steiner, Kurt. (1965).  Local Government in Japan. Stanford: Stanford University Press.   OCLC 250059672

Other websites
National Governors' Association Website (English)
Map of Japan showing administrative divisions
Japanese essay on types of prefectures
Local Authorities for International Relations (English)
CityMayors.com profile of prefectures
 Japan Mint.  Japan 47 Prefectures Coin Program