青森 Aomori

• Prefecture's Bird: Swan

• Prefecture's Tree: Japanese Cypress

• Prefecture's Flower: Apple flowers

Aomori is the most northern prefecture on the main island of Honshu, just south of Hokkaido .

Aomori is famous for its apples.

CAPITAL : Aomori City

宮城 Miyagi

• Prefecture's Bird: Wild Goose

• Prefecture's Tree: Keyaki; Zelkova

• Prefecture's Flower: Miyagi's bush clover

CAPITAL : Sendai City

Miyagi's Mark represents a hiragana み ( mi ) and a leaf of the Prefectural Flower, Miyagi's Bush Clover

福島 Fukushima

• Prefecture's Bird: Kibitaki
• Prefecture's Tree: Keyaki
• Prefecture's Flower: Rhododendron
• Population: 2,136,000
• Area: 13,782 sq. km.
• Products: Peach, Fukushima cattle, Aizu lacquer ware

CAPITAL : Fukushima-shi

Other major cities include Koriyama, Iwaki, Aizu-Wakamatsu

岩手 Iwate

• Prefecture's Bird: Green Pheasant

• Prefecture's Tree: Nanbu Red Pine

• Prefecture's Flower: Paulownia

Iwate faces the Pacific ocean and is just below Aomori prefecture.

From Wikipedia:
Of the several theories about the origin of the name ‘Iwate', the most well known tale, 'Oni no tegata,' is that associated with Mitsuishi Shrine in Morioka. (The Mitsuishi, literally ‘three rocks', are said to have been thrown down into Morioka by an eruption of Mt Iwate.) According to the legend, there was once a devil who often tormented and harassed the local people. When the people prayed to the spirits of Mitsuishi for protection, the devil was immediately shackled to the rocks and made to promise never to trouble the people again. As a sign of this promise the devil left a handprint on one of the rocks, thus giving rise to the name Iwate, literally meaning ‘rock hand'. Even now after a rainfall it is said that the devil's hand print can still be seen.

CAPITAL: Morioka

秋田 Akita

• Prefectural Bird: Pheasant

• Prefectural Tree: Japanese Cedar

• Prefectural Flower: Butterbur flower

Akita is located in the Tohoku Region in northern Honshu.

CAPITAL : Akita City

Akita's Mark is a stylized katakana ア (a) which represents the 'A' in Akita.

山形 Yamagata

• Prefecture's Bird: Mandarin duck

• Prefecture's Tree: Cherry

• Prefecture's Flower: Safflower

CAPITAL : Yamagata

千葉 Chiba

• Prefecture's Bird: Meadow Bunting
• Prefecture's Tree: Kusamaki
• Prefecture's Flower: Rape (nanohana)

CAPITAL : Chiba City

Home of Tokyo Disney!

埼玉 Saitama

• Prefecture's Bird: Eurasian Collared Dove
• Prefecture's Tree: Keyaki
• Prefecture's Flower: Primrose

CAPITAL : Saitama

山梨 Yamanashi

• Prefecture's Bird: Bush Warbler
• Prefecture's Tree: Japanese Maple
• Prefecture's Flower: Sakura

CAPITAL : Kofu

Mount Fuji is on the border between Yamanashi and Shizuoka.

神奈川 Kanagawa

• Prefecture's Bird: Seagull

• Prefecture's Tree: Ginkgo

• Prefecture's Flower: the Mountain Lily

CAPITAL : Yokohama City

Kanagawa is located in the southern part of the Kanto region. Yokohama with its 3.6 million population is its capital.

In 1853 Commodore Matthew Perry landed in Kanagawa. Yokohama was the largest foreign trading port around the end of the Edo period.

東京 Tokyo

• Prefecture's Bird: Black-headed Gull
• Prefecture's Tree: Ginkgo
• Prefecture's Flower: Cherry Blossom

CAPITAL : Tokyo

Birthplace of Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Soseki Natsume and the capital city of Japan.

The Symbol is a abstract 'T' (for Tokyo) in the shape of a ginkgo leaf.

栃木 Tochigi

• Prefecture's Bird: Blue-and-white Flycatcher
• Prefecture's Tree: Chestnut
• Prefecture's Flower: Yashio Tsutsuji

CAPITAL : Utsunomiya

群馬 Gunma

• Prefecture's Bird: Pheasant
• Prefecture's Tree: A Black Pine
• Prefecture's Flower: Japanese Azalea

CAPITAL : Maebashi

Gunma is a prefecture surrounded by mountains. The symbol reflects this by placing a stylized 群 ( gun ) surrounded by mountains.

茨城 Ibaraki

• Prefecture's Bird: Skylark

• Prefecture's Tree: Plum

• Prefecture's Flower: Rose

CAPITAL : Mito

新潟 Nigata

• Prefecture's Bird: Crested Ibis
• Prefecture's Tree: Camellia
• Prefecture's Flower: Tulip m c ;/

CAPITAL : Niigata

渡辺謙 Watanabe Ken, of Last Samurai fame hails from Niigata.

長野 Nagano

• Prefecture's Bird: Grouse
• Prefecture's Tree: White Birch
• Prefecture's Flower: Gentian

CAPITAL : Nagano

Nagano hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics.

富山 - Toyama

• Prefecture's Bird: Snow Grouse
• Prefecture's Tree: Tateyamasugi
• Prefecture's Flower: Tulip

CAPITAL : Toyama

石川 - Ishikawa

• Prefecture's Bird: Golden Eagle
• Prefecture's Tree: Hiba
• Prefecture's Flower: Black Lily

CAPITAL : Kanazawa

兼六園 Kenrokuen in Kanazawa is one of the three great Japanese gardens in all of Japan.

Click here for a Map of Kenrokuen in English [JPG 198 kb]
Kenrokuen Brochure 1 [JPG 150 kb]
Kenrokuen Brochure 2 [JPG 109kb]

Kairaku-en and Koraku-en are the other two.

If you are in Kanazawa and like curry & rice there is a great restaurant called Hot House . By all means visit that place. It looks like they have two restaurants there now.

Also Noto peninsula [能登半島 noto hantou ] is a very beautiful driving spot. You can see on the map below how the peninsula extends into the sea. You can also see real Japanese graffiti!

福井 - Fukui

• Prefecture's Bird: Thrush
• Prefecture's Tree: Pine Tree
• Prefecture's Flower: Daffodil

CAPITAL : Fukui

The capital city, Fukui City, is the largest city in Fukui with a population of about 270,000.

Originally the area was known as 越前 Echizen before becoming Fukui in 1871. You can still see the influence of the name in Echizen crab or Echizen pottery.

And, this was news to me, but it looks like 武生 Takefu merged with 今立 Imadate to become 越前市 Echizen City in October 1, 2005.

Fukui is famous for its 和紙 washi paper and pottery.

三重 - Mie

• Prefecture's Bird: Snowy Plover
• Prefecture's Tree: Japanese Cedar
• Prefecture's Flower: Iris

CAPITAL : Tsu

岐阜 - Gifu

• Prefecture's Bird: Rock Ptarmigan
• Prefecture's Tree: Japanese Yew
• Prefecture's Flower: Chinese Milk Vetch

CAPITAL : Gifu

愛知 - Aichi

• Prefecture's Bird: Screech Owl
• Prefecture's Tree: Red Maple
• Prefecture's Flower: Iris

CAPITAL : Nagoya

Nagoya is the fourth largest city in Japan with over two million residents.

The 2005 World Expo was held in Aichi. It had many exhibits including an impressive robot show by Toyota. Click here for our Aichi Expo Photo Gallery.

静岡 - Shizuoka

• Prefecture's Bird: Japanese Paradise Flycatcher
• Prefecture's Tree: Sweet Osmanthus
• Prefecture's Flower: Azalea

CAPITAL : Shizuoka

By Kates on August 19 2005:
I used to live in Shizuoka--in a large city called "Numazu". Shizuoka-ken is the home of Mt. Fuji, which the symbol incorporates, as well as the shape of Shizuoka-ken itself. Shizuoka City is the capital. The kanji mean 'quiet hill'.

京都 - Kyoto

• Prefecture's Bird: Streaked Shearwater
• Prefecture's Tree: Kitayama Sugi
• Prefecture's Flower: Weeping Cherry Tree

CAPITAL : Kyoto

Kyoto was Japan's capital for over 1000 years and is still the Japanese cultural capital today.

Nintendo is headquartered in Kyoto.

Here is the PDF of the brochure for Tofuku Temple. It has Japanese and some English. Tofuku-ji PDF [530 kb]

二条城 Nijo Castle was commissioned by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1601. Ironically it was place in 1867 where Tokugawa Yoshinobu ceremoniously returned power to the Emperor. Nijoujou Brochure Page 1 [JPG 205 kb] Page 2 [JPG 163 kb]

兵庫 - Hyogo

• Prefecture's Bird: Stork
• Prefecture's Tree: Camphor Tree
• Prefecture's Flower: Nojigiku

CAPITAL : Kobe

Hyogo Prefecture is sandwiched between the 日本海 nihon kai Japan Sea and the 太平洋 tai hei you Pacific Ocean. Therefore the mark is a squished 兵 becoming waves..

和歌山 - Wakayama

• Prefecture's Bird: White-eye
• Prefecture's Tree: Ubame Oak
• Prefecture's Flower: Ume Blossom

CAPITAL : Wakayama

Birthplace of the popular enka singer, Tendo Yoshimi.

大阪 - Osaka

• Prefecture's Bird: モズ ( 百舌 ) Shrike
• Prefecture's Tree: イチョウ ( 銀杏 ) Ginkgo
• Prefecture's Flower: Primrose

CAPITAL : Osaka

奈良 - Nara

• Prefecture's Bird: Grebe
• Prefecture's Tree: Japanese Maple
• Prefecture's Flower: Hydrangea

CAPITAL : Nara

One of the ancient capitals of Japan. Nara is famous for the many deer that roam around the city freely.

滋賀 - Shiga

• Prefecture's Bird: Grebe
• Prefecture's Tree: Japanese Maple
• Prefecture's Flower: Hydrangea

CAPITAL : Otsu

Shiga is bordered completely by mountains.

Lake Biwa is in Shiga. Lake Biwa is Japan's largest fresh water lake. It is 679.5sq.km. (over 308sq.mi.). Lake Biwa occupies 1/6 of the total area of Shiga. Shiga has 121 rivers.

Funazushi -Funazushi is often referred to as the “origin of sushi.” Funa, or crucian carp, is found only in Lake Biwa. Funa is pickled, fermented and cooked with rice. It has a strong smell and the taste has been likened to blue cheese.

Otsu-e - This style of painting is found only in the area of Otsu city. It is identified by the seven, bold colors that are painted on cotton. The colors are: green, black, orange, brown, yellow, white and red.

Shigaraki-yaki -Shigaraki ceramics are fired in Shigaraki which is in the southern area of Shiga. It is one of the six oldest kilns in Japan, dating back as far as 1300 years ago. One very famous item fired at Shigaraki is the tanuki statue.

What is a Tanuki
Literally, tanuki is a raccoon-dog. In Japanese folklore tanuki is a little mischievous animal that is always getting into trouble. His image often stands outside restaurants and bars. He usually appears standing upright, often wearing a vest and with a cone-shaped hat woven of rice hung over his shoulders. Already carrying two sacks of hard liquor at his side, he travels from pub to pub in search of liquor and good company.

It is not unusual to find tanuki statues in front of businesses or homes in Shiga. They are placed in the hopes that the things that the tanuki possesses will come to the owner: sake, fertility and money.

owari!
Claudia Kimura

山口 - Yamaguchi

• Prefecture's Bird: Nabezuru
• Prefecture's Tree: Japanese Red Pine
• Prefecture's Flower:

CAPITAL : Yamaguchi

山口 Yamaguchi and 大分 Oita are the only two prefectures with solely 4 kyuu JLPT kanji names!

岡山 - Okayama

• Prefecture's Bird: Pheasant
• Prefecture's Tree: Japanese Red Pine
• Prefecture's Flower: Peach Flower

CAPITAL : Okayama

Okayama's Mark is the 'OKA - 岡 ' in Okayama made circular.

I spent a full day exploring Okayama City. Many of the cultural sites to see are all in close proximity and this 'Culture Zone' is only about 15 minutes or so by foot from the main station! I didn't use the taxi once! However, that evening my dogs were barking! or as they say in Japanese 'ashi wa bou ni natchatta. (my legs have become sticks.)'

島根 - Shimane

• Prefecture's Bird: Great Swan
• Prefecture's Tree: Black Pine
• Prefecture's Flower: Peony

CAPITAL : Matsue

The mark is actually 4 ' マ 's ( katakana for 'ma' )which have been made circular. Also '4' in Japanese is 'shi' so 4 マ 's make 'shi-ma' or the first part of the prefecture's name, "shima "

広島 - Hiroshima

• Prefecture's Bird: Abi
• Prefecture's Tree: Maple
• Prefecture's Flower: Momiji

CAPITAL : Hiroshima

• Genbaku Domu - The atomic bom was detonated 500 meters above this building. Amazingly the building's structure is somewhat intact and is preserved even today. The sight is awesome. I have never seen anything like it. I copied the following from the plaque just in front of the building:

The A-bomb Dome is the ruins of the former Hiroshima Prefecture Industrial Promotion Hall which was destroyed by the first atomic bomb ever to be used in the history of humankind on August 6, 1945.

The atomic bomb was detonated in the air at an altitude of approximately 600 meters almost right over the hall. the explosion by a single bomb claimed the lives of over 200,000 people and the city area of about 2 km radius turned into ashes. In order to have this tragic fact known to succeeding generations and to make it a lesson for human kind, the reinforcement work of the ruins has been done by the contributions of many people who desire peace within and out of the country. The ruins shall be preserved forever.

- August 6, 1967 Hiroshima City

• Walking from the Genbaku Domu, you will see the Flame of Peace and the Peace Fountain .

• Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum - displays belongings left by the victims, the history of that day, and the story of Hiroshima's reconstruction. Once you see this I seriously doubt you can be the same. There is a tape availiable in 15 languages for 150 yen.

Admission: Adults ONLY 50 Yen; Children 30 Yen (as of year 2000)
Holidays: Dec. 29 - Jan. 2

• Hiroshima Museum of Art - A very nice collection of European Art including Millet, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Matisse, van Gogh, Picasso, Chagall...

Admission: Adults 1000 ; Students 500; Children 200 Yen (as of year 2000)
Holidays: Dec. 29 - Jan. 2

鳥取 - Tottori

• Prefecture's Bird: mandarin Duck
• Prefecture's Tree: Daisenkyaraboku
• Prefecture's Flower: Pear blossom

CAPITAL : Tottori

Tottori has the distinction of being the least populated prefecture in Japan.

徳島 - Tokushima

• Prefecture's Bird: Snowy Heron
• Prefecture's Tree: Moutain Peach
• Prefecture's Flower: Citron's Flower

CAPITAL : Tokushima

愛媛 - Ehime

• Prefecture's Bird: Japanese Robin
• Prefecture's Tree: Pine
• Prefecture's Flower: Satsuma Mandarin

CAPITAL : Matsuyama

Has the 佐田岬半島 Sadamisaki Peninsula which is the largest peninsula in Japan.

香川 - Kagawa

• Prefecture's Bird: Oriental Cuckoo
• Prefecture's Tree: Olive
• Prefecture's Flower: Olive

CAPITAL : Takamatsu

高知 - Kochi

• Prefecture's Bird: Fairy Pitta
• Prefecture's Tree: Yanase Sugi
• Prefecture's Flower: Yamamomo

CAPITAL : Kochi

佐賀 - Saga

• Prefecture's Bird: Magpie
• Prefecture's Tree: Camphor
• Prefecture's Flower: Camphor Blossom

CAPITAL : Saga

Takeo-shi is famous for its hot springs. The towns Arita and Imari are world famous for the pottery that they produce.

大分 - Oita

• Prefecture's Bird: Japanese White-eye
• Prefecture's Tree: Bungo-Ume Tree
• Prefecture's Flower: Bungo-Ume Blossom

CAPITAL : Oita

宮崎 - Miyazaki

• Prefecture's Bird: Pheasant
• Prefecture's Tree: Palm
• Prefecture's Flower: Hamayu

CAPITAL : Miyazaki