Division of Japan – Provinces, prefectures, and cities

Have you ever wondered how the division of states in Japan is made? What is the difference between a state and a province? What are the main cities in Japan? What is a prefecture? 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 (states), divided into 8 regions. Each province is divided into Cities (市 shi) and Districts (郡 gun). Thus, the districts are divided into villages (村 mura) or neighborhoods (町 machi). In the map of Japan below, you can find the division of the 8 regions and the name of each province.

State or Province?

Many confuse state with province. In some countries, the word province is a territorial division of many states, both current and historically.

Even though Japan is smaller than some states in some countries, the provinces are administered like states, having their own government and culture.

There are 47 jurisdictions or sub-bodies, which are groups of cities, villages, and towns. Originally there were more than 300 when this system was first established in 1871, but that number was reduced to 47 in 1888.

We also recommend reading:

• The 20 Main Cities in Japan
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• Hokkaido Guide – Sapporo, Hakodate, Otaru, and Asahikawa

Todōfuken

There are 4 administrative 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. Thus, the 47 provinces in Japan are divided as follows:

• 都 (to) – 1 metropolis (東京都 – Tokyoto);
• 道 (do) – 1 administrative area (北海道 – Hokkaidō);
• 府 (fu) – 2 urban prefectures (大阪府 – Osakafu);
• 県 (ken) – 43 prefectures – (愛知県 – Aichiken);

The curious thing is that the former capital of Japan, Kyoto is written Kyoto-fu (京都府), where the 都 (to) of Kyoto means metropolis like 東京都 (Tokyoto), but it ends with 府 (fu) of urban area.

The 47 Provinces and their capitals!

See below the 47 Provinces 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	Official: 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

In the map at the beginning of the article, we have the name and location of the 47 Provinces. And below we have a huge list of the 790 Cities in Japan, with their names in Kanji, romaji, and the population of each city. Use the legends below to identify.

We also recommend reading: Complete List of Cities in Japan

• 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, mura)