Japan has 47 prefectures or prefectures which are made up of cities, towns and villages. Each of these provinces, cities, towns and villages have their own flags.
Just like the japan flag, the flags of the provinces are simple. Most have a background color, and a symbol or kanji (ideogram) that represents something from nature, seasons, animals, etc.
flags design
Pay attention to the flags of the provinces below, let's talk a little about the design of some of them. There may be a little color difference between the flags in the picture and the real flags.
The flags of Aichi, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Mie, Tokushima, Tottori and Toyama have the initial hiragana stylized as a symbol on the flag. Kōchi has the hiragana of とさ (shaving) which is the name of the former province. Aichi's flag has the stylization of the 3 hiragana あいち.
The Akita, Hiroshima, Kagawa, Miyazaki, Nara, and Wakayama flags have the first katakana of the name stylized on the flag. Fukui, Chiba and Shiga have their full name in katakana stylized on the flag. Shimane has the katakana マ (ma) stylized 4 times on his flag.
Tochigi has the kanji 栃(Tochi) and 木(GI) stylized on the flag. Yamaguchi and Ishikawa also have their kanji stylized on the flag. While Iwate, Hyōgo, Kyoto, Okayama and Yamanashi prefectures only have the first kanji stylized on their flag.
Yamagata's flag has the design of 3 mountains. The flag also represents the Mogami River that runs through Yamagata Prefecture. The blue color of the flag represents the desire for peace, and the white color represents snow and the purity of the people.
Tokyo has a flag with a symbol of the Sun that represents development, the background color purple, is a traditional color used in Edo. Tokyo also has another symbol or flag that looks a bit like a green ginkgo leaf that makes a T-shape.
Shizuoka's flag has a stylized Mount Fuji. Saitama's has sixteen magatama (ornamental spheres) that form and represent the sun, development and strength. Osaka's flag represents a gourd, the symbol of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The Circles also means the letter S.
These are the designs of some of Japan's prefectural flags. What do you think of them? Leave your comments and share with friends.
