The 47 prefectures of Japan都道府県

A prefecture is the upper of Japan's two tiers of local government. Each elects a governor and an assembly, and each is divided into municipalities, which elect their own. The word at the end of the name is 県 (ken) for 43 of them, 府 (fu) for Osaka and Kyoto, 都 (to) for Tokyo, and 道 (dō) for Hokkaidō; all four are the same office under the same law.

Grouped here by region, which is a convention, not a government. Each prefecture has a page with its capital, neighbours, and every municipality in it, and each is on the map with its real boundary.

Hokkaidō北海道

One prefecture forms the whole region. Hokkaidō is Japan's northernmost and largest prefecture, and the only one whose name ends in 道 (dō).

Tōhoku東北

The six prefectures of northern Honshū. Sendai is the region's largest city and its transport hub.

Kantō関東

The plain around Tokyo and the six prefectures around it. About a third of Japan's population is here.

Chūbu中部

Central Honshū, from the Sea of Japan coast across the Japanese Alps to the Pacific. It is often split further into Hokuriku, Kōshin'etsu, and Tōkai.

Kansai / Kinki関西・近畿

The Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe area and its neighbours. 近畿 (Kinki) is the formal name and 関西 (Kansai) the everyday one. Mie is counted here in the Kinki definition but is often put in Tōkai instead.

Chūgoku中国

Western Honshū, divided by mountains into the San'yō coast on the Inland Sea and the San'in coast on the Sea of Japan.

Shikoku四国

The smallest of the four main islands. It has four prefectures, and no other region is on it.

Kyūshū-Okinawa九州・沖縄

The southern island of Kyūshū plus Okinawa. Okinawa is sometimes counted as its own region, which is why the two names are often written together.