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List of regions of Japan

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Map of the regions of Japan as preferred by the English Wikipedia (for other divisions, see #Other regional divisions). From northeast to southwest: Hokkaidō (red), Tōhoku (yellow), Kantō (green), Chūbu (cyan), Kansai (indigo), Chūgoku (orange), Shikoku (purple), and Kyūshū & Okinawa (grey).
Administrative divisions
of Japan
Prefectural
Prefectures
Sub-prefectural
Municipal
Sub-municipal

Japan is often divided into regions, each containining one or more of the country's 47 prefectures at large. Sometimes, they are referred to as "blocs" (ブロック, burokku), or "regional blocs" (地域ブロック, chiiki burokku) as opposed to more granular regional divisions. They are not official administrative units, though they have been used by government officials for statistical and other purposes since 1905. They are widely used in, for example, maps, geography textbooks, and weather reports, and many businesses and institutions use their home regions in their names as well, for example Kyushu National Museum, Kinki Nippon Railway, Chūgoku Bank, and Tōhoku University.

One common division, preferred by the English Wikipedia, groups the prefectures into eight regions. In that division, of the four main islands of Japan, Hokkaidō, Shikoku, and Kyūshū make up one region each, the latter also containing the Satsunan Islands, while the largest island Honshū is divided into five regions. Okinawa Prefecture is usually included in Kyūshū, but is sometimes treated as its own ninth region.[1][2][3]

Japan has eight High Courts, but their jurisdictions do not correspond to the eight Wikipedia regions (see #Other regional divisions and Judicial system of Japan for details).

Table

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Region Population Area in km2[4] Prefectures contained
Hokkaidō 5.4 million[5] 83,000 Hokkaidō
Tōhoku 8.9 million[6] 67,000 Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, Yamagata
Kantō 43.3 million[7] 32,000 Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, Tochigi, Tōkyō
Chūbu 21.4 million[8] 67,000 Aichi, Fukui, Gifu, Ishikawa, Nagano,
Niigata, Shizuoka, Toyama, Yamanashi
Kansai (also known as Kinki) 22.5 million[9] 33,000 Hyōgo, Kyōto, Mie, Nara, Ōsaka, Shiga, Wakayama
Chūgoku 7.3 million[10] 32,000 Hiroshima, Okayama, Shimane, Tottori, Yamaguchi
Shikoku 3.8 million[11] 19,000 Ehime, Kagawa, Kōchi, Tokushima
Kyūshū & Okinawa 14.3 million[12] 44,000 Fukuoka, Kagoshima, Kumamoto,
Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Ōita, Okinawa, Saga

Regions and islands

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This is a list of Japan's major islands, traditional regions, and subregions, going from northeast to southwest.[13][14] The eight traditional regions are marked in bold.

Other regional divisions

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In many contexts in Japan (government, media markets, sports, regional business or trade union confederations), regions are used that deviate from the above-mentioned common geographical 8-region division that is sometimes referred to as "the" regions of Japan in the English Wikipedia and some other English-language publications. Examples of regional divisions of Japan as used by various institutions are:

National Police Agency regional supervisory offices[15]
Region Prefectures
– Hokkaidō (separate liaison office with the National Police Agency)
Tōhoku Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima
– Tokyo (separate liaison office with the National Police Agency)
Kantō Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Niigata, Nagano, Yamanashi, Shizuoka
Chūbu Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Gifu, Aichi, Mie
Kinki Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama
Chūgoku Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi
Shikoku Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi
Kyūshū Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa
NHK broadcasting regions[16]
Region Prefectures
Hokkaidō Hokkaidō
Tōhoku Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima
Kantō-Kōshin'etsu Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Nagano, Niigata, Yamanashi
Tōkai-Hokuriku Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Shizuoka, Gifu, Aichi, Mie
Kinki Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama
Chūgoku Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi
Shikoku Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi
Kyūshū Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa
MLIT regional development offices[17]
Region Prefectures (Nagano is split)
– Hokkaidō (originally had a separate, cabinet-level development agency, now a separate MLIT department)
Tōhoku Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima
Kantō Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano (northern part)
Hokuriku Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa
Chūbu Nagano (southern part), Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie
Kinki Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama, Fukui
Chūgoku Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi
Shikoku Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi
Kyūshū Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima
– Okinawa (originally had a separate, cabinet-level development agency, now a department in the Cabinet Office)
JMA weather forecast regions[18]
Region Prefectures
Hokkaidō Hokkaidō
Tōhoku Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima
Kantō-Kōshin Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano
Hokuriku Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui
Tōkai Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie
Kinki Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama
Chūgoku Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima
Shikoku Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi
Northern Kyūshū Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita
Southern Kyūshū-Amami Miyazaki, Kagoshima
Okinawa Okinawa
Regional proportional representation constituencies for the lower house of the Japanese parliament
Proportional constituencies ("blocks") for elections to the House of Representatives
Constituency Prefectures
Hokkaidō Hokkaidō
Tōhoku Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima
Northern Kantō Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama
Tokyo Tokyo
Southern Kantō Chiba, Kanagawa, Yamanashi
Hokuriku-Shin'etsu Niigata, Nagano, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui
Tōkai Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie
Kinki Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama
Chūgoku Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi
Shikoku Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi
Kyūshū Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa
High Court jurisdictions
High court Prefectures
Sapporo Hokkaidō
Sendai Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima
Tokyo Tokyo, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano, Shizuoka
Nagoya Aichi, Mie, Gifu, Ishikawa, Fukui, Toyama
Osaka Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama
Hiroshima Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi
Takamatsu Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi
Fukuoka Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa
Regional qualifiers for the "spring Kōshien"
(Japanese High School Baseball Invitational Tournament)
Region Prefectures
Hokkaidō Hokkaidō
Tōhoku Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima
Kantō Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Yamanashi
Tokyo Tokyo
Tōkai Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie
Hoku-Shin'etsu Niigata, Nagano, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui
Kinki Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama
Chūgoku Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi
Shikoku Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi
Kyūshū Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa
Football regions of Japan
Regional football/soccer leagues
Region Prefectures
Hokkaidō Hokkaidō
Tōhoku North: Aomori, Iwate, Akita
South: Miyagi, Yamagata, Fukushima
Kantō Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi
Tōkai Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie
Hoku-Shin'etsu Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Nagano
Kansai Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama
Chūgoku Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi
Shikoku Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi
Kyūshū Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa
Regions used in the Bank of Japan regional economical report ("Sakura report")[19]
Region Prefectures
Hokkaidō Hokkaidō
Tōhoku Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima
Hokuriku Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui
Kantō-Kōshin'etsu Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano
Tōkai Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie
Kinki Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama
Chūgoku Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi
Shikoku Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi
Kyūshū-Okinawa Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa

Regions as administrative units

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1945 seat of the Chūgoku governorate-general in Hiroshima City, previously and today a building used by Hiroshima University

In the later stages of World War II, in preparation for an Allied invation of the home islands, regions served as administrative units between the Home Ministry and the governments of prefectures from 1943. Initially, nine "regional administrative joint conferences" (地方行政協議会, chihō gyōsei kyō-kaigi) were set up, each comprising several prefectural governments under the leadership of one prefectural government. In 1945, they were consolidated into eight centralized "regional governorates-general" (地方総監府, chihō sōkan-fu) with authority of command over the subordinate prefectural governments. The regions corresponded territorially to the military districts (軍管区, gunkan-ku) as used by the Imperial Army in 1945. They were namely:

Region
(-chihō)		 Prefectures
(-to/-chō/-fu/-ken)		 Seat of the governorate-general Regional governor-general
(chihō sōkan)
(initially in June 1945)		 Corresponding Imperial Army
military district
(gunkan-ku)
Hokkai Karafuto, Hokkaidō Sapporo City Kumagai Ken'ichi
(concurrent governor of Hokkaidō(-chō))		 Hokubu (Northern)
Tōhoku Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima Sendai City Maruyama Tsurukichi
(previous governor of Miyagi)		 Tōhoku (Northeastern)
Kantō-Shin'etsu Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Niigata, Nagano Tokyo Nishio Toshizō
(concurrent governor of Tokyo)		 Tōbu (Eastern)
Tōkai-Hokuriku Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie, Toyama, Ishikawa Nagoya City Obata Tadayoshi
(previous governor of Aichi)		 Tōkai
Kinki Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama, Fukui Osaka City Yasui Eiji
(previous governor of Osaka)		 Chūbu (Central)
Chūgoku Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi Hiroshima City Ōtsuka Isei
(previous governor of Hiroshima)		 Chūgoku
Shikoku Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi Takamatsu City Kimura Masayoshi
(concurrent governor of Kagawa)		 Shikoku
Kyūshū Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa Fukuoka City Totsuka Kuichirō
(previous governor of Fukuoka)		 Seibu (Western)

After capitulation, the governorates-general were immediately dissolved by GHQ/SCAP and the (in the Empire: very limited) local autonomy of prefectural governments and their elected assemblies restored to be eventually substantially expanded by the Constitution and the Local Autonomy Law in 1947.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Regions". Archived from the original on 2020-07-27. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  2. ^ Regions of Japan
  3. ^ A Guide to the Regions of Japan
  4. ^ Japan's Regional Megamarkets - Semantic Scholar (PDF)
  5. ^ What special characteristics does Hokkaido have? from Kids Web Japan
  6. ^ What special characteristics does the Tohoku region have? from Kids Web Japan
  7. ^ What special characteristics does the Kanto region have? from Kids Web Japan
  8. ^ What special characteristics does the Chubu region have? from Kids Web Japan
  9. ^ What special characteristics does the Kinki region have? from Kids Web Japan
  10. ^ What special characteristics does the Chugoku region have? from Kids Web Japan
  11. ^ What special characteristics does the Shikoku region have? from Kids Web Japan
  12. ^ What special characteristics does the Kyushu-Okinawa region have? from Kids Web Japan
  13. ^ Regions of Japan on japan-guide.com
  14. ^ Regions of Japan on web-japan.org
  15. ^ NPA: 管区警察局の活動, retrieved September 24, 2021.
  16. ^ NHK: 全国のNHK Archived 2022-06-13 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved September 24, 2021.
  17. ^ MLIT: 地方整備局, retrieved September 24, 2021.
  18. ^ JMA: 天気予報等で用いる用語>地域名, retrieved September 24, 2021.
  19. ^ BoJ: 地域経済報告 ── さくらレポート ── （２０２１年７月）, the definition of regions is in the table of contents before p. 1 (Summary in English translation, the definition of regions is in the appendix), retrieved September 24, 2021.
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Media related to Regions of Japan at Wikimedia Commons

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