A prefectural capital is a city where a prefectural government and assembly is located.

Japan

In Japan, a prefectural capital is officially called todōfukenchō shozaichi (都道府県庁所在地, "seat of a prefectural government", singular: 都庁所在地,tochō shozaichi in the [Tōkyō]-to, 道庁所在地, dōchō shozaichi in the [Hokkai]-dō, 府庁所在地, fuchō shozaichi in -fu, 県庁所在地, kenchō shozaichi in -ken), but the term kento (県都, "prefectural capital") is also used (dōto (道都, in the -dō, but never "futo" or "toto")).

List of Japanese prefectural capitals

Capital Prefecture
Region 		Island Pop.¹ ISO Status
Akita  Akita Tōhoku Honshū 327,651 JP-05 Core city
Aomori  Aomori Tōhoku Honshū 304,657 JP-02 Core city
Chiba  Chiba Kantō Honshū 943,568 JP-12 Designated city
Fukui  Fukui Chūbu Honshū 268,210 JP-18 Core city
Fukuoka  Fukuoka Kyūshū Kyūshū 1,434,650 JP-40 Designated city
Fukushima  Fukushima Tōhoku Honshū 288,602 JP-07 Core city
Gifu  Gifu Chūbu Honshū 411,753 JP-21 Core city
Hiroshima  Hiroshima Chūgoku Honshū 1,164,885 JP-34 Designated city
Kagoshima  Kagoshima Kyūshū Kyūshū 604,268 JP-46 Core city
Kanazawa  Ishikawa Chūbu Honshū 455,952 JP-17 Core city
KobeKōbe  Hyōgo Kansai Honshū 1,532,305 JP-28 Designated city
KochiKōchi  Kōchi Shikoku Shikoku 345,418 JP-39 Core city
KofuKōfu  Yamanashi Chūbu Honshū 198,757 JP-19 Core city
Kumamoto  Kumamoto Kyūshū Kyūshū 670,014 JP-43 Designated city
Kyōto  Kyōto Kansai Honshū 1,468,065 JP-26 Designated city
Maebashi  Gunma Kantō Honshū 317,167 JP-10 Core city
Matsue  Shimane Chūgoku Honshū 195,008 JP-32 Core city
Matsuyama  Ehime Shikoku Shikoku 514,771 JP-38 Core city
Mito  Ibaraki Kantō Honshū 263,299 JP-08 Core city
Miyazaki  Miyazaki Kyūshū Kyūshū 368,984 JP-45 Core city
Morioka  Iwate Tōhoku Honshū 298,959 JP-03 Core city
Nagano  Nagano Chūbu Honshū 377,328 JP-20 Core city
Nagasaki  Nagasaki Kyūshū Kyūshū 446,551 JP-42 Core city
Nagoya  Aichi Chūbu Honshū 2,243,564 JP-23 Designated city
Naha  Okinawa Kyūshū Ryūkyū Islands 313,436 JP-47 Core city
Nara  Nara Kansai Honshū 366,863 JP-29 Core city
Niigata  Niigata Chūbu Honshū 811,613 JP-15 Designated city
OitaŌita  Ōita Kyūshū Kyūshū 467,617 JP-44 Core city
Okayama  Okayama Chūgoku Honshū 700,646 JP-33 Designated city
Ōsaka  Ōsaka Kansai Honshū 2,649,601 JP-27 Designated city
OtsuŌtsu  Shiga Kansai Honshū 330,044 JP-25 Core city
Saga  Saga Kyūshū Kyūshū 239,003 JP-41 Special city
Saitama  Saitama Kantō Honshū 1,197,471 JP-11 Designated city
Sapporo  Hokkaidō Hokkaidō Hokkaidō 1,896,704 JP-01 Designated city
Sendai  Miyagi Tōhoku Honshū 1,029,576 JP-04 Designated city
Shinjuku[1]  Tōkyō Kantō Honshū 314,262 JP-13 Special wards
Shizuoka  Shizuoka Chūbu Honshū 709,888 JP-22 Designated city
Takamatsu  Kagawa Shikoku Shikoku 417,671 JP-37 Core city
Tokushima  Tokushima Shikoku Shikoku 265,248 JP-36 City
Tottori  Tottori Chūgoku Honshū 199,319 JP-31 Core city
Toyama  Toyama Chūbu Honshū 420,584 JP-16 Core city
Tsu  Mie Kansai Honshū 287,849 JP-24 City
Utsunomiya  Tochigi Kantō Honshū 508,114 JP-09 Core city
Wakayama  Wakayama Kansai Honshū 371,504 JP-30 Core city
Yamagata  Yamagata Tōhoku Honshū 254,724 JP-06 Core city
Yamaguchi  Yamaguchi Chūgoku Honshū 191,714 JP-35 City
Yokohama  Kanagawa Kantō Honshū 3,643,641 JP-14 Designated city

Notes: ¹ As of 1 May 2008

Non-capitals which share a name with their prefecture

In most cases, a city that shares a name with its prefecture is a prefectural capital. However, there are some municipalities that are not capitals.

Capitals that are not the largest city/metropolitan area in their prefecture

Those in italics are prefectural capitals, or metropolitan areas of them.

 Fukushima Prefecture
1. Iwaki 348,322  1. Kōriyama Metropolitan Area 537,493
2. Kōriyama 338,887  2. Fukushima Metropolitan Area 412,353
3. Fukushima 294,724  3. Iwaki Metropolitan Area 365,864
 Gunma Prefecture
1. Takasaki 342,662  1. Takasaki Metropolitan Area 532,271
2. Maebashi 317,114  2. Maebashi Metropolitan Area 458,996
 Mie Prefecture
1. Yokkaichi 307,418  1. Yokkaichi Metropolitan Area 606,071
2. Tsu 288,874  2. Tsu Metropolitan Area 308,375
 Shizuoka Prefecture
1. Hamamatsu 812,692  1. Shizuoka Metropolitan Area 999,360
2. Shizuoka 709,772  2. Hamamatsu Metropolitan Area 919,933
 Tottori Prefecture
1. Tottori 199,263  1. Yonago Metropolitan Area 252,387
2. Yonago 148,234  2. Tottori Metropolitan Area 249,067
 Yamaguchi Prefecture
1. Shimonoseki 284,693  1. Shimonoseki Metropolitan Area 287,935
2. Yamaguchi 191,740  2. Ube Metropolitan Area 258,180
3. Ube 175,334  3. Yamaguchi Metropolitan Area 178,402

Notes:

City populations are as of July 2008.
Metropolitan area populations are as of 2000. (Urban Employment Areas)

References

  1. ^ 都庁の所在地 Archived 2014-04-19 at the Wayback Machine Shinjuku is the location of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Tokyo not having itself been a "municipality" since 1943.
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