Nagasaki Prefecture

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**Nagasaki Prefecture (長崎県; *Nagasaki-ken*)**

Capital	Nagasaki
Region	Kyūshū
Island	Kyūshū
Governor	Genjiro Kaneko
Area	4,092.80 km² (37^th)
- % water	8.5%
Population (2000)
- Population	1,516,536 (26^th)
- Density	371 /km²
Districts	4
Municipalities	23
ISO 3166-2	JP-42
Website	www.pref.nagasaki.jp/en/
Prefectural Symbols
- Flower	Unzentsutsuji (Rhododendron serpyllifolium)
- Tree	Sawara (Chamaecyparis pisifera)
- Bird	Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata)
Symbol of Nagasaki Prefecture

Nagasaki Prefecture (長崎県, Nagasaki-ken^?) is located on Kyūshū island, Japan. The capital is the city of Nagasaki.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Economy
4 Culture
- 4.1 Religion
5 Tourism
6 Prefectural symbols
7 External links

[edit] History

Nagasaki Prefecture, an unification of former provinces of Hizen, Tsushima, and Iki, has had close ties with foreign civilization for centuries. Facing China and Korea, the region around Hirado was a traditional center for traders and pirates.

During the 16th century, Catholic missionaries and traders from Portugal arrived and became active in Hirado and Nagasaki, which became a major center for foreign traders. The Christian belief in equality between men, however, did not comply with the political structure of Japan, and after being given free reign in Oda Nobunaga's period, the missionaries were forced out little by little, until finally, in the Tokugawa era, Christianity was banned under the Sakoku policy. After the prohibition of Christianity in the Edo period, foreign trade was restricted to Chinese and Dutch traders in Nagasaki, Dejima, but Kirishitan (Japanese Christian) worship continued underground. These Kakure Kirishitan (hidden Christians) were tried at every step, forced to step on fumi-e ("trample pictures", images of the Holy Mother Mary and saints) to prove that they were non-Christian. And with the banishment of all Catholic missionaries, traders from Catholic countries were also forced out of the country. Along with them, their children, half Japanese and half European, were also forced to leave the country. The majority was sent to Jagatara (Jakarta) and are still remembered by the locals as the people who wrote the poignant letters which were smuggled across the sea to their homeland. Today, Nagasaki has a prominent Chinatown[1] and Catholic churches[2].

During the Meiji Restoration, Nagasaki and Sasebo became major ports for foreign trade, and eventually major naval bases and shipbuilding centers up to World War II. On August 9, 1945, a United States bomber dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, which was reconstructed after the war.

[edit] Geography

Map of Nagasaki Prefecture.

Nagasaki borders Saga Prefecture on the east, and is otherwise surrounded by water, including Ariake Bay, the Tsushima Straits, and the East China Sea. It also includes a large number of islands such as Tsushima and Iki. Most of the prefecture is near the coast and there are a number of ports such as Nagasaki and the United States naval base at Sasebo.

[edit] Subprefecture

Tsushima

[edit] Cities

Oranda-zaka ("Dutch Slope") in Nagasaki.

Castle in Shimabara.

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Thirteen cities are located in Nagasaki Prefecture:

Nagoya (not to be confused with Nagoya, Aichi) was located in the prefecture before.

[edit] Towns and villages

Towns and villages in each district:

Higashisonogi District

Hasami

Higashisonogi

Kawatana

Kitamatsuura District

Minamimatsura District

Shinkamigoto

Nishisonogi District

Nagayo

Togitsu

[edit] Mergers

(as of March 31, 2006)

Hirado Castle.

On March 1, 2004, the towns of Izuhara, Mitsushima, Toyotama, Mine, Kamiagata and Kamitsushima merged to form the city of Tsushima.

On March 1, 2004, the towns of Gonoura, Katsumoto, Ashibe and Ishida merged to form the city of Iki.

On August 1, 2004, the city of Fukue and the towns of Tomie, Tamanoura, Miiraku, Kishiku and Naru merged to form the city of Goto.

On August 1, 2004, the towns of Wakamatsu, Kamigoto, Shin'uonome, Arikawa and Narao merged to form the town of Shinkamigoto.

On January 4, 2005, the towns of Koyagi, Iojima, Takashima, Nomozaki, Sanwa and Sotome (all from Nishisonogi District), merged into the city of Nagasaki.

On March 1, 2005, the city of Isahaya and the towns of Tarami, Moriyama, Iimori, Takaki and Konagai merged to form the new city of Isahaya. Kitatakaki District was dissolved due to this merger.

On April 1, 2005, the towns of Saikai, Seihi, Oshima, Sakito and Oseto merged to form the city of Saikai.

On April 1, 2005, the towns of Yoshii and Sechibaru merged into the city of Sasebo.

On October 1, 2005, city of Hirado and the towns of Ikitsuki and Tabira and the village of Oshima (all from Kitamatsuura District) merged to form the city of Hirado.

On October 11, 2005, the towns of Aino, Azuma, Chidiwa, Kunimi, Mizuho, Obama and Minamikushiyama (all from Minamitakaki District) merged to form the new city of Unzen.

On January 1, 2006, the town of Ariake from Minamitakaki District) merged into the city of Shimabara.

On January 1, 2006, the city of Matsuura and the towns of Fukushima and Takashima from Kitamatsuura District merged to form the city of Matsuura.

On January 4, 2006, the town of Kinkai from Nishisonogi District merged into the city of Nagasaki.

On March 31, 2006, the towns of Kosaza and Uku from Kitamatsuura District merged into the city of Sasebo.

On March 31, 2006, all towns of Minamitakaki District (Arie, Fukae, Futsu, Kazusa, Kitaarima, Kuchinotsu, Minamiarima and Nishiarie) merged to form the new city of Minamishimabara. Minamitakaki District was dissolved with this merger.

[edit] Economy

[edit] Culture

[edit] Religion

Nagasaki is the most christianized area in Japan. As of 2002, there are 68,617 Catholics in Nagasaki Prefecture, accounting for 4.52 percent of the total population of the prefecture.