Kumamoto Prefecture
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Capital | Kumamoto |
Region | Kyūshū |
Island | Kyūshū |
Governor | Ikuo Kabashima |
Area (rank) | 7,404.14 km² (16th) |
- % water | 0.2% |
Population (October 1, 2005) | |
- Population | 1,842,140 (23rd) |
- Density | 249 /km² |
Districts | 10 |
Municipalities | 48 |
ISO 3166-2 | JP-43 |
Website | www.pref.kumamoto.jp/ english/list.html |
Prefectural Symbols | |
- Flower | Gentian (Gentiana scabra var. buergeri) |
- Tree | Camphor tree (Cinnamomum camphora) |
- Bird | Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis) |
Symbol of Kumamoto Prefecture |
Kumamoto Prefecture (熊本県 Kumamoto-ken?) is a prefecture of Japan located on Kyūshū Island. The capital is the city of Kumamoto.
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[edit] History
Historically the area was called Higo province and was renamed to Kumamoto prefecture during the Meiji Restoration as part of the abolition of the feudal system. The current Japanese orthography for Kumamoto literally means "bear root/origin", or, in less stilted English, "origin of the bear".
[edit] Geography
Kumamoto Prefecture is located in the center of Kyūshū, the southernmost of the four major Japanese islands. It is bordered by the Ariake inland sea and the Amakusa archipelago to the west, Fukuoka Prefecture and Ōita Prefecture to the north, Miyazaki Prefecture to the east, and Kagoshima Prefecture to the south.
Mt. Aso (1592 m), an extensive active volcano, is in the east of Kumamoto Prefecture. This volcano is located at the center of the Aso caldera, the most famous caldera in Japan.
[edit] Cities
Fourteen cities are located in Kumamoto Prefecture:
[edit] Towns and villages
Towns and villages in each district:
[edit] Mergers
[edit] Economy
Kumamoto hosts a large Honda automobile plant. In 2007, a Honda factory on the site began to produce non-silicon solar cells for homes and businesses, with a projected capacity roughly equivalent to 8,000 households/year.[1]
[edit] Sports
The sports teams listed below are based in Kumamoto.
Football (soccer)
[edit] Demographics
[edit] Tourism
[edit] Prefectural symbols
[edit] Miscellaneous topics
- Kumamoto Prefecture is the 'sister state/prefecture' of Montana in the U.S.A.[2]
- Kumamoto is also the birth place of Hollywood actor Tetsu Komai.
- Kumamoto is the birth place of japanese-brazilian painter Manabu Mabe.
[edit] External links
- Official Kumamoto Prefecture homepage
- Kumamoto Links
- Wikitravel guide to Kumamoto
- National Archives of Japan ... Kumamoto map (1891)
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Cities | |||
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Amakusa | Arao | Aso | Hitoyoshi | Kami-Amakusa | Kikuchi | Kōshi | Kumamoto (capital) | Minamata | Tamana | Uki | Uto | Yamaga | Yatsushiro | |||
Districts | |||
Amakusa | Ashikita | Aso | Kamimashiki | Kamoto | Kikuchi | Kuma | Shimomashiki | Tamana | Yatsushiro | |||
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