Okayama Prefecture
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Capital | Okayama (city) |
| Region | Chūgoku |
| Island | Honshū |
| Governor | Masahiro Ishii |
| Area (rank) | 7,112.32 km² (15th) |
| - % water | 0.3% |
| Population (October 2005) | |
| - Population | 1,957,056 (21st) |
| - Density | 275 /km² |
| Districts | 10 |
| Municipalities | 27 |
| ISO 3166-2 | JP-33 |
| Website | www.pref.okayama.jp/ kikaku/kokusai/momo/e/ |
| Prefectural Symbols | |
| - Flower | Peach blossom (Prunus persica var. vulgaris) |
| - Tree | Red pine (Pinus densiflora) |
| - Bird | Lesser cuckoo (Cuculus poliocephalus) |
 Symbol of Okayama Prefecture |
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Okayama Prefecture (岡山県 Okayama-ken?) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Okayama.
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[edit] History
During the Meiji Restoration; Bitchu Province, Bizen Province and Mimasaka Province were combined to form Okayama Prefecture.
[edit] Geography
Okayama Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture, Tottori Prefecture and Hiroshima Prefecture. It faces Kagawa Prefecture in Shikoku across the Seto Inland Sea and includes 90 islands in the sea.
Okayama Prefecture is home to the historic town of Kurashiki. Most of the population is concentrated around Kurashiki and Okayama. The small villages in the northern mountain region are aging and declining in population--more than half of the prefectures municipalities are officially designated as depopulated[1].
[edit] Cities
Fifteen cities are located in Okayama Prefecture:
[edit] Towns and villages
Towns and villages in each district:
[edit] Mergers
[edit] Economy
[edit] Demographics
[edit] Transportation
[edit] Railways
[edit] Culture
[edit] Pottery
Bizen-yaki (Bizen pottery).
[edit] Sports
The sports teams listed below are based in Okayama.
- Association Football (soccer)
- Volleyball
[edit] Tourism
Some tourist attractions are:
- The Koraku-en Japanese garden (後楽園 Kōraku-en?) located in Okayama City.
- Okayama Castle (岡山城 Okayama-jō?) located in Okayama City.
- Shizutani School (閑谷学校 Shizutani Gakkō?), located in Bizen City.
- Bikan Historical Area (倉敷美観地区 Kurashiki Bikan Chiku?), located in Kurashiki City.
- Tivoli Park (チボリ公園 Chibori Kōen?), located in Kurashiki City.
- Bisei Astronomical Observatory (美星天文台 Bisei Tenmondai?), located in Ibara Town (following dissolution of Bisei Town).
[edit] Miscellaneous topics
[edit] Anime and manga
The anime and manga series Tenchi Muyo! take place in this part of Japan, and many characters are named after geographical features and landmarks of the area. In the anime and manga series "Nerima Daikon Brothers," the character Mako speaks with an Okayama accent.
[edit] Notables
- Yuko Arimori, marathon runner.
- Naoto Fujiki, actor.
- Tesshō Genda, voice actor.
- Ryutaro Hashimoto, Kiichiro Hiranuma and Inukai Tsuyoshi, former Prime Ministers of Japan.
- Sen'ichi Hoshino, baseball manager.
- Koshi Inaba, singer.
- Keizo Nakanishi, singer.
- Joe Odagiri, actor.
- Sesshu Toyo, suiboku master.
- Joichiro Tatsuyoshi, boxer.
- Nobuo Yana, actor.
- Haruka Fukushima, mangaka.
- Masashi Kishimoto, mangaka.
- Seishi Kishimoto, mangaka.
- Daisuke Takahashi, Olympic figure skater.
- Dorlis, jazz musician.
- Michio Maeda, Koi breeder.
- Megumi Fujii, MMA Fighter.
[edit] References
- ^ Okayama official website accessed Nov. 2007
[edit] External links
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| Cities | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Akaiwa | Asakuchi | Bizen | Ibara | Kasaoka | Kurashiki | Maniwa | Mimasaka | Niimi | Okayama (capital) | Setouchi | Soja | Takahashi | Tamano | Tsuyama | |||
| Districts | |||
| Aida | Asakuchi | Kaga | Katsuta | Kume | Maniwa | Oda | Tomata | Tsukubo | Wake | |||
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