How many prefectures in Japan?

Do you know how many prefectures there are in Japan?

47. What do you think? a number is small or big?

I’ve lived in Osaka for more than 20 years so I’m familiar with Kansai area.

Japan has 7 areas including Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto, Chubu, Kinki, Chugoku and Kyushu and Kansai is also called Kinki. (When it comes to being strictly, they are different.) In Osaka, there are both Kansai University and Kinki University.

Hokkaido locates in north and Kyushu in south. Japan stretches from north to south.

Historically, in 1871 (Meiji era) the current prefecture-system started.

Meiji government stoped using Han had been used since Edo Shogunate and unified them to prefectures like Hu and Ken as examples Kyoto-hu, Okinawa-ken. It’s called Haihan-chiken.

Let me write going back to very old history.

Meiji government did Haihan-chiken to start centralization.

So what was like Japan before that?

In 710 (Nara era), Nara was the capital. Because of that, Nara is still known as a historical place. I don’t know about the deers there how they started living there.

In 794 (Heian era), the emperor moved to Kyoto and Kyoto was the capital for about 390 years since then.

After that Kamakura Shogunate started in about 1185 and it means the beginning of samurai government lasting for 700 years till the end of Edo Shogunate.

There are some manga and anime are set in the era.

I love traveling places after learning history because I can feel the people have lived there.

I wrote about geography and history a little.

You can enjoy seasons because Japan is vertically long. You can enjoy cultures because Japan has long history.

See you soon.