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93-464: Nara Prefecture ( 奈良県 , Nara-ken ) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu . As of 2020, Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of 3,691 square kilometres (1,425  sq mi ). Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the northwest, Wakayama Prefecture to the southwest, and Mie Prefecture to

186-700: A unicameral assembly ( 議会 , gikai ) whose members are elected for four-year terms. Under a set of 1888–1890 laws on local government until the 1920s, each prefecture (then only 3 -fu and 42 -ken ; Hokkaidō and Okinawa-ken were subject to different laws until the 20th century) was subdivided into cities ( 市 , shi ) and districts ( 郡 , gun ) and each district into towns ( 町 , chō/machi ) and villages ( 村 , son/mura ) . Hokkaidō has 14 subprefectures that act as General Subprefectural Bureaus ( 総合振興局 , sōgō-shinkō-kyoku, "Comprehensive Promotion Bureau" ) and Subprefectural Bureaus ( 振興局 , shinkō-kyoku, "Promotion Bureau" ) of

279-589: A central government agency]") as in Hokkaidō). The central government wanted to have greater control over all local governments due to Japan's deteriorating position in World War II – for example, all mayors in the country became appointive as in the Meiji era – and over Tokyo in particular, due to the possibility of emergency in the metropolis. After the war, Japan was forced to decentralise Tokyo again, following

372-584: A deer for the first time. Hunting was stopped and a festival was held in the evening. Yoritomo rejoiced in his son's achievement and sent a messenger to his wife Masako, but Masako sent the messenger back, saying that a military commander's son being able to shoot a deer is nothing to celebrate. The Revenge of the Soga Brothers took place on May 28 of the same year at the Fuji no Makigari hunting event. The brothers Soga Sukenari and Soga Tokimune murdered

465-546: A member of the powerful Fujiwara clan . Yoritomo was born in the family villa, on the western side of Atsuta Shrine, in Atsuta , Nagoya , Owari Province (present-day Seigan-ji ). At the time, his grandfather Minamoto no Tameyoshi was the head of the Minamoto clan. His childhood name was Oniwakamaru (鬼武丸). He was a descendant of Emperor Seiwa . In 1156, factional divisions in the court erupted into open warfare within

558-410: A new dō was created to cover it. The Meiji government originally classified Hokkaidō as a "Settlement Envoyship" ( 開拓使 , kaitakushi ) , and later divided the island into three prefectures (Sapporo, Hakodate, and Nemuro). These were consolidated into a single Hokkaido Department ( 北海道庁 , Hokkaido-chō ) in 1886, at prefectural level but organized more along the lines of a territory. In 1947,

651-609: A prefecture, e.g. [aꜜitɕi] and [keꜜɴ] become [aitɕi̥ꜜkeɴ] ) . The Classical Chinese character from which this is derived carries a rural or provincial connotation, and an analogous character is used to refer to the counties of China , counties of Taiwan and districts of Vietnam . The different systems of parsing frame the ways in which Japanese prefectures are perceived: The prefectures are also often grouped into eight regions (地方, chihō ). Those regions are not formally specified, they do not have elected officials, nor are they corporate bodies. But

744-460: Is a centre for tourism. Moreover, many world heritage sites, such as the temple Tōdai-ji and Kasuga Shrine , exist in the capital city of Nara. 34°34′N 135°46′E  /  34.567°N 135.767°E  / 34.567; 135.767 Prefectures of Japan Each prefecture's chief executive is a directly elected governor ( 知事 , chiji ) . Ordinances and budgets are enacted by

837-541: Is a combination of the four terms. Tokyo , capital city of Japan is referred to as to ( 都 , [toꜜ] ) , which is often translated as "metropolis". The Japanese government translates Tōkyō-to ( 東京都 , [toːkʲoꜜːto] ) as "Tokyo Metropolis" in almost all cases, and the government is officially called the "Tokyo Metropolitan Government". Following the capitulation of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1868, Tōkyō-fu (an urban prefecture like Kyoto and Osaka)

930-621: Is among the heaviest in Japan. Spring and fall are temperate. The mountainous region of Yoshino has been popular both historically and presently for its cherry blossoms in the spring. In the fall, the southern mountains are equally striking with the changing of the oak trees. Since 2006, there are 39 municipalities in Nara Prefecture: twelve [by definition: district-independent] cities and seven remaining districts containing 15 towns and twelve villages : Kansai Science City

1023-506: Is considered one of the oldest regions in Japan , having been in existence for thousands of years, and is widely viewed as the Japanese cradle of civilization . Like Kyoto , Nara was one of Imperial Japan 's earliest capital cities. The current form of Nara Prefecture was officially created in 1887 when it became independent of Osaka Prefecture . Historically, Nara Prefecture was also known as Yamato-no-kuni or Yamato Province. From

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1116-399: Is derived implies a core urban zone of national importance. Before World War II, different laws applied to fu and ken, but this distinction was abolished after the war, and the two types of prefecture are now functionally the same. 43 of the 47 prefectures are referred to as ken ( 県 , pronounced [keꜜɴ] when a separate word but [ꜜkeɴ] when part of the full name of

1209-463: Is evidence that the kariginu was remodeled into a sokutai , the formal dress of the shogun, by adding a hirao and sekitai. Kuroda argues that the statue was originally a statue of Hōjō Tokiyori sculpted in Kamakura in the 14th century, but after the original statue of Yoritomo was lost, an altered statue of Tokiyori was used as a replacement. On the other hand, he considers the inscription on

1302-519: Is large and appearance is beautiful." The imperial messenger Nakahara no Yasusada, who met Yoritomo in Kamakura in August 1183, said that "he is short and his face is large, his appearance is graceful and language is civilized." Kujō no Kanezane writes in his diary Tamaha that "Yoritomo's body is of rigorous power, and his fierce nature is accompanied with a clear distinction and firm resolution of

1395-432: Is located in the northwest. According to the 2005 Census of Japan, Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,421,310, which is a decrease of 1.5%, since the year 2000. The decline continued in 2006, with another decrease of 4,987 people compared to 2005. This includes a natural decrease from previous year of 288 people (11,404 births minus 11,692 deaths) and a decrease due to net domestic migration of 4,627 people outbound from

1488-924: Is located, and the Okunoya district in the south. The north/central dialect is close to Osaka's dialect, whilst Okunoya's dialect favours a Tokyo-style accent. The lengthening of vowel sounds in the Okunoya dialect is unseen in other dialects of the Kinki region , making it a special feature. Foods particular to Nara Prefecture include: The following are recognized by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry as being traditional arts of Nara: The sports teams listed below are based in Nara. Association football Basketball Many jinja (Shinto shrines), Buddhist temples, and kofun exist in Nara Prefecture, making it

1581-457: Is not a single year over the last decade (since 1990, up to 2007) with more than 10 days of snowfall recorded by Nara Local Meteorological Observatory. The climate in the rest of the prefecture are mountainous, and especially in the south, with below −5 °C (23 °F) being the extreme minimum in winter. Heavy rainfall is observed in summer. The annual accumulated rainfall ranges as much as 3,000 to 5,000 millimetres (120 to 200 in), which

1674-506: Is occasionally used to differentiate the government from the island itself. The prefecture's government calls itself the "Hokkaidō Government" rather than the "Hokkaidō Prefectural Government". Osaka and Kyoto Prefectures are referred to as fu ( 府 , pronounced [ɸɯꜜ] when a separate word but [ꜜɸɯ] when part of the full name of a prefecture, e.g. [kʲoꜜːto] and [ɸɯꜜ] become [kʲoːtoꜜɸɯ] ) . The Classical Chinese character from which this

1767-514: Is part of the Kansai , or Kinki, region of Japan, and is located in the middle of the Kii Peninsula on the western half of Honshu . Nara Prefecture is landlocked. It is bordered to the west by Wakayama Prefecture and Osaka Prefecture ; on the north by Kyoto Prefecture and on the east by Mie Prefecture . Nara Prefecture is 78.5 kilometres (48.8 mi) from east to west and 103.6 kilometres (64.4 mi) from north to south. Most of

1860-489: Is set tightly by national laws, and prefectures and municipalities are only autonomous within that framework. Historically, during the Edo period , the Tokugawa shogunate established bugyō -ruled zones ( 奉行支配地 ) around the nine largest cities in Japan, and 302 township-ruled zones ( 郡代支配地 ) elsewhere. When the Meiji government began to create the prefectural system in 1868, the nine bugyō-ruled zones became fu ( 府 ) , while

1953-622: Is still maintained today, adjacent to Shirahata Shrine, a short distance from the spot believed to be the site of the so-called Ōkura Bakufu , his shogunate's administrative-governmental offices. He appears as a hero unit in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings , and as a hero unit in Total War: Shogun 2 . A character named "Yoritomo" appears in Book 6: "The Lords of the Rising Sun" in

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2046-417: Is still used today and was kept during the period of Japanese rule .) Hokkai-dō ( 北海道 , [hokkaꜜidoː] ) , the only remaining dō today, was not one of the original seven dō (it was known as Ezo in the pre-modern era). Its current name is believed to originate from Matsuura Takeshiro , an early Japanese explorer of the island. Since Hokkaidō did not fit into the existing dō classifications,

2139-598: Is the so-called Inner Zone, where active faults running north to south are still shaping the landscape. The Ikoma Mountains in the northwest form the border with Osaka Prefecture. The Nara Basin, which lies to the east of these mountains, contains the highest concentration of population in Nara Prefecture. Further east are the Kasagi Mountains, which separate the Basin from the Yamato Highlands. South of

2232-558: The Fabled Lands adventure gamebook series, where Yoritomo is the self-proclaimed shōgun and on the verge of war with "Lord Kiyomori". He appears as the final boss in Genpei Toma Den , an arcade game created by Namco in which the player character is Taira no Kagekiyo , another Japanese historical figure. He also appears as a prominent character in the 2021 anime series The Heike Story . The years in which Yoritomo

2325-564: The Hōjō clan , led by Hōjō Tokimasa , marrying Tokimasa's daughter, Hōjō Masako . Meanwhile, he was notified of events in Kyoto . Parents Consorts and issues In 1180, Prince Mochihito , a son of Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa , made a national call to arms of the Minamoto clan all over Japan to rebel against the Taira . Yoritomo took part in this, especially after tensions escalated between

2418-518: The Minamoto to its ruling seat and the opening of Kamakura shogunate , Nara enjoyed the support of Minamoto no Yoritomo toward restoration. Kōfuku-ji , being the "home temple" to the Fujiwara since its foundation, not only regained the power it had before but became a de facto regional chief of Yamato Province. With the reconstruction of Kōfuku-ji and Tōdai-ji , a town was growing again near

2511-518: The Taira , who suffered a terrible defeat at the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185. Yoritomo established the supremacy of the samurai caste and the first shogunate ( bakufu ) at Kamakura, thus beginning the feudal age in Japan, which lasted until the 17th century. As he rose to a position of power, Yoritomo began to defy and undermine the authority of Emperor Go-Shirakawa by appointing his own jitō (district stewards) and shugo (constables), thus eroding

2604-576: The Tsukigase-Kōnoyama , Yata , and Yoshinogawa-Tsuboro Prefectural Natural Parks. In the Nara Basin, the climate has inland characteristics, as represented in the bigger temperature variance within the same day, and the difference of summer and winter temperatures. Winter temperatures average about 3 to 5 °C (37 to 41 °F), and 25 to 28 °C (77 to 82 °F) in the summer with highest reaching close to 35 °C (95 °F). There

2697-464: The Yamagata - Mosse laws on local government and the simultaneous Great Meiji merger was performed in 1889, the 15 -ku became wards of Tokyo City , initially Tokyo's only independent city (-shi) , the six rural districts of Tokyo were consolidated in 85 towns and villages. In 1893, the three Tama districts and their 91 towns and villages became part of Tokyo. As Tokyo city's suburbs grew rapidly in

2790-476: The capital . The cloistered Emperor Toba and his son Emperor Go-Shirakawa sided with the son of Fujiwara regent Fujiwara no Tadazane , Fujiwara no Tadamichi as well as Taira no Kiyomori (heir of the Taira clan at the time), while Cloistered Emperor Sutoku sided with Tadazane's younger son, Fujiwara no Yorinaga . This is known as the Hōgen Rebellion . The Minamoto clan were split. The head of

2883-625: The fiefdoms they encountered there. Its original sense in Portuguese, however, was closer to " municipality " than " province ". Today, in turn, Japan uses its word ken ( 県 ), meaning "prefecture", to identify Portuguese districts while in Brazil the word "Prefeitura" is used to refer to a city hall . Those fiefs were headed by a local warlord or family. Though the fiefs have long since been dismantled, merged, and reorganized multiple times, and been granted legislative governance and oversight,

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2976-511: The " Union of Kansai governments " (Kansai kōiki-rengō) which has been established by several prefectural governments in the Kansai region. There are some differences in terminology between Tokyo and other prefectures: police and fire departments are called chō ( 庁 ) instead of honbu ( 本部 ) , for instance. But the only functional difference between Tōkyō-to and other prefectures is that Tokyo administers wards as well as cities. Today, since

3069-519: The 18th century, the economy of the province was incorporated into prosperous Osaka , the commercial capital of Japan at the time. A first prefecture (briefly -fu in 1868, but -ken for most of the time) named Nara was established in the Meiji Restoration in 1868 as successor to the shogunate administration of the shogunate city and shogunate lands in Yamato. After the 1871 Abolition of

3162-408: The 35 wards were reorganised into the 23 special wards , because many of its citizens had either died during the war, left the city, or been drafted and did not return. In the occupation reforms, special wards, each with their own elected assemblies ( kugikai ) and mayors ( kuchō ), were intended to be equal to other municipalities even if some restrictions still applied. (For example, there was during

3255-689: The MTL is the Outer Zone, comprising the Kii Mountains, which occupy about 60% of the land area of the prefecture. The Ōmine Range is in the center of the Kii Mountains, running north to south, with steep valleys on both sides. The tallest mountain in Nara Prefecture, and indeed in the Kansai region, is Mount Hakkyō . To the west, separating Nara Prefecture from Wakayama Prefecture, is the Obako Range, with peaks around 1,300 metres (4,300 ft). To

3348-788: The Metropolitan government. For example, the Tokyo Fire Department which was only responsible for the 23 special wards until 1960 has until today taken over the municipal fire departments in almost all of Tokyo. A joint governmental structure for the whole Tokyo metropolitan area (and not only the western suburbs of the special wards which are part of the Tokyo prefecture/Metropolis") as advocated by some politicians such as former Kanagawa governor Shigefumi Matsuzawa has not been established (see also Dōshūsei ). Existing cross-prefectural fora of cooperation between local governments in

3441-465: The Taira and Minamoto after the death of Minamoto no Yorimasa and Prince Mochihito himself. Yoritomo established himself as the rightful heir of the Minamoto clan and set up a capital in Kamakura to the east. Not all Minamoto thought of Yoritomo as rightful heir, however. His uncle, Minamoto no Yukiie , and his cousin Minamoto no Yoshinaka , conspired against him. In September 1180, Yoritomo

3534-508: The Taira clan was now led by Taira no Munemori . Munemori took a much more aggressive policy against the Minamoto and attacked Minamoto bases from Kyoto in the Genpei War . Nonetheless, Yoritomo was well protected in Kamakura . His brothers Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Minamoto no Noriyori defeated the Taira in several battles, but they could not stop Minamoto no Yoshinaka , Yoritomo's rival, from entering Kyoto in 1183 and chasing

3627-482: The Taira south. The Taira took Emperor Antoku with them. In 1184, the Minamoto replaced Antoku with Emperor Go-Toba . From 1181 to 1184, a de facto truce with the Taira-dominated court allowed Yoritomo the time to build an administration of his own, centered on his military headquarters in Kamakura. In the end he triumphed over his rival cousins, who sought to steal control of the clan from him, and over

3720-455: The Tokyo metropolitan area are the Kantō regional governors' association (Kantō chihō chijikai) and the " Shutoken summit" (formally "conference of chief executives of nine prefectures and cities", 9 to-ken-shi shunō kaigi ). But, these are not themselves local public entities under the local autonomy law and national or local government functions cannot be directly transferred to them, unlike

3813-479: The aftermath, harsh terms were imposed on the Minamoto and their allies. Only Yoshitomo's three young boys remained alive, so that Kiyomori and the Taira clan were now the undisputed leaders of Japan. Yoritomo, the new head of the Minamoto, was not executed by Kiyomori because of pleas from Kiyomori's stepmother but was exiled. Yoritomo's brothers, Minamoto no Noriyori and Minamoto no Yoshitsune were also allowed to live. Yoritomo grew up in exile. He married into

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3906-536: The capital to Nagaoka-kyō in Yamashiro Province , followed by another move in 794 to Heian-kyō , marking the start of the Heian period . The temples in Nara remained powerful beyond the move of political capital, thus giving Nara a synonym of "Nanto" (meaning "South Capital") as opposed to Heian-kyō, situated in the north. Close to the end of Heian period, Taira no Shigehira , a son of Taira no Kiyomori ,

3999-453: The central government's local administrative power. In the summer of 1189, Yoritomo invaded and subjugated the northern provinces of Mutsu and Dewa . In December 1190 Yoritomo took up residence in his Rokuhara mansion at the capital, the former headquarters of the Taira clan. When his old rival, Emperor Go-Shirakawa died in the spring of 1192, there was no longer anyone standing in the way of his ultimate ambition. Thus, Yoritomo gave himself

4092-474: The clan, Tameyoshi, sided with Sutoku. However, his son, Yoshitomo (father of Yoritomo), sided with Toba and Go-Shirakawa, as well as Kiyomori. In the end, the supporters of Go-Shirakawa won the civil war, thus ensuring victory for Yoshitomo and Kiyomori. Sutoku was placed under house arrest, and Yorinaga was fatally wounded in battle. Tameyoshi was executed by the forces of Yoshitomo. Nonetheless, Go-Shirakawa and Kiyomori were ruthless, and Yoshitomo found himself as

4185-522: The country, were further subdivided into urban units/towns/neighbourhoods (-chō/-machi) and rural units/villages (-mura/-son) . The yet unincorporated communities on the Izu (previously part of Shizuoka ) and Ogasawara (previously directly Home Ministry-administrated) island groups became also part of Tokyo in the 19th century. When the modern municipalities – [district-independent] cities and [rural] districts containing towns and villages – were introduced under

4278-490: The decades. But it was not until the year 2000 that the special wards were fully recognised as municipal-level entities. Independently from these steps, as Tokyo's urban growth again took up pace during the postwar economic miracle and most of the main island part of Tokyo "Metropolis" became increasingly core part of the Tokyo metropolitan area , many of the other municipalities in Tokyo have transferred some of their authority to

4371-400: The department was dissolved, and Hokkaidō became a full-fledged prefecture. The -ken suffix was never added to its name, so the -dō suffix came to be understood to mean "prefecture". When Hokkaidō was incorporated, transportation on the island was still underdeveloped, so the prefecture was split into several "subprefectures" ( 支庁 , shichō ) that could fulfill administrative duties of

4464-583: The early 20th century, many towns and villages in Tokyo were merged or promoted over the years. In 1932, five complete districts with their 82 towns and villages were merged into Tokyo City and organised in 20 new wards. Also, by 1940, there were two more cities in Tokyo: Hachiōji City and Tachikawa City . In 1943, Tokyo City was abolished, Tōkyō-fu became Tōkyō-to , and Tokyo-shi's 35 wards remained Tokyo-to's 35 wards, but submunicipal authorities of Tokyo-shi's wards which previously fell directly under

4557-726: The east, bordering Mie Prefecture, is the Daikō Range, including Mount Ōdaigahara . This mountainous region is also home to a World Heritage Site , the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range ". About 17% of the total land area of the prefecture is designated as National Park land, comprising the Yoshino-Kumano National Park , Kongō-Ikoma-Kisen , Kōya-Ryūjin , Murō-Akame-Aoyama , and Yamato-Aogaki Quasi-National Parks; and

4650-442: The east. Nara is the capital and largest city of Nara Prefecture, with other major cities including Kashihara , Ikoma , and Yamatokōriyama . Nara Prefecture is located in the center of the Kii Peninsula on Japan's Pacific Ocean coast, and is one of only eight landlocked prefectures. Nara Prefecture has the distinction of having more UNESCO World Heritage listings than any other prefecture in Japan. Nara Prefecture region

4743-405: The formal extent of the local autonomy law suggests, because of national funding and policies. Most of municipalities depend heavily on central government funding – a dependency recently further exacerbated in many regions by the declining population which hits rural areas harder and earlier (cities can offset it partly through migration from the countryside). In many policy areas, the basic framework

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4836-714: The gallery of the main hall of Tōdai temple. In the 1889 Great Meiji mergers which subdivided all (then 45) prefectures into modern municipalities , Nara prefecture's 16 districts were subdivided into 154 municipalities: 10 towns and 144 villages . The first city in Nara was only established in 1898 when Nara Town from Soekami District was made district-independent to become Nara City (see List of mergers in Nara Prefecture and List of mergers in Osaka Prefecture ). The economic dependency to Osaka even characterizes today's Nara Prefecture, for many inhabitants commute to Osaka to work or study there. Nara Prefecture

4929-495: The general terms of democratisation outlined in the Potsdam Declaration . Many of Tokyo's special governmental characteristics disappeared during this time, and the wards took on an increasingly municipal status in the decades following the surrender. Administratively, today's special wards are almost indistinguishable from other municipalities. The postwar reforms also changed the map of Tokyo significantly: In 1947,

5022-532: The government consolidate the current prefectures into about 10 regional states (so-called dōshūsei ). The plan called for each region to have greater autonomy than existing prefectures. This process would reduce the number of subprefecture administrative regions and cut administrative costs. The Japanese government also considered a plan to merge several groups of prefectures, creating a subnational administrative division system consisting of between nine and 13 states, and giving these states more local autonomy than

5115-448: The han system , Nara was merged with other prefectures (from former han, see List of Han#Yamato Province ) and cleared of ex-/enclaves to encompass all of Yamato province. In 1876, Nara was merged into Sakai which in turn became part of Osaka in 1881. In 1887, Nara became independent again, with Saisho Atsushi as the first governor. The first prefectural assembly of Nara was elected in the same year and opened its first session in 1888 in

5208-472: The head of the Minamoto clan, while Yoritomo became the heir. Yoritomo and the Minamoto clan descended from the imperial family on his father's side. Nonetheless, in Kyoto , the Taira clan, now under the leadership of Kiyomori, and the Minamoto clan, under the leadership of Yoshitomo, began to factionalize again. Four years later, Kiyomori supported Fujiwara no Michinori , also known as Shinzei. However, Yoshitomo supported Fujiwara no Nobuyori . This

5301-484: The internal power game of the temple itself opened a way for the local samurai clans to spring up and fight with each other, gradually acquiring their own territories, thus diminishing the influence of Kōfuku-ji overall. Later, the whole province of Yamato got drawn into the confusion of the Sengoku period . Tōdai-ji was once again set on fire in 1567, when Matsunaga Hisahide , who was later appointed by Oda Nobunaga to

5394-596: The judgement of right and wrong." Yoritomo practiced shudō with Yoshinao , a member of the Imperial Guard. Historian Hideo Kuroda organized and examined the portraits and statues of Minamoto no Yoritomo and has concluded as follows. When comparing the statues of Minamoto no Yoritomo in Higashihirozo and Hōjō Tokiyori in Kenchō-ji , from the facial expression to size, they are almost identical, and there

5487-442: The killer of their father, Kudō Suketsune . The brothers managed to kill 10 other participants until Nitta Tadatsune killed Sukenari. Then, Tokimune raided Yoritomo's mansion attempting to attack Yoritomo, but was finally taken down by Gosho no Gorōmaru , thus saving Yoritomo from a possible assassination attempt and ending the massacre. After this, Yoritomo took Tokimune in for questioning and had him executed later. Yoritomo

5580-411: The land, while only 6% of people lives there, resulting in a density of 39 people km. Nara prefecture had the highest rate in Japan of people commuting outbound for work, at 30.9% in 2000. A similar tendency is seen in prefectures such as Saitama , Chiba , and Kanagawa , all three of them having over 20% of people commuting for other prefectures. The 2004 total gross prefecture product (GPP) for Nara

5673-509: The large districts (97 small districts) covered the former city area of Edo. When the ancient ritsuryō districts were reactivated as administrative units in 1878, Tokyo was subdivided into 15 [urban] districts (- ku ) and initially six [rural] districts ( - gun ; nine after the Tama transfer from Kanagawa in 1893, eight after the merger of East Tama and South Toshima into Toyotama in 1896). Both urban and rural districts, like everywhere in

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5766-427: The lord of Yamato Province, fought for supremacy against his former master Miyoshi family . Followed by short appointments of Tsutsui Junkei and Toyotomi Hidenaga by Toyotomi Hideyoshi to the lord, the Tokugawa shogunate ultimately ruled the city of Nara directly, and most parts of Yamato province with a few feudal lords allocated at Kōriyama , Takatori and other places. With industry and commerce developing in

5859-564: The municipality, with the municipality now abolished, fell directly under prefectural or now "Metropolitan" authority. All other cities, towns and villages in Tokyo-fu stayed cities, towns and villages in Tokyo-to. The reorganisation's aim was to consolidate the administration of the area around the capital by eliminating the extra level of authority in Tokyo. Also, the governor was no longer called chiji , but chōkan (~"head/chief [usually: of

5952-407: The occupation a dedicated municipal police agency for the 23 special wards/former Tokyo City , yet the special wards public safety commission was not named by the special ward governments, but by the government of the whole "Metropolis". In 1954, independent municipal police forces were abolished generally in the whole country, and the prefectural/"Metropolitan" police of Tokyo is again responsible for

6045-589: The organization of the prefectural police force, the supervision of schools and the maintenance of prefectural schools (mainly high schools), prefectural hospitals, prefectural roads , the supervision of prefectural waterways and regional urban planning. Their responsibilities include tasks delegated to them by the national government such as maintaining most ordinary national roads (except in designated major cities), and prefectures coordinate and support their municipalities in their functions. De facto, prefectures as well as municipalities have often been less autonomous than

6138-405: The population. As of 2004, the average density of the prefecture is 387 people per km. By districts, the Yamato flat inland plain holds as much as about 90% of total population within the approximately 23% size of area in the north-west, including the Nara Basin, representing a density of 1,531 people per km. To the contrast, the combined district Gojō and Yoshino District occupies almost 64% of

6231-450: The practice of ordering prefectures based on their geographic region is traditional. This ordering is mirrored in Japan's International Organization for Standardization (ISO) coding. From north to south (numbering in ISO 3166-2:JP order), the prefectures of Japan and their commonly associated regions are: Here are some territories that were lost after World War II. This does not include all

6324-406: The prefectural government and keep tight control over the developing island. These subprefectures still exist today, although they have much less power than they possessed before and during World War II. They now exist primarily to handle paperwork and other bureaucratic functions. "Hokkaidō Prefecture" is, technically speaking, a redundant term because dō itself indicates a prefecture, although it

6417-547: The prefecture is covered by mountains and forests, leaving an inhabitable area of only 851 square kilometres (329 sq mi). The ratio of inhabitable area to total area is 23%, ranked 43rd among the 47 prefectures in Japan. Nara Prefecture is bisected by the Japan Median Tectonic Line (MTL) running through its territory east to west, along the Yoshino River . On the northern side of the MTL

6510-547: The prefecture, and a decrease of 72 registered foreigners. Net domestic migration has turned into a continuous outbound trend since 1998. The largest destinations of migration in 2005 were the prefectures of Kyoto, Tokyo, and Hyōgo, with respectively a net of 1,130,982 and 451 people moving over. The largest inbound migration was from Niigata Prefecture , contributing to a net increase of 39 people. 13.7% of its population were reported as under 15, 65.9% between 15 and 64, and 20.4% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 52.5% of

6603-569: The prefecture. Some other prefectures also have branch offices that carry out prefectural administrative functions outside the capital. Tokyo , the capital of Japan , is a merged city-prefecture; a metropolis, it has features of both cities and prefectures. Each prefecture has its own mon for identification, the equivalent of a coat of arms in the West. The West's use of "prefecture" to label these Japanese regions stems from 16th-century Portuguese explorers and traders use of "prefeitura" to describe

6696-506: The prefectures currently enjoy. As of August 2012, this plan was abandoned. Japan is a unitary state . The central government delegates many functions (such as education and the police force ) to the prefectures and municipalities , but retains the overall right to control them. Although local government expenditure accounts for 70 percent of overall government expenditure , the central government controls local budgets, tax rates , and borrowing. Prefectural government functions include

6789-623: The rough translation stuck. The Meiji government established the current system in July 1871 with the abolition of the han system and establishment of the prefecture system ( 廃藩置県 , haihan-chiken ) . Although there were initially over 300 prefectures, many of them being former han territories, this number was reduced to 72 in the latter part of 1871, and 47 in 1888. The Local Autonomy Law of 1947 gave more political power to prefectures, and installed prefectural governors and parliaments. In 2003, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi proposed that

6882-468: The special wards have almost the same degree of independence as Japanese cities, the difference in administration between Tokyo and other prefectures is fairly minor. In Osaka, several prominent politicians led by Tōru Hashimoto , then mayor of Osaka City and former governor of Osaka Prefecture , proposed an Osaka Metropolis plan , under which Osaka City, and possibly other neighboring cities, would be replaced by special wards similar to Tokyo's. The plan

6975-479: The statue of Minamoto no Yoritomo in Kai Province , Zenkō-ji to be the name of the repairer instead of the name of the sculptor, and that it was made at the request of Hōjō Masako in the first quarter of the 13th century. Thus, Kuroda concludes that this statue is the only accurate depiction of Minamoto no Yoritomo. In the words of George Bailey Sansom , "Yoritomo was a truly great man … his foresight

7068-404: The supremacy of the samurai caste and the first shogunate ( bakufu ) which was to be centered around Kamakura, thus beginning the feudal age in Japan , which lasted until the 17th century. Yoritomo was the third son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo , heir of the Minamoto ( Seiwa Genji ) clan, and his official wife, Yura-Gozen , daughter of Fujiwara no Suenori , High Priest of Atsuta Shrine and

7161-468: The territories of the Empire of Japan such as Manchukuo . Minamoto no Yoritomo Minamoto no Yoritomo ( 源 頼朝 , May 9, 1147 – February 9, 1199) was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate , ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako who acted as regent ( shikken ) after his death. Yoritomo

7254-497: The third century to the fourth century, a poorly documented political force existed at the foot of Mount Miwa , east of Nara Basin. It sought unification of most parts in Japan. Since the historical beginning of Japan, Yamato was its political center. Ancient capitals of Japan were built on the land of Nara, namely Asuka-kyō , Fujiwara-kyō (694–710) and Heijō-kyō (most of 710–784). The capital cities of Fujiwara and Heijō are believed to have been modeled after Chinese capitals at

7347-649: The time, incorporating grid layout patterns. The royal court also established relations with Sui and then Tang dynasty China and sent students to the Middle Kingdom to learn high civilization. By 7th century, Nara accepted the many immigrants including refugees of Baekje who had escaped from war disturbances of the southern part of the Korean Peninsula . The first high civilization with royal patronage of Buddhism flourished in today's Nara city (710–784 AD). In 784, Emperor Kanmu decided to relocate

7440-511: The title of Sei-i Tai Shōgun (Barbarian-quelling Generalissimo) which formally placed all the feudal lords and both the jitō and shugo under his direct control. Thus creating a new feudal state organized around Kamakura while Kyoto was relegated to the role of "national ceremony and ritual". Yoritomo gathered his gokenin in May 1193 and arranged a grand hunting event, Fuji no Makigari . On May 16, Yoritomo's 12-year-old son Yoriie shot

7533-571: The township-ruled zones and the rest of the bugyo-ruled zones became ken ( 県 ) . Later, in 1871, the government designated Tokyo , Osaka , and Kyoto as fu , and relegated the other fu to the status of ken. During World War II , in 1943, Tokyo became a to, a new type of pseudo-prefecture. Despite the differences in terminology, there is little functional difference between the four types of local governments. The subnational governments are sometimes collectively referred to as todōfuken ( 都道府県 , [todoːɸɯ̥ꜜkeɴ] ) in Japanese, which

7626-630: The two temples. The Nanboku-chō period , starting in 1336, brought more instability to Nara. As Emperor Go-Daigo chose Yoshino as his base, a power struggle arose in Kōfuku-ji with a group supporting the South and another siding the North court. Likewise, local clans were split into two. Kōfuku-ji recovered its control over the province for a short time at the surrender of the South Court in 1392, while

7719-438: The whole prefecture/"Metropolis" and like all prefectural police forces controlled by the prefectural/"Metropolitan" public safety commission whose members are appointed by the prefectural/"Metropolitan" governor and assembly.) But, as part of the "reverse course" of the 1950s some of these new rights were removed, the most obvious measure being the denial of directly elected mayors. Some of these restrictions were removed again over

7812-423: Was a mere 1.0%, only above mining, which is quasi-inexistent in Nara. The culture of Nara is tied to the Kansai region in which it is located. However, like each of the other prefectures of Kansai, Nara has unique aspects to its culture, parts of which stem from its long history dating back to the Nara period. There are large differences in dialect between the north/central region of the prefecture, where Nara city

7905-558: Was defeated at the Battle of Ishibashiyama , his first major battle, when Ōba Kagechika led a rapid night attack. After his defeat in Mt. Ishibashiyama, Minamoto no Yoritomo fled into the Hakone mountains, stayed in Yugawara , then escaped from Manazuru -Iwa to Awa (south of present-day Chiba ). Yoritomo spent the next six months raising a new army. Taira no Kiyomori died in 1181 and

7998-467: Was known as the Heiji Rebellion . Nonetheless, the Minamoto were not well prepared, and the Taira took control of Kyoto . Shinzei's mansion was attacked by the Taira; Shinzei escaped, only to be captured and decapitated shortly thereafter. The Taira then burned the ex-emperor's palace, defeating the Minamoto. Yoshitomo fled the capital but was later betrayed and executed by a retainer. In

8091-507: Was narrowly defeated in a 2015 referendum , and again in 2020 . Hokkaidō is referred to as a dō ( 道 , [doꜜː] ) or circuit . This term was originally used to refer to Japanese regions consisting of several provinces (e.g. the Tōkaidō east-coast region, and Saikaido west-coast region). This was also a historical usage of the character in China. (In Korea, this historical usage

8184-466: Was ordained as a Buddhist monk in 1199 and left his home. He received the Buddhist name Bukōshōgendaizenmon (武皇嘯厚大禅門). He died two days later at the age of 51. According to The Tale of Heiji , Yoritomo was "more adult-like than others of his age", and the figure of a young warrior Yoritomo appears in the picture scroll of The Tale of Heiji . Genpei Jōsuiki describes Yoritomo saying "his face

8277-402: Was ordered by his father to depress the power of various parties, mainly Kōfuku-ji and Tōdai-ji , who were backing up an opposition group headed by Prince Mochihito . The movement led to a collision between the Taira and the Nara temples in 1180. This clash eventually led to Kōfuku-ji and Tōdai-ji being set on fire, resulting in vast destruction of architectural heritage. At the rise of

8370-419: Was remarkable, but so was his practical good sense in setting up machinery to match his own expanding power." Yoritomo's wife's family, the Hōjō , took control after his death at Kamakura , maintaining power over the shogunate until 1333, under the title of shikken (regent to the shōgun ). One of his brothers-in-law was Ashikaga Yoshikane . The stone pagoda traditionally believed to be his grave

8463-539: Was set up and encompassed the former city area of Edo under the Fuhanken sanchisei . After the abolition of the han system in the first wave of prefectural mergers in 1871/72, several surrounding areas (parts of Urawa , Kosuge , Shinagawa and Hikone prefectures ) were merged into Tokyo, and under the system of (numbered) "large districts and small districts" (daiku-shōku) , it was subdivided into eleven large districts further subdivided into 103 small districts, six of

8556-442: Was the son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo and belonged to Seiwa Genji 's prestigious Kawachi Genji family. After successfully maneuvering himself to the position of rightful heir of the Minamoto clan , he led his clan against the Taira from his capital in Kamakura , beginning the Genpei War in 1180. After five years of civil war, the Minamoto clan finally defeated the Taira in the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185. Yoritomo established

8649-483: Was ¥3.8 trillion, an 0.1% growth over previous year. The per capita income was ¥2.6 million, which is a 1.3% decrease from previous year. The 2004 total gross prefecture product (GPP) for Nara was ¥3.8 trillion, an 0.1% growth over previous year. Manufacturing has the biggest share in the GPP of Nara with 20.2% of share, followed by services (19.1%) and real estates (16.3%). The share of agriculture including forestry and fishery

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