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65-498: A native of Yamagata prefecture in northern Japan, Sakaibara was a graduate of the 46th class of the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy in 1918, placing 36th in a class of 124. He served his midshipman tour on the cruiser Tokiwa , and after his commission as an ensign , was assigned to Hirado . He later served on the destroyer Kaba and battleship Mutsu . As a sub-lieutenant, he served on

130-589: 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

195-410: 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,

260-615: A number of staff positions. After the Battle of Wake Island on December 23, 1941, Sakaibara was appointed the garrison commander of the Japanese occupation force. Fearing an imminent attempt by American forces to retake the island, Sakaibara put 98 American civilians they had captured to work building a series of bunkers and fortifications in preparation for a suspected amphibious invasion . On October 5, 1943, aircraft from USS Yorktown bombed Wake Island. Two days later, Sakaibara ordered

325-686: A particularly rare statue, a seated Vairocana Buddha made from zelkova wood, was found. Other significant works include sculptures from the Heian period (794–1185) and Kamakura period (1192–1333). The Yamagata Museum of Art, located in Yamagata City, was opened in 1964 through the efforts of a foundation led by Yoshio Hattori, the president of Yamagata Shimbun and Yamagata Broadcasting Co, Ltd. The permanent collection consists of three types of art: Japanese and Asian, regional, and French. Special exhibitions are held periodically. Yamagata Prefecture

390-435: A population of 1,028,055 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of 9,325 km (3,600 sq mi ). Yamagata Prefecture borders Akita Prefecture to the north, Miyagi Prefecture to the east, Fukushima Prefecture to the south, and Niigata Prefecture to the southwest. Yamagata is the capital and largest city of Yamagata Prefecture, with other major cities including Tsuruoka , Sakata , and Yonezawa . Yamagata Prefecture

455-447: A population of 1,068,027. As of October 2019, 33.4% of the population was over 65 with 15.5% aged between 65 and 74 and 17.9% over 75. This is an increase of 8.5% over census data from 2004 where 12.8% of the population was aged between 65 and 74, and 12.1% was over 75. Yamagata prefecture experienced its greatest growth period following the end of World War II, but then quickly began to slow down and eventually decline steadily. Today,

520-609: 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

585-598: 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

650-512: A victim of victor's justice . Sakaibara was hanged in Guam on June 19, 1947. Until the end, he maintained, "I think my trial was entirely unfair and the proceeding unfair, and the sentence too harsh, but I obey with pleasure." Yamagata prefecture Yamagata Prefecture ( 山形県 , Yamagata-ken ) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu . Yamagata Prefecture has

715-541: 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)

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780-555: Is a re-enactment of the Battle of Kawanakajima on the banks of the Matsukawa River. In September, Yamagata Prefecture is famous for its imoni , a taro-root stew popular in Northern Japan during the autumn. Imonikai, taro-root soup parties, are very popular during this season, and many tourists come to Yamagata Prefecture specifically for its particular style of imoni. Beginning in 2003, Yamagata city officials with

845-399: 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

910-457: Is divided into 47 prefectures ( 都道府県 , todōfuken , [todoːɸɯ̥ꜜkeɴ] ), which rank immediately below the national government and form the country's first level of jurisdiction and administrative division . They include 43 prefectures proper ( 県 , ken ), two urban prefectures ( 府 , fu : Osaka and Kyoto ), one regional prefecture ( 道 , dō : Hokkaidō ) and one metropolis ( 都 , to : Tokyo ). In 1868,

975-463: Is known for its local dialect Yamagata-ben , sometimes thought of as backward sounding in other parts of Japan. The 2004 movie Swing Girls (スウィングガールズ), co-written and directed by Shinobu Yaguchi , is set in Yamagata and makes use of Yamagata-ben for comedic purposes. The sports teams listed below are based in Yamagata. Football Volleyball Basketball The temple of Yama-dera , carved into

1040-633: Is located on Japan's western Sea of Japan coast and its borders with neighboring prefectures are formed by various mountain ranges , with 17% of its total land area being designated as Natural Parks . Yamagata Prefecture formed the southern half of the historic Dewa Province with Akita Prefecture and is home to the Three Mountains of Dewa , which includes the Haguro Five-story Pagoda, a recognised National Treasure of Japan . The aboriginal Ezo ( 蝦夷 ) people once inhabited

1105-624: Is milder and has more rain. Snowfall for Shinjō is typical of populated mountainous areas, snowfall for Yamagata City typical of the valleys. The central mountains around Gassan may see as much as 3,000 centimetres (98.43 ft) of snow in a season with depths up to 8 metres (26 ft) at higher elevations. Yamagata Prefecture is the largest producer of cherries and pears in Japan. A large quantity of other kinds of fruits such as grapes, apples, peaches, melons, persimmons and watermelons are also produced. As of October 2020, Yamagata Prefecture had

1170-506: 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

1235-489: 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

1300-417: 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,

1365-570: The Iwate and after his promotion to lieutenant on December 1, 1924, he was assigned to the Hiei , Yura , and Sendai . He was chief gunnery officer on the Tatsuta . Promoted to lieutenant commander in 1930, he served as chief gunnery officer on Takao in 1934, followed by Mutsu in 1935. He was executive officer on Chikuma in 1939. After his promotion to captain in 1940, he served in

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1430-568: The Meiji Fuhanken sanchisei administration created the first prefectures (urban fu and rural ken ) to replace the urban and rural administrators ( bugyō , daikan , etc.) in the parts of the country previously controlled directly by the shogunate and a few territories of rebels/shogunate loyalists who had not submitted to the new government such as Aizu / Wakamatsu . In 1871, all remaining feudal domains ( han ) were also transformed into prefectures, so that prefectures subdivided

1495-464: 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

1560-625: 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,

1625-511: 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

1690-408: 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

1755-517: The Japan mainland. Winter temperatures rarely fall below −10 °C (14 °F) in populated areas; they frequently rise above 30 °C (86 °F) in July and August. Precipitation falls all year round and the remnants of one or perhaps two typhoons usually pass through between August and October. The winters see heavy snowfall especially at higher elevations, though the Japan Sea coast ( Sakata )

1820-788: 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

1885-455: 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

1950-528: The aid of Tōhoku University of Art and Design began a three-year project in which the Buddhist art of the city's temples would be catalogued and compared to a set of guidelines in order to identify "cultural assets". One hundred and ninety temples have had their works of art examined and several significant examples of Buddhist sculpture have been discovered. At Heisenji Temple, in the Hirashimizu district,

2015-538: The area now known as Yamagata. Yamagata and Akita Prefecture were known as Dewa Province until the Meiji Restoration . During the Heian period (794–1185), the Fujiwara ( 藤原 ) family ruled the area. Yamagata City flourished during the Edo period (1603–1867) due to its status as a castle town and post station, famous for beni (red safflower dye used in the production of handspun silk). In 1689,

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2080-414: The beheading of an American civilian worker who was caught stealing. Fearing an invasion, Sakaibara ordered the rest of them to be killed. They were taken to the northern end of the island, blindfolded and machine-gunned. One prisoner (whose name has never been discovered) escaped, carved a message into a rock about the incident but was then recaptured and personally beheaded by Sakaibara. However, despite

2145-522: 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

2210-490: 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

2275-400: 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

2340-583: 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

2405-465: The famous haiku poet, Matsuo Bashō visited Yamagata during his five-month trip to the northern regions of Japan. Yamagata Prefecture is located in the southwest corner of Tōhoku, facing the Sea of Japan . It borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture on the south, Miyagi Prefecture on the east, and Akita Prefecture on the north. All of these boundaries are marked by mountains, with most of

2470-405: 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

2535-495: 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,

2600-532: 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

2665-703: The hanagasa dance in the city centre and attracts up to 300,000 spectators. Yamagata City is the home of the bi-annual Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in October. In February, a snow lantern festival is held in Yonezawa at the Uesugi Shrine . Hundreds of candle-lit lanterns light pathways dug into the snow around the shrine. Yonezawa is also the site of the Uesugi Festival (上杉祭り, uesugi matsuri ) in mid-spring. The festival's highlight

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2730-509: 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

2795-567: The massive assembly, the attack never came. Instead the United States Navy established a submarine blockade, causing the Japanese garrison to starve. United States forces bombed the island periodically from 1942 until Japan's surrender in 1945. Sakaibara was promoted to rear admiral a year later, on October 15, 1944. The Japanese garrison on Wake Island formally surrendered to the United States on September 4, 1945. After

2860-470: The mountainside near the city of Yamagata , is a major attraction. The Dewa Sanzan are three holy mountains that form a traditional pilgrimage for followers of the Shugendō branch of Shintō. The famous Gojudo (five-story pagoda) is at the base of Mount Haguro , the lowest of the three mountains. Mount Zaō is a famous winter ski resort, also known for its snow monsters (frozen snow-covered trees) in

2925-564: 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

2990-407: 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

3055-589: 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

3120-463: The population is nearly the same as it was in 1930. Yamagata City is the central hub for Yamagata Prefecture and has many shops and restaurants around its main station. It is also the location with the most western hotels and the primary place of lodging for visitors visiting this region. This city serves as a good hub to visit the surrounding cities and towns around this prefecture with bus lines and train lines linking almost every part of Yamagata from

3185-595: The population residing in a limited central plain. As of 31 March 2020, 17 percent of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks , namely the Bandai-Asahi National Park ; Chōkai , Kurikoma , and Zaō Quasi-National Parks; and Goshōzan , Kabusan , Kennan , Mogamigawa , Shōnai Kaihin , and Tendō Kōgen Prefectural Natural Parks. Thirteen cities are located in Yamagata Prefecture: These are

3250-450: 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

3315-406: 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

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3380-569: 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

3445-506: 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

3510-572: 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

3575-468: 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

3640-633: The station. There are also many bars near the station giving this city a good night life for visitors to enjoy at the front of the station as well as the nanukamachi district in the downtown area of the city. Yamagata Prefecture has a number of annual festivals and events. The largest is the Yamagata Hanagasa Festival (花笠祭り) which takes place in Yamagata City on the first weekend in August, when thousands of people perform

3705-441: The towns and villages in each district : The climate of Yamagata Prefecture is characterized by long, hot, and humid summers and long, snowy winters. Both spring and autumn are short, the former often cold, the latter often warm, but both quite dry and sunny. Yamagata Prefecture, along with northern parts of Miyagi and Iwate are the transition areas from humid subtropical climate ( Koppen Cfa / Cwa ) to humid continental within

3770-571: 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

3835-724: The war, Sakaibara, his subordinate, Lieutenant Commander Shoichi Tachibana, and Toraji Ito, were taken into custody by the American occupation authorities . They initially claimed that the victims were killed in a bombing raid by U.S. forces, but later confessed to the massacre. Sakaibara, Tachibana, and Ito were extradited to Kwajalein Island , where they were tried for war crimes by a U.S. military commission. Ito killed himself in custody. Sakaibara and Tachibana were both found guilty and sentenced to death in December 1945. Tachibana's sentence

3900-454: The whole country. In several waves of territorial consolidation, today's 47 prefectures were formed by the turn of the century. In many instances, these are contiguous with the ancient ritsuryō provinces of Japan . Each prefecture's chief executive is a directly elected governor ( 知事 , chiji ) . Ordinances and budgets are enacted by a unicameral assembly ( 議会 , gikai ) whose members are elected for four-year terms. Under

3965-438: 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

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4030-675: The winter, and the Okama crater lake , also known as the Goshiki Numa (Five Color Lake) because its colour changes according to the weather. Ginzan Onsen (銀山温泉) is a Silver Mountain hot spring town located in the mountains of Obanazawa City, Yamagata Prefecture. The area originally developed around a silver mine. Yamagata is pictured in the 1991 Studio Ghibli film Only Yesterday directed by Isao Takahata. 38°26′N 140°8′E  /  38.433°N 140.133°E  / 38.433; 140.133 Prefectures of Japan Japan

4095-591: Was commuted to life in prison, and he was sent to Sugamo Prison to serve out his sentence. Sakaibara was extradited to Guam for execution. Just before he was sentenced, Sakaibara read out a final statement to the commission. He admitted that what he did was wrong and said he wished that he had never heard of Wake Island. However, Sakaibara also claimed that the United States had no moral authority to try him or others after using nuclear weapons on Japan. With that statement, many people in Sakaibara's hometown saw him as

4160-507: 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

4225-539: 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

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