Miyagi Prefecture

Miyagi Prefecture
Japanese transcription(s)
– Japanese	宮城県
– Rōmaji	Miyagi-ken
Symbol of Miyagi Prefecture
Country	Japan
Region	Tōhoku
Island	Honshu
Capital	Sendai
Government
– Governor	Yoshihiro Murai
Area
– Total	7,285.16 km2 (2,812.8 sq mi)
Area rank	17th
Population (December 1, 2010)
– Total	2,337,513
– Rank	15th
– Density	320.86/km2 (831/sq mi)
ISO 3166 code	JP-04
Districts	10
Municipalities	35
Flower	Miyagi bush clover (Lespedeza thunbergii)
Tree	Japanese zelkova (Zelkova serrata)
Bird	Wild goose
Website	www.pref.miyagi.jp/ english/

Miyagi Prefecture (宮城県, Miyagi-ken^?) is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku Region on Honshu island.^[1] The capital is Sendai.^[2]

History

Miyagi Prefecture was formerly part of the province of Mutsu.^[3] Mutsu Province, on northern Honshu, was one of the last provinces to be formed as land was taken from the indigenous Emishi, and became the largest as it expanded northward. The ancient capital was in modern Miyagi Prefecture.

In the third month of second year of the Wadō era (709), there was an uprising against governmental authority in Mutsu Province and in nearby Echigo Province. Troops were promptly dispatched to subdue the revolt.^[4]

In Wadō 5 (712), the land of Mutsu Province was administratively separated from Dewa Province. Empress Gemmei's Daijō-kan continued to organize other cadastral changes in the provincial map of the Nara period, as in the following year when Mimasaka Province was divided from Bizen Province; Hyūga Province was sundered from Osumi Province; and Tamba Province was severed from Tango Province.^[4]

During the Sengoku period various clans ruled different parts of the province. The Uesugi clan had a castle town at Wakamatsu in the south, the Nambu clan at Morioka in the north, and Date Masamune, a close ally of the Tokugawa, established Sendai, which is now the largest town of the Tōhoku region.

In the Meiji period, four new provinces were created from parts of Mutsu: Rikuchū, Rikuzen, Iwaki, and Iwashiro.

The area that is now Aomori Prefecture continued to be part of Mutsu until the abolition of the han system and the nation-wide conversion to the prefectural structure of modern Japan.

Date Masamune built a castle at Sendai as his seat to rule Mutsu. In 1871, Sendai Prefecture was formed. It was renamed Miyagi prefecture the following year.

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

Main article: 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and a subsequent major tsunami hit Miyagi Prefecture, causing major damage to the area.^[5] The tsunami was estimated to be approximately 10 meters high in Miyagi Prefecture.^[6]

On April 7, 2011: 7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes off coast of Miyagi, Japan, Japan's meteorological agency says. Workers were then evacuated from the nearby troubled Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear facility once again, as a tsunami warning was issued for the coastline. Residents were told to flee for inner land at this time.

Officials from the U.S. Geological Survey later downgraded the magnitude to 7.1 from 7.4.^[7]

Geography

Map of Miyagi Prefecture

Miyagi Prefecture is in the central part of Tōhoku, facing the Pacific Ocean, and contains Tōhoku's largest city, Sendai. There are high mountains on the west and along the northeast coast, but the central plain around Sendai is fairly large.

Matsushima is known as one of the three most scenic views of Japan, with a bay full of 260 small islands covered in pine groves.

Oshika Peninsula projects from the northern coastline of the prefecture.

Cities

There are thirteen cities are in Miyagi Prefecture:

Higashimatsushima Ishinomaki Iwanuma Kakuda Kesennuma Kurihara Natori

Ōsaki Sendai (capital) Shiogama Shiroishi Tagajō Tome

Towns and villages

These are the towns and villages in each district:

Igu District Marumori Kami District Kami Shikama Katta District Shichikashuku Zaō Kurokawa District Ōhira Ōsato Taiwa Tomiya

Miyagi District Matsushima Rifu Shichigahama Motoyoshi District Minamisanriku Oshika District Onagawa Shibata District Kawasaki Murata Ōgawara Shibata

Tōda District Misato Wakuya Watari District Watari Yamamoto

Mergers

Main article: List of mergers in Miyagi Prefecture

Future mergers

• Both towns within Watari District are planning to merge and create a new city under the name of Watari. Watari District will dissolve if the city is created.^[8]

Economy

Although Miyagi has a good deal of fishing and agriculture, producing a great deal of rice and livestock, it is dominated by the manufacturing industries around Sendai, particularly electronics, appliances, and food processing.

As of March 2011, the prefecture produced 4.7% of Japan's rice, 23% of oysters, and 15.9% of saury fish.^[9]

As of July 2011, the Japanese government has decided to ban all shipments of beef cattle from northeast Miyagi Prefecture over fears of radioactive contamination.^[10]

Education

University

• Miyagi University
• Miyagi University of Education
• Miyagi Gakuin Women's University
• Sendai University
• Sendai Shirayuri Women's College
• Tohoku University
• Tohoku Gakuin University
• Tohoku Bunka Gakuen University
• Tohoku Institute of Technology
• Tohoku Fukushi University
• Tohoku Seikatsu Bunka College
• Tohoku Pharmaceutical University
• Shokei Gakuin University
• Ishinomaki Senshu University

Transportation

Train

• JR East
  • Tohoku Shinkansen
  • Tohoku Line
  • Joban Line
  • Senseki Line
  • Senzan Line
  • Ishinomaki Line
  • Rikuu East Line
  • Ofunato Line

• Sendai Municipal Subway Nanboku Line
• Abukuma Express Railway
• Sendai Airport Railway

Roads

Expressways and toll roads

• Tohoku Expressway
• Yamagata Expressway
• Sanriku Expressway
• Sendai East Road
• Sendai North Road
• Sendai South Road

National highways

• Route 4 (Nihonbashi of Tokyo–Kasukabe–Utsunomiya–Koriyama–Sendai–Furukawa–Ichinoseki–Morioka–Towada–Aomori)
• Route 6 (Nihonbashi of Tokyo–Mito–Iwaki–Soma–Sendai)
• Route 45 (Sendai–Ishinomaki–Ofunato–Kamaishi–Kuji–Hachinohe–Towada)
• Route 47 (Furukawa–Narugo–Shinjyo–Sakata)
• Route 48 (Sendai–Yamagata)
• Route 108
• Route 113
• Route 286
• Route 342
• Route 346
• Route 347
• Route 349
• Route 398
• Route 399
• Route 456
• Route 457

Ports

• Sendai Port – Ferry route to Tomakomai, Hokkaido and Nagoya, container hub port
• Ishinomaki Port – Ferry route to Mount Kinka, Tashiro Island and Tashiro Island. Many fishing boats base in Miyagi.
• Matsushima Bay

Airports

• Sendai Airport

Sports

The sports teams listed below are based in Miyagi Prefecture.

• Football (soccer)
  • Vegalta Sendai (Yurtec Stadium, Sendai)
  • Sony Sendai F.C. (Tagajō)
• Baseball
  • Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (Miyagi Baseball Stadium, Sendai)
• Basketball
  • Sendai 89ERS (Sendai Gymnasium, Sendai)

Visitor attractions

Sendai was the castle town of the daimyo Date Masamune. The remains of Sendai Castle stand on a hill above the city.

Miyagi Prefecture boasts one of Japan's three greatest sights. Matsushima, the pine-clad islands, dot the waters off the coast of the prefecture.

The following are also noted as attractions:

Aoba Castle Ichibanchō Akiu Hot Spring Iwai Point Kinkasan Islet Matsushima Bay

Naruko Hot Spring Rikuchu Coast Okama Crater Lake Zao Botanical Garden Zao Hot Spring

Famous festivals and events

Suzume Dancing Event in Aoba Festival

Aoba Festival of Sendai

View of Traditional New Year's sale in Sendai

• Sendai New Year's traditional Sale on January 2
• Shiroishi Kokeshi Exhibition, May 3–5
• Aoba Festival, Suzume Dancing event in May
• Shiogama Port Festival in July
• Sendai Tanabata Festival, August 6–8
• Narugo Kokeshi Festival in September^{[citation needed]}
• Sendai Pageant of Starlight in December

Notes

1. ^ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Miyagi prefecture" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 648 at Google Books; "Tōhoku" in p. 970 at Google Books.
2. ^ Nussbaum, "Sendai" in p. 841 at Google Books.
3. ^ Nussbaum, "Provinces and prefectures" in p. 780 at Google Books
4. ^ ^{a b} Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 64.
5. ^ "Japan earthquake: Tsunami hits north-east". BBC News. March 11, 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12709598. 
6. ^ http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Devastating-Tsunami-Strikes-Northeastern-Japan-117803999.html
7. ^ "CBS News World". April 7, 2011. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/07/501364/main20051696.shtml. Retrieved 7 April 2011. 
8. ^ "カーシェアリングがわかった！". http://www.w-y-gap.jp/. Retrieved 2008-06-14. 
9. ^ Schreiber, Mark, "Japan's food crisis goes beyond recent panic buying", Japan Times, 17 April 2011, p. 9.
10. ^ http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=710867&publicationSubCategoryId=200

References

• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 10-ISBN 0-674-01753-6; 13-ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Odai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691

External links

• Official Miyagi Prefecture homepage (Japanese)
• Official Miyagi Prefecture homepage last accessed on March 25, 2007
• Official information of each merger in Miyagi Prefecture last accessed on March 25, 2007

Coordinates: 38°21′N 140°58′E / 38.35°N 140.967°E / 38.35; 140.967