Kumamoto Prefecture

Infobox Prefecture Japan
Name = Kumamoto
JapaneseName = 熊本県
Rōmaji = Kumamoto-ken
Symbol = PrefSymbol-Kumamoto.png Capital = Kumamoto
Region = Kyūshū
Island = Kyūshū
TotalArea = 7,404.14
AreaRank = 16^th
PCWater = 0.2
PopDate = October 1, 2005
Population = 1,842,140
PopRank = 23^rd
Density = 249
Districts = 10
Municipalities = 48
ISOCode = JP-43
Flower = Gentian ("Gentiana scabra" var. "buergeri")
Tree = Camphor tree ("Cinnamomum camphora")
Bird = Eurasian Skylark ("Alauda arvensis")

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Website = [http://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/english/list.html www.pref.kumamoto.jp/ english/list.html]
Governor = Ikuo Kabashimanihongo|Kumamoto Prefecture|熊本県|Kumamoto-ken is a prefecture of Japan located on Kyūshū Island. The capital is the city of Kumamoto.

History

Historically the area was called Higo province and was renamed to Kumamoto prefecture during the Meiji Restoration as part of the abolition of the feudal system. The current Japanese orthography for Kumamoto literally means "bear root/origin", or "origin of the bear".

Geography

Kumamoto Prefecture is located in the center of Kyūshū, the southernmost of the four major Japanese islands. It is bordered by the Ariake inland sea and the Amakusa archipelago to the west, Fukuoka Prefecture and Ōita Prefecture to the north, Miyazaki Prefecture to the east, and Kagoshima Prefecture to the south.

Mt. Aso (1592 m), an extensive active volcano, is in the east of Kumamoto Prefecture. This volcano is located at the center of the Aso caldera, the most famous caldera in Japan.

Cities

Fourteen cities are located in Kumamoto Prefecture:
*Amakusa
*Arao
*Aso
*Hitoyoshi
*Kami-Amakusa
*Kikuchi
*Kōshi
*Kumamoto (capital)
*Minamata
*Tamana
*Uki
*Uto
*Yamaga
*Yatsushiro

Towns and villages

Towns and villages in each district:

Mergers

Economy

Kumamoto hosts a large Honda automobile plant. In 2007, a Honda factory on the site began to produce non-silicon solar cells for homes and businesses, with a projected capacity roughly equivalent to 8,000 households/year. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051219/bs_nm/autos_japan_honda_dc]

Sports

The sports teams listed below are based in Kumamoto.

Football (soccer)

*Rosso Kumamoto (Kumamoto city)

Demographics

Tourism

Prefectural symbols

Miscellaneous topics

*Kumamoto Prefecture is the 'sister state/prefecture' of Montana in the U.S.A. [http://businessresources.mt.gov/BRD_TIR_KumaAbout.asp]
*Kumamoto is also the birth place of Hollywood actor Tetsu Komai.
*Kumamoto is the birth place of Japanese-Brazilian painter Manabu Mabe.

External links

* [http://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/english/list.html Official Kumamoto Prefecture homepage]
* [http://www2.kumagaku.ac.jp/teacher/~masden/links.html Kumamoto Links]
* [http://wikitravel.org/en/Kumamoto Wikitravel guide to Kumamoto]
* National Archives of Japan [http://jpimg.digital.archives.go.jp/jpg_prg/jgmWeb?%TmpFileDisp%env=jpeg2k_images/ezu/fukenchizu/031_kumamoto_e.env ... Kumamoto map (1891)]