Fukui Prefecture
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is a prefecture of
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 778,943 (1 June 2017) and has a geographic area of 4,190 km2 (1,617
sq mi The square mile (abbreviated as sq mi and sometimes as mi2)Rowlett, Russ (September 1, 2004) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved February 22, 2012. is an imperial and US unit of measure for area. One square mile is an are ...
). Fukui Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the east,
Shiga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the north ...
to the south, and Kyoto Prefecture to the southwest.
Fukui is a Japanese name meaning "fortunate" or sometimes "one who is from the Fukui prefecture". It may refer to: Places * Fukui Domain, a part of the Japanese han system during the Edo period * Fukui Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan located in ...
is the capital and largest city of Fukui Prefecture, with other major cities including
Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its keyhole-shaped burial mounds, or kofun, which date from the fifth century and inclu ...
, Echizen, and
Sabae is a city located in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 69,338 in 24,167 households and the population density of 820 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Sabae is located in central Fuku ...
. Fukui Prefecture is located on the
Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...
coast and is part of the historic Hokuriku region of Japan. The
Matsudaira clan The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan. It originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture). During the Sengoku period, the chieftain of the main line of t ...
, a powerful ''
samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...
'' clan during the
Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...
that became a component of the
Japanese nobility The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the 1947 constitution. Kazoku ( 華族) should not be confused with ' ...
after the
Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...
, was headquartered at
Fukui Castle is a flatland-style castle located in what is now the city of Fukui, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. During the Edo period, it was the headquarters of a branch of the Matsudaira clan, who were hereditary ''daimyō'' of Fukui domain under the Tokugawa ...
on the site of the modern prefectural offices. Fukui Prefecture is home to the
Kitadani Formation The Kitadani Formation ( ja, 北谷層 ''Kitadani-sō'') is a unit of Lower Cretaceous sedimentary rock which crops out near the city of Katsuyama in Fukui Prefecture, Japan, and it is the primary source of Cretaceous-aged non-marine vertebrate f ...
, the
Ichijōdani Asakura Family Historic Ruins The are historic ruins located in the Kidonouchi section of the city of Fukui, Fukui Prefecture, in the Hokuriku region of Japan. This area was controlled by the Asakura clan_for_103_years_during_the_ ">DF_7_of_80">"Asa_..._for_103_years_during ...
, and the Tōjinbō cliff range.


Prehistory

The Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry, on the Sugiyama River within the city limits of Katsuyama, has yielded animals such As ''
Fukuiraptor ''Fukuiraptor'' ("thief of Fukui") was a medium-sized megaraptoran theropod dinosaur of the Early Cretaceous epoch (either Barremian or Aptian) that lived in what is now Japan. ''Fukuiraptor'' is known from the Kitadani Formation and possibly ...
'', '' Fukuisaurus'', ''
Nipponosaurus ''Nipponosaurus'' (meaning "Japanese lizard") is a lambeosaurine hadrosaur from sediments of the Yezo Group, in Sinegorsk on the island of Sakhalin, which was part of Japan at the time of the species' classification. The type and only species ...
'', '' Koshisaurus'',
Fukuivenator ''Fukuivenator'' ("hunter of Fukui Prefecture") is an extinct genus of therizinosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Japan. Discovery and naming The type species ''Fukuivenator paradoxus'' was in 2016 named and described b ...
,''
Fukuititan ''Fukuititan'' (meaning " Fukui giant") is a genus of titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur that lived in the Early Cretaceous (either Barremian or Aptian age) in what is now Japan. It is known from FPDM-V8468, the associated partial skeleton of a ...
'' and ''
Tambatitanis ''Tambatitanis'' (meaning "Tamba giant", after Tamba, the name given to the northwest of Kansai, Japan is an extinct genus of titanosauriform dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (probably early Albian) of Japan. It is known from a single type sp ...
'' as well as an unnamed
dromaeosaurid Dromaeosauridae () is a family of feathered theropod dinosaurs. They were generally small to medium-sized feathered carnivores that flourished in the Cretaceous Period. The name Dromaeosauridae means 'running lizards', from Greek ('), meaning ...
.


History

Fukui originally consisted of the old provinces of Wakasa and Echizen, before the prefecture was formed in 1871. During the
Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...
, the ''
daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominal ...
'' of the region was surnamed
Matsudaira The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan. It originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture). During the Sengoku period, the chieftain of the main line of ...
, and was a descendant of
Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fello ...
. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Fukui was heavily bombed and its palace,
Fukui Castle is a flatland-style castle located in what is now the city of Fukui, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. During the Edo period, it was the headquarters of a branch of the Matsudaira clan, who were hereditary ''daimyō'' of Fukui domain under the Tokugawa ...
, surrounded by a moat, was demolished. Buildings for the Fukui Prefectural government were built on the site of the castle.


Geography

Fukui faces the
Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...
, and has a western part (formerly Wakasa) which is a narrow plain between the mountains and the sea, and a larger eastern part (formerly Echizen) with wider plains including the capital and most of the population. The province lays within Japan's "
Snow country is a novel by the Japanese author Yasunari Kawabata. The novel is considered a classic work of Japanese literature and was among the three novels the Nobel Committee cited in 1968, when Kawabata was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Writ ...
". As of 31 March 2008, 15% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely the Hakusan National Park; Echizen-Kaga Kaigan and Wakasa Wan Quasi-National Parks; and
Okuetsu Kōgen Prefectural Natural Park is a Prefectural Natural Park in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. Established in 1955, the park spans the municipalities of Ōno and Katsuyama. It includes , , , and . See also * National Parks of Japan * Hakusan National Park is a national park i ...
.


Cities

Nine cities are located in Fukui Prefecture:


Towns

These are the towns in each
district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...
:


Mergers


Economy

*
Sabae is a city located in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 69,338 in 24,167 households and the population density of 820 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Sabae is located in central Fuku ...
is known for producing 90% of Japan's domestically-made
glasses Glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles, are vision eyewear, with lenses (clear or tinted) mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms (known as temples ...
. * There are several nuclear power plants located along Wakasa Bay in Tsuruga which supply power to the Keihanshin metropolitan region. It has 14 reactors, the most of any prefecture.


Demographics

Fukui is one of the less populated prefectures of Japan; in September 2015 there were an estimated 785,508 people living in 281,394 households. As seen in most of Japan, Fukui is facing the problem of both an aging and decreasing population; 28.6% of the population were over the age of 65 in July 2015 and the population has decreased 2.6% from the 806,000 measured in the October 2010 national census.


Culture

*
Ichijōdani Asakura Family Historic Ruins The are historic ruins located in the Kidonouchi section of the city of Fukui, Fukui Prefecture, in the Hokuriku region of Japan. This area was controlled by the Asakura clan_for_103_years_during_the_ ">DF_7_of_80">"Asa_..._for_103_years_during ...
is one of the most important cultural heritage sites in Japan. *
Eihei-ji 250px is one of two main temples of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, the largest single religious denomination in Japan (by number of temples in a single legal entity). Eihei-ji is located about east of Fukui in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. In E ...
is a temple offering training and education to Buddhist monks. Founded by Dogen Zenji in 1244, Eiheiji is located on a plot of land covering about 33 hectares. * Myōtsū-ji's Three-storied Pagoda and Main Hall are National Treasures of Japan. * Fukui is home to
Maruoka Castle is a ''hirayama''-style Japanese castle located in the Maruoka neighbourhood of the city of Sakai, Fukui Prefecture, in the Hokuriku region of Japan. It also called due to the legend that whenever an enemy approaches the castle, a thick mist app ...
, the oldest standing castle in Japan. It was built in 1576. * Many dinosaur fossils have been excavated in Fukui and they can be seen at the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum. * Residents of Fukui Prefecture have a distinctive accent, Fukui-ben. * Fukui has long been a center for papermaking in Japan (along with Kyoto). Its Echizen Papermaking Cooperative is a world-famous collection of papermakers making paper in the traditional Echizen style. * Fukui is also renowned for its clean water and crops, which result in delicious sake, rice, and soba noodles. * In August 2010 Fukui launched its own dating website entitled Fukui Marriage-Hunting Café in hopes of helping the declining population growth of Japan increase. Couples who meet in the site and continue on to marry receive monetary aid from the government as well as gifts.


Friendship cities

*
Vihti Vihti (; sv, Vichtis) is a small municipality located in the Uusimaa region of province of Southern Finland, approximately northwest of the capital city Helsinki. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water ...
, Finland *
Winsen (Luhe) Winsen (Luhe) () is the capital of the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the small river Luhe, near its confluence with the Elbe, approx. 25 km southeast of Hamburg, and 20 km northwest of Lüneburg. Hi ...
, Germany


Education


University

* Fukui University * Fukui University of Technology *
Fukui Prefectural University is a public prefectural university founded in 1992 in Eiheiji, Yoshida District, Fukui Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 778,943 (1 June 2017) and has a geo ...
*
Jin-ai University is a private university in Echizen, Fukui, Echizen, Fukui Prefecture, Japan, affiliated with the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Japanese Buddhism. The predecessor of the school was established in 1898, and it was accredited as a university in 2010. Refe ...


Transportation


Railroad

*
JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, an ...
**
Hokuriku Line The Hokuriku Main Line ( ja, 北陸本線, ) is a 176.6 kilometer railway line owned by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) connecting the Maibara Station in Maibara, Shiga, with the Naoetsu Station in Joetsu, Niigata. The section betwee ...
**
Obama Line The is a railway line on the Sea of Japan coast of central Japan. It is operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The long single track railway connects Tsuruga Station on the Hokuriku Main Line in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture and Higas ...
**Kuzuryu Line *
Echizen Railway is a third-sector railway operating company located in Fukui, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. It owns and operates the Katsuyama Eiheiji Line between Fukui and Katsuyama and the Mikuni Awara Line between Fukui and Sakai. History In 1992, Keifuku El ...
**Katsuyama-Eiheiji Line **Mikuni-Awara Line *Fukui Railway **Fukubu Line


Road


Expressway and Toll Road

*
Hokuriku Expressway The , (abbreviated as , is a 4-laned national expressway in Japan. It is owned and managed by East Nippon Expressway Company and Central Nippon Expressway Company. Overview The first section was opened in 1972 by Japan Highway Public Corpo ...
*Maizuru-Wakasa Expressway *Chubu Jukan Expressway *Mikata Lake Rainbow Road *Mount Hoonji Toll Road


National Highway

* Route 8 * Route 27 * Route 157 * Route 158 * Route 161 * Route 162 * Route 303 * Route 305 * Route 364 * Route 365 * Route 367 * Route 416 * Route 417 * Route 418 * Route 476


Port

*
Tsuruga Port The Tsuruga Port is now one of the three main ports on the Sea of Japan. History Since the early 9th century, Tsuruga port has been involved in Japan maritime trade. Tsuruga Port has been prospering as a trade gateway between Japan and the Asi ...
- Ferry route to Niigata,
Akita is a Japanese name and may refer to: Places * 8182 Akita, a main-belt asteroid * Akita Castle, a Nara period fortified settlement in Akita, Japan * Akita Domain, also known as Kubota Domain, feudal domain in Edo period Japan * Akita, Kumamoto ...
,
Tomakomai is a city and port in Iburi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the largest city in the Iburi Subprefecture, and the fourth largest city in Hokkaido. As of 29 February 2012, it had an estimated population of 174,216, with 83,836 households ...
,
Otaru is a city and port in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan, northwest of Sapporo. The city faces Ishikari Bay and the Sea of Japan, and has long served as the main port of the bay. With its many historical buildings, Otaru is a popular to ...
and International container hub *Fukui Port


Tourism

*
Ichijōdani Asakura Family Historic Ruins The are historic ruins located in the Kidonouchi section of the city of Fukui, Fukui Prefecture, in the Hokuriku region of Japan. This area was controlled by the Asakura clan_for_103_years_during_the_ ">DF_7_of_80">"Asa_..._for_103_years_during ...
* Eihei-ji Temple * Tōjinbō, a scenic piece of coastline, which is also a notorious spot for suicide. * Echizen crabs are a local delicacy available year-round, though the crabbing season is during the winter. * Another traditional sea-side Fukui dish is ''genge,'' a small guppy-like fish that when eaten raw as sashimi, gives the body a brief tingling sensation. * Awara is a famous onsen in the north of the prefecture. * Takefu Chrysanthemum Character Doll Exhibition, held in Takefu Central Park on every October to November, first held on 1952. * Mikuni Festival, a combine
portable shrine A miniature shrine, also referred to in literature as a portable shrine, pocket shrine, or a travel altar, is a small, generally moveable shrine or altar. They vary greatly in size and architectural style, and by which region or culture produced th ...
and floats traditional festival, every later May on every year, first held in 1697.


Notes


References

* Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia.''
Cambridge:
Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...
.
OCLC 58053128


External links



{{Authority control Chūbu region Prefectures of Japan Hokuriku region