Between 1905 and 1945, the

Japanese Empire The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...

administered the southern half of

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...

, using the name . The area was designated a , the same term given to

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

at the time. It is commonly referred to as Karafuto

Prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. The prefecture was divided into 4 , which in turn were subdivided into 11

districts 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 counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

, in turn divided into 41

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

, 13

towns A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

, and 27 villages)

List of municipalities of Karafuto Prefecture

Prefectural capital: Toyohara ;Notes *The data is as of 1945. *Some municipalities had multiple possible readings. , for instance, was read ''Shikuka'', ''Shisuka'', or ''Shikika'', depending on sources. *All

Kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

names are in

Shinjitai are the simplified forms of kanji used in Japan since the promulgation of the Tōyō Kanji List in 1946. Some of the new forms found in ''shinjitai'' are also found in Simplified Chinese characters, but ''shinjitai'' is generally not as extensiv ...

, a modern form which was not used when the prefecture existed. The

Kyūjitai ''Kyūjitai'' ( ja, 舊字體 / 旧字体, lit=old character forms) are the traditional forms of kanji, Chinese written characters used in Japanese. Their simplified counterparts are ''shinjitai'' ( ja, 新字体, lit=new character forms, lab ...

names used when the prefecture existed are listed in parenthesis. *The list shows the current Russian names in parenthesis. However, Russian divisions do not match with Japanese divisions. These names just roughly overlap with central towns.

Toyohara Subprefecture ()

Subprefectural capital: Toyohara *Ōtomari District, alternatively Ōdomari **Chitose Village (, '' Tret'ya Pad'') **Fukami Village (, '' Prigorodnoye'') **Nagahama Village (, '' Ozyorskoye'') **Ōtomari Town, alternatively Ōdomari ('' Korsakov'') **Shiretoko Village ('' Novikovo'') **Tōbuchi Village ('' Murav'yovo'') **Tomuna Village (, '' Okhotskoye'') *Rūtaka District, alternatively Rutaka **Notoro Village ('' Kirillovo'') **Rūtaka Town, alternatively Rutaka (''

Aniva Aniva (russian: Ани́ва) is a coastal town and the administrative center of Anivsky District of Sakhalin Oblast, Russia, located on the coast of Aniva Bay in southern Sakhalin Island on the Lyutoga River, south of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Populat ...

'') **Sango Village (, '' Taranay'') *Toyohara City (, '' Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk'') *Toyosakae District (, Vysokoye) **Kawakami Village ('' Sinegorsk'') **Ochiai Town (''

Dolinsk Dolinsk (russian: Долинск) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities * Dolinsk, Sakhalin Oblast, a town in Dolinsky District of Sakhalin Oblast ;Rural localities * Dolinsk, Orenburg Oblast, a settlement in ...

'') **Sakaehama Village (, '' Starodubskoye'') **Shiranui Village (''

Vzmorye Vzmorye (russian: link=no, Взморье, german: Groß Heydekrug, pl, Zajazdowo) is an settlement under the administrative jurisdiction of the town of Svetly in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. Location The village is located in the historic reg ...

'') **Toyokita Village (, '' Lugovoye'')

Maoka Subprefecture ()

Subprefectural capital: Maoka *Honto District **Honto Town (''

Nevelsk Nevelsk (russian: Не́вельск; ja, 本斗, ''Honto'') is a port town and the administrative center of Nevelsky District of Sakhalin Oblast, Russia, located on the southwest coast of the Sakhalin Island, from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the ad ...

'') **Kaiba Village (''

Moneron Island Moneron Island, (russian: Монерон, ja, 海馬島 Kaibato, ja, トド島 Todojima, Ainu: Todomoshiri) is a small island off Sakhalin Island. It is a part of the Russian Federation. Description Moneron has an area of about and a highe ...

'') **Kōni Village ('' Shebunino'') **Naihoro Town (, '' Gornozavodsk'') *Maoka District () **Hirochi Village (, ''

Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the co ...

'') **Konotoro Village ('' Kostromskoye'') **Maoka Town (, '' Kholmsk'') **Noda Town ('' Chekhovo'') **Randomari Village ('' Yablochny'') **Shimizu Village (, '' Chaplakovo'') *Tomarioru District **Kushunnai Village (, '' Ilyinskoye'') **Nayori Village ('' Penzenskoye'') **Tomarioru Town ('' Tomari'')

Esutoru Subprefecture ()

Subprefectural capital: Esutoru *Esutoru District () **Chinnai Town (, '' Krasnogorsk'') **Esutoru Town (, '' Uglegorsk'') **Tōro Town (''

Shakhtyorsk Shakhtyorsk (russian: Шахтёрск; ja, 塔路, ''Tōro'') is a town in Uglegorsky District of Sakhalin Oblast, Russia, located on the western coast of the Sakhalin Island, northwest of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the administrative center of th ...

'') **Ushiro Village ('' Orlovo'') *Nayoshi District **Nayoshi Town ('' Lesogorskoye'') **Nishisakutan Village ('' Boshnyakovo'')

Shikuka Subprefecture ()

Subprefectural capital: Shikuka *Motodomari District, alternatively Mototomari **Hoyori Village ('' Pugachevo'') **Motodomari Village, alternatively Mototomari (') **Shirutoru Town, alternatively Shiritori ('' Makarov'') *Shikuka District, alternatively Shisuka or Shikika **Chirie Village ('' Kotikovo'') **Nairo Village (, '' Gastello'') **Shikuka Town, alternatively Shisuka or Shikika ('' Poronaysk'') **Tomarikishi Village ('' Vakhrushev'')

External links