Prefectures of JapanFirst-level administrative divisions of JapanJapan is divided into 47 prefectures (都道府県, todōfuken; ), 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).
KyotoKyoto ( or ; Japanese: 京都, Kyōto [kʲoꜜːto] ), officially Kyoto City (京都市, Kyōto-shi; [kʲoːtoꜜɕi] ), is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. As of 2020, the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it the ninth-most populous city in Japan. More than half (56.8%) of Kyoto Prefecture's population resides in the city.
Osaka PrefectureOsaka Prefecture (大阪府, Ōsaka-fu; pronounced [ò̞ó̞.sä́.kä́, ò̞ó̞.sä́.kä́.ɸɯ̈̀, ó̞ó̞.-]) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 (as of 1 April 2022) and has a geographic area of 1,905 square kilometres (736 sq mi).
TokyoTokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital and most populous city of Japan. The population of the city proper was over 14 million as of 2023. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo and parts of six neighboring prefectures, is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the world, with 33 million residents as of 2025. Lying at the head of Tokyo Bay, Tokyo is part of the Kantō region, on the central coast of Honshu, Japan's largest island.
Japan PostJapan Post (日本郵政公社, Nippon Yūsei Kōsha) was a Japanese statutory corporation that existed from 2003 to 2007, offering postal and package delivery services, banking services, and life insurance. It was the nation's largest employer, having had over 400,000 employees, and ran 24,700 post offices throughout Japan. One third of all Japanese government employees worked for Japan Post.
HokkaidoHokkaido is the second-largest and northernmost of Japan's four main islands. Together with its surrounding islands, it comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu. The two islands are connected by railway via the Seikan Tunnel. The largest city on Hokkaido is its capital, Sapporo, which is also its only ordinance-designated city.
SapporoCity in Hokkaido, JapanPrefecture capital and Designated city in Hokkaido, JapanSapporo is a designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital of Hokkaido Prefecture and Ishikari Subprefecture. As of August 1, 2026, the city has a population of 1,962,596, making it the largest city in Hokkaido and the largest north of Tokyo.
JapanJapan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asian mainland, it is bordered to the west by the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk in the north, and the East China Sea in the south. The Japanese archipelago consists of four major islands alongside over 14,000 smaller islands.
Japanese writing systemThe modern Japanese writing system (日本語の表記体系, Nihongo no hyōki taikei) uses a combination of logographickanji, which are adopted Chinese characters; and phonographickana, which evolved from cursives/components of Chinese characters.
AddressAn address is a collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used to give the location of a building, apartment, or other structure or a plot of land, generally using political boundaries and street names as references, along with other identifiers such as house or apartment numbers and organization name. Some addresses also contain special codes, such as a postal code, to make identification easier and aid in the routing of mail.
Romanization of JapaneseThe romanization of Japanese is the use of Latin script to write the Japanese language. This method of writing is sometimes referred to in Japanese as rōmaji (ローマ字; lit.'Roman letters', or ). Japanese is normally written in a combination of logographic characters borrowed from Chinese characters (kanji), and syllabic scripts (kana) that are simplified variants of Chinese characters, either as cursive modifications (hiragana) or as character parts (katakana).Latin alphabetAlphabet of the Latin language Latin alphabetAbecedarium LatinumScript type Alphabet Periodc.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.