Stories from
Japan's 47 Prefectures

The Ainu homeland maintained trading networks with Honshu and Sakhalin for centuries. In the 19th century, the Meiji government began systematic settlement and development, creating modern ports, railways and farming communities.

Northern Honshu preserves major evidence of Jomon culture. It later became a frontier where the imperial court and warrior families extended their power, while Hirosaki prospered as the castle town of the Tsugaru clan.

Hiraizumi was the wealthy 12th-century centre of the Northern Fujiwara. Its flourishing Buddhist culture ended when Minamoto no Yoritomo brought the north under the authority of the Kamakura government.

Sendai grew around the castle built by Date Masamune in the early Edo period. His Keicho Embassy crossed the Pacific and Atlantic to Europe, revealing Japan's wider international connections at the time.

Kakunodate preserves the samurai quarter of the Satake domain. Silver mining and forestry once supported the local economy, while distinctive winter traditions developed in its mountain communities.

The Mogami River valley carried rice and safflower to the Sea of Japan. Yamagata is also closely tied to pilgrimage on the Dewa Sanzan mountains, where Shinto, Buddhism and Shugendo meet.

Aizu was a major samurai stronghold loyal to the shogunate and fought fiercely in the Boshin War of 1868. The story of the young Byakkotai warriors remains central to local memory.

Mito was home to one of the three senior branches of the Tokugawa family. The Mito School studied history and political thought that later influenced movements at the end of the shogunate.

Nikko was a mountain centre of worship before it became the mausoleum site of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Its elaborate buildings bring Edo-period political power, religion and craftsmanship together.

The Nakasendo road and hot-spring towns linked Gunma with Edo. After the Meiji Restoration, Tomioka Silk Mill became a landmark of Japan's drive to build a modern industrial economy.

Kawagoe was a castle and warehouse town that supplied Edo, earning the nickname Little Edo. Chichibu preserves older pilgrimage routes and long-standing community traditions.

The Boso Peninsula supplied Edo through fishing and farming. Naritasan became a major pilgrimage centre, while Sawara prospered through river transport and retains many merchant houses.

Edo grew from a castle settlement into the political capital of the Tokugawa shogunate after 1603. It was renamed Tokyo when the emperor moved there in 1868, and rebuilt repeatedly after earthquakes and war.

Kamakura hosted Japan's first warrior government. Yokohama changed from a fishing village into an international port after opening in 1859, leaving a landscape that spans the samurai age and modern nation-building.

Echigo was the base of Uesugi Kenshin and an important rice-producing region. On Sado Island, the shogunate directly controlled rich gold mines and also used the island as a place of exile.

The Toyama plain developed extensive flood-control works and rice farming. From the Edo period, travelling medicine merchants sold remedies across Japan, creating a distinctive commercial and pharmaceutical culture.

The Maeda-ruled Kaga domain was among the wealthiest in Japan and invested heavily in art, tea, gold leaf and crafts. Kanazawa still carries the atmosphere of a samurai and artisan city.

Echizen was associated with the Asakura clan and washi papermaking. Wakasa supplied seafood to Kyoto along the Saba Kaido, while Fukui later produced influential reformers near the end of the Edo period.

This mountain province is closely linked to Takeda Shingen, a daimyo known for strong government and flood-control projects. Routes around Mount Fuji also became sacred paths for pilgrims.

Mountain passes and the Nakasendo road brought post towns and major temples such as Zenkoji. The Kawanakajima battlefields recall the celebrated rivalry between Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin.

Gifu Castle was a base for Oda Nobunaga, while Sekigahara decided the balance of power in 1600. Farther north, Takayama and thatched-roof villages preserve the culture of mountain communities.

Tokugawa Ieyasu spent important years at Sunpu and returned after retiring. The Tokaido crossed the province, accompanied by views of Mount Fuji that became famous in Edo-period art.

Aichi was the birthplace of the three great unifiers: Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Nagoya later grew as a Tokugawa castle town and became a centre of Japanese manufacturing.

Ise Jingu has drawn Shinto pilgrims from across Japan for centuries. Iga became known for warrior and ninja communities, while the Kumano Kodo linked sacred travel across the Kii Peninsula.

Lake Biwa and the roads between Kyoto and eastern Japan made Omi strategically important. Omi merchants built nationwide trading networks, while Mount Hiei became a major centre of Buddhism.

Kyoto served as the imperial capital from 794 for more than a thousand years. Temples, shrines, palaces, tea culture and artisan districts accumulated despite the Onin War and repeated fires.

Ancient Naniwa was both a port and an early capital. Toyotomi Hideyoshi later built Osaka Castle, and in the Edo period the city flourished as the nation's kitchen and the centre of the rice trade.

Hyogo stretches from the Seto Inland Sea to the Sea of Japan. Himeji grew as an important castle town, while Kobe opened as an international port in the 19th century, leaving both samurai and Western heritage.

The Nara Basin was a centre of the early Japanese state and became the capital at Heijo-kyo in 710. Buddhism and the court bureaucracy shaped the country, leaving an exceptional concentration of early monuments.

The Kii Mountains became a sacred landscape of Kumano pilgrimage and Shingon Buddhism at Koyasan. Wakayama later became the seat of one of the three senior Tokugawa branches.

Tottori Castle controlled routes along the Sea of Japan and endured a severe siege during the Sengoku period. Trading communities such as Kurayoshi still preserve white storehouses and an older street plan.

Izumo features prominently in Japan's creation myths, giving Izumo Taisha a special place in religious tradition. The Iwami Ginzan silver mine connected Japan with Asian and global trade.

Okayama's castle town and the Sanyo route supported regional trade. Bizen developed a long pottery tradition, while Kurashiki grew as a canal-side warehouse district.

Miyajima was a sacred centre long before Mori Terumoto founded Hiroshima as a castle town. Destroyed by the atomic bomb in 1945, the city rebuilt itself as an international symbol of peace.

The Choshu domain played a leading role in overthrowing the shogunate and building the Meiji state. Hagi produced many reform leaders, while Shimonoseki served as a maritime gateway and treaty port.

The Awa domain prospered through indigo dye and trade. Awa Odori grew into a nationally famous urban festival, and the Shikoku pilgrimage begins and passes many temples here.

Water-scarce Sanuki developed ponds and irrigation systems over centuries. Takamatsu became a seaside castle town, while islands across the Seto Inland Sea linked important shipping routes.

Matsuyama grew beneath its hilltop castle, with Dogo Onsen serving travellers and bathers for centuries. The coast and islands formed part of the Seto Inland Sea's maritime network.

Mountains separated Tosa from Japan's political centres and helped shape a strong local culture. The Meiji-era reformer Sakamoto Ryoma was born here, while fishing remains central to coastal life.

Hakata has faced Korea and China as a gateway since ancient times and twice confronted Mongol invasions. Merchant Hakata and the castle town of Fukuoka eventually merged into one major city.

Arita's ports and kilns exported porcelain to Europe. The Saga domain also invested in Western technology, artillery and steamships, giving it an important role in the Meiji Restoration.

Nagasaki was one of Japan's few windows to the outside world during national seclusion. Dejima hosted Dutch and Chinese traders, hidden Christian communities preserved their faith, and the city suffered an atomic bombing in 1945.

Kumamoto Castle anchored the power of Kato Kiyomasa and the Hosokawa family. The prefecture also became a major battlefield in the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, the last large samurai revolt against the Meiji government.

The daimyo Otomo Sorin welcomed overseas trade and Christianity in the 16th century. Beppu and Yufuin later grew through hot-spring culture and modern transport networks.

Takachiho and the Hyuga coast appear throughout Japanese creation mythology. Rival clans once divided the region before agriculture and Meiji-era development connected it with larger markets.

The Shimazu-ruled Satsuma domain traded through the Ryukyu Kingdom and developed Western industry. Leaders from the region helped create the Meiji government before the Satsuma Rebellion broke out.

Ryukyu was a maritime kingdom trading with China, Japan and Southeast Asia. Annexed as Okinawa Prefecture in 1879, it endured the devastating Battle of Okinawa in 1945 before returning from US administration to Japan in 1972.