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 n ...

located in the Chūbu region of

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island s ...

. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanag ...

to the east,

Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 817,192 (1 January 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the ...

to the northeast, Nagano Prefecture to the north, and

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefecture ...

to the west. Shizuoka is the capital and

Hamamatsu is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. the city had an estimated population of 791,707 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, and a population density of . The total area of the site was . Overview H ...

is the largest city in Shizuoka Prefecture, with other major cities including Fuji, Numazu, and Iwata. Shizuoka Prefecture is located on Japan's

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

coast and features

Suruga Bay Suruga Bay (駿河湾, ''Suruga-wan'') is a bay on the Pacific coast of Honshū in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is situated north of a straight line from Omaezaki Point to Irōzaki Point at the tip of the Izu Peninsula and surrounded by Hon ...

formed by the Izu Peninsula, and Lake Hamana which is considered to be one of Japan's largest lakes.

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest ...

, the tallest

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates ...

in Japan and cultural icon of the country, is partially located in Shizuoka Prefecture on the border with Yamanashi Prefecture. Shizuoka Prefecture has a significant motoring heritage as the founding location of

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

Suzuki is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal co ...

, and Yamaha, and is home to the

Fuji International Speedway is a motorsport race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and nati ...

History

Shizuoka Prefecture was established from the former Tōtōmi, Suruga and Izu provinces. The area was the home of the first Tokugawa ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamaku ...

''.

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 ...

held the region until he conquered the lands of the Hōjō clan in the

Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Sl ...

and placed land under the stewardship of

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

. After becoming ''shōgun'', Tokugawa took the land back for his family and put the area around modern-day Shizuoka city under the direct supervision of the shogunate. With the creation of Shizuoka han in 1868, it once again became the residence of the Tokugawa family.

Geography

Shizuoka Prefecture is an elongated region following the coast of the

at the

. In the west, the prefecture extends deep into the

Japan Alps The is a series of mountain ranges in Japan which bisect the main island of Honshu. The peaks that tower over central Honshu have long been the object of veneration and pilgrimage. These mountains had long been exploited by local people for raw m ...

. In the east, it becomes a narrower coast bounded in the north by

, until it comes to the Izu Peninsula, a popular resort area pointing south into the Pacific. 11% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely the Fuji-Hakone-Izu and Minami Alps National Parks; Tenryū-Okumikawa Quasi-National Park; and four Prefectural Natural Parks.

Tokai earthquakes

Throughout history, a disastrous earthquake called the Tokai earthquake has hit Shizuoka every 100 to 150 years. On 15 March 2011, Shizuoka Prefecture was hit with a magnitude 6.2 earthquake approximately NNE of

Shizuoka City is the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, and the prefecture's second-largest city in both population and area. It has been populated since prehistoric times. the city had an estimated population of 690,881 in 106,087 households, a ...

Municipalities

Since 2010, Shizuoka has consisted of 35

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 ...

: 23 cities and 12

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 or ...

. File:Nihondaira from shizuoka plain.JPG,

File:Hamamatsu City - panoramio (1).jpg,

File:Numazu and Mount Fuji.jpg, Numazu and

File:Fujinomiya 20120909.jpg, Fujinomiya File:Atami 20170211-1.jpg, Atami

Mergers

After the introduction of modern municipalities in 1889, Shizuoka consisted of 337 municipalities: 1 (by definition: district-independent) city and 23 districts with 31 towns and 305 villages. The Great Shōwa mergers of the 1950s reduced the total from 281 to 97 between 1953 and 1960, including 18 cities by then. The Great Heisei mergers of the 2000s combined the 74 remaining municipalities in the year 2000 into the current 35 by 2010.

List of governors of Shizuoka (since 1947)

Transportation

Rail

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters ar ...

** Tōkaidō Line ( Atami– Odawara) ** Itō Line * JR Central **

Tōkaidō Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the Sanyo Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opened in 19 ...

** Tōkaidō Line (Atami– Toyohashi) **

Gotenba Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). It connects Kōzu Station in Odawara to Numazu via Gotemba. The '' Mt. Fuji'' limited express service runs between Tokyo's Shinjuku Station and Gote ...

** Minobu Line ** Iida Line * Izukyū *

Izuhakone Railway The is a private railway company in Kanagawa Prefecture and Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The company also operates excursion ships, and the group companies operate buses and taxis. The company has its roots in founded in 1893. Izuhakone Railway ...

Daiyūzan Line The is a commuter railway line in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Izuhakone Railway. The line connects Odawara Station in the city of Odawara with the Daiyūzan Station in the city of Minamiashigara. Sta ...

** Sunzu Line *

Gakunan Railway The is Japanese railway line between and , all within the industrial area of Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture. The line does not have any official name. This is the only railway line operates. The operator company was established on April 1, 2013 ...

Shizuoka Railway The , also known as "Shizutetsu", is a private railway in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, and is majority owned by Tokyu Corporation. In addition to its railway business, the Shizuoka Railway Company owns large bus and taxi services, a department st ...

Ōigawa Railway The is a railway company in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The company is commonly known as . The company belongs to the Meitetsu Group. The first section of its lines opened in 1927. Operation The company operates preserved steam locomotives, ...

* Enshū Railway * Tenryū Hamanako Railroad

Roads

Expressways

* Tōmei Expressway * Shin-Tōmei Expressway *

Chūbu-Ōdan Expressway The is a national Expressways of Japan, expressway in Japan. It is managed by East Nippon Expressway Company and Central Nippon Expressway Company. Overview The expressway is planned to commence in the city of Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Shizuoka and ...

* Izu-Jūkan Expressway * San-en Nanshin Expressway

Toll roads

*Shizuoka East-West Road *Shizuoka South-North Road *West Fuji Road (not a toll road anymore as of 2012) *Fujinomiya Road *Nishi-Fuji Road

National highways

* National Route 1 * National Route 42 * National Route 52 * National Route 135 * National Route 136 * National Route 138 * National Route 139 * National Route 149 * National Route 150 * National Route 152 * National Route 246 * National Route 257 * National Route 301 * National Route 362 * National Route 414 * National Route 469 * National Route 473 * National Route 474

Airports

* Shizuoka Airport

Ports

*Shimizu Port *Atami Port and Shimoda Port - Mainly ferry route to Izu Island *Numazu Port

Education

Universities

National universities * Hamamatsu University School of Medicine * Shizuoka University *

Graduate University for Advanced Studies is one of the national universities of Japan, headquartered in Shonan Village (湘南国際村) in the town of Hayama in Kanagawa Prefecture. , as it is generally called in its abbreviated form, was established in 1988, with Dr. Saburo Nagak ...

(Mishima Campus, National Institute of Genetics) Public universities * Shizuoka University of Art and Culture *

University of Shizuoka The , is a public university in Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Overview The University of Shizuoka was created through the amalgamation of three former public universities in 1987 and was expanded to comprise five colleges. These ...

Private universities *

Fuji Tokoha University was a private university in Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture 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 ...

* Hamamatsu University * Hamamatsu Gakuin University *

Juntendo University is a private university in Japan. Its headquarters are on its campus in Bunkyo, Tokyo, for the School of Medicine and in Inzai, Chiba, for the School of Health and Sports Science. The university was established in 1838 for medical and in 1946 f ...

(Mishima Campus) *

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice, in 1889. It is one of Japan's leading private universit ...

(Mishima Campus) * Seirei Christopher University *

Shizuoka Eiwa Gakuin University is a co-educational private university in Shizuoka city, Shizuoka Prefecture Japan. History The Shizuoka Eiwa Girls’ School was founded in 1887 by missionaries from the Methodist Church of Canada with the support of the Shizuoka prefectural gov ...

Shizuoka Institute of Science and Technology , or SIST, is a private university in Fukuroi, Shizuoka, Japan. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1940 as a driving school. It was chartered as a university in 1991, specializing in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and ...

Shizuoka Sangyo University is a private university in Iwata city, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, established in 1988. Location * Iwata Campus (1572-1 Ohara, Iwata City, Shizuoka Prefecture) * Fujieda Campus (4-1-1 Surugadai, Fujieda City, Shizuoka Prefecture) Organizati ...

Shizuoka University of Welfare is a private university in Yaizu city, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, established in 2004. Departments The university specializes in social welfare programmes, and currently has five departments: * Department of Psychology in Social Welfare ...

Tokyo Women's Medical University , TWMU, is a private university in Tokyo, Japan. The University olso operates the Tokyo Women's Medical University Hospital within the campus, as well as a separate hospital in Yachiyo, Chiba 270px, Keisei Rose Gardens is a city located in ...

(Daito Campus) * Tokai University (Shimizu and Numazu Campuses) *

Tokoha Gakuen University is a private university in the Aoi ward of Shizuoka City, Japan. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1946, and it was chartered as a university in 1980. The university is operated by the foundation that also operates Tokoha Gakuen Junior ...

Senior high schools

*Numazu Commercial High School *

Shizuoka Prefectural Susono High School is a public high school in Susono, Shizuoka, 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, ...

*Shizuoka Prefectural High School

Sports

The sports teams listed below are based in Shizuoka.

Basketball

* San-en NeoPhoenix

Motorsport

Rugby

* Yamaha Júbilo ( Iwata)

Football

* Shimizu S-Pulse ( Shimizu, Shizuoka) *

Júbilo Iwata is a professional Japanese association football team that currently play in the J2 League. The team name ''Júbilo'' means 'joy' in Spanish and Portuguese. The team's hometown is Iwata, Shizuoka prefecture and they play at Yamaha Stadium. For ...

( Iwata) ** Matches between the above two teams, both currently in the top flight of the J. League, are known as the Shizuoka Derby. *

Honda F.C. is a Japanese professional football club based in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. They play in the Japan Football League. History The club was founded as Honda Motor, Honda works team in 1971. They were promoted to the Japan Soccer League Divisio ...

(

) *

Azul Claro Numazu is a Japanese professional football team based in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture. They earned promotion to play at the nationwide third-tier J3 League starting in 2017. History Azul Claro Numazu was established in 1977 as Numazu Arsenal and sl ...

( Numazu) * Fujieda MYFC ( Fujieda)

Volleyball

* Toray Arrows (men's volleyball team) ( Mishima city)

Tourism

Museums

Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art The is a prefectural museum in Shizuoka City, Japan. Overviews Founded in 1986, the 9,238.51m2 museum is located on a hill on the northern side of the Nihondaira plateau in the southern part of the city. The 3,024.36m2 domed Rodin wing hou ...

Museum of Natural and Environmental History, Shizuoka A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

Theme parks

* Air Park Japan Air Self-Defense Force Hamamatsu Public Information Building) * Shimizu Sushi Museum

Festivals and events

* Shimoda Black Ship Festival, held in May * Shimizu Port Festival, held on August 5 to 7 * Shizuoka Festival, held in April * Daidogei World Cup in central

, held in November * Enshu Daimyo Festival in Iwata, held in April * Numazu Festival, held in July * Mishima Festival, held in August File:Fujinomiya Hongu Sengen Taisha Honden.jpg,

Fujisan Hongū Sengen Taisha The is a Shintō shrine in the city of Fujinomiya in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Suruga Province, and is the head shrine of the approximately 1300 Asama or Sengen shrines in the country. The shrine has an ex ...

Fujinomiya File:181124 Shuzenji Onsen Izu Shizuoka pref Japan01s3.jpg, Shuzenji Onsen Izu File:Sunpu-castle tatsumi-yagura.JPG, Sunpu Castle Shizuoka Aoi-ku File:Hamamatsu.JPG,

Hamamatsu Castle is a replica ''hirayama''-style Japanese castle. It was the seat of various ''fudai daimyō'' who ruled over Hamamatsu Domain, Tōtōmi Province, in what is now central Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan under the Edo period Tokugawa s ...

Naka-ku File:Kakegawa castle.jpg,

Kakegawa Castle is a ''hirayama''-style Japanese castle. It was the seat of various ''fudai daimyō'' clans who ruled over Kakegawa Domain, Tōtōmi Province, in what is now central Kakegawa, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Background Kakegawa Castle is located ...

Kakegawa File:静岡県立美術館-1.JPG,

Shizuoka Suruga-ku File:LakeSanaru2.JPG, Lake Sanaru

Nishi-ku File:BentenjimaKaihinkoenHamamatsu1.jpg, Lake Hamana

Nishi-ku File:Beach in Atami City with sea bathers.jpg, Atami Sun Beach Atami File:Prunus lannesiana cv. Kawazu-zakura 05.jpg, Kawazu Cherry blossom Kamo District Kawazu File:Mt Fuji at Mihonomatsubara.jpg,

Miho no Matsubara 250px, ''Hagoromo no Matsu'' where it is said the angel floated is a scenic area on the Miho Peninsula in Shimizu Ward of Shizuoka City, Japan. Its seven-kilometre seashore is lined with pine trees. It is the location of the legend upon w ...

Shizuoka Shimizu-ku File:富士サファリパークライオン2 Fuji-safari-park-Lion2.jpg, Fuji Safari Park

Susono 270px, Susono with Mount Fuji is a city located in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 51,216 in 21,858 households, and a population density of 370 persons per km². The total area of the city is . ...

File:Hanahaku2014-4.JPG, Hamanako Garden Park

Nishi-ku File:Snowtown Yeti.JPG, Snowtown Yeti &

File:Haiden of Kunozan Toshogu.jpg,

Kunōzan Tōshō-gū The is a Shintō shrine in Suruga-ku in the city of Shizuoka in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is the original burial place of the first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and is thus the oldest of the Tōshō-gū shrines i ...

Shizuoka Suruga-ku File:Jogasaki Coast 20111016 b.jpg, Jogasaki Coast Itō

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

Official Shizuoka Prefecture website

{{Authority control Chūbu region Prefectures of Japan