is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Shizuoka-ken" in ; "Chūbu" in Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northeast, Nagano Prefecture to the north, and Aichi Prefecture to the west.
Shizuoka is the capital and Hamamatsu is the largest city in Shizuoka Prefecture, with other major cities including Fuji, Numazu, and Iwata.Nussbaum, "Shizuoka" at . Shizuoka Prefecture is located on Japan's Pacific Ocean coast and features Suruga Bay formed by the Izu Peninsula, and Lake Hamana which is considered to be one of Japan's largest lakes. Mount Fuji, the tallest volcano 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, Suzuki, and Yamaha, and is home to the Fuji International Speedway.
History
Shizuoka Prefecture was established from the former Tōtōmi, Suruga and Izu provinces.Nussbaum, "Provinces and prefectures" at .
The area was the home of the first Tokugawa shōgun. Tokugawa Ieyasu held the region until he conquered the lands of the Hōjō clan in the Kantō region and placed land under the stewardship of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. 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 the Shizuoka han from the Sunpu Domain in 1868, it once again became the residence of the Tokugawa family.
Geography Shizuoka Prefecture is an elongated region following the coast of the Pacific Ocean at the Suruga Bay. In the west, the prefecture extends deep into the Japan Alps. In the east, it becomes a narrower coast bounded in the north by Mount Fuji, 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.
Climate In Shizuoka prefecture, the temperature, over the course of the year, typically varies from 1.1 °C (34 °F) to 30.5 °C (87 °F) and is rarely below -2.2 °C (28 °F) or above 33.8 °C (93 °F.) The summers in Shizuoka are warm, oppressive, and mostly cloudy; the winters are very cold, windy, and mostly clear.
Disaster On 15 March 2011, Shizuoka Prefecture was hit with a magnitude 6.2 earthquake approximately NNE of Shizuoka City. It is said, that throughout history, Shizuoka area has experienced a large earthquake every 100 to 150 years.
Demographics
3,635,220 people live in Shizuoka Prefecture, according to the 2020 census.Shizuoka prefecture official statistics（令和2年国勢調査 静岡県の人口（速報値））
Municipalities Since 2010, Shizuoka has consisted of 35 municipalities: 23 cities and 12 towns.
Cities
23 cities are located in Shizuoka Prefecture: NameArea (km2)PopulationMapRōmajiKanji Atami熱海市61.7834,233 Fuji富士市244.95245,015 Fujieda藤枝市194.06145,032 Fujinomiya富士宮市389.08132,507 Fukuroi袋井市108.3388,395 Gotemba御殿場市194.9088,370 Hamamatsu浜松市1,558.06780,128 Itō伊東市124.1063,343 Iwata磐田市163.45166,672 Izu伊豆市363.9730,678 Izunokuni伊豆の国市94.6248,579 Kakegawa 掛川市265.69117,925 Kikugawa菊川市94.1948,484 Kosai湖西市86.5657,885 Makinohara牧之原市111.6942,326 Mishima三島市62.02107,851 Numazu沼津市186.96189,486 Omaezaki御前崎市65.5632,422 Shimada島田市315.7093,724 Shimoda下田市104.7119,670 Shizuoka (capital)静岡市1,411.90677,867 Susono裾野市138.1251,216 Yaizu焼津市70.31133,916
Towns These are the towns in each district: NameArea (km2)PopulationDistrictMapRōmajiKanji Higashiizu東伊豆町77.8312,155Kamo District Kannami函南町65.1637,782Tagata District Kawanehon川根本町496.886,731Haibara District Kawazu河津町100.797,203Kamo District Matsuzaki松崎町85.236,563Kamo District Minamiizu南伊豆町110.588,231Kamo District Mori森町133.9118,306Shūchi District Nagaizumi長泉町26.6343,568Suntō District Nishiizu西伊豆町105.527,798Kamo District Oyama小山町135.7418,458Suntō District Shimizu清水町8.8132,453Suntō District Yoshida吉田町20.7329,593Haibara District
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)
# Name(Birth–Death) Term of office Political Party 1 Takeji Kobayashi (小林武治)(1899–1988) 23 April 1947 22 April 1951 Independent 2 Toshio Saito (斎藤寿夫)(1908–1999) 1 May 1951 8 January 1967 Liberal Party (1951–1959)Liberal Democratic Party (1959–1967) 3 Yutaro Takeyama (竹山祐太郎)(1901–1982) 31 January 1967 24 June 1974 LDP 4 Keizaburo Yamamoto (山本敬三郎)(1913–2006) 10 June 1974 6 July 1986 LDP 5 Shigeyoshi Saito (斉藤滋与史)(1918–2018) 7 July 1986 23 June 1993 LDP 6 Yoshinobu Ishikawa (石川嘉延)(born in 1940) 3 August 1993 17 June 2009 Independent 7 Heita Kawakatsu (川勝平太)(born in 1948) 7 July 2009 9 May 2024 Independent 8 Yasutomo Suzuki (鈴木康友)(born in 1957) 28 May 2024 Incumbent Independent
Industry Home to a shogun, cherry shrimp, and Japan's green tea heartland. Situated along Suruga Bay between Tokyo and Nagoya on the historic Tokaido route, the Pacific coast city of Shizuoka is known for supplying most of Japan's tea and maguro tuna. Motorcycles Shizuoka-based companies are world leaders in several major industrial sectors. Honda, Yamaha, and Suzuki all have their roots in Shizuoka prefecture and are still manufacturing here. Thanks to this, Shizuoka prefecture accounts for 28% of Japanese motorcycle exports.
Musical instruments Yamaha and Kawai are both global piano brands. Yamaha has the largest share in the global piano market. Kawai has the second largest share. They both got their start in Shizuoka prefecture in the early twentieth century. (In Japanese) Kyoto University of Arts, Musical instruments industry in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka prefecture.
Yamaha and Roland are major brand for electronic musical instruments. In the electronic piano world market, Yamaha has the world's largest share. Roland and Kawai have the second and third place share. Roland and Yamaha also manufacture high-quality synthesizers and drum machines for professional musicians.
In addition, various instruments such as wind instruments and guitars are manufactured in this prefecture. There are about 200 companies that manufacture musical instruments, in this prefecture.
Most of these musical instruments are especially produced in Hamamatsu City.
Transportation
Rail
Enshū Railway Gakunan Railway Izuhakone Railway Daiyūzan Line Sunzu Line Izukyū JR Central Tōkaidō Shinkansen Iida Line Gotenba Line Minobu Line Tōkaidō Line (Atami–Toyohashi) JR East Tōkaidō Line (Atami–Odawara) Itō Line Ōigawa Railway Shizuoka Railway Tenryū Hamanako Railroad
Roads
Expressways Chūbu-Ōdan Expressway Izu-Jūkan Expressway San-en Nanshin Expressway Shin-Tōmei Expressway Tōmei Expressway
Toll roads Fujinomiya Road Nishi-Fuji Road Shizuoka East-West Road Shizuoka South-North Road West Fuji Road (not a toll road anymore as of 2012)
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 Graduate University for Advanced Studies (Mishima Campus, National Institute of Genetics) Hamamatsu University School of Medicine Shizuoka University
Public universities Shizuoka University of Art and Culture University of Shizuoka
Private universities Fuji Tokoha University Hamamatsu University Hamamatsu Gakuin University Juntendo University (Mishima Campus) Nihon University (Mishima Campus) Seirei Christopher University Shizuoka Eiwa Gakuin University Shizuoka Institute of Science and Technology Shizuoka Sangyo University Shizuoka University of Welfare Tokai University (Shimizu and Numazu Campuses) Tokoha Gakuen University Tokyo Women's Medical University (Daito Campus)
Senior high schools
Hamana High School Hiryū High School Numazu Commercial High School Shizuoka Gakuen Junior and Senior High School Shizuoka Prefectural High School Shizuoka Prefectural Susono High School
Sports
The sports teams listed below are based in Shizuoka.
Basketball San-en NeoPhoenix
Motorsport Fuji International Speedway
Rugby Yamaha Júbilo (Iwata)
Football Shimizu S-Pulse (Shimizu, Shizuoka) Júbilo Iwata (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. (Hamamatsu) Azul Claro Numazu (Numazu) Fujieda MYFC (Fujieda)
Volleyball Toray Arrows (men's volleyball team) (Mishima city)
Tourism
Museums
Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art
Theme parks Air Park Japan Air Self-Defense Force Hamamatsu Public Information Building) Shimizu Sushi Museum
Festivals and events
Daidogei World Cup in central Shizuoka City, held in November Enshu Daimyo Festival in Iwata, held in April Mishima Festival, held in August Numazu Festival, held in July Shimizu Port Festival, held on 5 to 7 August Shimoda Black Ship Festival, held in May Shizuoka Festival, held in April
Notable people Motoo Kimura (木村 資生, 1924–1994), biologist and theoretical population geneticist, died in Shizuoka Prefecture
Notes
References Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ; OCLC 58053128
External links
Official Shizuoka Prefecture website Official Shizuoka Guide