Fukui Prefecture

Fukui Prefecture (福井県 Fukui-ken)

Capital	Fukui (city)
Region	Chūbu
Island	Honshū
Governor	Issei Nishikawa
Area	4,188.99 km² (34th)
- % water	0.2%
Population (2005)
- Population	821,589 (43rd)
- Density	198 /km²
Districts	8
Municipalities	20
ISO 3166-2	JP-18
Web site	www.pref.fukui.jp/english/
Prefectural Symbols
- Flower	Narcissus (Narcissus tazetta)
- Tree	Pine tree (Pinus)
- Bird	Dusky thrush (Turdus naumanni)
Symbol of Fukui Prefecture

Fukui Prefecture (福井県 Fukui-ken) is located in the Chūbu region on Honshū island, Japan. The capital is the city of Fukui.

Contents 1 History 2 Geography 2.1 Cities 2.2 Towns and villages 2.3 Mergers 3 Economy 4 Demographics 5 Culture 6 Tourism 7 Prefectural symbols 8 Miscellaneous topics 9 External links

History

Fukui originally consisted of the old provinces of Wakasa and Echizen, before the prefecture was formed in 1871.

During the Edo period, the daimyō of the region was surnamed Matsudaira, and was a descendant of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Geography

The province faces the Sea of Japan, and has a western part (former Wakasa) which is a narrow plain between the mountains and the sea, and a larger eastern part (former Echizen) with wider plains including the capital and most of the population.

Cities

• Awara
• Echizen
• Fukui (capital)
• Katsuyama
• Obama
• Ōno
• Sabae
• Sakai
• Tsuruga

Towns and villages

These are the towns and villages in each district.

Imadate District Ikeda Mikata District Mihama Mikatakaminaka District Wakasa Nanjō District Minamiechizen

Nyū District Echizen Ōi District Ōi Takahama Yoshida District Eiheiji

Mergers

(as of March 3, 2006)

• On March 1, 2004, the towns of Awara and Kanazu from Sakai District merged, forming the new city of Awara.

• On January 1, 2005, the municipalities of Imajō, Kōno, and Nanjō from Nanjō District merged, forming the new town of Minamiechizen.

• On February 1, 2005, the municipalities of Asahi, Miyazaki, and Ota from Nyū District merged into the town of Echizen.

• On March 31, 2005, the towns of Kaminaka from Onyū District and Mikata from Mikata District merged, forming the new town of Wakasa in Mikatakaminaka District.

• On October 1, 2005, the city of Takefu and the town of Imadate from Imadate District merged, forming the new city of Echizen.

• On November 7, 2005, the village of Izumi from Ōno District merged into the city of Ōno. Ōno District was dissolved with this merger.

• On February 1, 2006, the town of Miyama from Asuwa District and the municipalities of Koshino and Shimizu from Nyū District merged into the city of Fukui. Asuwa District was dissolved with this merger.

• On February 13, 2006, the town of Matsuoka and the village of Kamishihi from Yoshida District merged into the town of Eiheiji.

• On March 3, 2006, the village of Natasho from Onyū District merged into the town of Ōi from Ōi District. Onyū District was dissolved with this merger.

• On March 20, 2006, the towns of Harue , Maruoka , Mikuni and Sakai from Sakai District merged, forming the new city of Sakai. Sakai District was dissolved with this merger.

Economy

Demographics

Culture

• Fukui Prefecture is home to Maruoka-jō, the oldest castle still standing in Japan. It was built in 1572.
• Eiheiji is a serene temple offering training and education to Buddhist monks. Founded by Dogen Zenji in 1244, Eiheiji is located on a plot of land of about 330,000 m².
• Many dinosaur fossils have been excavated in Fukui and they can been seen at the Fukui Dinosaur Museum.
• Residents of Fukui Prefecture have a distinctive accent, Fukui-ben.

Tourism

• Visitors to Fukui can enjoy eating echizen-gani crabs. By the local residents, male crabs are called zuwai and female ones are called seiko.

• Echizen Kaigan Coast
• Eihei Temple
• Tojimbo, a scenic piece of coastline

Prefectural symbols

Miscellaneous topics

Though not particularly famous for anything, Fukui boasts plenty for the outdoor enthusiast. There are several nice beaches in the south of the prefecture, and the Okuetsu region (Ōno and Kastuyama) has a number of small ski areas dotted around, some of which open till 10pm at night - perfect for after work sessions.

There are also several nice lakes in the prefecture, both in the south and north, the most notable of which are Kuzuryu in Ōno, and the Mikata 5 lakes, and there is a lovely swimming hole in the Kuzuryu river. Click here for more detailed pictures and reports on the outdoor life in Fukui

External links

• Official Fukui Prefecture homepage

Fukui Prefecture
Cities
Awara | Echizen | Fukui (capital) | Katsuyama | Obama | Ōno | Sabae | Sakai | Tsuruga
Districts
Imadate | Mikata | Mikatakaminaka | Nanjō | Nyū | Ōi | Yoshida
See also: Towns and villages by district edit

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The content of this page is retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukui_Prefecture under GFDL