Shizuoka Prefecture

Name

Shizuoka Prefecture

Settlement Type

Prefecture

Translit Lang1

Japanese

Translit Lang1 Type

Japanese

Translit Lang1 Info

««静岡県»»

Translit Lang1 Type1

Rōmaji

Translit Lang1 Info1

«Shizuoka-ken»

Image Flag

Image Blank Emblem

Blank Emblem Type

Symbol

Image Map

Coordinates

34°55′N, 138°19′E

Subdivision Type

Country

Subdivision Name

Subdivision Type1

Subdivision Name1

Subdivision Type2

Subdivision Name2

Seat Type

Seat

Seat1 Type

Largest city

Seat1

Hamamatsu

Parts Type

Subdivisions

Parts Style

para

Districts: 5

Municipalities: 35

Leader Title

Governor

Leader Name

Yasutomo Suzuki

Area Total Km2

7777.42

Area Water Percent

2.6

Area Rank

13th

Elevation Max M

3778

Elevation Max Point

Mount Fuji

Population Total

3555818

Population As Of

1 September 2023

Population Rank

10th

Population Density Km2

auto

Demographics Type2

GDP

Demographics2 Title1

Total

Demographics2 Info1

JP¥ 17,866 billion
US$ 163.9 billion (2019)

Iso Code

JP-22

Website

www.pref.shizuoka.jp/a_foreign/english

Module

Embedded	yes
Country	Japan
Bird	Japanese paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone atrocaudata)
Flower	Azalea (Rhododendron)
Tree	Sweet osmanthus (Osmanthus fragrans var. aurantiacus)

Population Blank2 Title

Dialect

Population Blank2

Shizuoka dialect

Anthem

Shizuoka kenka and Fuji yo yume yo tomo yo

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. As of 2023-9 Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of 7777.42km2. 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. 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

Historic Sites of Shizuoka Prefecture
Shizuoka Prefecture was established from the former Tōtōmi, Suruga and Izu provinces.

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.

As of 2012-04 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 42km NNE of Shizuoka City. It is said, that throughout history, Shizuoka area has experienced a large earthquake every 100 to 150 years.

Tōkai earthquakes

Demographics

Shizuoka prefecture population pyramid in 2020

3,635,220 people live in Shizuoka Prefecture, according to the 2020 census.

Municipalities

List of cities in Shizuoka Prefecture by population
Since 2010, Shizuoka has consisted of 35 municipalities: 23 cities and 12 towns.

Mergers

List of mergers in Shizuoka Prefecture
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 famed 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.

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.