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Chiba Prefecture

Chiba Prefecture (千葉県) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 5,157 km2. Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the northwest, and Tokyo to the west.

Chiba is the capital and largest city of Chiba Prefecture, with other major cities including Funabashi, Matsudo, Ichikawa and Kashiwa. Chiba Prefecture is located on Japan's eastern Pacific coast to the east of Tokyo, and is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, the most populous metropolitan area in the world. Chiba Prefecture largely consists of the Bōsō Peninsula, which encloses the eastern side of Tokyo Bay and separates it from Kanagawa Prefecture. Chiba Prefecture is home to Narita International Airport, the Tokyo Disney Resort, and the Keiyō Industrial Zone.

Etymology
The name of Chiba Prefecture in Japanese is formed from two kanji characters. The first,, means "thousand" and the second, means "leaf". The name first appears as an ancient kuni no miyatsuko, or regional command office, as the Chiba Kuni no Miyatsuko (千葉国造). The name was adopted by a branch of the Taira clan, which moved to the area in present-day Chiba City in the late Heian period. The branch of the Taira adopted the name and became the Chiba clan, and held strong influence over the area of the prefecture until the Azuchi–Momoyama period. The name "Chiba" was chosen for the prefecture at the time its creation in 1873 by the Assembly of Prefectural Governors (地方官会議), an early Meiji-period body of prefectural governors that met to decide the structure of local and regional administration in Japan.

The compound word Keiyō (京葉), which refers to the Tokyo-Chiba region, is formed from the second character in Tokyo, and the second character in Chiba , which can also be pronounced "kei" and "yō" respectively. This compound is used in terms such as the Keiyō Line, Keiyō Road, Keiyō Rinkai Railway Rinkai Main Line, and the Keiyō Industrial Zone.

Early history
Chiba Prefecture was settled in prehistoric times, as evidenced by the Jōmon period remains in every part of the region. The prefecture holds the largest kaizuka sea shell mounds in Japan, evidence of a large population in the prefecture that relied on the rich marine products of the Pacific Ocean and Tokyo Bay. Kofun burial mounds are found across the prefecture, with the largest group being in Futtsu along Tokyo Bay.

Asuka and Nara periods
In the Asuka period (538 – 710), under the Taika Reform of 645, the administrative structure of present-day Chiba Prefecture changed significantly. The historical province of Fusa Province, which may have covered much of Chiba and Ibaraki prefectures, was divided into two provinces: Shimōsa Province (also called Shimofusa) in the north and Kazusa Province in the southern area. Awa Province at the south of Chiba Prefecture, was separated from Kazusa Prefecture in 718. These administrative units existed until they were abolished and merged into Chiba Prefecture after the Meiji Restoration. The central government established a kokubunji provincial temple in each province.

Heian period
The imperial court gradually extended its authority over the three provinces in the Nara (710 – 794) and Heian (794 – 1185) periods. Shōen feudal estates were established across the three provinces, and the region became an important source of tax revenue, sending agricultural and other products to the capital in Kyoto. As the Heian period progressed, however, the kokushi provincial governors came to exert military power independent of the central government in Kyoto. The Chiba clan broke entirely with the imperial court and was instrumental in the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate.

Modern period

Chiba Prefecture was established on June 15, 1873, with the merger of Kisarazu Prefecture and Inba Prefecture.

The militarization of Chiba Prefecture dates to the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). Coastal fortifications were built along Tokyo Bay, as far south as Tateyama, to protect the capital of the Japanese Empire from attack.

In September 1923, the Great Kanto earthquake has cause of widespread destruction in Chiba Prefecture, most notably in the southernmost part of Boso Peninsula, where 1,300 residents were killed, out of 142,000 deaths. Areas of prefecture adjacent to Tokyo saw much damage, and mob violence against Koreans and other ethnic minorities occurred in the chaos after the earthquake in Funabashi, Ichikawa, and other areas.

Koreans, in several neighborhoods of Yachiyo, were killed, and a tower was erected in 1972 near Yachiyodai Station to memorialize those killed in the incident. In the 1930s, the north and central areas of the prefecture became a center of large-scale military production, and military bases and fortifications were constructed in most of the coastal areas of the prefecture. After the United States took control of Saipan, the northern part of the prefecture (most notably the cities of Chiba and Chōshi) was firebombed. Much of the industrialized north of the prefecture was destroyed. Operation Coronet, one of two parts of Operation Downfall, was the planned land invasion of Tokyo in March 1946 by the United States. Coronet planned Kujūkuri Beach as one of two initial landing bases, the other being Hiratsuka via Sagami Bay. The U.S. First Army would enter at Kujūkuri, sweep across the Boso Peninsula, and meet the U.S. Eighth Army at Tokyo. The plan was not carried out since Japan surrendered after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

During the Occupation of Japan (1945–1952) Chiba Prefecture was controlled by American forces from the second floor of the prefectural capitol building in the city of Chiba. Numerous other cities in the prefecture, including Chōshi to the north and Tateyama to the south, were used as bases of the occupation; rich agricultural areas across the prefecture somewhat safeguarded the region's population from potential food shortages, and starvation, immediately following the war. The immediate post-war period was characterized by carefully planned industrial expansion in the north of the prefecture, and the significant increase of agriculture after land reforms across the prefecture. The Keiyō Industrial Zone brought together smaller, industrial areas along the entirety of the western coast of Chiba Prefecture, and the industrial zone became (and remains) an important center of heavy industrial production and large-scale port facilities in Japan. Cities to the northeast of the prefecture (in close proximity to Tokyo) were connected by rail to the capitol, and became and remain bedroom communities to Tokyo. Narita International Airport began operation in 1978 in Narita, after much protest to replace the overcrowded Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport). The majority of international air traffic enters Japan via Chiba Prefecture. The cultivation of rice and vegetables to feed the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan Area expanded greatly and became a source of income to the northeast and central areas of the prefecture. The expansion of agriculture in the central and southern regions of the prefecture was in contrast to the depopulation of these areas as a significant part of the population moved to the northeast of the prefecture as a result of the urbanization of Japan, a process that continues into the 21st century.

On March 11, 2011, the epicenter of 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami and subsequent Fukushima nuclear disaster that devastated much of the northeastern coast of Honshu, which caused some damage and affected areas in Chiba Prefecture. While the loss of life and damage to housing and industry was far less than in Tōhoku region, 20 people were killed in Chiba Prefecture, including 13 people were recorded deaths in Asahi. Following the triple disaster, an oil refinery fire broke out at the Cosmo Oil Chiba Refinery, in Ichihara, and was widely covered in the news media. Also, a large liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanks burned at 10 days earlier. Soil liquefaction, in areas of reclaimed land across the northern and western areas of Chiba Prefecture, caused damage to housing. Chiba City, Funabashi, Narashino, and especially Urayasu were greatly affected by triple disaster (such as soil liquefaction, and evidence of radioactive materials caused by the Fukushima radiation). As a result of triple disaster and with permanent damage to housing stock, the population of Chiba Prefecture fell for the first time since Spanish flu pandemic in 1918 and Great Kanto earthquake in 1923.

Geography
Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north at the Tone River, Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture to the west at the Edo River, the Pacific Ocean to the east and Tokyo Bay around its southern boundary. Most of Chiba lies on the hilly Boso Peninsula, a rice farming region: the east coast, known as the Kujūkuri Plain, is an especially productive area. The most populous zone, in the northwest of the prefecture, is part of the Kantō region that extends into the urban agglomeration of Tokyo and Saitama. The Kuroshio Current flows near Chiba, which keeps it relatively warm in winter and cooler in summer than neighbouring Tokyo.

National and prefectural parks

With the exception of the large-scale Keiyō Industrial Zone in the northeast, the entirety of the coast of Chiba Prefecture is protected as two quasi-national parks and one prefectural natural park under the national park system of Japan. As of 1 April 2012, 6% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks.

 * Suigo-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park encompasses a large area of the Tone River basin and the area around Mount Tsukuba in Ibaraki Prefecture. The park was established in 1953 to protect not only the environment of the area, but also its unique cultural heritage. The mouth of the Tone River and to Cape Inubō and Byōbugaura in northeastern Chiba Prefecture make up the southern part of the park.
 * Minami Boso Quasi-National Park was established in 1953 to protect much of the southern coastal areas of Chiba Prefecture from Cape Futtsu on Tokyo Bay to Cape Inubō in northeastern Chiba Prefecture. The park spans across nine administrative districts in the prefecture. Minami Boso Quasi-National Park was established to protect not only the environment of coastal areas, but also the unique cultural assets of associated with these areas, notably the temples associated with Nichiren.

Chiba Prefecture has designated and maintains eight prefectural natural parks to protect both natural and cultural areas, namely the Inba Tega, Kasamori Tsurumai, Kujūkuri, Mineokasankei, Ōtone, Takagoyama, Tomisan, and Yōrō Keikoku Okukiyosumi Prefectural Natural Parks. Cities, towns, and villages in the prefecture also have designated and protected parklands. These parks are maintained for environmental protection as well as providing local recreational facilities.

Municipalities

Since 2010, Chiba consists of 54 municipalities and since 2013, they are 37 cities, 16 towns and one village.

Mergers
With the introduction of modern municipalities (cities/towns/villages) in 1889, Chiba's districts were subdivided into 43 towns and 315 villages. The first city was created in 1921 when Chiba Town from Chiba District became district-independent as Chiba City. The postwar/1950s Great Shōwa mergers reduced the number of municipalities in Chiba to 101 by 1960, including 14 cities by then. The early 3rd millennium Great Heisei mergers created the current 54 municipalities by 2010.

List of governors of Chiba Prefecture (from 1947)

 * Tamenosuke Kawaguchi (川口為之助) - from 21 April 1947 to 25 October 1950
 * Hitoshi Shibata (柴田　等) - from 15 December 1950 to 2 November 1962
 * Hisaaki Kano (加納久朗) - from 3 November 1962 to 21 February 1963
 * Taketo Tomonoo (友納武人) - from 17 April 1963 to 16 April 1975
 * Kiichi Kawakami (川上紀一) - from 17 April 1975 to 27 February 1981

 * Takeshi Numata (沼田　武) - from 5 April 1981 to 4 April 2001
 * Akiko Domoto (堂本暁子) - from 5 April 2001 to 4 April 2009
 * Kensaku Morita (森田健作) - from 5 April 2009 to 4 April 2021
 * Toshihito Kumagai (熊谷俊人) - from 5 April 2021 to present

Industry
Chiba Prefecture is home to one of Japan's largest industrial areas. Prior to World War II manufacturing in the prefecture was centered on the brewing industry, specifically the production of soy sauce, sake and mirin sweet cooking sake. The manufacturing sector expanded greatly after the war. The prefecture was chosen as the site for a major Kawasaki Steel factory in 1950. In the same period the prefectural government embarked on a large-scale land reclamation program to dredge large plots of waterfront property. The large-scale construction of factories, warehouses, and docks on this reclaimed land around the Tokyo Bay area ultimately formed the Keiyō Industrial Zone. Chiba Prefecture is now 6th in Japan in industrial output with the bulk of the industry focused on the petroleum, chemical, and steel and machine industries. Together, these industries account for forty-five percent of the prefecture's exports. In recent years, the government has funded more than eighty industrial parks to bring development further inland as well.

Agriculture

The prefecture also boasts Japan's overall second-highest agricultural output. Among all the prefectures, only Hokkaidō produces more agricultural products, and Chiba leads Hokkaidō in vegetable production. Peanuts are considered a specialty product of Chiba: 78 per cent of the country's peanuts are produced in the prefecture.

Chiba Prefecture leads the nation in the production of several vegetables, including carrots; cabbage; daikon radish; negi, the ubiquitous Japanese cultivar of the Welsh onion; loquat; nashi, the Japanese cultivar of the pear, which has a two hundred-year history of cultivation in the prefecture; tomatoes; and spinach It is the nation's second largest producer of corn. Rice is also grown, and seaweed, specifically nori, is harvested in large quantities from Tokyo Bay.

Demographics
Chiba's population is one of the wealthiest in Japan due to the prefecture's strong commercial and industrial sectors. Per capita GDP is ¥3.1 million, the fifth-highest in the country. 70% of the population is employed in the service sector, with 25% in industry and 5% in agriculture.

Climate
Chiba Prefecture has a humid subtropical climate (Koppen Cfa) with hot, humid summers and mild, cool winters. The tsuyu rainy season occurs for approximately 50 days from June to July. According to the Japanese Meteorological Agency, the average of annual temperature is 15.7 C. The average high is 19.6 C, and the average low is 12.3 C.

Universities

 * Chiba
 * Chiba University in Inage, Chuo
 * Chiba Economic University in Inage
 * The Open University of Japan in Mihama
 * The Meteorological College of Japan
 * Heisei Teikyo University in Mihama
 * Shukutoku University in Chuo
 * Tokyo Information Sciences University in Wakaba
 * Tokyo Dental College in Mihama
 * Kanda University of International Studies in Mihama
 * Tokyo University of Career Development in Chuo
 * Funabashi
 * Toho University - Narashino Campus
 * Nihon University - Funabashi Campus
 * Matsudo
 * Nihon University - Matsudo Campus
 * Ryutsu Keizai University
 * Seitoku University
 * Ichikawa
 * Chiba Commerce University
 * Wayo Women's University
 * Kashiwa
 * University of Tokyo - Kashiwa Campus
 * Chiba University - Kashiwanoha Campus
 * Kaichi International University
 * Nishogakusha University - Kasiwa Campus
 * Reitaku University
 * Narashino
 * Chiba Institute of Technology
 * Nihon University - Narashino and Mimomi Campus
 * Ichihara
 * Heisei Teikyo University - Ichihara Campus
 * Yachiyo
 * Shumei University
 * Tokyo Seitoku University
 * Sakura
 * Keiai University - Sakura Campus
 * Noda
 * Tokyo University of Science - Noda Campus
 * Nagareyama
 * Edogawa University
 * Toyo Gakuen University
 * Urayasu
 * Juntendo University - Urayasu Campus
 * Meikai University
 * Ryotokuji University
 * Abiko
 * Chuo Gakuin University
 * Kawamura Gakuen Woman's University
 * Kisarazu
 * Seiwa University
 * Togane
 * Josai International University
 * Inzai
 * Juntendo University - Sakura Campus
 * Kamogawa
 * Kameda College of Health Sciences

Secondary schools
The Chiba Prefectural Board of Education oversees municipal school districts in the prefecture. The board also directly operates the prefecture's public high schools.

Museums

Chiba Prefecture is home to one national-level museum and several prefectural and local museums. The National Museum of Japanese History is located in Sakura and focuses on the history, archaeology, and folk culture of Japan. The Chiba prefectural museums consist of a main museum, the Natural History Museum and Institute, Chiba in the central Chuō-ku ward of Chiba City, and six branch museums throughout the prefecture. The Chiba Prefectural Museum of Art is in Chiba City. The Chiba Prefectural Boso-no-mura in Sakae focuses on the local culture of the late Edo period, and the Chiba Prefectural Otone Museum in Katori focuses on the culture of the Tone River basin. The reconstructed Japanese castles of Sekiyado and Ōtaki host regional historical museums. The Chiba Museum of Science and Industry is located in Ichikawa on the site of a former factory, and the Coastal Branch of Natural History Museum and Institute, Chiba in Katsuura focuses on the marine environment of the Pacific Ocean coast. Numerous other municipalities in the prefecture also host museums.

Libraries and archives
The Chiba Prefectural Library consists of three libraries. The Chiba Prefectural Central Library is located in the central Chuō-ku ward of Chiba City directly southwest of Chiba Castle and in close proximity to the City of Chiba offices. The Central Library houses a general collection as well as the central research collection for the prefecture. The Chiba Prefectural West Library is located in Matsudo next to the Matsudo Museum, and houses a research collection focused on natural history and the fine arts. The Chiba Prefectural East Library is located in Asahi, and houses a research collection focused on the literature and history of the prefecture. The Chiba Prefectural Archives are located across the Miyako River from the City of Chiba offices. The archive maintains a collection of rare books and materials from across the prefecture, as well as materials related to the administration of Chiba Prefecture. Each municipality in the prefecture maintains a local libraries, and many shrines and temples maintain archival collections related to their institutions.

Cuisine

The traditional diet of Chiba Prefecture is not fundamentally different from that of the rest of Japan. Chiba Prefecture produces prolific quantities of rice across all areas in the prefecture, vegetables in the northern area of the prefecture, and fish, seafood, and shellfish along the coastal areas of the prefecture. Chōshi has been a major center of worldwide soy sauce production since the Edo period, and the prefecture remains the top producer in Japan. Kikkoman is headquartered in Noda in northwestern Chiba Prefecture. These are all important components of Japanese cuisine.

Certain local products, however, are grown in abundance and have resulted in several dishes unique to the areas. Peanuts, grown in great quantities in the prefecture, appear fresh in markets in the prefecture and are eaten boiled as a snack. Miso paste mixed with peanuts is also produced in Chiba. Takenoko, whole bamboo shoot, are harvested in the central part of the Boso Peninsula. The takenoko of Ōtaki lack the concentration of arsenic typically found in uncooked bamboo shoots, and as such, are uniquely eaten raw in the area as "takenoko sashimi". Futomaki or futomakizushi, literally "fat roll", is a large version of the sushi roll. The futomaki popularly made in Chiba Prefecture is up to 10 centimeters in diameter. Futomaki in Chiba Prefecture often utilize various ingredients to form a pattern, such as a flower or a kanji character, when the roll is cut and served.

Sports
The prefecture plays host to two major events in the Japanese athletics calendar: the International Chiba Ekiden and the Chiba International Cross Country.

The following sports teams are based in Chiba.

American football

 * X-League: Obic Seagulls (Narashino)
 * X-League: IBM Big Blue (Yachiyo)

Football

 * J.League (J1): Kashiwa Reysol (Kashiwa)
 * J.League (J2): JEF United Ichihara Chiba (Chiba, Ichihara)

Baseball

 * NPB: Chiba Lotte Marines (Chiba)

Basketball

 * B.League: Chiba Jets Funabashi (Funabashi)

Rugby

 * Nihon IBM Big Blue (Yachiyo)
 * Kubota Spears (Funabashi)
 * NEC Green Rockets (Abiko)

Futsal

 * F.League: Bardral Urayasu (Urayasu)

Volleyball

 * V.Challenge League II: Chiba Zelva (Chiba)

Narita International Airport
Most Tokyo-bound visitors arriving on international flights land in Narita International Airport, which is situated in Narita in the north of the prefecture, and connected to Tokyo by the East Japan Railway's Narita Express and the Keisei Electric Railway's Skyliner.

Railways

 * East Japan Railway Company
 * Sōbu Main Line
 * Chūō-Sōbu Line
 * Sōbu Line (Rapid)
 * Jōban Line
 * Jōban Line (Local)
 * Jōban Line (Rapid)
 * Narita Line
 * Uchibō Line
 * Sotobō Line
 * Keiyō Line
 * Musashino Line
 * Tōgane Line
 * Kashima Line
 * Kururi Line
 * Keisei
 * Main Line
 * Narita Sky Access
 * Chiba Line
 * Chihara Line
 * Higashi Narita Line
 * Shin-Keisei Line
 * Hokuso Line
 * Toyo Rapid Line
 * Shibayama Railway
 * Tobu
 * Noda Line
 * Tsukuba Express
 * Tokyo Metro Tozai Line
 * Toei Shinjuku Line
 * Nagareyama Line
 * Choshi Electric Railway
 * Kominato Railway
 * Isumi Railway
 * Disney Resort Line

People movers

 * Chiba Urban Monorail
 * Yamaman Yukarigaoka Line

Expressways

 * Joban Expressway
 * Narita Airport Expressway
 * Higashi Kanto Expressway
 * Tokyo Gaikan Expressway
 * Tateyama Expressway
 * Shuto Expressway
 * Keiyo Road
 * Togane Road
 * Tokyo Bay Aqua Line

National highways

 * Route 6
 * Route 14
 * Route 16
 * Route 51
 * Route 124
 * Route 126
 * Route 127
 * Route 128
 * Route 294
 * Route 295
 * Route 296
 * Route 297
 * Route 298
 * Route 356
 * Route 357
 * Route 408
 * Route 409
 * Route 410
 * Route 464
 * Route 465

Tourism
The Tokyo Disney Resort is located in Urayasu near the western border of the prefecture. The Kamogawa Sea World is located in Kamogawa. There are also a number of tourist sites on the Chiba peninsula, such as Nokogiriyama; Kujūkuri Beach; and Onjuku beach.

Politics
Since 2009, the prefectural governor is Eiji Suzuki, better known under his stage name as Kensaku Morita, former actor, member of the House of Representatives (LDP/Independent – Tokyo 4th district) and member of the House of Councillors (Independent – Tokyo). He was reelected overwhelmingly to a second term as governor in the March 2013 election against only a Communist challenger and a minor, unaffiliated independent.

The assembly of Chiba Prefecture has a regular membership of 95, elected in 45 electoral districts, currently still in the unified local election cycle of 1947 (last round 2011). As of July 2014, it is composed as follows: LDP 52 members, DPJ 13, Kōmeitō 7, JCP 4, Shimin Net/SDP/Independents 4, Your Party 3, four other caucuses with 5 members in total.

In the National Diet, Chiba is represented by 13 members from single-member districts in the House of Representatives, and six members (three at-large per election) in the House of Councillors. After the most recent Diet elections of 2010, 2012 and 2013, the prefecture is represented by eleven Liberal Democrats and two Democrats in the House of Representatives, and three Liberal Democrats, two Democrats, and one Your Party member in the House of Councillors. Current Diet members from Chiba include former prime minister Yoshihiko Noda (H.R., DPJ – 4th district) and former ministers Kuniko Inoguchi (H.C., LDP – class of 2010) and Motoo Hayashi (H.R., LDP – 10th district).

Local government
As of 2014, Chiba is divided into 54 contiguous municipalities (see list above): 37 cities, 16 towns and one village, as in all of postwar Japan each with a directly elected mayor and assembly. The most populous and Chiba's only designated major city is the capital Chiba City. Two cities, Funabashi and Kashiwa, are core cities. After late 20th century mergers, much of the rest of the prefecture is also organized in independent cities: Of the (today purely geographical) counties, only six remain, four of which have only one or two remaining towns or villages. – After the reorganization of county and municipal governments in all prefectures in 1889/1890, there had initially been 12 counties and no city in Chiba; Chiba town in Chiba county became the first municipality in Chiba to be elevated to city status in 1921.

Notable people

 * Miri Ichika – gravure model and tarento
 * Jun Ishikawa - composer
 * KOSEKI Aquila Raphael
 * Yoshiko Sakakibara – voice actress
 * Yuuri – singer/songwriter
 * Keita Sawa
 * Kei Shindō – voice actress
 * Hassei Takano – actor

Police
While by far not as large as that of neighbouring Tokyo, Chiba's police force is amongst the country's tenth largest at more than 10,000 members (including the Narita airport police). As in every prefecture, the police are supervised by the public safety commission; its five members are appointed by the governor with approval by the assembly.

Sister states
Chiba Prefecture has a sister-city relationship with:
 * 🇺🇸 Wisconsin, United States (1990)
 * Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
 * 🇵🇪 Juanjuí, Peru
 * 🇩🇪 Düsseldorf, Germany (2019)

In popular culture

 * Films set in Chiba include The Eel (1997), winner of the Palme D'Or. Filming took place in Sawara.
 * Novels set in Chiba include: Neuromancer by William Gibson (set in Chiba City), Ningen Shikkaku by Osamu Dazai (Funabashi), and Nogiku no Haka by Sachio Itō (Matsudo).
 * Manga (comics) representations include: WataMote, Be Free!, Chameleon, Kyō Kara Ore Wa!!, Makuhari (set in Chiba city), Makuhari Saboten Campus (Chiba city), Susume!! Pirates and Urayasu Tekkin Kazoku (Urayasu).
 * Anime (animation) representations include: The Family's Defensive Alliance (set in Funabashi), Battle Programmer Shirase (Narashino), My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU and Zegapain (Urayasu).
 * TV series representations include: Kisarazu Cat's Eye (set in Kisarazu), Miotsukushi (Chōshi), Beach Boys (filmed in Tateyama and Shirahama (now Minamiboso) and Yappari Neko ga Suki (Chiba).

title: Chiba Prefecture


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Hiroshima Prefecture

Hiroshima Prefecture (広島県) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Hiroshima Prefecture has a population of 2,811,410 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 8,479 km² (3,274 sq mi). Hiroshima Prefecture borders Okayama Prefecture to the east, Tottori Prefecture to the northeast, Shimane Prefecture to the north, and Yamaguchi Prefecture to the southwest.

Hiroshima is the capital and largest city of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region, with other major cities including Fukuyama, Kure, and Higashihiroshima. Hiroshima Prefecture is located on the Seto Inland Sea across from the island of Shikoku, and is bounded to the north by the Chūgoku Mountains. Hiroshima Prefecture is one of the three prefectures of Japan with more than one UNESCO World Heritage Site.

History
The area around Hiroshima was formerly divided into Bingo Province and Aki Province. This location has been a center of trade and culture since the beginning of Japan's recorded history. Hiroshima is a traditional center of the Chūgoku region and was the seat of the Mōri clan until the Battle of Sekigahara.

Together with Nara and Tokyo, Hiroshima is one of the three prefectures with more than one UNESCO World Heritage Site. The two such sites in Hiroshima Prefecture are:
 * The Atomic Dome in Hiroshima, one of the few remnants of prewar Hiroshima following the atomic bombing in 1945;
 * The Itsukushima Shrine in Miyajima, famed for filling with water and appearing to "float" during high tide.

Geography

Hiroshima prefecture lies in the middle of Japan. Most of the prefecture consists of mountains leading towards Shimane Prefecture; and rivers produce rich plains near the coast.

The province faces Shikoku across the Seto Inland Sea. Hiroshima Bay opens on the Inland Sea. The prefecture also includes many small islands.

The sheltered nature of the Inland Sea makes Hiroshima's climate very mild.

As of 1 April 2014, 4% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks (the lowest percentage of any prefecture), namely Setonaikai National Park; Hiba-Dōgo-Taishaku and Nishi-Chūgoku Sanchi Quasi-National Parks; and six Prefectural Natural Parks.

Cities
Fourteen cities are located in Hiroshima Prefecture:

Towns
These are the towns in each district:

Economy
Hiroshima's main industries include automobiles (Mazda is headquartered there) and tourism in two World Heritage Sites: the A-Bomb dome and Itsukushima Shrine.

Components of the economy are primary industry, secondary industry, and tertiary industry, which compose 0.6%, 32.6%, and 66.2% in 2015. There is 0.6% of unclassified production.

Value of production of manufacturing is 10,343 billion yen in 2016, which is the 10th largest in Japan. After 2012, production of manufacturing is continuously increasing in 2015.

University

 * Eikei University of Hiroshima
 * Elisabeth University of Music
 * Fukuyama City University
 * Fukuyama Heisei University
 * Fukuyama University
 * Hijiyama University
 * Hiroshima Bunka Gakuen University
 * Hiroshima Bunkyo Women's University
 * Hiroshima City University
 * Hiroshima Institute of Technology
 * Hiroshima Jogakuin University
 * Hiroshima Kokusai Gakuin University
 * Hiroshima Shudo University
 * Hiroshima University of Economics
 * Hiroshima University
 * Japan Coast Guard Academy
 * Onomichi City University
 * Prefectural University of Hiroshima
 * Yasuda Women's University

Religion
Similar to the rest of Japan, most people in the Hiroshima Prefecture are Shinto or Buddhist. in 1996 51.2% of the population was Buddhist, 2 were affiliated with Shinto Sects, 44.8% practiced Folk Shinto, and 2% were Christian.

Railway

 * JR West
 * San'yō Shinkansen
 * San'yō Main Line
 * Kabe Line
 * Kure Line
 * Geibi Line
 * Fukuen Line
 * Ibara Railway

People movers

 * Astram Line
 * Skyrail Service

Streetcars

 * Hiroshima Electric Railway

Expressways

 * Chūgoku Expressway
 * San'yō Expressway
 * Shimanami Expressway
 * Hamada Expressway
 * Onomichi Expressway
 * Hiroshima Expressway (West Nippon Expressway Company)
 * Hiroshima Expressway (urban expressway)

National highways

 * Route 2
 * Route 31
 * Route 54
 * Route 182
 * Route 183
 * Route 185
 * Route 186
 * Route 191
 * Route 261
 * Route 313
 * Route 314
 * Route 317
 * Route 375
 * Route 432
 * Route 433
 * Route 434
 * Route 486
 * Route 487
 * Route 488

Ports

 * Kure Port - Ferry route to Edajima, Matsuyama
 * Hiroshima Port - Ferry route to Miyajima, Edajima, Matsuyama, and Beppu, and also International Container hub port
 * Mihara Port
 * Onomichi Port
 * Fukuyama Port - International Container hub port

Airports

 * Hiroshima Airport

Sports
The sports teams listed below are based in Hiroshima.

Football

 * Sanfrecce Hiroshima (Hiroshima city)

Baseball

 * Hiroshima Toyo Carp (Hiroshima city)

Volleyball

 * JT Thunders (Hiroshima city)

Basketball

 * Hiroshima Dragonflies
 * Hiroshima Lightning (Defunct)

Cycling

 * Victoire Hiroshima

Tourism

 * Hiroshima Peace Memorial
 * Hiroshima Castle
 * Shukkei-en
 * Mitaki Temple
 * Itsukushima Shrine
 * Momijidani Park
 * Mount Misen
 * Miyajima Public Aquarium
 * Senkō-ji Temple
 * Jōdo-ji Temple
 * Onomichi City Museum of Art
 * Fukuyama Castle
 * Kure Portopia Park

Famous festivals and events

 * Onomichi Port Festival - held in April
 * Hiroshima Flower Festival - held from May 3 to 5
 * Fukuyama Rose Festival - held in May
 * Enryuji Tokasan Festival - held in June
 * Gion Festival of Onomichi - held in July
 * Innoshima Water-naval Festival - held in August
 * Miyajima Under-water Firework Festival - held on August 14
 * Yassa Festival of Mihara - held in August
 * Saijo Sake Festival - held in October
 * Onomichi Becher Festival - held on November 3
 * Hiroshima Ebisu Festival - held from November 18 to 20

International sister relations

 * 🇨🇳 Sichuan Province, China
 * Hawaii, United States of America

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Hiroshima Prefecture


text:
Amoy (disambiguation)

Xiamen, or Amoy, is a city on the southeast coast of China.

Amoy may also refer to:
 * Amoy dialect, a dialect of Hokkien Chinese, which is part of the Southern Min group of Chinese dialects
 * Amoy Food, a manufacturer of sauces, condiments and processed foods
 * Amoy Properties, now Hang Lung Properties, a property developer in Hong Kong
 * Amoy Street (Hong Kong), a street in Wan Chai, Hong Kong

People

 * Amoy Brown (born 1996), Jamaican footballer

title: Amoy (disambiguation)


text:
Alistair Cooke

Alistair Cooke (born Alfred Cooke; 20 November 1908 – 30 March 2004) was a British-American writer whose work as a journalist, television personality and radio broadcaster was done primarily in the United States. Outside his journalistic output, which included Letter from America and America: A Personal History of the United States, he was well known in the United States as the host of PBS Masterpiece Theatre from 1971 to 1992. After holding the job for 22 years, and having worked in television for 42 years, Cooke retired in 1992, although he continued to present Letter from America until shortly before his death. He was the father of author and folk singer John Byrne Cooke.

Early life
He was born Alfred Cooke in Salford, Lancashire, England, the son of Mary Elizabeth (Byrne) and Samuel Cooke. His father was a Methodist lay preacher and metalsmith by trade; his mother's family were of Irish Protestant origin.

He was educated at Blackpool Grammar School, and won a scholarship to Jesus College, Cambridge, where he gained an honours degree (2:1) in English. He was heavily involved in the arts, was editor of Granta, and set up the Mummers, Cambridge's first theatre group open to both sexes, from which he notably rejected a young James Mason, telling him to stick to architecture.

Cooke changed his name to Alistair when he was 22, in 1930.

Media beginnings
Cooke's first visit to the United States was in 1932 on a two-year Commonwealth Fund Fellowship (now Harkness Fellowship) to Yale and Harvard, where his acting and music skills came to the fore with visits to Hollywood. Cooke saw a newspaper headline stating that Oliver Baldwin, the Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin's son, had been sacked by the BBC as film critic. Cooke sent a telegram to the Director of Talks, asking if he would be considered for the post. He was invited for an interview and took a Cunard liner back to Britain, arriving twenty-four hours late for his interview. He suggested typing out a film review on the spot, and a few minutes later, he was offered the job. He also sat on a BBC Advisory Committee headed by George Bernard Shaw for correct pronunciation.

Cooke was also the London correspondent for NBC. Each week, he recorded a 15-minute radio dialogue for American listeners on life in Britain, under the series title of London Letter. In 1936, he intensively reported on the Edward VIII abdication crisis for NBC. He made several talks on the topic each day to listeners in many parts of the United States. He calculated that in ten days he spoke 400,000 words on the subject. During the crisis, he was aided by a twenty-year-old Rhodes Scholar, Walt Rostow, who would become Lyndon B. Johnson's national security advisor.

Move to the United States
Cooke replaced Oliver Baldwin as the BBC's film critic on 8 October 1934 and gave his first BBC broadcast: ''"I declare that I am a critic trying to interest a lot of people into seeing interesting films", he told his audience. "I have no personal interest in any company. As a critic I am without politics and without class."'' Thus very soon in 1937, Cooke immigrated to the United States; but became a United States citizen and swore the Oath of Allegiance on 1 December 1941, six days before Pearl Harbor was attacked. Shortly after immigrating, Cooke suggested to the BBC the idea of doing the London Letter in reverse: a 15-minute talk for British listeners on life in America. A prototype, Mainly About Manhattan, was broadcast intermittently from 1938, but the idea was shelved with the outbreak of World War II in 1939.

During this time, as well, Cooke undertook a journey through the whole United States, recording the lifestyle of ordinary Americans during the war and their reactions to it. The manuscript was published as The American Home Front: 1941–1942 in the United States (and as Alistair Cooke's American Journey: Life on the Home Front in the Second World War in the UK) in 2006.

The first American Letter was broadcast on 24 March 1946 (Cooke said this was at the request of Lindsey Wellington, the BBC's New York Controller); the series was initially commissioned for only 13 instalments. The series came to an end 58 years later in March 2004, after 2,869 instalments and less than a month before Cooke's death. Along the way, it picked up a new name (changing from American Letter to Letter from America in 1950) and an enormous audience, being broadcast not only in Britain and in many other Commonwealth countries, but throughout the world by the BBC World Service.

Journalist
In 1947, Cooke became a foreign correspondent for the Manchester Guardian newspaper (later The Guardian), for which he wrote until 1972. It was the first time he had been employed as a staff reporter; all his previous work had been freelance. In reporting on the Montgomery bus boycott, begun by Rosa Parks and led by Martin Luther King, Cooke expressed sympathy for the economic costs imposed on the city bus company and referred to Mrs. Parks as "the stubborn woman who started it all ... to become the Paul Revere of the boycott."

In 1968, he was only yards away from Robert F. Kennedy when he was assassinated, witnessing the events that followed.

Omnibus
In 1952, Cooke became the host of CBS's Omnibus, the first U.S. commercial network television series devoted to the arts. It featured appearances by such personalities as Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Gene Kelly and Leonard Bernstein. Jonathan Winters was the first comic to appear on the show.

Mid to later years
In 1966 he was invited to deliver the MacMillan Memorial Lecture to the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland. He chose the subject "The Jet Age and the Habits of Man".

In 1971, he became the host of the new Masterpiece Theatre, PBS's showcase of quality British television. He remained its host for 22 years, before retiring from the role in 1992. He achieved his greatest popularity in the United States in this role, becoming the subject of many parodies, including "Alistair Cookie" in Sesame Street ("Alistair Cookie" was also the name of a clay animated cookie-headed spoof character created by Will Vinton as the host of a video trailer for The Little Prince and Friends), and Alistair Quince, portrayed by Harvey Korman, who introduced many episodes in the early seasons of Mama's Family.

America: A Personal History of the United States (1972), a 13-part television series about the United States and its history, was first broadcast in both the United Kingdom and the United States in 1973, and was followed by a book of the same title. It was a great success in both countries, and resulted in Cooke's being invited to address the joint Houses of the United States Congress as part of Congress's bicentenary celebrations. After the series was broadcast in Ireland, Cooke won a Jacob's Award, one of the few occasions when this award was made to the maker of an imported programme.

Final years
On 2 March 2004, at the age of 95, following advice from his doctors, Cooke announced his retirement from Letter from America—after 58 years, the longest-running speech radio show in the world.

Cooke died at midnight on 30 March 2004, at his home in New York City. He had been ill with heart disease, but he died of lung cancer, which had spread to his bones. He was cremated, and his ashes were clandestinely scattered by his family in Central Park.

Theft of bones
On 22 December 2005, the New York Daily News reported that several of Cooke's bones, and those of many other people, had been surgically removed before cremation by employees of Biomedical Tissue Services of Fort Lee, New Jersey, a tissue-recovery firm. The thieves sold the bones for use as medical-grade bone grafts. The cancer from which Cooke was suffering had spread to his bones, making them unsuitable for grafts. Reports indicated the people involved in selling the bones altered his death certificate to hide the cause of death and reduce his age from 95 to 85. Michael Mastromarino, a former New Jersey-based oral surgeon, and Lee Cruceta agreed to a deal that resulted in their imprisonment. Mastromarino was sentenced on 27 June 2008, in the New York Supreme Court, to 18 to 54 years' imprisonment. The entire story of the theft was featured in a documentary aimed at educating the public about modern-day grave robbery. On the morning of 7 July 2013, at age 49, Michael Mastromarino died at St. Luke's Hospital after suffering from bone cancer.

Marriages and children
In 1932 Cooke became engaged to Henrietta Riddle, the daughter of the English actor Henry Ainley and the Baroness von Hütten, but she broke off the engagement the following year while he was in America on a Commonwealth Fund Fellowship. He met Ruth Emerson, a great-grandniece of Ralph Waldo Emerson, in 1933, and they married on 24 August 1934. Their son, John Byrne Cooke, was born 5 October 1940 in New York City, New York.

Alistair Cooke divorced Ruth in 1944, and married Jane White Hawkes, a portrait painter and the widow of neurologist A. Whitfield Hawkes, the son of Albert W. Hawkes, on 30 April 1946. Their daughter, Susan, was born on 22 March 1949.

Recreation and interests
Cooke took up golf in his mid-fifties, developing a fascination with the game, despite never attaining an extraordinary level of skill. He was driven by his love of golf to devote many of his Letter from America episodes to the topic, speaking once of the thrill of learning "how much more awesome was the world of golf than the world of politics." Cooke became close friends with many of the leading golfers of the era: Jack Nicklaus, in the introduction to a compilation of Cooke's writing on golf, recounts his many notable achievements, but describes him as "most of all ... a friend."

Honours and awards
In 1973, Cooke was awarded an honorary knighthood (KBE) for his "outstanding contribution to Anglo-American mutual understanding." Cooke was reportedly happy to accept, because in the words of Thomas Jefferson, it did not involve "the very great vanity of a title." Having relinquished his British citizenship during World War II, he could not be called "Sir Alistair".

After Alistair Cooke's death the Fulbright Alistair Cooke Award in Journalism was established as a tribute to the man and his life and career achievements. The award supports students from the United Kingdom to undertake studies in the United States, and for Americans to study in the United Kingdom.

"America" books

 * Letters from America (1951). Rupert Hart-Davis, London – with introduction "To the British Reader"
 * One Man's America (1952). Alfred A Knopf, New York – same chapters as 'Letters from America' (1951), with introduction "To the American Reader"
 * Talk about America: Letters from America, 1951–1968 (1968). The Bodley Head (1981), Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-005764-1.
 * Letter from America: The Early Years, 1946–1968
 * Alistair Cooke's America (22 November 1973). BBC Books, London. ISBN 0-563-12182-3 (13 November 2003). Phoenix. ISBN 1-84188-229-1. – updated edition with new introduction and final chapter written by Alistair Cooke
 * The Americans: Fifty Talks on our Lives and Times, 1969–1979 (Nov. 1979). Alfred A Knopf, New York. ISBN 0-394-50364-3.
 * America Observed: The Newspaper Years of Alistair Cooke/selected and edited by Ronald A. Wells (1988) Penguin. ISBN 0-14-011509-9.
 * Letters from America: The Americans, Letters from America and Talk About America
 * Letter from America: (1946–2004) (2004). ISBN 1-4000-4402-2.
 * The Marvelous Mania: Alistair Cooke on Golf (2007). ISBN 978-0-7139-9996-9.
 * Review: Review of Reporting America: The Life of the Nation, 1946–2004.
 * Review: Review of Reporting America: The Life of the Nation, 1946–2004.

Cooke also co-authored several "coffee table books": 4.

Biography

 * Alistair Cooke: The biography by Nick Clarke (1999). ISBN 0-297-64378-9.

Media
The album features Cooke playing jazz standards on piano with accompanying whistle and speaking about his life in America.
 * America: A Personal History of the United States has been released on DVD, with an additional feature where Cooke talks about his life.
 * An Evening With Alistair Cooke at the Piano, an LP record first released in 1955, later re-released in 1973 by Columbia Special Products (catalogue number B00110SXCK).

title: Alistair Cooke


text:
Talk:Prefectures of Japan

Question
How does a Japanese prefecture differ from a French prefecture ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.193.125.87 (talk) 10:58, 8 September 2009 (UTC)

 * In France, the word "préfecture" generally refers to either the prefectoral office (of which there is one in each département), or the city in which it is located. In Japan, the prefecture is the entire area under the authority of the governor (so it corresponds to a French département, and actually it is sometimes translated as "département" in French, to avoid confusion). So in French you could say "I'm going to the préfecture", meaning the prefectoral office, probably of your département of residence for some administrative matter (this of course would be nonsensical in Japanese), or "Bordeaux is the préfecture of the Gironde département", meaning it is the city where the prefectoral office of that département is located. (The word "capital" is not used in this sense in French, but there is also the more general word "chef-lieu".) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 46.193.131.11 (talk) 02:45, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

"However, some people still call Tokyo-to "Tokyo Prefecture" in English." --- Where do people say "Tokyo Prefecture"? As a matter of personal experience, I've lived in Tokyo 20+ years working with fellow English teachers (from various English-speaking countries) and I have yet to hear "Tokyo Prefecture" used even accidentally. Nor do English-speaking residents of Tokyo say "Tokyo-to" unless they are speaking in Japanese. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.135.170.51 (talk) 14:58, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

Link ambiguity
There is a high level of ambiguty in the links listed on this page. Most Japanese prefectures share the same name as their capital and should be clearly seperated.

I'm creating stub pages for the entries here using <prefecture name> plus the word prefecture appended to it e.g. Osaka prefecture.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

synthetik 05:03 Feb 6, 2003 (UTC)

 * If there is a list of Prefectures and their capitals, I'd like to include it in List of capitals of subnational entities Docu 13:32 Feb 15, 2003 (UTC)

 * I'm working on a tableized format of this page where I blantantly rip off your layout from Cantons of Switzerland ;) give me about two hours plus... synthetik 14:08 Feb 15, 2003 (UTC)

 * Please use the layout, incidentally I slightly changed it in the meantime ;-) -- Your table looks great, even improves on my layout. I included the list in List of capitals of subnational entities Docu 16:28 Feb 15, 2003 (UTC)

 * Thank you for helping me expanding the list. BTW there I added " prefecture" to all prefectures named after their capital. I suppose this the way you will be titling the articles/stubs Docu 19:58 Feb 15, 2003 (UTC)

 * Thats right, the goal is defenitly to have the prefecture appended to each name at some point in the near future. You saved me quite a bit of work that way thanks _(_ _)_
 * synthetik 00:53 Feb 16, 2003 (UTC)

Moved from User talk:Timwi
The following was moved from User talk:Timwi

begin

==Japanese prefecture capitalization==

Hello. You decapitalized Japanese prefectures but I think we reached consensus in favor of capitalization somewhere (someone's user talk?). --Nanshu 03:59, 14 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I concur. "Prefecture" should be capitalized. We don't say "Cook county" or "Florida state" or "Manitoba province" or "Mexico city." -- Sekicho 08:30, Mar 14, 2004 (UTC)

 * I de-capitalised them for two major reasons. Firstly, most of the article texts didn't capitalise any of them. Secondly, it is my understanding of our naming convention that they shouldn't be capitalised. Furthermore, it is my understanding of our naming convention that they shouldn't even have the "prefecture" next to them; those that have unique names (like Shimane) should be just that, without the "prefecture". Those that don't (like Nagasaki), should have "(prefecture)" (also lower-case). — Timwi 12:42, 14 Mar 2004 (UTC)

 * I don't have a strong opinion about capitalization, but I think "prefecture" or "Prefecture" is essential because it is difficult to determine whether a proper name is unique. I don't like the endless work of moving articles and fixing links. --Nanshu

 * You may have a point or may not. Regardless, please respect the convention. I think we had this issue before and we have settled to capitalize prefecture. It is just wasteful that someone renames articles and then someone else renames them back. We have to stop this. -- Taku 16:55, Mar 15, 2004 (UTC)

 * Please tell me where we've made the convention. I failed to find it. --Nanshu 02:28, 16 Mar 2004 (UTC)

 * Hi. Not wanting to come across as rude or anything, but please could you move this discussion to Talk:Prefectures of Japan? Thanks. — Timwi 02:39, 16 Mar 2004 (UTC)

end

Picture
Mutter. I'm confused. It looks perfectly legible and smooth on my home computer (which runs on a 1600x1200 CRT) but on my 1024x768 LCD at work, the numbers are all blocky and illegible. How odd. Anyone else seeing it as barely legible? :/ --Golbez 16:07, Sep 28, 2004 (UTC)
 * If you mean the map of prefectures, it looks fine to me on my work computer with a 1024x768 pixel CRT. Fg2 07:42, Oct 20, 2004 (UTC)
 * Also looks fine from home with (please don't laugh!) 800x600 CRT. Has your problem gone away?
 * Yeah, it has.. looks fine now! weird. Ah well, thanks. :) I was scared that I'd have to redo my map. ;) --Golbez 15:55, Oct 20, 2004 (UTC)
 * Something's weird about Wikipedia's servers. If you upload a new image with the same name, the old image keeps coming up. I've tried clearing my cache, using different browsers, shift-reload—the browser techniques do not work. It's as if the server has its own cache, and never clears it on its own.

 * The only way around it, as far as I've found, is to edit the article and change the pixel dimensions of the image. That forces the server to put a new version in the article. (Even going from 200 to 201px works.) As if editing the article forces Wikipedia to clear its server cache. So, you might have experienced that problem, or maybe there's a related problem. Anyhow, glad it worked out! Fg2 23:15, Oct 20, 2004 (UTC)

What's included?
Not knowing much about the topic, I had the impression that prefecture translates the Japanese administrative unit 県 (of 都道府県; see also Prefecture, which is linked to ja:県). As written, though, it appears that the pluralized term also includes other types of units (都道府). Following the first sentence, perhaps this article should be called Jurisdictions of Japan? A-giau 21:00, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * I don't see what you mean; that article states that there are 47 prefectures, anything below that is a subprefecture. Can you cite a different source, or elaborate? --Golbez 21:42, Oct 19, 2004 (UTC)

A-giau: This is similar to how Massachusetts, Pennsylvania etc. are "commonwealths," but for all practical purposes they're states of the United States. Likewise, Osaka, Kyoto, Hokkaido, and Tokyo are prefectures even though they aren't called ken in Japanese. (In fact, the English translation of fu is also "prefecture," so Hokkaido and Tokyo are the only prefectures that aren't legally called prefectures in English.) The difference between these jurisdictions and the other prefectures is so slight that it's not really reasonable to take them out of the list of prefectures. At any rate, Jurisdictions of Japan would have to include all the cities, towns, villages, districts, aza, wards, special wards, etc. etc. - Sekicho 22:38, Oct 19, 2004 (UTC)

 * This is probably off-topic, but a phrase Hokkaido prefecture is technically incorrect as do should translate to a prefecture (this is the same problem as HIV virus). In practice, though, no one says Hokkai Prefecture. -- Taku 02:26, Oct 20, 2004 (UTC)

Shinjuku
In what sense is Shinjuku the capital of Tokyo? I can't find anything relevant in the Shinjuku article. --Auximines 10:11, 2 December 2005 (UTC)
 * I'd prefer not to call Shinjuku the capital of Tokyo, but in fact, the governor's office, legislature, and administration are located in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku, which as a special ward has the status of a city, and so could be called a capital city. Fg2 10:41, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

Spelling of Prefectures
A survey is being conducted at Wikipedia_talk:Manual of Style (Japan-related_articles) to determine which prefectures should have their spelling "macron-ized", per the existing manual of style. Oita has been changed already, and each of the others is current being discussed (Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Hokkaido, Hyogo, and Kochi). Please join the discussion if you wish. Neier 00:32, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Toyama, not Fukuyama
In the second graphic, 16 is 富山(Toyama). It is not 福山(Fukuyama). The kanji is incorrect in the graphic itself.

 * Thanks for pointing that out, Karaokeyoga. I've changed the graphic. I hope it's correct now. Fg2 05:25, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

2003 proposal by Koizumi
The article mentions the proposal but does not state if it became law or not. Funnyhat 23:43, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

 * No change so far. Still occasionally debated. Fg2 06:37, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

Regions
Perhaps I missed it, but what is the source for the list of regions? There's not really a problem with it, but, as was mentioned in the article, this is not an officially-used or recognized classification of prefectures. (In fact, I have heard or seen many slightly different lists of regions, and several of them overlap depending on who you're talking to, such as Kinki-Kansai-Chubu.) I'd be interested to know whether this is the most widely-used scheme, and how that was determined. Miemi 17:55, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Hokkaidō least populous?
Some anon IP removed the following sentence from the article: Today, Hokkaidō is the least populated of the four main Japanese islands. As far as I know, this is still true unless Shikoku somehow lost a lot of people. Anyone have any information on this? ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 06:52, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

 * The website Hokkaido's Business Environment puts Hokkaido's population at 5,683,062 according to an October 1, 2000 census. The World News Network (of perhaps questionable reliability?) puts it at 5,647,230 with no source. Shikoku Update, in what appears to be an officialish website, puts Shikoku's population at 4,159,000. Soooo. It seems like Shikoku is the smallest island. BilabialBoxing 09:05, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

 * 1,453,680    Ehime
 * 1,006,931    Kagawa []
 * 0,796,292     Kochi []
 * 0,801,073    Tokushima []
 * 4,057,976 Shikoku total

 * 5,600,705 Hokkaido (平成19年／エクセルファイル3月(42KB))

 * Fg2 10:37, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

 * Hmm...looks like Shikoku's population is declining and Hokkaidō's is expanding then. Just wanted to make sure, since the anon IP didn't bother with an edit summary, either, so that didn't help any. Thanks (both of you). ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 10:48, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

Prefecture suffix
From the article,

''Usually, prefectures are called by their name only, without the suffix, except for Hokkaidō. However, the suffix is used when it is necessary to distinguish between the prefecture and a city of the same name. For example, Hiroshima-ken is the Japanese name of the prefecture, and Hiroshima-shi is its largest city.''

General exposure to Japan and Japanese language reveals this not to be true. Prefectures are referred to by their name with the suffix at least as much if not more often making statement vacuous if not incorrect. Is there a particular reference that backs this up? Ian Lewis (talk) 02:03, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

Shinjuku is the capital of Tokyo?
How is Shinjuku the capital of Tokyo? It's the location of the Tokyo Government but is there even an official capital of Tokyo? Is there a reference for this as well? Ian Lewis (talk) 02:12, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

 * Please see discussion above. Although I wrote there that it "could be called a capital city" I'd prefer not to do so. I'd be happy with a blank in the Capital column of the table. I think we discussed this separately at Talk:Tokyo (it's probably in an old, old archive) and concluded that we should not list it as the capital in the article Tokyo. So the information box in Tokyo says "Capital n/a." Fg2 (talk) 07:17, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

Requirements for each subdivision
What are the requirements for the following subdivisions in population, area etc.? jlog3000 (talk) 13:26, 14 March 2009 (UTC)
 * District or County (Gun)
 * Town (Chō or Machi)
 * Village (Son or Mura)
 * "ōaza"
 * "aza"
 * "chōme"

 * I don't think there are any requirements for district or village. Although there have been many changes, I suspect the districts are largely left alone apart from being abolished when they don't have any towns or villages left. They originated way back in the Ritsuryo state and it would make a good guess that they were originally holdings of powerful local elites but I certainly don't know that for a fact. The divisions of towns and villages (ōaza, aza, chōme) are probably just matters of convenience and at the discretion of the town or village, but I could be surprises by this. Villages shouldn't have minimums, since they're just the rest of the district that isn't a town. Probably the only one with prescribed minimums is the town. Again, just guesses. Fg2 (talk) 21:58, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

Why Shinjuku is called the capital of Tokyo.
I think the confusion stems from the fact that, in Japanese, they don't use the word "capital" for prefectural capitals. They instead just use the term 県庁所在地, meaning "location of the Prefectural Office (capital building)." Whatever city the prefectural capital building happens to be in is the de facto capital of that prefecture. With Tokyo, the capital building is in Shinjuku, which is, itself, a separate municipality. Whether Japanese people would consider Shinjuku to be the "capital" of Tokyo in the sense that we native English speakers do would probably be cause for contention even among Japanese and whether or not such a distinction applies to the English version is a matter for debate. But it's food for thought. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.215.225.13 (talk) 02:57, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

How about a requirement to become a '-fu'?
I was just wondering. How about a requirement for prefectures to become '-fu' if they have a designated city? jlog3000 (talk) 13:31, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

 * I don't think there are any requirements to become a fu; it appears just historical. Kind of like in the U.S. there are no requirements for a state to become a commonwealth; it's just the name that four states have chosen to use. The fu name doesn't appear to carry any higher status (and in the same way, "commonwealth" does not indicate any higher, or lower, status). I suspect (without looking it up) that Kyoto and Osaka were fu before the designated city system came into effect. So I would guess there's no connection. But I certainly don't know enough about that subject to write anything in an encyclopedia article without further research. Fg2 (talk) 21:49, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

 * OK, I see your point, but I was wondering if the Japanese government can propose that idea of new urban prefectures or fu in some time in the future. jlog3000 (talk) 15:49, 26 March 2009 (UTC)

Chart needs to be updated to account for redistricting
The chart shows a lot of old numbers for municipalities and districts that are no longer accurate because of redistricting. I've made a small start but a lot more is needed. We should use the numbers from the prefecture page for agreement. Is there any way to make that update automatically? Jrhoadley (talk) 14:14, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Japanese lesson
The article needs to avoid Japanese language lessons. This is supposed to be about government, but winds up with way too much history and language lesson. Needs to be re-written to avoid this in non-Japanese language Wikipedias. Student7 (talk) 19:23, 25 September 2011 (UTC)

 * Government_of_Japan has prefecture information which is probably more useful than found here. This is just a list, apparently. Needs it's own article "Japanese Prefecture." Student7 (talk) 19:35, 25 September 2011 (UTC)

Prefectures by Island
The table of prefectures on the article has an "Island" column. Of course, this can never be accurate because Japan consists not only of four major islands but also of thousands of islands. Can we ignore the fact that Tokyo Metropolis has the southernmost island of Japan? So the first option is to delete the column. I do not think this will cause a big problem as we already have a "Region" column.

The current table assigns one of the four major islands to each prefecture. The exception is Okinawa Prefecture, which is totally outside the four major islands. I changed Ryūkyū Islands to Nansei Islands, but reverted saying "Ryykyu seems more specific." Actually, neither is accurate (and I am considering deleting the whole column). The Nansei Islands contains the whole prefecture but some portion of Kagoshima Prefecture also constitutes the Nansei Islands. The Ryūkyū Islands itself is a problematic concept (as I discussed at Talk:Ryukyu Islands). The English usage of Ryukyu Islands resides nowhere in the geographic hierarchy defined by standardization bodies. That is why I do no think the term "Ryukyu Islands" is inappropriate in an article for Japanese administrative matters. Also, the Ryukyu Islands (as in English) comprise the Amami Islands, part of Kagoshima Prefecture. If we treat the phrase "Ryukyu Islands" as an translation equivalent of the Japanese Ryūkyū Shotō, which seems to have been rejected by some Wikipedians at Talk:Ryukyu Islands, it then excludes the Daitō Islands of Okinawa Prefecture. The second option is to change Ryūkyū Islands to Nansei Islands again. --Nanshu (talk) 01:22, 24 December 2011 (UTC)

 * I agree that putting every island in each prefecture is well beyond our capability and readers interest. What about confining the heading instead to "major island" or "major island group?"
 * The trouble I have with Nansei is it is not generally recognized by English readers. That is, the major news networks do not use "Nansei" sufficiently that anyone can place them. I don't want to redefine a term, but Nansei seemed "higher level" and encompassed islands that weren't in Okinawa, for example. For me, it would be kind of like using "Caribbean Islands" instead of "British West Indies." Student7 (talk) 22:53, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

 * I changed the header to "Major Island." With this header, I ignore the "minor" Daitō Islands and assign to Okinawa Prefecture "Ryukyu Islands," by which I actually mean Ryūkyū Shotō. --Nanshu (talk) 11:57, 12 January 2012 (UTC)

Headings
Plausible changes which simplified the headings were mistakes here, here and here. The reasoning was not invalid -- for example, compare 2007 diff here. Over-simplification produces unintended consequences. The different systems of parsing frame the ways in which Japanese prefectures are perceived. Perhaps the reverts of these 3 diffs need further discussion? --Ansei (talk) 13:54, 6 December 2012 (UTC)
 * I've removed the cities because it is discussed in the paragraphs, and this article is about the prefectures, not the cities.Curb Chain (talk) 17:09, 6 December 2012 (UTC)
 * Yes, you are not wrong. Your reasoning is understandable, plausible, correct. Your edit is good. At the same time, I wonder if your own words may be the strongest argument for reverting your most recent diff here.

 * BEST
 * Ken
 * Fu
 * To
 * Dō

 * BETTER?
 * Ken
 * Fu (Osaka/Kyoto)
 * To (Tokyo)
 * Dō (Hokkaido)

 * BETTER?

 * Ken _____?
 * Fu _____?
 * To _____?
 * Dō _____?

 * In other words, when you explain that "this article is about the prefectures, not the cities", I think you create a strong argument for needing more or different words in these headings. For example, Tokyo is known worldwide as one of largest city in the world; but in this context,
 * A. It is a geographical fact that the unique To includes the old city or Special Wards of Tokyo and also other lands in the Kantō and also many islands in the Pacific, not including the Senkaku Islands.
 * B. It is a historical fact that Tokyo has developed quite differently than anywhere else in Japan
 * 1457-1869: Edo (江戸)
 * 1869-1943: Tokyo Prefecture (東京府)
 * 1889-1943: Tokyo City (東京市)
 * 1943-present: Tokyo Metropolis (東京都)
 * C. It is an legal fact that Tokyo Prefecture features a governor -- not a mayor -- as its chief official.
 * I wonder if To without more is not as helpful as it could be or needs to be? What about alternative wording, such as
 * -ken
 * Osaka-fu and Kyoto-fu
 * Tokyo-to
 * Hokkaido-dō
 * Perhaps we can come up with something else which clarifies and re-states these Japanese terms? --Ansei (talk) 18:20, 6 December 2012 (UTC)

While we continue to discuss this, perhaps there will be no objection to changing the sequence of these sections to reflect the traditional Japanese ordering. In other words, the term todofuken (都道府県) refers to suffixes which distinguish Japan's seven sub-national jurisdictions: I guess that there is probably no cause for dispute in this traditional sequence? --Ansei (talk) 18:40, 6 December 2012 (UTC)
 * -to .... one "metropolis" (都 -to'), which means Tokyo;
 * -do .... one “circuit” (道 -dō), which means Hokkaidō;
 * -fu .... two urban prefectures (府 -fu), which means Osaka and Kyoto; and
 * -ken ... 43 other prefectures (県 -ken).
 * Sure, the sequence of sections don't seem to have a problem if you change it to reflect what you are proposing. The section headings have to be as curt as possible, because the purpose of the heading is not to write a whole explanation in it.Curb Chain (talk) 00:55, 7 December 2012 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure what is best as you propose, but listing "osaka-fu", "kyoto-fu", "tokyo-to", et al. is logical.Curb Chain (talk) 00:58, 7 December 2012 (UTC)
 * Let's do nothing more for now. As you can see, I added a introduction sentence:
 * The prefectures are sometimes collectively referred to as to-dō-fu-ken (都道府県), which is a combination of the four terms.
 * This establishes an explicit context for your to-dō-fu-ken headings. If questions arise in the future, we can reach out to each other and we can return to this thread. --Ansei (talk) 01:55, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

Template
The useful information at Japan Regions and Prefectures Labelled Map is the same as in the image in the upper right corner. Although the size is easier to read, the map overwhelmed list section of the article. The image remains and the template has been removed, but this could be changed if we have consensus to do it. --Ansei (talk) 17:07, 6 December 2012 (UTC)

Powers?
What powers do the prefectures enjoy? For example, may they raise and spend money independently of the central government? Grover cleveland (talk) 22:03, 1 December 2013 (UTC)
 * Added. Grover cleveland (talk) 22:21, 1 December 2013 (UTC)

Okinawa
In the Japanese ISO table, Okinawa is listed as a prefecture under the Kyushu region, and forms a separate region of its own in the next column (with no prefectures). Something doesn't compute! Ptilinopus (talk) 07:40, 4 January 2015 (UTC)

Hmm... I notice someone has modified the above table, to remove the Okinawa Region, retaining Okinawa-Ken under the Kyushu region. So far so good... but the text states there are nine regions - and this leaves only eight. Is Okinawa-Ken considered part of the Kyushu region? Or is it supposed to be a region? Are there only 8 regions after all? Ptilinopus (talk) 06:41, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

Niigata
Niigata is misspelled (as "Nigata") in the map. Jason Stormchild (talk) 00:10, 9 August 2022 (UTC)

 * This is still a an issue (2024), I can fix it but no way to upload it that i have found as of yet :/ Book Swallow (talk) 02:01, 3 July 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Prefectures of Japan


text:
Guadalete

The Guadalete River is located almost entirely in the Spanish Province of Cádiz, rising in the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park at an elevation of about 1000 m, and running for 172 km into the Bay of Cádiz at El Puerto de Santa Maria, north of the city of Cádiz. The river's name comes from the Arabic phrase وادي لكة (Wadi lakath) meaning "River of Forgetfulness".

Course
From its source in the Sierra de Grazalema, the Guadalete passes:
 * Grazalema
 * The Reservoir (Embalse) of Zahara
 * Puerto Serrano
 * Briefly enters Seville province and reenters Cádiz province
 * Villamartín
 * The Reservoir (Embalse) of Bornos
 * The Reservoir (Embalse) of Arcos
 * Arcos de la Frontera
 * La Barca de la Florida
 * Lomopardo and El Portal (near Jerez de la Frontera)

It then flows into the Bay of Cádiz in El Puerto de Santa María.

There are several dams with reservoirs along its course, including the Embalse de Zahara and the Embalse de Bornos. The "Sierra Greenway", a 36 km bicycle path reclaimed from an abandoned railroad line, also passes along the river.

The largest tributaries of the Guadalete are the Guadalporcún, and the Majaceite, which joins it at Junta de los Ríos downstream from Arcos de la Frontera.

History
The river may have been the location of the Battle of Guadalete in 711, at which the Visigothic army was defeated by an invading Muslim army, leading to the conquest of Iberia by the Umayyad Caliphate. The river was once the frontier between Christian and Moorish Iberia, receiving the sobriquet Río de los Muertos (river of the dead).

title: Guadalete


text:
Wikipedia talk:What it thinks it is

Whew. OK, this is a serious attempt to document what wikipedia thinks it is, and through which zombie-like human automatons it expresses that claim to be.

Talk about an ontology problem... but this gives us a great way to check out all of our various claims about threats, best cases, worst cases, visions and the status quo of wikipedia - which at any one time is represented by all the things we admit that it "is".

 * .... and what would be the purpose of this page? -- Tarquin 10:53 Feb 6, 2003 (UTC)

 * Hoom, hum, what is the purpose of looking at what one says about oneself? At what others say about one?  Reflection, hum, necessary to self-image, perhaps, hum, but perhaps there is no one clear 'purpose' just as Wikipedia has no one clear 'purpose.  Let us see what insights this gives. EntmootsOfTrolls

 * Perhaps policy would change if we decided it should or should not be an example of something, hm, hoom? But the answer then would be to change what we do and are, not what is said.  EntmootsOfTrolls

Looks like a place for Twenty-Fo... er, an annonymous user to try out some ideas.
 * Hmm, what 'ideas'? It seems like a list of everyones' ideas about Wikipedia, hm, and necessary, since we have no clear self-image, it seems, hum.EntmootsOfTrolls

It seems harmless enough; however, I would suggest to the annonymous user that it would be better suited to http://meta.wikipedia.org/ since "What Wikipedia thinks it is" is not limited to the English site.

 * Hum, the answer is to keep it here but include all links from the French and other sites via cross links. This is happening, hm, see French Wikipedia self-references which contrasts somewhat.  Hmm, hm, perhaps we are diverging, yes, no, perhaps, hm? EntmootsOfTrolls

I do wonder who is supposed to be making these claims, however.
 * Authors of the articles maybe, and trolls, EntmootsOfTrolls
 * Obviously, everyone who wrote those articles, has made some claim - if the one-liner statements of what they are is wrong, then let's fix them:

Some are simply incorrect (e.g. "Perl code": the software is PHP and SQL based),
 * Hmm, good point, fix it then! That seems unhasty.  This is a long list and must be often fixed, hm, but that will clear up many misconceptions.  EntmootsOfTrolls
 * the Perl claim has been fixed, and now says word for word what the article on Perl itself says - which should be the default in case of disputes. Instead of complaining, why not just fix it SG?  It's easier to fix this file than it is to generate it anew, given the mass of work that's involved in just sorting out obvious dross.  Order of items could also be better.

while others seem to have little basis in reality (showcase for User:Larrys Text? Larry would probably cry if anyone thought that... :). -- Stephen Gilbert 13:23 Feb 6, 2003 (UTC)
 * If they have little basis in reality, then the article they cite should be corrected, right?

Especially as LarrysText is here to be ruthlessly hacked into article form. If I were him I'd be disappointed that no-one's yet done much work on it. -- Tarquin
 * Hm, hoom, perhaps that was impossible while LMS was here intimidating 'vandalism' (i.e. improvement) of his articles? Hm, hoom, but then, it pays not to be hasty.  EntmootsOfTrolls

Why don't you all just move this to meta.wikipedia.org, where it belongs?
 * That would be hasty. It does not ALL belong over there only to be ignored.  Some of it belongs here, at least the abstract ideas that Wikipedia is an example of, so that we may keep examining what it is and is not, as opposed to what certain people think it is or is not.  Clearly it has grown beyond whatever it means to be an encyclopedia, as an encyclopedia is not a cookbook, but this is.  Failure to track this in the Wikipedia policy space would be foolish, although admittedly errors must be fixed, and we must collaborate to accurately state what each of those articles actually claims Wikipedia is.  Rather than complain, why not consult the articles referenced, fix the claim, and you will see how it changes your view of this project.   Encountering others' views of what it is seems essential. EntmootsOfTrolls

 * Agreed. It belongs here, in some form, although a more rigorous one that passed peer review could go at What_it_claims_to_be perhaps.  That could just be an exact and neutral statement of what Wikipedia articles claim Wikipedia to be - which is what we need for policy work.

The Wikipedia proper (where we are now) is for the creation and building of an encyclopaedia. Anything that helps that cause belongs here.
 * Knowing what other purposes Wikipedia currently serves, what things it is a good and bad example of, as stated via its own article authoring process, very clearly belongs here. Certainly What_it_claims_to_be belongs here, and a more elaborated article such as this one (which necessarily requires shortening and reducing the statements of 'what wikipedia is') should also be here, so it's clear what is presently claimed about wikipedia's functions.

 * According to liars and censors, ONLY, the pretence that Wikipedia is serving only as an encyclopedia "serves that cause". Wiser people recognize that the Wikipedia is serving as many things, and as an example and instance of many things, and that those who wish to keep it an encyclopedia "only" know what those are, so that they can understand that view and perhaps minimize it.

 * I never said that the Wikipedia was only an e ncyclopaedia. There are many ways of looking at it, as there are at other things - it's also a collection of lines of code, a lot of electrons whizzing about in somebody's computer, a place to be frustrated and so on. But what it explicitly aims to be is an encyclopaedia (hence the "pedia" part of its name). That's not something which is up for debate. --cam

Anything which, among other things, is too biased to be encyclopaedic, is a personal essay, comments on the Wikipedia itself, and so on, belongs on meta.
 * Not all comments on the Wikipedia are "personal" or "biased". Some, like this one, are attempts to simply summarize the various non-personal non-biased claims made about the Wikipedia.  If they are "personal" or "biased", then that is either s tated clearly (statements by editors, statements in talk files, more statements hard to classify) or not.  But the article itself is just reporting.  And that's what we do here.

 * I never said that all comments on the 'pedia were personal and biased. I s aid that all comments on the Wikipedia not useful to building it as an encyclopaedia should be on meta (or on a user page). And "reporting" is not "what we do here". "What we do here", or at least "what we should be doing here" is "building an encyclopaed ia". Gazing at our collective navel isn't going to help that. --cam

This, as a comment on the Wikipedia, and as something of no use in building it as an encyclopaedia, belongs on meta. I will move it there in a couple of days unless something very dramat ic happens. --Camembert
 * You have no right, nor any expertise, to claim that you know what is "of use in building it as an encylopedia." Denial of its other functions, e.g. cookbook, idiom dictionary, news, etc., is only of use in enabling a small clique in defining 'what Wikipedia is', in defiance of what it really is, and what standing articles claim it to be.  This is pure stupid elitism.  If you KNOW that Wikipedia "is an encyclopedia and nothing else", than add that li ne to every single article that makes a claim that you think contradicts that.  But censorship to suit your NORMATIVE VISION of what it is, is foolish in the extreme, and can only destroy the entire project with non-reflexivity.
 * Certainly there is no con tradiction between being an encyclopedia and being a collaborative medium, or between being an encyclopedia and being a CGI script.

 * I never said there was. What relevence does that have? As for it being a cookbook, a source of news and an idiom dictionary - well, that's your view of it. My view is that encyclopaedias can carry articles about specific recipes if they're big enough, that "news" is just a way of saying "a topical encyclopaedia article", and that an idiom dictionary... well, I don't know what an idiom dictionary is, but encyclopaedia articles can be made on just a single word. By the way, I find your tone quite aggressive. --cam

 * PLEASE calm down, 142.177.93.34. We've had more than enough controversy over the past few days. I was just going to suggest that this article, although it will be considered strange by some, should actually remain here rather than be transferred to the meta, for the simple reason that also newcomers should at once get some insight into on going discussions (and it usually takes some time until they discover the meta-Wikipedia). --KF 22:40 Feb 8, 2003 (UTC)

 * I'm not sure I understand you KF - you think this article should remain on the Wikipedia proper because it's a good exa mple of an argument? Sorry, maybe I'm misunderstanding, but I honestly can't think of any reason to keep it there. How does it help the wikipedia (given that the wikipedia is an encyclopaeida)? --cam

Summary: the Wikipedia is an encylopaedia. Exactly wha t an "encyclopaedia" is is open to debate, but I've yet to see any argument as to why this page helps it be one. Right, enough time wasted here, back to work. --cam

--

(Moved from User talk:Enchanter)
 * Hi! I consider what you have done at What it thinks it is a very rude way of ending an ongoing discussion, which was exactly about where that text should be. Camembert at least announced that he'd remove the article to the meta in a couple of days' time. Why so fast? Why at all? --KF 00:40 Feb 9, 2003 (UTC)

 * Hi KF. The Wikipedia: articles ar e mainly for information about Wikipedia (the FAQs etc.), while commentary and debates about Wikipedia belong here on Meta.  As it was clear that there was some debate about this article, I thought it would be a good idea to move the debate here, particularly as the author in question has a number of other similar contributions here on Meta. w:User:Enchanter

Reply to Camembert (see above): First of all I have to say that I'm surprised that this page is here at Wikipedia again. I also think it's a waste of time to have a lengthy argument on its function and where it should go, and I don't consider it that essential either, so I hope this is going to be my final statement on this matter.

I've recently been talking to a number of people who I introduced to Wikipedia (not as a group, but individually). With a few notable exceptions, their reaction was the usual one (it's never going to work, etc.).

I pointed out Our Replies to Our Critics and peer review and all that to them but some turned out to be quite stubborn in their criticism. There was a middle-aged academic who, as it turned out, looked at the Persuasion article and changed "most romantic novel" to "most brutal one" to prove her point. I don't think this has been reverted since. Someone else, on being told about Wikipedia Day, said the whole thing sounded like a sect to her, and asked who the big guru behind it all was.

This is why I think newcomers should also be introduced to the doubts, arguments and disagreements older Wikipedians have about the whole project, and I think this page, created by someone I don't know, could do the trick.

Best wishes, --KF 10:42 Feb 9, 2003 (UTC)

 * Thanks for clarifying that, KF. The thing I do agree with you about, absolutely, is that this isn't worth arguing over too much (in fact, I'm rather embarassed to see my above comments, added when the article was on meta, and when I was in a rather bad mood, back here on the Wikipedia proper). I certainly don't have a problem with pages on the wikipedia pointing to this page (if it's appropriate to do so, of course), but I think the page itself should certainly be on meta, for the reasons I gave above. I'm not trying to hide users' doubts about the project from newcomers, but I do think they should be given in the right place. Anyway, as you say, it's not worth wasting too much verbiage over. Back to the encyclopaedia (or whatever it is). --Camembert

A compiled list is by definition an archive. But the content has to be built first before any archive to be done. If you move all the content to an archive, where is the place where you actually *edit* the stuff ?
 * Not the archive...an archive should be stable, represent a situation at a given time...ideally, the archive should be not editable
 * not the article itself to your opinion since you immediately move any content added (when you don't just forget it) to a new archive...

so where do people edit an article if the article must remain a static envelop, nearly a redirect ????

What you are doing is anti-wiki....I put back the content

 * You can edit the stuff on meta. Go to meta, and click "Edit this page". There's no need to have this page on wikipedia in order to edit it. Like wikipedia, meta can be edited by anyone, with or without an account. Martin

That is not the point. This page is only here to reflect views of english editors of wikipedia, not of english editors of MetaPedia:What it thinks it is. This page is only a mirror. But a mirror needs a Narcisse, just as What it thinks it is needs editors to report what they think Wikipedia is. Right ?

So, it has nothing to do on meta. If you think Wikipedia is just what is said in About, then by all means, leave this page quiet. But if you think that Wikipedia is also an invasion of the idiots, and wish to state it somewhere, just put it here, on Wikipedia. (147.etc)

 * Commentary and debates about Wikipedia belong on Meta. This page is commentary. Therefore it belongs on Meta. A number of respected wikipedians take the same position. Therefore I shall move it. Martin

Oh, do let's have a vote block...

 * what does defines a vote block ??? (147.etc)

 * yes ? (147.etc)

 * I don't understand your question. Martin

 * Hummmm...the page is currently where it should be, on en. 'You' are the one asking for its removal, that means 'you' are the one trying to make things change. So...what is the block vote, and where does it apply ? (147.etc)

 * The "vote block" is the bulleted list below, briefly summarising the position of various people on the issue. It's a tool I find helpful in judging consensus. Martin

 * My apologies, 147 - a poor choice of font on my part. Martin

apologies accepted MyRedDice (147.etc)

 * keep this list on wikipedia, not on meta
 * 142 (banned), EntmootsOfTrolls (total of six edits), Athyrail (total of one edit) Athypique (total of four edits), 147 (not banned), KF
 * move that list on meta, not on wikipedia
 * Martin, Enchanter, Camembert, mav, Stephen Gilbert

I might be wrong MyRedDice, but I think your move is inappropriate. You claimed above a block vote would be a tool to reach consensus. In short, you clearly indicated your wish to reach a consensus. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe a consensus is a situation where all people concerned come to agree that the decision taken is fair, and respectful of all points of view.

In this case, I don't believe *any* consensus has been reached. Your moving that page to meta is just an unilateral decision, giving happiness to one side, and totally rejecting the other point of view. If all parties can't accept the decision has being fair, it is not consensus, thus contrary to the wiki way.

Other points that might be important, and that I must hint at, since you insisted in writing the number of edits of each party.

Isnot Wikipedia accepting edits from all users, be they anonymous or loggued in ? If it is, should not an anonymous voice should also have weight in decision making ? I don't think you are giving credit to an anonymous voice. If so, why don't you support making Wikipedia editable only by loggued in users ?

I think that article might be interesting for editors indeed; but also to readers who wish to know more about that project, how it was build, which principles it relies on...After all, what is an encyclopedia made for ? Just for people who wish to write ? Are maybe also a little bit for readers ? Then, how do you judge what readers want to read if you don't considered what they think and what they want ? Do only "writers" opinion count, and do you think the final consumer might also be interested in stating what he wants to read or not to read ? I think very unfortunate you reject opinions of readers, by stating they made only xx articles. You don't even mention they exist in other places, they might be editors on other wikis. But if they come here, and edit a couple of article, that they understand english enough to read it. Even if non-english speaking. So that's up to you to orient your choice in making an encyclopedia only for english people, or for all readers of english in the world. Someone might be good enough to read, but not good enough to write. Judging his opinion on his capacity to write, rather than to read, is a gross misconception of what the goal of an encyclopedia is.

So, let me propose another option. Or go read the consensus article please. (147.etc)

 * (off-topic) Anonymous (or near-anonymous) users, almost by definition, share the combined reputation of every anonymous user I have ever encountered, because they could, by definition, be any one of them. Two years ago, that reputation would be comparatively neutral. Unfortunately I have had some highly negative experiences with anonymous (or near-anonymous) users in recent times. I have also had experience with multiple near-anonymous people who turned out to be the same person. This is obviously unfair to those anonymous users who are nice people who do not deserve to share in the reputation of anonymous users in general. If you are such a person, you can solve this unfairness by ceasing to be anonymous.

 * (on-topic) Your last edit of the page is a little more acceptable to me than the previous one. I'm going to make a few tweaks to it though - see what you think... Martin 17:45 Mar 15, 2003 (UTC)

We have pages of pages of pages redirecting, finally to What it thinks it is. You can't redirect a redirect. -- Zoe

 * I fixed the two double-redirects. All good? :) Martin 22:51 15 Jun 2003 (UTC)

title: Wikipedia talk:What it thinks it is


text:
Talk:Nagano, Japan

What's wrong with having this at Nagano? -- Zoe

 * There are quite a few links that point to Nagano the city but should really go to Nagano prefecture. Samples are Prefectures of Japan, Japan and Politics of Japan. The content of Nagano chiefly refers to the city not the prefecture, hence I moved it. synthetik

title: Talk:Nagano, Japan


text:
User talk:ShameOnTerrorists

Stop creating rubbish. If you want to play use the sandbox. Mintguy

There are plenty of places on the internet for writing silly nonsense. Wikipedia is not one of them. Please take it seriously or go elsewhere. -- Infrogmation 05:30 Feb 6, 2003 (UTC)

What in the hell is 'B   H' by the way? Scuse' mah po ig'nance, -Stevert

Apparently it stands for Baruch Hashem, a Hebrew greeting used in a way similar to salam alykum I beleive... quercus robur 10:10 Feb 7, 2003 (UTC)

I took out some spaces at the beginnings of lines on your user page. Unfortunately the effect of these is to wreck the formatting of the page by creating paragraphs of "infinite" width, so it needs avoiding. 138.37.188.109 08:40 Feb 12, 2003 (UTC)

title: User talk:ShameOnTerrorists