FUKUI PREFECTURE

is located in the Chūbu region on Honshū island, Japan. The capital is the city of Fukui.

Contents

History

Geography

Cities

Towns and villages

Mergers

Economy

Demographics

Culture

Tourism

Prefectural symbols

Miscellaneous topics

External links

History

Fukui originally consisted of the old provinces of Wakasa and Echizen, before the prefecture was formed in 1871.
During the Edo period, the daimyō of the region was surnamed Matsudaira, and was a descendant of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Geography

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

Cities

Nine cities are located in Fukui Prefecture:

★ Awara

★ Echizen

★ Fukui (capital)

★ Katsuyama

★ Obama

★ Ōno

★ Sabae

★ Sakai

★ Tsuruga

Towns and villages

Towns and villages in each district:

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

★ Nyū District:Echizen ★ Ōi District:Ōi:Takahama ★ Yoshida District:Eiheiji

Mergers

Main articles: Merger and dissolution of municipalities of Japan


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Economy

Demographics

Culture

★ Fukui Prefecture is home to Maruoka-jō, the oldest castle still standing in Japan. It was built in 1572.

★ Eiheiji is a serene temple offering training and education to Buddhist monks. Founded by Dogen Zenji in 1244, Eiheiji is located on a plot of land of about 330,000 m².

★ Many dinosaur fossils have been excavated in Fukui and they can been seen at the Fukui Dinosaur Museum.

★ Residents of Fukui Prefecture have a distinctive accent, Fukui-ben.

Tourism

★ Echizen Kaigan Coast

★ Eihei Temple

★ Tojimbo, a scenic piece of coastline.

★ Visitors to Fukui can enjoy eating ''echizen-gani'' crabs prepared by local residents. Male crabs are called ''zuwai'' and female ones are called ''seiko''. Another traditional sea-side Fukui dish is ''genge'', a small guppy-like fish, that when eaten raw as sashimi, gives the body a brief tingling sensation.

Prefectural symbols

Miscellaneous topics

External links

★ Official Fukui Prefecture homepage

★ Snowboarders and Skiers from Fukui