Shizuoka Prefecture

History

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

The area was the home of the first Tokugawa shōgun. Tokugawa Ieyasu held the region until he conquered the lands of the Hōjō clan in the Kantō region and placed land under the stewardship of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. After becoming shōgun, Tokugawa took the land back for his family and put the area around modern-day Shizuoka City under the direct supervision of the shogunate. With the creation of the Shizuoka han from the Sunpu Domain in 1868, it once again became the residence of the Tokugawa family.

Geography

Shizuoka Prefecture is an elongated region following the coast of the Pacific Ocean at the Suruga Bay. In the west, the prefecture extends deep into the Japan Alps. In the east, it becomes a narrower coast bounded in the north by Mount Fuji, until it comes to the Izu Peninsula, a popular resort area pointing south into the Pacific.

11% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as natural parks, namely the Fuji-Hakone-Izu and Minami Alps National Parks; Tenryū-Okumikawa Quasi-National Park; and four Prefectural Natural Parks.

Climate

In Shizuoka prefecture, the temperature, over the course of the year, typically varies from 1.1 °C (34 °F) to 30.5 °C (87 °F) and is rarely below -2.2 °C (28 °F) or above 33.8 °C (93 °F.) The summers in Shizuoka are warm, oppressive, and mostly cloudy; the winters are very cold, windy, and mostly clear.

Disaster

On 15 March 2011, Shizuoka Prefecture was hit with a magnitude 6.2 earthquake approximately 42 km NNE of Shizuoka City. It is said, that throughout history, Shizuoka area has experienced a large earthquake every 100 to 150 years.

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Demographics

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

Municipalities

Since 2010, Shizuoka has consisted of 35 municipalities: 23 cities and 12 towns.

File:Nihondaira from shizuoka plain.JPG|Shizuoka City File:Hamamatsu City - panoramio (1).jpg|Hamamatsu File:Numazu and Mount Fuji.jpg|Numazu and Mount Fuji File:Fujinomiya 20120909.jpg|Fujinomiya File:Atami 20170211-1.jpg|Atami

Mergers

Main article: List of mergers in Shizuoka Prefecture

After the introduction of modern municipalities in 1889, Shizuoka consisted of 337 municipalities: 1 (by definition: district-independent) city and 23 districts with 31 towns and 305 villages. The Great Shōwa mergers of the 1950s reduced the total from 281 to 97 between 1953 and 1960, including 18 cities by then. The Great Heisei mergers of the 2000s combined the 74 remaining municipalities in the year 2000 into the current 35 by 2010.

List of governors of Shizuoka (since 1947)

Industry

Home to a shogun, cherry shrimp, and Japan's green tea heartland. Situated along Suruga Bay between Tokyo and Nagoya on the historic Tokaido route, the Pacific coast city of Shizuoka is famed for supplying most of Japan's tea and maguro tuna.

Motorcycles

Shizuoka-based companies are world leaders in several major industrial sectors. Honda, Yamaha, and Suzuki all have their roots in Shizuoka prefecture and are still manufacturing here. Thanks to this, Shizuoka prefecture accounts for 28% of Japanese motorcycle exports.

Musical instruments

Yamaha and Kawai are both global piano brands. Yamaha has the largest share in the global piano market. Kawai has the second largest share. They both got their start in Shizuoka prefecture in the early twentieth century.

Yamaha and Roland are major brand for electronic musical instruments. In the electronic piano world market, Yamaha has the world's largest share. Roland and Kawai have the second and third place share. Roland and Yamaha also manufacture high-quality synthesizers and drum machines for professional musicians.

In addition, various instruments such as wind instruments and guitars are manufactured in this prefecture. There are about 200 companies that manufacture musical instruments, in this prefecture.

Most of these musical instruments are especially produced in Hamamatsu City.

File:YAMAHA (headquarters 3).jpg|Yamaha headquarters File:Yamaha Motor HQ new bldg 250922.jpg|Yamaha Motor headquarters File:SUZUKI-MotorHQ.jpg|Suzuki headquarters File:2025 Yamaha YZF-R9.jpg|Yamaha motorcycles File:Suzuki GW250 2011 Tokyo Motor Show.jpg|Suzuki motorcycles File:PRESTIGE 680 (28998149032).jpg|Yamaha Yacht File:Yamaha Outboard Motors 001.JPG|Yamaha outboard motors File:SUZUKI MARINE, Engine DF90AT, Outboard motor,.jpg|Suzuki outboard motors File:Yamaha grand piano, Piano Recital 2012.jpg|Yamaha grand piano File:Matt Bellamy Lollapalooza 2007.jpg|Kawai grand piano File:Yamaha P-140S top view.jpg|Yamaha electronic piano File:Roland D-50 Front (tweaked image).jpg|Roland D-50 synthesizer File:TR-808 - MIM, Phoenix (2019-08-30 14.59.26 by Bryan Pocius) (cropped).jpg|Roland TR-808. An iconic drum machine by Roland. File:Yamaha guitars, NAMM 2011.jpg|Yamaha acoustic guitars File:Yamaha SG1802, Guitar-Day 2010.jpg|Yamaha electric guitars File:Musical instruments on display at the MIM (14165208240).jpg|Yamaha wind instruments

Transportation

Rail

• Enshū Railway
• Gakunan Railway
• Izuhakone Railway
  • Daiyūzan Line
  • Sunzu Line
• Izukyū
• JR Central
  • Tōkaidō Shinkansen
  • Iida Line
  • Gotenba Line
  • Minobu Line
  • Tōkaidō Line (Atami–Toyohashi)
• JR East
  • Tōkaidō Line (Atami–Odawara)
  • Itō Line
• Ōigawa Railway
• Shizuoka Railway
• Tenryū Hamanako Railroad

Roads

Expressways

• Chūbu-Ōdan Expressway
• Izu-Jūkan Expressway
• San-en Nanshin Expressway
• Shin-Tōmei Expressway
• Tōmei Expressway

Toll roads

• Fujinomiya Road
• Nishi-Fuji Road
• Shizuoka East-West Road
• Shizuoka South-North Road
• West Fuji Road (not a toll road anymore as of 2012)

National highways

• National Route 1
• National Route 42
• National Route 52
• National Route 135
• National Route 136
• National Route 138
• National Route 139
• National Route 149
• National Route 150
• National Route 152
• National Route 246
• National Route 257
• National Route 301
• National Route 362
• National Route 414
• National Route 469
• National Route 473
• National Route 474

Airports

• Shizuoka Airport

Ports

• Shimizu Port
• Atami Port and Shimoda Port – Mainly ferry route to Izu Island
• Numazu Port

Education

Universities

National universities

• Graduate University for Advanced Studies (Mishima Campus, National Institute of Genetics)
• Hamamatsu University School of Medicine
• Shizuoka University

Public universities

• Shizuoka University of Art and Culture
• University of Shizuoka

Private universities

• Fuji Tokoha University
• Hamamatsu University
• Hamamatsu Gakuin University
• Juntendo University (Mishima Campus)
• Nihon University (Mishima Campus)
• Seirei Christopher University
• Shizuoka Eiwa Gakuin University
• Shizuoka Institute of Science and Technology
• Shizuoka Sangyo University
• Shizuoka University of Welfare
• Tokai University (Shimizu and Numazu Campuses)
• Tokoha Gakuen University
• Tokyo Women's Medical University (Daito Campus)

Senior high schools

• Hamana High School
• Hiryū High School
• Numazu Commercial High School
• Shizuoka Gakuen Junior and Senior High School
• Shizuoka Prefectural High School
• Shizuoka Prefectural Susono High School

Sports

The sports teams listed below are based in Shizuoka.

Basketball

• San-en NeoPhoenix

Motorsport

• Fuji International Speedway

Rugby

• Yamaha Júbilo (Iwata)

Football

• Shimizu S-Pulse (Shimizu, Shizuoka)
• Júbilo Iwata (Iwata)
  • Matches between the above two teams, both currently in the top flight of the J. League, are known as the Shizuoka derby.
• Honda F.C. (Hamamatsu)
• Azul Claro Numazu (Numazu)
• Fujieda MYFC (Fujieda)

Volleyball

• Toray Arrows (men's volleyball team) (Mishima city)

Tourism

Museums

• Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art

Theme parks

• Air Park Japan Air Self-Defense Force Hamamatsu Public Information Building)
• Shimizu Sushi Museum

Festivals and events

• Daidogei World Cup in central Shizuoka City, held in November
• Enshu Daimyo Festival in Iwata, held in April
• Mishima Festival, held in August
• Numazu Festival, held in July
• Shimizu Port Festival, held on 5 to 7 August
• Shimoda Black Ship Festival, held in May
• Shizuoka Festival, held in April

File:Fujinomiya Hongu Sengen Taisha Honden.jpg|Fujisan Hongū Sengen Taisha Fujinomiya File:181124 Shuzenji Onsen Izu Shizuoka pref Japan01s3.jpg|Shuzenji Onsen Izu File:Sunpu-castle tatsumi-yagura.JPG|Sunpu Castle Shizuoka Aoi-ku File:Hamamatsu.JPG|Hamamatsu Castle Hamamatsu Chūō-ku File:Kakegawa castle.jpg|Kakegawa Castle Kakegawa File:静岡県立美術館-1.JPG|Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art Shizuoka Suruga-ku File:LakeSanaru2.JPG|Lake Sanaru Hamamatsu Nishi-ku File:BentenjimaKaihinkoenHamamatsu1.jpg|Lake Hamana Hamamatsu Nishi-ku File:Beach in Atami City with sea bathers.jpg|Atami Sun Beach Atami File:Prunus lannesiana cv. Kawazu-zakura 05.jpg|Kawazu Cherry blossom Kamo District Kawazu File:Mt Fuji at Mihonomatsubara.jpg|Miho no Matsubara Shizuoka Shimizu-ku File:富士サファリパーク ライオン2 Fuji-safari-park-Lion2.jpg|Fuji Safari Park Susono File:Hanahaku2014-4.JPG|Hamanako Garden Park Hamamatsu Nishi-ku File:Snowtown Yeti.JPG|Snowtown Yeti & Mount Fuji Susono File:Haiden of Kunozan Toshogu.jpg|Kunōzan Tōshō-gū Shizuoka Suruga-ku File:Jogasaki Coast 20111016 b.jpg|Jogasaki Coast Itō

Notable people

Motoo Kimura (木村 資生, 1924–1994), biologist and theoretical population geneticist, died in Shizuoka Prefecture

Notes

References

• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ; OCLC 58053128

References

1. "2020年度国民経済計算（2015年基準・2008SNA） : 経済社会総合研究所 - 内閣府".
2. NHK Publishing. (24 May 2016)
3. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Shizuoka-ken" in {{Google books. p2QnPijAEmEC. ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 876. p2QnPijAEmEC. p. 126
4. Nussbaum, "Shizuoka" at {{Google books. p2QnPijAEmEC. p. 876
5. Nussbaum, "Provinces and prefectures" at {{Google books. p2QnPijAEmEC. p. 780
6. (1 April 2012). "General overview of area figures for Natural Parks by prefecture". [[Ministry of the Environment (Japan).
7. [https://weatherspark.com/y/143722/Average-Weather-in-Shizuoka-Japan-Year-Round weatherspark, Shizuoka prefecture.]
8. [https://toukei.pref.shizuoka.jp/jinkoushugyouhan/data/02-010/documents/r2sokuhou.pdf Shizuoka prefecture official statistics（令和2年国勢調査 静岡県の人口（速報値））]
9. "Shizuoka Prefecture official website, Industry in Shizuoka.".
10. [http://g.kyoto-art.ac.jp/reports/1131/ (In Japanese) Kyoto University of Arts, Musical instruments industry in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka prefecture.]
11. "About Air Park Japan Air Self-Defense Force Hamamatsu Public Information Building – Shizuoka Travel Guide {{!}} Planetyze".
12. "About Shimizu Sushi Museum – Shizuoka Travel Guide {{!}} Planetyze".