Shizuoka Prefecture

Shizuoka Prefecture

Shizuoka Prefecture (静岡県, Shizuoka-ken; Japanese pronunciation: [ɕi.(d)zɯꜜ.o.ka, ɕi.(d)zɯ.o.kaꜜ.keɴ]) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. As of September 2023, Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of 7,777.42 km2 (3,002.88 sq mi). Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northeast, Nagano Prefecture to the north, and Aichi Prefecture to the west.

Shizuoka is the capital and Hamamatsu is the largest city in Shizuoka Prefecture, with other major cities including Fuji, Numazu, and Iwata. Shizuoka Prefecture is located on Japan's Pacific Ocean coast and features Suruga Bay formed by the Izu Peninsula, and Lake Hamana which is considered to be one of Japan's largest lakes. Mount Fuji, the tallest volcano in Japan and cultural icon of the country, is partially located in Shizuoka Prefecture on the border with Yamanashi Prefecture. Shizuoka Prefecture has a significant motoring heritage as the founding location of Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha, and is home to the Fuji International Speedway.

View of Mt. Fuji from Numazu

History

Shizuoka Prefecture

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

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

Geography

Shizuoka Prefecture

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

As of April 2012, 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 (26 mi) NNE of Shizuoka City. It is said, that throughout history, Shizuoka area has experienced a large earthquake every 100 to 150 years.

See also: Tōkai earthquakes

Demographics

Shizuoka prefecture population pyramid in 2020

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.

• Shizuoka City • Hamamatsu • Numazu and Mount Fuji • Fujinomiya • Atami

Mergers

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)

Shizuoka Prefecture

#	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office	Political Party
1	Takeji Kobayashi (小林武治) (1899–1988)	23 April 1947	22 April 1951	Independent
2	Toshio Saito (斎藤寿夫) (1908–1999)	1 May 1951	8 January 1967	Liberal Party (1951–1959) Liberal Democratic Party (1959–1967)
3	Yutaro Takeyama (竹山祐太郎) (1901–1982)	31 January 1967	24 June 1974	LDP
4	Keizaburo Yamamoto (山本敬三郎) (1913–2006)	10 June 1974	6 July 1986	LDP
5	Shigeyoshi Saito (斉藤滋与史) (1918–2018)	7 July 1986	23 June 1993	LDP
6	Yoshinobu Ishikawa (石川嘉延) (born in 1940)	3 August 1993	17 June 2009	Independent
7	Heita Kawakatsu (川勝平太) (born in 1948)	7 July 2009	9 May 2024	Independent
8	Yasutomo Suzuki (鈴木康友) (born in 1957)	28 May 2024	Incumbent	Independent

Industry

Shizuoka Prefecture

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.

• Yamaha headquarters • Yamaha Motor headquarters • Suzuki headquarters • Yamaha motorcycles • Suzuki motorcycles • Yamaha Yacht • Yamaha outboard motors • Suzuki outboard motors • Yamaha grand piano • Kawai grand piano • Yamaha electronic piano • Roland D-50 synthesizer • Roland TR-808. An iconic drum machine by Roland. • Yamaha acoustic guitars • Yamaha electric guitars • Yamaha wind instruments

Transportation

Rail

Tōkaidō Shinkansen

Minobu Line

Izuhakone Railway

Gakunan Railway

Ōigawa Railway

• 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

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)

Airports

Shizuoka Airport

Ports

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

Education

Universities

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

• Shizuoka University of Art and Culture • University of Shizuoka

• 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

Shizuoka Prefecture

Shimizu S-Pulse playing at the IAI Stadium Nihondaira in Shimizu-ku

The sports teams listed below are based in Shizuoka.

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

• Museum of Natural and Environmental History, Shizuoka • Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art

Theme parks

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

Festivals and events

A kite festival in Hamamatsu, May 2013

• 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

• Fujisan Hongū Sengen Taisha Fujinomiya • Shuzenji Onsen Izu • Sunpu Castle Shizuoka Aoi-ku • Hamamatsu Castle Hamamatsu Chūō-ku • Kakegawa Castle Kakegawa • Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art Shizuoka Suruga-ku • Lake Sanaru Hamamatsu Nishi-ku • Lake Hamana Hamamatsu Nishi-ku • Atami Sun Beach Atami • Kawazu Cherry blossom Kamo District Kawazu • Miho no Matsubara Shizuoka Shimizu-ku • Fuji Safari Park Susono • Hamanako Garden Park Hamamatsu Nishi-ku • Snowtown Yeti & Mount Fuji Susono • Kunōzan Tōshō-gū Shizuoka Suruga-ku • Jogasaki Coast Itō

Notable people

Shizuoka Prefecture

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