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Japanese Subdivisions

Last modified: 2003-08-09 by phil nelson
Keywords: japan | prefectures | islands: japan | mon |
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The characters ô and û are used instead of the correct characters (o and u with a horizontal line above) that in Japanese transliterations indicate long vowels. Between brackets : ISO-3166-2 codes

Prefectures ordered alphabetically Prefectures ordered geographically
  • region
    • prefecture

See also:

Mon symbols

The flags of the Japanese prefectures use Mon symbols. I view them as heraldry made modern. The Kanji written by them reflect not only ancient chinese pictograms, but also alliteration or sound. From a language viewpoint, the Mon of the various prefectures make much more meaning than most of the western world's corporate logos.
Bruce Ward - 1996-05-03

Karafuto

Karafuto is (was) the japanese name for Sakhalin, or at least for the southern part of it. I think the island was lost to Russia in 1911, but some of it was briefly regained by Japan in WWII. The local name, which is neither Russian nor Japanese, I do not know, but it's aboriginal people -- the Ainu -- name collectively both islands (Sakhalin and Hokkaido) Ainu Moshir, i.e., Ainu Fatherland.
Antonio Martins - 1996-11-25

Flags of Islands or Island groups