Fukui Prefecture

Fukui Prefecture (福井県 Fukui-ken) is located in the Chubu region on Honshu island, Japan. The capital is the city of Fukui.

History

Fukui originally consisted of the old provinces of Wakasa and Echizen, before the prefecture was formed in 1871.

During the Edo period, the daimyo 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 (former Wakasa) which is a narrow plain between the mountains and the sea, and a larger eastern part (former Echizen) with wider plains including the capital and most of the population.

Cities

• Awara
• Fukui (capital)
• Katsuyama
• Obama
• Ono
• Sabae
• Takefu
• Tsuruga

Towns and villages

These are the towns and villages in each district.

Mergers

Echizen town merger

On February 1, 2005 two towns and a village in Nyu District merged with the existing town of Echizen: Asahi, Miyazaki, and Ota.

Minamiechizen merger

On January 1, 2005 all the municipalities in Nanjō District (a village and two towns) merged, forming the new town of Minamiechizen: Imajo, Kono, and Nanjo.

Awara merger

On March 1, 2004 two towns in Sakai District merged, forming the new city of Awara: Ashihara and Kanazu.

Economy

Demographics

Culture

• Fukui Prefecture is home to Maruoka-jo, 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

• Visitors to Fukui can enjoy eating echizen-gani crabs. By the local residents, male crabs are called zuwai and female ones are called seiko.

Prefectural symbols

Miscellaneous topics

External links

• Official Fukui Prefecture homepage