Japan is divided into 47 local jurisdictions. Namely, one metropolitan district (都; To), Tokyo; one circuit (道; Dō), Hokkaido; two urban prefectures (府; Fu), Osaka and Kyoto); and 43 rural prefectures (県; Ken). In Japanese they are commonly referred to as Todōfuken (都道府県).
The current system was established by the Meiji government in 1871 and is known as the abolition of the Han system. In 2003, Prime Minister Koizumi proposed that the government consolidate the current prefectures into about 10 regional states. The plan called for each region to have greater autonomy than existing prefectures.
| Prefecture | Japanese | Capital | Region | Island | Population 1 | Area 2 | Density 3 | Districts | Municipalities | ISO 3166-2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aichi | 愛知県 | Nagoya | Chubu | Honshu | 7,043,235 | 5,153.81 | 1,366 | 15 | 88 | JP-23 |
| Akita | 秋田県 | Akita | Tohoku | Honshu | 1,189,215 | 11,612.11 | 102 | 9 | 69 | JP-05 |
| Aomori | 青森県 | Aomori | Tohoku | Honshu | 1,475,635 | 9,606.26 | 154 | 8 | 67 | JP-02 |
| Chiba | 千葉県 | Chiba | Kanto | Honshu | 5,926,349 | 5,156.15 | 1,149 | 9 | 80 | JP-12 |
| Ehime | 愛媛県 | Matsuyama | Shikoku | Shikoku | 1,493,126 | 5,676.44 | 263 | 11 | 70 | JP-38 |
| Fukui | 福井県 | Fukui | Chubu | Honshu | 828,960 | 4,188.76 | 198 | 10 | 35 | JP-18 |
| Fukuoka | 福岡県 | Fukuoka | Kyushu | Kyushu | 5,015,666 | 4,971.01 | 1,009 | 17 | 97 | JP-40 |
| Fukushima | 福島県 | Fukushima | Tohoku | Honshu | 2,126,998 | 13,782.54 | 154 | 15 | 90 | JP-07 |
| Gifu | 岐阜県 | Gifu | Chubu | Honshu | 2,107,687 | 10,598.18 | 199 | 17 | 99 | JP-21 |
| Gunma | 群馬県 | Maebashi | Kanto | Honshu | 2,024,820 | 6,363.16 | 318 | 12 | 70 | JP-10 |
| Hiroshima | 広島県 | Hiroshima | Chugoku | Honshu | 2,878,949 | 8,476.95 | 340 | 15 | 86 | JP-34 |
| Hokkaido | 北海道 | Sapporo | Hokkaido | Hokkaido | 5,682,950 | 83,452.47 | 68 | 66 | 212 | JP-01 |
| Hyogo | 兵庫県 | Kobe | Kinki | Honshu | 5,550,742 | 8,392.42 | 661 | 19 | 88 | JP-28 |
| Ibaraki | 茨城県 | Mito | Kanto | Honshu | 2,985,424 | 6,095.62 | 490 | 14 | 84 | JP-08 |
| Ishikawa | 石川県 | Kanazawa | Chubu | Honshu | 1,180,935 | 4,185.32 | 282 | 8 | 41 | JP-17 |
| Iwate | 岩手県 | Morioka | Tohoku | Honshu | 1,416,198 | 15,278.51 | 93 | 12 | 59 | JP-03 |
| Kagawa | 香川県 | Takamatsu | Shikoku | Shikoku | 1,022,843 | 1,861.70 | 549 | 7 | 43 | JP-37 |
| Kagoshima | 鹿児島県 | Kagoshima | Kyushu | Kyushu | 1,786,214 | 9,132.42 | 196 | 12 | 96 | JP-46 |
| Kanagawa | 神奈川県 | Yokohama | Kanto | Honshu | 8,489,932 | 2,415.42 | 3,515 | 7 | 37 | JP-14 |
| Kochi | 高知県 | Kochi | Shikoku | Shikoku | 813,980 | 7,104.70 | 115 | 7 | 53 | JP-39 |
| Kumamoto | 熊本県 | Kumamoto | Kyushu | Kyushu | 1,859,451 | 6,908.45 | 269 | 11 | 94 | JP-43 |
| Kyoto | 京都府 | Kyoto | Kinki | Honshu | 2,644,331 | 4,612.93 | 573 | 12 | 44 | JP-26 |
| Mie | 三重県 | Tsu | Kinki | Honshu | 1,857,365 | 5760.72 | 322 | 14 | 69 | JP-24 |
| Miyagi | 宮城県 | Sendai | Tohoku | Honshu | 2,365,204 | 6,861.51 | 325 | 15 | 71 | JP-04 |
| Miyazaki | 宮崎県 | Miyazaki | Kyushu | Kyushu | 1,170,023 | 6,684.67 | 175 | 8 | 44 | JP-45 |
| Nagano | 長野県 | Nagano | Chubu | Honshu | 2,214,409 | 12,598.48 | 163 | 16 | 120 | JP-20 |
| Nagasaki | 長崎県 | Nagasaki | Kyushu | Kyushu | 1,516,536 | 4,092.80 | 371 | 9 | 79 | JP-42 |
| Nara | 奈良県 | Nara | Kinki | Honshu | 1,442,862 | 3,691.09 | 391 | 8 | 47 | JP-29 |
| Niigata | 新潟県 | Niigata | Chubu | Honshu | 2,475,724 | 12,582.37 | 197 | 16 | 111 | JP-15 |
| Oita | 大分県 | Oita | Kyushu | Kyushu | 1,221,128 | 5,804.24 | 210 | 12 | 58 | JP-44 |
| Okayama | 岡山県 | Okayama | Chugoku | Honshu | 1,950,656 | 7,008.63 | 278 | 18 | 78 | JP-33 |
| Okinawa | 沖縄県 | Naha | Kyushu | Okinawa | 1,318,281 | 2,271.30 | 580 | 5 | 53 | JP-47 |
| Osaka | 大阪府 | Osaka | Kinki | Honshu | 8,804,806 | 1,893.18 | 4,652 | 5 | 44 | JP-27 |
| Saga | 佐賀県 | Saga | Kyushu | Kyushu | 876,664 | 2,439.23 | 359 | 8 | 49 | JP-41 |
| Saitama | 埼玉県 | Saitama | Kanto | Honshu | 6,938,004 | 3,767.09 | 1,827 | 9 | 90 | JP-11 |
| Shiga | 滋賀県 | Otsu | Kinki | Honshu | 1,342,811 | 4,017.36 | 334 | 11 | 50 | JP-25 |
| Shimane | 島根県 | Matsue | Chugoku | Honshu | 761,499 | 6,707.32 | 114 | 12 | 59 | JP-32 |
| Shizuoka | 静岡県 | Shizuoka | Chubu | Honshu | 3,767,427 | 7,328.61 | 484 | 12 | 74 | JP-22 |
| Tochigi | 栃木県 | Utsunomiya | Kanto | Honshu | 2,004,787 | 6,408.28 | 313 | 7 | 49 | JP-09 |
| Tokushima | 徳島県 | Tokushima | Shikoku | Shikoku | 823,997 | 4,145.26 | 199 | 10 | 50 | JP-36 |
| Tokyo | 東京都 | Shinjuku | Kanto | Honshu | 12,059,237 | 2,187.08 | 5,514 | 1 | 39 | JP-13 |
| Tottori | 鳥取県 | Tottori | Chugoku | Honshu | 613,229 | 3,507.19 | 175 | 6 | 39 | JP-31 |
| Toyama | 富山県 | Toyama | Chubu | Honshu | 1,120,843 | 4,247.22 | 264 | 7 | 35 | JP-16 |
| Wakayama | 和歌山県 | Wakayama | Kinki | Honshu | 1,069,839 | 4,725.55 | 226 | 7 | 50 | JP-30 |
| Yamagata | 山形県 | Yamagata | Tohoku | Honshu | 1,244,040 | 9,323.34 | 133 | 9 | 44 | JP-06 |
| Yamaguchi | 山口県 | Yamaguchi | Chugoku | Honshu | 1,528,107 | 6,110.76 | 250 | 11 | 56 | JP-35 |
| Yamanashi | 山梨県 | Kofu | Chubu | Honshu | 888,170 | 4,465.37 | 199 | 8 | 64 | JP-19 |