Kagoshima Prefecture

Kagoshima Prefecture
	Kagoshima Prefecture
Japanese:	鹿児島県
	Kagoshima-ken
Capital	Kagoshima
Region	Kyūshū
Island	Kyūshū
Governor	Yūichirō Itō
Area (rank)	9,132.42 km² (10th)
- % water	0.2%
	Population (2000)
- Population	1,786,214 (24th)
- Density	196 /km²
Districts	11
Municipalities	49
ISO 3166-2	JP-46
Website	www3.pref.kagoshima.jp/; foreign/english/
	Prefectural Symbols
- Flower	Miyamakirishima (Rhododendron kiusianum)
- Tree	Camphor laurel; (Cinnamomum camphora)
- Bird	Lidth's Jay (Garrulus lidthi)
- Fish	{{{Fish}}}
	; Symbol of Kagoshima Prefecture
	Template ■ Discussion ■ WikiProject Japan

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Kagoshima Prefecture (鹿児島県, Kagoshima-ken^?) is a prefecture of Japan located on Kyūshū island. The capital is the city of Kagoshima.

[edit] Geography

Map of Kagoshima Prefecture.

Kagoshima Prefecture is located at the southwest tip of Kyūshū and includes a chain of islands stretching further to the southwest for a few hundred kilometers. The most important group is the Amami Islands. Surrounded by the Yellow Sea to the west, at least since 1879 by Okinawa Prefecture in the south, Kumamoto Prefecture to the north, and Miyazaki Prefecture to the east, it has 2,632km of coastline (including the 28 islands). It has a bay called Kagoshima Bay (Kinkowan), which is sandwiched by two peninsulas, Satsuma and Ōsumi. Its position made it a 'gateway' to Japan at various times in history. While Kyushu has about 13 million people there are less than 2 million in this prefecture.

The prefecture boasts a chain of active and dormant volcanoes, including the great Sakurajima, which towers out of the Kagoshima bay opposite Kagoshima city. A steady trickle of smoke and ash emerges from the caldera, punctuated by louder mini-eruptions on an almost daily basis. On active days in Kagoshima city an umbrella is advisable to ward off the ash. Sakurajima is one of Japan's most active volcanoes. Major eruptions occurred in 1914, when the island mountain spilled enough material to become permanently connected to the mainland, and a lesser eruption in 1960. Volcanic materials in the soil make Sakurajima a source for record daikon radishes, roughly the size of a basketball. Many beaches around the Kagoshima Bay are littered with well-worn pumice stones. A crater lake in the southwestern tip of the prefecture, near the spa town of Ibusuki, is home to a rare species of giant eel.

[edit] History

Kagoshima Prefecture corresponds to the ancient Japanese provinces Ōsumi and Satsuma, including the northern part of the Ryukyu Islands. This region played a key role in the Meiji Restoration (Saigo Takamori), and the city of Kagoshima was an important naval base during Japan's 20th century wars and the home of admiral Tōgō Heihachirō. More recent incidents are the sinking of a North Korean spy ship (100 ton class) in 2001 by the coast guard, which was later salvaged and exhibited in Tokyo, and the abduction of an office clerk from a Kagoshima beach in 1978 by agents from the same country. This became known only recently under the Koizumi administration.

[edit] Sister relations

October 1989 duo-declaration

November 28, 1966 became a sister state

July 27, 1971 Became a sister prefecture

[edit] Region

The following is a list of Kagoshima Prefecture's cities, and its administrative districts with their constituent towns and villages:

[edit] Cities

[edit] Districts

Aira District
- Aira
- Kajiki
- Kamō
- Yūsui
Izumi District
- Nagashima
Kagoshima District
- Mishima
- Toshima
Kimotsuki District
Kumage District

Ōshima District
- Amagi
- China
- Isen
- Kikai
- Setouchi
- Tatsugō
- Tokunoshima
- Uken
- Wadomari
- Yamato
- Yoron
Satsuma District
- Satsuma
Soo District
- Ōsaki

[edit] Mergers

Main article: List of mergers in Kagoshima Prefecture

In the 2000s, many administrative mergers of cities towns and districts have occurred in Kagoshima Prefecture.

[edit] Recreation

Although there are strong highschool teams, no major baseball or soccer club is based in the prefecture. A number of Kagoshima's ballparks play host to well-known teams:

Kagoshima Prefectural Ballpark (鹿児島県立球場) Camp home of Chiba Lotte Marines
Kagoshima Municipal Ballpark (鹿児島市営球場)
Ibusuki Municipal Ballpark (指宿市営球場) Camp home of Kokutesu Swallows
Yunomoto Ballpark (湯之元球場) Camp home of Yakult Atoms
Kagoshima Prefectural Kamonoike Trackfield (鹿児島県立鴨池陸上競技場)　Camp home of Júbilo Iwata
Kagoshima Fureai Sportsland (鹿児島ふれあいスポーツランド) Camp home of Sagan Tosu
Kagoshima Prefectural Kamonoike Trackfield (鹿児島県立鴨池陸上競技場)　Camp home of Toshiba Fuchu Brave Rupas

The Kirishima-Yaku National Park is located in Kagoshima Prefecture.

No other prefecture has more pachinko parlors per capita than Kagoshima.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Colleges and Universities

Kagoshima University (鹿児島大学)
National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya (鹿屋体育大学)
The International University of Kagoshima (鹿児島国際大学)
Daiichi Institute of Technology (第一工業大学)
Shigakukan University (志學館大学)
Kagoshima Prefectural College (鹿児島県立短期大学)
Kagoshima Immaculate Heart College (鹿児島純心女子短期大学)
Kagoshima Woman's College(鹿児島女子短期大学)
Daiichi Junior College of Infant Education (第一幼児教育短期大学)
The International University of Kagoshima, Junior College (鹿児島国際大学短期大学部)

[edit] Economy

GPP : 4,834,400 m yen ($44,170,000,000)

The prefecture has strong agricultural roots: green tea, sweet potato, radish, Pongee rice, Satsuma pottery and kurobuta pork.

In 2005 about 120 000 tons of fish were entered at Makurazaki harbor.^{[citation needed]}. Tourism is steadily increasing also from the neighboring countries. Electric power generation is an economic factor in the prefecture. Lacking a major industrial exporter the biggest corporation is Iwasaki Group of transport, hotels, gardens and Australian holdings.

The drilling for oil and gas in the middle of the Yellow Sea also could be seen as a prefectural concern.