Fukushima Prefecture

The Fukushima Prefecture ( [ ɸɯkɯɕima ], jap福岛 県, Fukushima - ken) is a prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Tōhoku region on the island of Honshu. Seat of the prefectural government is the city of Fukushima.

Geography

Fukushima is the southernmost prefecture of Tōhoku region and itself divided into three regions: Hamadōri (浜 通り), Nakadori (中通り) and Aizu (会 津).

Hamadōri with an area of ​​2971 km ² forms the eastern part and extends from the Pacific Ocean to the ridge of Abukuma highlands (阿 武 隈 高地, Abukuma Kochi). The region is the flattest and has a warm maritime climate.

This is followed by Nakadori region concludes with 5366 km ², which extends to the ridge of Ou mountain range. It is not only the geographical but also the economic center with Kōriyama, and political and cultural center of the capital of the prefecture of Fukushima.

The western region is Aizu with 5342 km ². It consists to a large extent from the high mountains and is therefore considered since time immemorial as a remote. However, larger tanks are located in the East and the elongated Aizu Basin (会 津 盆地, Aizu - bonchi ) with the Regional Centre Aizu - Wakamatsu or neighboring Inawashiro Basin (猪苗 代 盆地, Inawashiro- bonchi ) between the foot of Bandai and Inawashiro- See - the fourth largest with 103 square kilometers, Japan's lake. From here to the north of the region, the Bandai- Asahi National Park stretches while the Nikko National Park is in the southwest with the Ozegahara Mountain High Moor. In addition, located in Aizu the Hiuchi, the highest with 2356 m mountain of Tōhoku.

History

The area of Fukushima was incorporated not earlier than the 4th century in the Japanese federation. The Fukushima prefecture goes back to its extension to the provinces of Iwase and Iwaki founded 718. The former covered the coast ( Hamadōri ) and the latter on the hinterland ( Nakadori and Aizu ) of today's Fukushima. Both already went back 724 in the province of Michinoku on, from which they were removed previously. However, these as a model, which was founded in 1869 and provinces Iwaki Iwashiro ( Iwashiro is also the presumed correct name of the former Iwase be ) served. Within these provinces, there were several fief ( han ) in 1871 and replaced by the three prefectures of Fukushima, Wakamatsu (若 松 県, - ken) and Iwamae (磐 前 県, - ken) were replaced. The Fukushima Prefecture was named this case on their capital Fukushima, whose name comes ultimately from the no longer existing castle, the seat of the former fief was Fukushima. 1876 ​​the latter both prefectures of Fukushima Prefecture were slammed, which thereby acquired its present form.

In the worst earthquake ever recorded in Japan, the Tohoku earthquake on 11 March 2011, the prefecture was one of the worst affected areas with the second highest level of intensity 6- strong on the JMA scale. This also led to severe accidents and accidents at nuclear power plants in Fukushima I and Fukushima II, which resulted in Japan's history of nuclear emergency was declared for the first time. Reported after the nuclear accident evacuation radius around the power plant in Fukushima I of 20 km was converted on 21 April 2011 in a restricted zone, which may be entered only with an administrative exemption.

Politics and Administration

• LDP: 27
• Minshu Kenmin Rengo ( from DP and SDP ): 14
• Fukushima Mirai Network ( "Network Fukushima Future " from non-party and Nippon Ishin no Kai ): 6
• JCP: 5
• Kōmeitō: 3
• Fukushima Midori no Kaze ( " Green Wind Fukushima " ): 2

Governor of Fukushima 's second term, the former National Democratic Representative Yuhei Satō, who was recently confirmed in October 2010, in office. The Prefecture Parliament with regular 58 members was last re-elected in November 2011, the election was postponed because of the Tōhoku earthquake. There, the Liberal Democratic Party won a relative majority.

In the national Parliament Fukushima is represented by five deputies directly elected in the House of Representatives - 2012 were four of the five constituencies of the Liberal Democrats, a defended the Democratic Party. Ins councils House selects the prefecture after a conversion started in 2013 only one instead of two deputies, and now belongs to the group often either decisive Einmandatswahlkreisen. In 2010, Democrats and the Liberal Democrats, the two seats allocated yet as in most two- mandate constituencies, 2013, the Liberal Democrat Masako Mori sat confidently through to the second previous incumbent Emi Kaneko.

The " financial strength index " ( zaiseiryoku Shisu ) of the Fukushima prefecture was in fiscal year 2009 was 0.46 and Fukushima was thus in the same group of financial equalization receivers, such as the western neighboring prefecture of Niigata with a similar population, but significantly behind their southern neighbors Ibaraki and Tochigi.

Administrative divisions

Independent cities (市shi )

• Chūkakushi ( " core cities " ) Iwaki
• Kōriyama

• Other county-level cities Aizu Wakamatsu -
• Date
• Fukushima, the seat of the prefectural government

• Kitakata
• Minamisoma
• Motomiya
• Nihonmatsu

• Shirakawa
• Sōma
• Sukagawa
• Tamura

Counties (郡, gun)

List of districts of Fukushima Prefecture, and their towns (町, chō or machi ) and villages (村, mura or son).

• Adachi OTAMA

• Kawamata
• Koori
• Kunimi

• Futaba
• Hirono
• Katsurao
• Kawauchi
• Namie
• Naraha
• Okuma
• Tomioka

• Higashishirakawa Hanawa
• Samegawa
• Tanagura
• Yamatsuri

• Asakawa
• Furudono
• Hirata
• Ishikawa
• Tamakawa

• Kagamiishi
• Ten'ei

• Aizubange
• Yanaizu
• Yugawa

• Minamiaizu Hinoemata
• Minamiaizu
• Shimogo
• Tadami

• Izumizaki
• Nakajima
• Nishigo
• Yabuki

• Aizumisato
• Kaneyama
• Mishima
• Shōwa

• Sōma Iitate
• Shinchi

• Miharu
• Ono

• Bandai
• Inawashiro
• Kitashiobara
• Nishiaizu

Biggest Towns

1 destruction wrought by the earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011, second evacuation zone: removes almost 20 km from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant 2 destruction wrought by the earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011

Partnerships

• City of Bergen in Germany
• British Columbia, Canada
• Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China
• New Zealand

Wakamatsu castle

Abukuma River