Japanese Areas

Regions (地方/ちほう)

Must-remember vocabulary: Major Japanese Islands and regions

Click the audio bar to listen

	Readings in Hiragana	English Equivalent
北海道	ほっかいどう	Hokkaido Island
本州	ほんしゅう	Honshu Island
四国	しこく	Shikoku Island
九州	きゅうしゅう	Kyushu Island
沖縄	おきなわ	Okinawa Island
北海道地方	ほっかいどうちほう	Hokkaido area
東北地方	とうほくちほう	Tohoku area
関東地方	かんとうちほう	Kanto area
中部地方	ちゅうぶちほう	Chubu area
関西or近畿地方	かんさいorきんきちほう	Kansai or Kinki area
中国地方	ちゅうごくちほう	Chugoku area
四国地方	しこくちほう	Shikoku area
九州地方	きゅうしゅうちほう	Kyushu area
沖縄地方	おきなわちほう	Okinawa area

Islands	Regions

Go to the following sites, refer to the vocabulary list above “Major Japanese Islands and regions” and learn how to say each regions in Japanese and locate regions on the map to learn where they are.
　
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/RTG/RI/index.html (Japan National Tourist Organization/JNTO website)
(Homepage: http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/)

http://web-jpn.org/region/index.html (Web-Japan website)

Prefectures（県/けん）and Cities (市/し)

Japan is divided into 47 local jurisdictions: 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) or 1to 1do 2fu 43ken (itto, ichi doo, ni fu, yon juu san ken).

Click the audio bar to listen
Please at least be able to recognize the names and locations of cities and prefectures in the chart below.

City, Prefecture	Readings in Hiragana
札幌市、北海道	さっぽろし、ほっかいどう
仙台市、宮城県	せんだいし、みやぎけん
埼玉市、埼玉県	さいたまし、さいたまけん
東京、東京都	とうきょう、とうきょうと
川崎市、神奈川県	かわさきし、かながわけん
横浜市、神奈川県	よこはまし、かながわけん
名古屋市、愛知県	なごやし、あいちけん
京都市、京都府	きょうとし、きょうとふ
大阪市、大阪府	おおさかし、おおさかふ
神戸市、兵庫県	こうべし、ひょうごけん
広島市、広島県	ひろしまし、ひろしまけん
福岡市、福岡県	ふくおかし、ふくおかけん

Let's practice reading names of the prefectures in Hiragana.

http://people.uncw.edu/kanoy/102/hiragana/Pref01.html

"Prefecture (in English)" is used as the translation for todōfuken (都道府県or　と・どう・ふ・けん^?), which are the main subdivisions of Japan, consisting of 47 prefectures, or 1 to 都　(東京都）, 1 dō 道　(北海道）, 2 fu 府　(京都府　＆　大阪府）, and 43 ken 県　(the rest of the subdivisions are named with 県).

Major Japanese cities and prefectures (Try to locate at least 13 cities of the largest population in Japan): Go to the following link and locate the cities.
http://www.japan-guide.com/list/e1003.html

Use the following map to practice and remember the cities and regions.

Regional Products and Souvenirs/おみやげ

Click here (64.3 MB, 8 pages. It may take a few minutes to start downloading even if you are using a broad band connection on campus. Please wait for the document to be shown on the screen.) to get handouts about regional products and souvenirs. The PDF file is from "Illustrated, Eating In Japan" pp.120 - 123 by JTB, 1989.

Famous souvenir items and products:

Here are some famous items/souvenirs （おみやげ）around Japan. Please refer to the above handouts for more Local Specialties （特産品）.

Click the audio bar to listen for the items in the chart below.

Click here to view some of the following items with pictures for visualization.

(The kanji in color is the one, which you need to learn in this chapter.)
Please at least be able to recognize the names and match them with the pictures/images/descriptions of the items in bold letters.

The numbers next to the prefectures correspond with the ones on the map. Click here for the map.

Items and products	Readings in Hiragana	English Equivalent
有田焼（佐賀県 #41）	ありたやき、さがけん	Arita ware, noted for its indigo and red colors
信楽焼（滋賀県 #23）	しがらきやき、しがけん	Shigaraki ware is famous for its ceramic raccoon dogs, which are often decorated in Japanese home garden.
九谷焼（石川県 #30）	くたにやき、いしかわけん
瀬戸焼（愛知県 #20）	せとやき、あいちけん	Seto gave its name to 瀬戸物（せともの）porcelain/ceramics since Seto used to have the largest ceramic production in Japan.
加賀友禅（石川県 #30）	かがゆうぜん、いしかわけん	Kaga Yuzen silk is painted in beautiful colors and patters in Kimono.
西陣織（京都府 #22）	にしじんおり、きょうとふ	The silk kimono with bright colors is made in Nishijin area in Kyoto.
輪島塗（石川県 #30）	わじまぬり、いしかわけん	Over 100 different process are involved in the Wajima lacquer ware to give it beautiful shine and make it strong and durable. Chopsticks and table ware such as rice and soup bowls are popular items among Japanese.
和紙（鳥取県 #34）	わし、とっとりけん	Washi-paper is produced in Inshu area in Tottori,
こけし人形（宮城県 #06）	こけしにんぎょう、みやぎけん	Kokeshi dolls are simple wooded dools with only head and body.
博多人形（福岡県 #40）	はかたにんぎょう、ふくおかけん	Hakata dolls are famous for its beautiful white porcelain.
文楽人形（大阪府 #25）	ぶんらくにんぎょう、おおさかふ	Bunraku Puppet theater has developed in Osaka. The miniature dolls are popular souvenir items as well as the theater itself.
寄木細工（神奈川県 #11）	よせぎざいく、かながわけん	The Hakone (hot spring) resort area is well-know for the wooded craft pieces made by assembling the wood of different colors into beautiful geometric shapes.
鎌倉彫（神奈川県 #11）	かまくらぼり、かながわけん	Kamakura bori carvings are made from Judas trees and other hade woods. The impressive carving designs and beautiful painted patters make the furniture, trays, hand mirrors, etc. unique products of this area.
そばまんじゅう（長野県 #09）	ながのけん	Nagano is famous for its cultivation of soba (buck wheat). The soba flour is made into noodles and other various product. Manju is a traditional Japanese confectionery made from flours (such as soba and wheat) wrapped in azuki/red bean jam.
お茶（静岡県 #18）	おちゃ、しずおかけん	Most of the Japanese Tea trees are cultivated in Shizuoka. New tea called "Shin cha" picked in early summer is especially delicious.
吉備団子（岡山県 #31）	きびだんご、おかやまけん	Okayama prefecture is known for the Kibidango rice cakes made from sugar, honey, and millet flour. There is a famous folk tale, which Kibidango is used to make a man successful.

Transportation

Click here to practice vocabulary for transportation.

Must-remember vocabulary is below but these are review from the last semester (Yookoso Chapter 2).

	Readings in Hiragana	English Equivalent
バス		bus
タクシー		taxi
自転車	じてんしゃ	bicycle
車	くるま	car
船	ふね	ship
電車	でんしゃ	train
新幹線	しんかんせん	bullet train
あるいて・とほで		on foot
飛行機	ひこうき	air plain

	Readings in Hiragana	English Equivalent
（とても・まあ）近い	ちかい	close
（とても・まあ）遠い	とおい	far
便利	べんり	convenient
不便	ふべん	inconvenient
地方	ちほう	area
県	けん	prefecture
市	し	city
都市	とし	big city
町	まち	town, city
所	ところ	place

Transportation: Go to the web site below. You will see a photo of the fastest shinkansen (bullet) train called 「のぞみ」. Japan Rail Pass is a must-obtained ticket to travel around Japan. The tricky part is that you have to buy it before you get to Japan since it is not available within Japan to purchase.

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/GA/