Prefectures of JAPAN (Geography Now!)

hey everybody so as you know we're working on the scripts for the next episodes which means this is going to be a filler week and usually we do administrative division videos I asked you guys on patreon what country you guys would like me to do I gave you a list of options and the slight majority of you guys voted for Japan oh and up before we jump into it you're probably wondering barbs you wear glasses actually I really don't but these are Sykes's blue light glasses if you're like me and you're constantly staring at a monitor screen for hours and hours on end because you know you have to make videos like this Sykes's glasses helps you out to take away the eye strain from staring that I'd monitor by blocking out all the blue light and if you want to get Sykes's glasses right now they have a special going on if you use the code geography now you can buy one and get one free so get one for yourself and get one for another person thank you guys for sponsoring this video I'm gonna leave these on for the rest of the video oh and also feel free to get a juggernaut t-shirt at geography now calm you can also get a joggers now Jim sack or a geographer now a mug as well lots of cool stuff so first thing you got to know about Japan is that it is made up of four main islands Hokkaido in the North Honshu Kyushu and Shikoku and you got the outlier Ryukyu Islands but basically four big main islands and within these islands there are eight regions and within these eight regions you have 47 prefectures we're gonna divide these prefixes by the regions that they're from instead of going alphabetically because then we would like hop all over the map and that wouldn't make sense we're gonna start from north and goes south so here we go the northernmost region Hokkaido Hokkaido is unique because the entire island is within itself a region and a Prefecture capital is Sapporo which is also well where the beer comes from it's kind of like the Alaska of Japan they have the native indigenous Ainu people they have their own language and customs and traditions lots of beautiful nature and Hokkaido is also kind of the place where they have that Kuril Islands pute with Russia you could literally see Russia from Hokkaido or at least what Russia claims already moving on the Tohoku region amore amore actually has a tunnel that goes from honshu island to Hokkaido amaura is known for being the largest apple producer in Japan let's see historically they are known for breeding the best horses for samurai and now they breed the best horses for horse meat they have a crap ton of festivals but the biggest one probably being then the Buddha festivals like Japanese Mardi Gras have a really thick accent called Tsugaru and they have Hirosaki one of the twelve original castles left of Japan yatta a this has the lowest population in all of Japan they're known for having good cold noodles they're known for controversial being kind of like the more whaling and dolphin hunting Prefecture of Japan Sansa old Orie is the largest dico drum festival found here you know multiple sheets' sunay the guy who samurai who fought his brother i don't know something about history that guy is really famous for this place Miyagi a lot of us when we hear that we think mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid he was from Okinawa these people are really famous of their one-eyed samurai guy what's his name not a Masamune he was one of the most powerful Lords in the Edo period they have one of the most beautiful coastline view points in all of Japan they have the okama crater which means the cooking Bowl their culinary specialty is cute on which is beef tongue and out here you can also find the Miyagi Fox village Akita known for the famous dog that's from here I think Vlad Ameer Putin has one there are three prefectures that Japan claims has the most beautiful women and this is one of them this place gets the least Sun out of any Prefecture in Japan and they have the fastest aging population no one for namaha gay which is kind of like Japanese Halloween they wear masks and they scare kids Yamagata ha known for having really good beef and cherries this place is kind of like the champion area of shogi the game they actually make the pieces over here they also have the interesting Casa Dori festival in which people dress up in these straw costumes symbolizing good luck and good harvest and what else fire prevention I mean those costumes are very flammable but I guess Fukushima this is the region that had you know the whole nuclear power plant destroyed in 2011 during the tsunami a lot of this prefecture is actually off-limits now because of the radiation but there's also a lot of other cool things around this area as well they're famous for having really good white peaches and they have that so Llano Maui festival which is like a horseback-riding thing where they shoot arrows it's really cool going a little more south region number 3 Kanto prefecture number 1 Ibaraki they have the largest buddha statue in all of japan they're known for having a really good university so koopa which has a great science program this is also known as the home of aikido the martial arts the company Hitachi is from here and they're known for having really good knocked oh bean dip it's like originated from here told chichi the first Tokugawa ever in Japan is buried here in the city of Nikko Nikko is the hot spot of Tochigi it has a bunch of like shrines and statues it the longest tree-lined Avenue in the world Nikko National Park is a world heritage site they have the O's a nature preserve it's like a huge wetland area good MA good MA is like the Silk Prefecture they make the best silk in Japan Tomioka silk mill is actually a world heritage site and the soui raw silk manufacturing cooperative produces about 70 percent of Japan's silk you want silk you come here also fun fact the Subaru car Factory is also here as well to find a lot of those Takasaki room out dolls they have Japan's largest golden statue Saitama the Japanese people kind of joke around and they call it da Saitama that site means lame anyway they love bonsais here they have like a bonsai museum and a bonsai village come on boy or little a doll is one of the coolest sights that gets the most tourists they're famous for the Iowa Reds one of Japan's top soccer teams football and a notable resident grape cool the penguin love that little guy you just like waddles around in the streets and nobody cares it's like I'm a penguin what are you gonna do about it moving on chiba-chiba is a really fun free picture because they have so many things going on they got like all these cool beaches that people love surfing at Disneyland Japan and people who fly international to Japan always end up and not eat that Airport which is actually in Chiba it's not even in Tokyo they make the most soy sauce out of all Japan they have the Kawasaki steel factory Chiba also makes those really large little Maki sushi rolls Tokyo I don't really have to say too much you guys know a lot about this place already it is the largest city on earth you got so many places the Tokyo Skytree the Meiji Shrine Shinjuku crossing it has the most elite universities in all of Japan obviously it's the capital F of everything is like operated by robots so many weird themed restaurants and sumo championships are held here long story tokyo is the factory that keeps japan running till tokyo runs the show kind of go on tonic I was like Tokyo's a little sister you've probably at some point seeing this woodblock print this is Kanagawa the wave the Great Wave of Kanagawa this place has a lot of history was it a Kamakura was like the first capital governed by a samurai Scot cities like Yokohama and Kawasaki the first Japanese Zen Buddhist temple was made here they have Cosmo world they have active steaming sulfur vents at Baku Donny and now they love eating shirasu which are basically baby sardines with rice all right and moving on to the next region first prefecture Niigata this is the second region voted to have the most beautiful women this place is known for having the highest quality rice and sake now Koei Tanaka one of the best Prime Minister's is from here a lot of movies and films are made here because you know the scenery is just so like serene and perfect sau island is famous for having a gold mine and a prison colony during Shogun years tol Yama the thing most Japanese people know about this place it's like the pharmacist of Japan lots of natural medicines are grown here they produce a lot of the ingredients that go into the traditional medicine about a third of the prefecture is a national park as well it is the only place that has a glacier in East Asia outside of Russia and yeah otherwise the only other thing that I got is that they are very good with electronics and they like squid whoop-dee-doo Ichikawa this is kind of like the classy woman Prefecture of Japan these people like their high quality products Hanazawa lacquer ware is some of the most prized lacquer ware in all of Japan they're famous for making goldleaf as well no theatre performances originated in this prefecture the traditional tea ceremony actually also originated in this prefecture as well they have the about a festival which is known as like the most fierce festival in all Japan yeah Fukui everyone knows this is the dinosaur prefecture they have the largest dinosaur bone digging site there's like dinosaur mascots everywhere they produce 90% of Japanese glass and they are a huge hub for paper making as well they have those five lakes where each one has like a different quality like one salt one's fresh ones brackish and they have Madoka Castle one of the twelve original castles of Japan Yamanashi the first Fuji twin Mount Fuji is split between two prefectures they even have a theme park named after Fuji fuji-q this is the top producer of grapes peaches and plums and wine in Japan as well it's kind of like the wine country the 40% of all mineral water is bottled here in this prefecture as well and there's also kind of where that uh you know suicide forest is where Logan Paul made that video yeah Nagano the winter wonderland this place is famous for having hosted the Winter Olympics in 1998 the Japanese Alps are here soo-ah geyser is one of the highest shooting geysers in the world I think what is it 40 to 50 meters yeah they have the own Bushido festival which is only held once every seven years it's a huge deal and you've seen those pictures of the monkeys you know in the hot springs that's here in Nagano as well they have Matsumoto Castle which is again one of the 12 original castles of Japan and finally because of the you know rough mountainous terrain they are famous for having some of the best drift drivers in all of Japan Gifu this is kind of like the fairytale prefecture because they have all those like really cool thatched roof houses and traditional villages they preserve these villages very well what are they called cheetah coop well the docile zoo curry style houses and they're also famous for having the calm rent fishing kind of like in China you know where they use the birds to catch the fish in the river very nice cozy serene Prefecture des fous is a gift gift to the world because she's woke up the other Fuji twins they're also kind of known for being like the motor prefecture because you can find Yamaha Honda and Suzuki here they also have the Fuji International Speedway they're big into cars the hell is that that was like making the cars brah I am NOT and Bandai they are known for having the best green tea in all of Japan matcha oh man I love matcha oh my gosh art and I go out to get matcha ice cream all the time and also you can ride a steam engine here oh dude I'm more fun with these videos every time I swear Yee first of all this is an interesting one because it's like one that works hard and plays hard and it's very industrial like they have the Toyota factory but they also have like Legoland and like a crap ton of festivals they have that Hill that turns pink in the summer time they have a new Yama again one of the twelve original castles of Japan ah they're known for having really good chicken and pork cutlets called miso katsu and heat zum bushi eels okay hey I like yields on my sushi that and scallops Bal have you guys ever had really like seared scallops we're going off topic alright moving on to the next region the kinky region kinky first prefecture Mia this is the ninja prefecture this is where nin just basically came from and trained or originated you can even like walk the streets in a ninja costume it's totally normal here they're also known for having the Grand Issei shrine the holiest shrine in all of Shinto his own it's also famous for being the place that invented cultured pearls they're also known for having the famous ama diver ladies Jeju Island in South Korea actually has that too it's really interesting there's a lot of stories of like female divers and their culinary specialty is Matsuzaka beef and II say Lobster can't go wrong with lobster then this video is making me hungry dang you guys wanna get some sushi with me after this she got this Prefecture has the largest lake in all Japan Lake Biwa which takes up like a quarter of their entire like area this place is also where the goshu old old dance was created it has he called a castle again one of the original twelve castles of Japan you will find a lot of those what are they called she got Aki tuck Kui or the raccoon dog you know those that you've seen them all over the place isn't this Super Mario video game that number three I think yeah where he can turn into a statute that that that thing is from here lots of companies and factories are from here that means this Prefecture has the largest proportion of manufacturing production out of any Prefecture in Japan and over 34 percent they probably get their power from that lake you know it gives them strength to make things chotto the Golden Age Prefecture Kyoto was one of the Imperial capitals formerly known as Yamashita dates back all the way to the 6th century the kabuki theatre style also originated in Kyoto as well they have the best geishas in all Japan supposedly I guess they have a lot of temples and castles and Nintendo is based here as well Osaka the second largest city in Japan if you don't include the general Tokyo metropolitan area with the surrounding Prefecture is Osaka is known for two things food and comedy it is something some of the best and funniest people from Japan come from Osaka and they have great food here everybody knows they have their own style of okonomiyaki they're also known for being some of the nicest people but they also have a lot of ties to the Yakuza you'll go this is kind of like the Seattle or Washington State of Japan they're huge unlike lumber and IT they have one of the world's fastest supercomputers culinary-wise they are known for Kobe beef yes in the city of Kobe some of the highest quality beef in Japan and they have himeji again one of the original 12 castles of Japan the most well preserved and visited castle in Japan as well it's the most famous one not ah this is the history Prefecture of Japan it was actually the capital before Kyoto and it has more UNESCO Heritage Sites than any Prefecture in all of Japan todaiji temple the largest Buddhist complex the largest bronze statue of Buddha they're known for having a lot of deer just like roaming around everywhere and they're really huge into calligraphy in fact not always even known for having those massive nada brushes that are like as big as a person paint something with massive I don't know how they do it but kudos to them for doing it wakayama the Buddhist Prefecture Mount Koya is the headquarters of the shinbone sect of Japanese Buddhism and it is home to the first japanese-style Buddhist temple every year there's a pilgrimage that goes to Mount Koya yeah Buddhism is a big deal out here otherwise they're known for also just having really good weather they produce a lot of oranges and 70% of Japan's MA or their Japanese plum and they have the largest waterfall in Japan as well not Chi falls walk a Yamaha you got a walk yah mahn all the way to the Buddhist pilgrimage site okay moving on next region Shikoku first prefecture Doctore one thing everyone knows about this place they have the largest sand dunes in all of Japan they take their sand very seriously if they have a gas and museum with sculptures and they have like a sand festival sand it is the least populous Prefecture with only about 600,000 people what else they're known for having pink curry called Oh n-no Qian XI Mun a very obscure and rural it is actually the second least populous Prefecture not a lot of people know much about this place other than that has the izumo taisha shrine and the Matsui Castle again one of the original twelve castles of Japan they're also known for having some of the best pottery in Japan though following the Fujita yaki style they have very famous Izumo soba which has duck in it but their signature dish is Thai mushy Okayama if there's one thing every Japanese person knows about this place it is the legend of momotaro basically it's the story about a boy that was born out of a peach and he grows up to fight demons with his three sidekicks a dog a pheasant and a monkey that's my kind of story I love that they have the hadaka matsuri or the naked man festival and they have the beach.you matsuyama castle again one of the original twelve castles of Japan Oh hiroshima everyone knows this is the place for the atomic bomb was dropped during World War two they have a lot of memorials to it the people here are known for being kind of like really hot tempered there's a lot of more cycle gangs apparently from here as well they have that really famous itsukushima Tori and you've seen it probably in so many postcards or whatever Mazda the company is from here as well oh and they're very famous for their style of okonomiyaki and ah they say uh a lot of people in the Yakuza you know kind of speak with a Hiroshima accent Yamaguchi this place had a huge historical role as what was it the cheol-soo domain helped overthrow the Shogun during the meiji restoration period this place is also kind of famous for being the place where you know fugu that you know puffer fish a lot of people trained here to learn how to properly cut the fugu fish so that when you eat it you don't die because a lot of it is poisonous it also has the highest concentration of caves and karst formations it also has the largest cave in Japan region number seven Shikoku nobody pays attention to Shikoku but there's a lot of cool things first Prefecture Tokushima they have that really cool about Dori festival lots of crazy things going on they have the Naruto Pike Yule canal it has some of the roughest currents in all of Japan lots of farmland it's very rural this is probably the least known free picture I think yeah yeah I will tori is probably the biggest thing they got going on sorry if you've got anything else let me know Kagawa the smallest Prefecture in land area they are known for making some of the best udon in all of Japan and their odone has chicken thigh on it oh the best part of the chicken known as planet tsuki Dori I love was on I love carbs I don't care people say don't eat carbs no not me I'm car B Barbie I eat that down this was the first place in all of Japan to cultivate olives they have this sector ohashi bridge which connects to Honshu they have Maru Gamay one of the twelve original castles again he made this guy's small but they have two of the original twelve castles of Japan hajima and Matsuyama and yeah it's known for just having one of the best bicycling routes in all of Japan like the area is just perfect the path is nice and smooth it's a joke it sounds like a really chill it's a chill calm place I would say Kochi again has one of the twelve original castles in it man Shikoku you are killing it with these castles they have the shimanto River which is pretty much the only main large river in Japan that does not have a dam on it have a Sakamoto Ryoma the legendary samurai who led a revolution he's still popular they put his face on cappuccinos they love skipjack tuna and skipjack tuna fishing their mascot is even cuts a walking dead fish yeah and finally region number eight Kyushu Prefecture number one Fukuoka the last and final Prefecture known for having the most beautiful women in Japan this is basically the richest and most economically successful part of Kyushu Island they are known for having the best don't katsu ramen if you want a good kimono it is said you come to this prefecture they make a lot of great kimonos out here like the silk is made in the other place but the kimonos are made here saga they are known for having the most mochi produced here they have a lot of cool shrines the most famous one probably being that you toku Inari shrine they have the International Balloon Festival here which looks really cool they have the gutter Olympics which is the mudflat Olympics they have the Maori tonne 10-ton festival and it's kind of like a battle that takes place between two shrines and I yoshinogari Park has some of the oldest settlements in Japan very well-preserved Nagasaki this is the other place that was bombed in World War two basically Nagasaki was like the place in Japan that opened up to the outside world it was the first place where Europeans arrived the Portuguese they started trading it also has the highest concentration of Christians in Japan and they're also known for that bukhan Jima battleship island looks pretty cool Kumamoto everyone knows this place from their mascot the bear thing everywhere cool everybody it's popular all over Japan Kumamoto everybody knows let's see what else I got I got the black castle the gardens at Suez in Jeju Jin and apparently I was told they make really good fried chicken here Oh eat ah probably the most famous hot spring prefecture they ranked number one in Japan's thermal hot spring and geothermal power output and number two in the world after Yellowstone Park in the USA yeah a lot of geothermal activity the most famous one and maybe the most famous in all Japan the Beppu Hot Springs it is also said that shiitake mushrooms originated here and today they are the number one producer of shiitake and also they're known for suffering from bad typhoons sometimes just get pummeled by nature Miyazaki no Hayao Miyazaki's not from here this is where Japan like really starts to get a little tropical and like you know humid and temperate this is like where palm trees start growing in Japan like that's how south you go otherwise yeah Miyazaki has really good each is you know you can go surfing it's a great surf spot cool shrines there's that really big 37 meter tall peace tower thing it's like their most iconic landmark they have that really cool-looking takachiho Gorge you can take a boat and go through it Kagoshima this is the last part of the mainland before you get the Ryukyu Islands they have some of the most famous active volcanoes in Sakurajima and they have one of the weirdest dialects in all of Japan sometimes it's completely unintelligible and some people in the islands offshore they even have like what is considered their own languages it's also home to Tanegashima Japan's spaceport and launch pad where they shoot rockets into space and finally okinawa you've probably all heard of this one and it's basically the Hawaii of Japan Okinawan people actually have their own language and traditions and customs that are completely different from the mainland this is where karate originated there's also where one of the most famous American army bases is stationed hence where karate was introduced to the US it was brought from Okinawa they have a lot of unique food and vegetables and fruits that are only grown here and not on the mainland lots of beautiful white sand beaches and resorts and ok now and people are known for having the longest life expectancy in all of Japan they just have a really healthy diet so there you go in a very condensed format that's the 47 prefectures of Japan there's a lot of stuff I missed out on a lot of stuff I could have mentioned but you know it's kind of hard to make a video when you have to do 47 of anything but yeah if any of you guys have been to any of these Prefecture --zz feel free to let me know write in the comments what was your experience like what did you like the most about these Prefecture what are some things I missed out on that I could have mentioned but yeah the Land of the Rising Sun and yeah that's the end of this video so woohoo hope you have a good one thank you stay cool stay tuned [Music]

Channel: Geography Now

Views: 540,950

Keywords: Geography, facts, info, cool, education, learning, countries, history, class, lesson, funny, travel

Id: vGgRKaQQvuk

Length: 21min 56sec (1316 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 13 2020