Ishikawa Prefecture

Ishikawa Prefecture 石川県
Prefecture
Japanese transcription(s)
• Japanese	石川県
• Rōmaji	Ishikawa-ken
Flag
Country	Japan
Region	Chūbu Hokuriku
Island	Honshū
Capital	Kanazawa
Government
• Governor	Masanori Tanimoto
Area
• Total	4,185.22 km^2 (1,615.92 sq mi)
Area rank	35th
Population (February 1, 2011)
• Total	1,168,929
• Rank	34th
• Density	279.30/km^2 (723.4/sq mi)
ISO 3166 code	JP-17
Districts	5
Municipalities	19
Flower	Black lily (Fritillaria camtschatcensis)
Tree	Hiba (Thujopsis dolabrata)
Bird	Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)
Website

Ishikawa Prefecture (石川県 Ishikawa-ken) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshū island.^[1] The capital is Kanazawa.^[2]

History

Ishikawa was formed in 1872 from the merger of Kaga Province and the smaller Noto Province.^[3]

Geography

Ishikawa is on the Sea of Japan coast. The northern part of the prefecture consists of the narrow Noto Peninsula, while the southern part is wider and consists mostly of mountains with the prefecture's chief city, Kanazawa, located in the coastal plain. The prefecture also has some islands, including Notojima, Mitsukejima, Hegurajima.

As of April 1, 2012, 13% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely the Hakusan National Park; Echizen-Kaga Kaigan and Noto Hantō Quasi-National Parks; and five Prefectural Natural Parks.^[4]

Cities

Eleven cities are located in Ishikawa Prefecture:

Hakui Hakusan Kaga Kahoku

Kanazawa (capital) Komatsu Nanao Nonoichi

Nomi Suzu Wajima

Towns

Map of Ishikawa Prefecture.

These are the towns in each district:

Hakui District Hōdatsushimizu Shika Hōsu District Anamizu Noto

Kahoku District Tsubata Uchinada Kashima District Nakanoto Nomi District Kawakita

Mergers

Economy

Ishikawa's industry is dominated by the textile industry, particularly artificial fabrics, and the machine industry, particularly construction machinery.

Demographics

Ishikawa Prefecture has an area of 4,185 km² and as of April 1, 2011 it has a population of 1,166,643 persons.

Data	Unit	Statistics
Area	km²	4,185
Population	Persons	1,166,643
Population density	Persons per km²	278.72
Number of households	Households	441,980
Income per person	Thousand yen	2,707
Power consumed	Kwh per household	6,446
Number of doctors	Physicians per 100,000 people	249

Culture

Kanazawa lacquerware (Kanazawa shikki) is high quality lacquerware traditionally decorated with gold dust.

Kanazawa Castle

The area is noted for arts and crafts and other cultural traditions:

• The art of Nō was introduced to the area during the rule of the fifth Maeda lord Tsunanori and was refined into the style of Kaga hosho.
• The tea ceremony was introduced in 1666 when Maeda Toshitsune invited Senbiki Soshitsu of Urasenke to Kanazawa.
• Kutani ware (Kutani yaki) is a bright colored glaze like Chinese porcelain.
• Ohi teaware (Ōhi yaki) is a pottery with a style unique to Kanazawa.
• Nyotaimori or naked sushi is said to have originated in Ishikawa Prefecture.
• Kaga silk (Kaga yūzen) is made with complicated silk print technique with an intentional rough look (wabi-sabi).
• Kanazawa lacquerware (Kanazawa shikki) is high quality lacquerware traditionally decorated with gold dust.
• Kanazawa gold leaf (Kanazawa haku) is produced with a technique of beating gold into wafer-thin sheets.
• Kaga mizuhiki is ribbon-like decoration made from glued Japanese paper (washi).
• Kaga inlay crafts (Kaga zōgan) are made with a combination of thin flat and thread metal inlays.
• Gojinjo Daiko is a Japanese Drum, a Wajima City cultural heritage (since 1961) as well as an Ishikawa Prefecture intangible cultural heritage (since 1963).
• Abare Festival is reputed the most 'fierce' festivals of Noto, Ishikawa.

Tourism

Winter in Kenrokuen

The most popular destination in Ishikawa is Kanazawa. Tourists can get to Ishikawa by plane via either the Komatsu or Noto airports. Popular sites include:

• 1000 Rice Fields
• 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
• Chirihama Driveway
• Higashi-chaya district in Kanazawa
• Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art
• Kaga hot-springs district
• Kenroku-en
• Mount Haku
• Shibayama Lagoon
• Wajima Morning Market

Prefectural symbols

• Fritillaria camschatcensis (flower)
• Golden eagle (bird)
• Thujopsis dolabrata (tree)

Miscellaneous topics

• Takeshi Kaga, an actor in Japan who is probably best known internationally for his portrayal of Chairman Kaga in the Japanese television show Iron Chef produced by Fuji TV, is from Ishikawa.
• Hideki Matsui, a current player for the New York Yankees, was born and raised in Neagari Town (now Nomi City), Ishikawa. He gained fame as a baseball player while attending high school in Kanazawa.
• Daisuke Nakata, a trampolinist who has competed in the Olympics in the past, is from Ishikawa.

Universities

Ishikawa hosts a number of well-known universities.

• Hokuriku University—a small liberal arts university with a School of Pharmacy and a School of Future Learning that gives instruction in Business, Economics, and Foreign Language (Chinese and English).
• Ishikawa Prefectural Nursing University
• Ishikawa Prefectural University
• Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
• Kanazawa College of Art
• Kanazawa Gakuin University
• Kanazawa Institute of Technology
• Kanazawa Medical University
• Kanazawa Seiryo University
• Kanazawa University
• Kinjo Junior College

Transport

Rail

Kanazawa Station

• JR West
  • Hokuriku Shinkansen
  • Hokuriku Main Line
  • Nanao Line
• Hokuriku Railway (Hokutetsu)
  • Asanokawa Line
  • Ishikawa Line
• Noto Railway Nanao Line
• IR Ishikawa Railway Line

Road

Expressways and toll roads

• Hakusan Super Forest Road
• Hokuriku Expressway
• Noetsu (Noto-Etsuchu) Expressway
• Noto Toll Road

National highways

• National Route 8
• National Route 157 (Kanazawa - Hakusan - Katsuyama - Motosu - Gifu)
• National Route 159
• National Route 160
• National Route 249
• National Route 304
• National Route 305
• National Route 359
• National Route 360 (Toyama - Hida - Shirakawa - Komatsu)
• National Route 364
• National Route 365
• National Route 415
• National Route 416
• National Route 470 (Wajima - Himi - Takaoka - Oyabe - Tonami)
• National Route 471

Ports

• Kanazawa Port (International container hub port)
• Nanao Port

Airports

• Komatsu Airport
• Noto Airport

Regional policies

• Premium passport

Politics

The prefectural assembly building in the prefectural government building complex in Kanazawa

The current governor of Ishikawa is Masanori Tanimoto who was first elected in 1994 and has been reelected for a sixth term in the gubernatorial election in March 2014.^[5] Tanimoto is currently one of two governors who are in their sixth term nationwide, the other being Masaru Hashimoto of Ibaraki. Tanimoto is only the fourth governor of Ishikawa since 1947 when prefectural governors became elected offices, as predecessor Yōichi Nakanishi had held the governorship even longer than Tanimoto, winning his first election in 1963 and then serving eight consecutive terms until his death in 1994.

The prefectural assembly of Ishikawa has 43 members and is elected in unified local elections (last round: 2011) in 15 SNTV electoral districts – six single-member, five two-member, one three-member, two four-member districts and the Kanazawa City district that elects 16 members. As of February 26, 2014, the LDP prefectural assembly caucus has 25 members and no other group has more than four members.^[6]

In the National Diet, Ishikawa is represented by three directly elected members of the House of Representatives and two (one per election) of the House of Councillors. Additional members from the prefecture may be elected in the proportional representation segments of both houses: the Hokuriku-Shin'etsu proportional representation block in the lower house, the proportional election to the upper house is nationwide. After the Diet elections of 2010, 2012 and 2013, the five directly elected members from Ishikawa districts are all Liberal Democrats, namely:

• in the House of Representatives
  • for the 1st district that covers Kanazawa City: Hiroshi Hase, LDP, 5th term,
  • for the 2nd district that consists of Southern parts of Ishikawa and had been the district of former LDP president Yoshirō Mori until 2012: Hajime Sasaki, LDP, 1st term,
  • for the 3rd district in the North: Shigeo Kitamura, LDP, 3rd term,
• in the House of Councillors
  • in the class of 2010 (term ends 2016): Naoki Okada, LDP, 2nd term, and
  • in the class of 2013 (term ends 2019): Shūji Yamada, LDP, 1st term who was able to defeat Democratic incumbent and former defense minister Yasuo Ichikawa by a huge margin in 2013.

Notes

1. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Chūbu" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 126, p. 126, at Google Books.
2. Nussbaum, "Kanazawa" in p. 467, p. 467, at Google Books.
3. Nussbaum, "Provinces and prefectures" in p. 780, p. 780, at Google Books.
4. "General overview of area figures for Natural Parks by prefecture" (PDF). Ministry of the Environment. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
5. 47 News/Kyōdō Tsūshin, March 16, 2014: 石川県知事選、谷本氏６選果たす　２新人退け全国最多に並ぶ
6. Ishikawa Prefectural Assembly: members by caucus (Japanese)

References

• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128

External links

• Ishikawa travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Official website
• Cultural assets of Ishikawa

Coordinates: 36°38′N 136°39′E / 36.633°N 136.650°E