Ishikawa Prefecture

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Template:Nihongo is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island.<ref>Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Chūbu" in Template:Google books.</ref> Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,096,721 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,186 km² (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the east, Gifu Prefecture to the southeast, and Fukui Prefecture to the south.

Kanazawa is the capital and largest city of Ishikawa Prefecture, with other major cities including Hakusan, Komatsu, and Kaga.<ref>Nussbaum, "Kanazawa" in Template:Google books.</ref> Ishikawa is located on the Sea of Japan coast and features most of the Noto Peninsula which forms Toyama Bay, one of the largest bays in Japan. Ishikawa Prefecture is part of the historic Hokuriku region and formerly an important populated center that contained some of the wealthiest han (domains) of the Japanese feudal era. Ishikawa Prefecture is home to Kanazawa Castle, Kenroku-en one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan, Nyotaimori ("body sushi"), and Kutani ware.

History

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Ishikawa was formed in 1872 from the merger of Kaga Province and the smaller Noto Province, with the seat of the government being located in Mikawa.<ref>Nussbaum, "Provinces and prefectures" in Template:Google books.</ref> The political center of Ishikawa was moved to Kanazawa in 1873.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Kioizaka Incident

The newly formed Ishikawa Prefecture came to be regarded with caution by the national government following the Template:Ill in 1878, in which 6 Template:Nihongo, dissatisfied by the Meiji government's "maladministration, suppression of civil rights, and misuse of government property", assassinated Japanese statesman Ōkubo Toshimichi.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Concerned about the possibility of a Hokuriku bloc forming in support of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, and thus wanting to weaken the influence of the former Kaga lords, the national government made the decision to divide the prefecture. This took place in two stages, beginning in 1881, when Fukui Prefecture was formed, and ending in 1883 with the formation of Toyama Prefecture.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2024 earthquake

On the 1 January 2024, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck Ishikawa Prefecture, specifically the Noto Peninsula. In Ishikawa, a total of 508 people were killed and 2 people are currently reported missing as a result of the earthquake.<ref name="ASAHI515">Template:Cite news</ref> Overall it is estimated that 1,200 people were injured across different prefectures.

In September 2024, severe rainfall in the prefecture led to deadly floods and landslides, causing at least six deaths and widespread damage. Thousands were evacuated as rivers overflowed, while recovery from a prior earthquake complicated relief efforts. Emergency warnings remain in place.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.

Template:As of, 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Municipalities

The cities of Ishikawa are:

Towns are grouped into five districts, which are geographical and not governmental:

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Mergers

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Economy

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

Demographics

File:Ishikawa prefecture population pyramid in 2020.svg

Ishikawa prefecture population pyramid in 2020

Template:Historical populationsIshikawa Prefecture has an area of 4,186.09 km² and, Template:As of, it has a population of 1,166,643 persons.Template:Citation needed

Data	Unit	Statistics
Area	km²	4,186.09
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

List of governors of Ishikawa Prefecture

Wakio Shibano (柴野和喜夫) (12 April 1947 to 23 February 1955)
Jūjitsu Taya (田谷充実) (24 February 1955 to 19 February 1963)
Yōichi Nakanishi (中西陽一) (23 February 1963 to 2 February 1994)
Masanori Tanimoto (谷本正憲) (29 March 1994 to 27 March 2022)
Hiroshi Hase (馳浩) (28 March 2022 to present)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Culture

File:Kanazawa Castle Gate.JPG

Kanazawa Castle

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

The art of Noh 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.
Japan Tent, an international exchange event.

Tourism

File:Kenrokuen in winter 01.jpg

Winter in Kenrokuen

File:Shirayone Senmaida 1.jpg

Shirayone Senmaida, designated as a World Agricultural Heritage site in Wajima

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
Notojima Aquarium
Chirihama Driveway
Higashi-chaya district in Kanazawa
Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art
Kaga hot-springs district
Wakura Onsen
Kanazawa Castle
Kenroku-en
Mount Haku
Shibayama Lagoon
Wajima Morning Market

Prefectural symbols

Notable people

Enhō Akira, a professional Sumo wrestler at the Jūryō division.
Minami Hamabe, an actress.
Kodai Iida, a professional footballer for OKC Energy FC.
Kyōka Izumi, author of novels, short stories, and kabuki plays, from Kanazawa.
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 former Yomiuri Giants and 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.
Kitaro Nishida, philosopher, founder of the Kyoto School of philosophy, from Kahoku.
Murō Saisei, poet and novelist in modern Japanese literature from Kanazawa.
Daisuke Satō, a board game designer, novelist, and manga writer. His Highschool of the Dead anime/manga series is known for being left unfinished due to his unfortunate death in 2017.
D. T. Suzuki, Buddhist philosopher and popularizer of Buddhism in the West was born in Kanazawa.
Yusuke Suzuki, (no relation to D. T. Suzuki) born in 1988, is a racewalker born in Nomi, Ishikawa prefecture.
Yoshirō Taniguchi, modernist architect and father of architect Yoshio Taniguchi, who designed the D.T. Suzuki Museum in Kanazawa.
Shūsei Tokuda, author from Kanazawa. (Izumi, Muro, and Tokuda are known as the Three Famous Literary Persons in Ishikawa<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>)

Universities

Ishikawa has a number of universities:

Kanazawa University
Hokuriku University
Ishikawa Prefectural Nursing University
Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
Kanazawa College of Art
International College of Technology, Kanazawa
Ishikawa Prefectural University
Kanazawa Gakuin University
Kanazawa Institute of Technology
Kanazawa Medical University
Kanazawa Seiryo University
Kinjo University
Hokuriku Gakuin University
Komatsu University
Hokuriku Gakuin University

Transport

Rail

File:Kanazawa Station Higashiguchi.jpg

Kanazawa Station

JR West
- Hokuriku Shinkansen
- Nanao Line
Hokuriku Railway (Hokutetsu)
- Asanokawa Line
- Ishikawa Line
Noto Railway Nanao Line
IR Ishikawa Railway Line
Ainokaze Toyama Railway Line
Hapi-Line Fukui Line

Road

Expressways and toll roads

Hakusan Super Forest Road
Hokuriku Expressway
Nōetsu 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

Regional policies

Premium passport

Politics

File:Ishikawa Prefectural Assembly.jpg

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

The current governor of Ishikawa is Hiroshi Hase who was first elected in 2022. He defeated six time incumbent Masanori Tanimoto.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Prior to his defeat, Tanimoto was one of two governors who were in their sixth term nationwide, the other being Masaru Hashimoto of Ibaraki. Hase is only the fifth governor of Ishikawa since 1947 when prefectural governors became elected offices, as Tanimoto had held the governorship for twenty eight years, first coming to office in 1994, succeeding Yōichi Nakanishi, who had served from 1963 until his death in 1994.

The Template:Ill 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.<ref>Ishikawa Prefectural Assembly: members by caucus Template:Webarchive Template:In lang</ref>

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.