Mura (Japan)

Mura or Son (both Japanese 村 , German "village", corresponds to Chinese 村, pinyin "cūn") is a communal administrative unit in Japan . Localities with the official name Mura are usually smaller communities in rural Japan (see rural community ). They always belong to a county gun . The official English translation of this communal unit (important for transcribed place-name signs) is village .

Due to the amalgamation of many municipalities in recent years, their number has fallen sharply, from 568 at the beginning of the Heisei regional reform ( Heisei Daigappei ) in April 1999 to 189 on January 1, 2019.

The following 13 prefectures therefore no longer have a mura :

• Ehime prefecture
• Fukui Prefecture
• Hyogo Prefecture
• Hiroshima Prefecture
• Ishikawa Prefecture
• Kagawa Prefecture
• Mie prefecture
• Nagasaki Prefecture
• Saga prefecture
• Shiga prefecture
• Shizuoka Prefecture
• Tochigi prefecture
• Yamaguchi Prefecture

or these 12 prefectures only have one:

• Chiba Prefecture ( Chōsei , Chōsei-gun )
• Kanagawa Prefecture ( Kiyokawa , Aikō-gun )
• Kyoto Prefecture ( Minamiyamashiro , Soraku-gun )
• Miyagi Prefecture ( Ōhira , Kurokawa-gun )
• Oita Prefecture ( Himeshima , Higashikunisaki-gun )
• Osaka Prefecture ( Chihayaakasaka , Minamikawachi-gun )
• Saitama Prefecture ( Higashichichibu , Chichibu-gun )
• Shimane Prefecture ( Chibu , Oki-gun )
• Tokushima Prefecture ( Sanagouchi , Myōdō-gun )
• Tottori Prefecture ( Hiezu , Saihaku-gun )
• Toyama Prefecture ( Funahashi , Nakaniikawa-gun )
• Wakayama Prefecture ( Kitayama , Higashimuro-gun )

(As of January 1, 2019)

The Kun reading Mura for the character is more common than the On reading Son . The term Son is currently used in only six prefectures . In the prefectures of Miyazaki , Okayama , Okinawa , Tokushima and Tottori all villages are called Son , in Kagoshima Prefecture it is only used in two of the four villages.
All other prefectures use the Mura reading .

In 2018 there were still 183 villages in Japan, 28 of which were designated as son .

Due to the derivation of numerous Japanese surnames from settlement names , Mura can be found in many family names such as: Nakamura , Murayama, Nishimura, etc.

See also

• Japanese village in the Edo period

Web links

• Zenkoku chōsonkai ( 全国町 村 会 , National Association of Mayors of Machi and Mura; Japanese, Chinese, English, Korean)
• Zenkoku chōsongikai gichōkai ( 全国町 村 議会 議長 会 , National Association of Speakers of Parliament of machi and mura; Japanese)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 市区 町 村 数 を 調 べ る . In: e-Stat - Statistics of Japan. Retrieved January 22, 2019 (Japanese). 
2. ↑ 「む ら」 と 読 む 村 、 「そ ん」 と 読 む 村 . In: uub.jp. Retrieved December 10, 2018 (Japanese).