Okayama Prefecture

Okayama-ken ; 岡山県
Basic data
Administrative headquarters :	Okayama
Region :	Chūgoku
Main island :	Honshu
Area :	7,114.33 km²
Water content:	0.3 %
Residents :	1,891,346 ; (October 1, 2019)
Population density :	266 inhabitants per km²
Counties :	10
Municipalities :	27
ISO 3166-2 :	JP-33
Governor :	Ryūta Ibaragi
Website:	www.pref.okayama.jp
Symbols
Prefecture flag :
Prefecture tree :	Japanese red pine
Prefecture flower :	Peach blossom
Vogel prefecture :	Colored pheasant
Prefecture song :	Minna no kokoro ni; ("In everyone's heart")
Education day:	November 1st

The Okayama Prefecture ( Jap. 岡山県 , Okayama-ken ) is a prefecture of Japan . It is located in the Chūgoku region on the island of Honshū and over 80 other islands . The seat of the prefecture administration is the city of the same name Okayama . Okayama was formed in the provinces of Bitchū , Bizen, and Mimasaka .

geography

The Hiruzen on the border with Tottori

View from the Shimotsui castle ruins to the inland sea and the Seto-Ōhashi , which connects Okayama with Kagawa

Okayama Prefecture is located in the southeast of the western Japanese region of Chūgoku on the coast of the Seto Inland Sea (Setonaikai) . Three larger rivers come from the Chūgoku Mountains in the north of Okayama: in the west the Takahashigawa , on which the city of the same name and at the mouth the city Kurashiki lie, in the center of the Asahigawa , at whose mouth the city Okayama lies, and east of it the Yoshiigawa . Much of Okayama is made up of mountainous land. It also includes over 80 islands in the Inland Sea, ten of which are larger than 1 km².

With the Setonaikai National Park and the Daisen-Oki National Park , two national parks extend to parts of Okayama, in the northeast the prefecture also includes part of the quasi-national park Hyōnosen-Ushiroyama-Nagisan. There are also seven prefectural nature parks in Okayama.

history

A first prefecture (-ken) Okayama emerged in 1871 from the principality of the same name ( -han ) Okayama , in addition to which 13 further prefectures arose in the area of today's Okayama prefecture in the course of the abolition of the Han, some of which were taken over from the feudal order Prefectural subdivisions, excluding exclaves from other prefectures that were soon abolished. The area was consolidated into three prefectures in 1871: the prefecture of Oda (initially: Fukatsu) in Bitchū and part of Bingo with its administrative headquarters in Kasaoka in Oda County, the prefecture of Hokujō in Mimasaka with its administrative headquarters in Tsuyama in Hokujō County and the prefecture Okayama in Bizen, with its administrative headquarters in Okayama, Mino County. In 1875/76 Oda was divided between Okayama and Hiroshima, in 1876 Hokujō was incorporated into Okayama, whereby the prefecture was given its current boundaries, apart from minor changes due to cross-prefectural mergers, which in turn essentially correspond to the boundaries of the ancient provinces of Bitchū, Bizen and Mimasaka.

politics

Group strengths in the prefecture parliament
(as of May 16, 2019)

A total of 55 seats

LDP : 37

Minshu ・ Kenmin Club (~ "Democrats, Prefectural Citizens Club "; with KDP , DVP ): 8

Kōmeitō : 5

KPY : 2

Non-attached: 3

Ryūta Ibaragi , former president of the Okayama-based department store chain Tenmaya, was elected to succeed Masahiro Ishii in the gubernatorial election in October 2012 and was confirmed for a second term in 2016 against just one, communist challenger with almost 90% of the votes. In parliament, the Liberal Democratic Party won an absolute majority in the April 2019 elections .

In the national parliament , Okayama is represented by five directly elected members of the Shūgiin and one per election in the Sangiin . The five Shūgiin constituencies of Okayama won five Liberal Democrats in 2017 : Ichirō Aisawa , Takashi Yamashita , Toshiko Abe , Gaku Hashimoto and Katsunobu Katō . After the 2016 and 2019 elections, Okayama will also be represented by two Liberal Democrats in Sangiin : Ex-Governor Ishii and Kimi Onoda , former local MPs in Kita (Tokyo) .

Administrative division

With the division of the prefectures ( -fu / -ken ) into the municipal forms that still exist today, in 1889 the Okayama prefecture consisted of a city ( - shi , 市 ) and 28 counties ( - gun , 郡 ), which were divided into 3 small towns ( - chō , 町 ; Tsuyama-chō, Tsuyamahigashi-chō and Takahashi-chō) and 451 villages ( - son ) were divided. As a result of incorporations and mergers, the number of municipalities fell from 402 (1920) through 119 (1955) to 78 in 1975.

Since 2007 the prefecture has been divided into 15 independent cities, 10 small towns and 2 villages. The 12 municipalities belonging to the district form the remnants of 9 rural districts, 6 of which only consist of one municipality each.

Okayama as the seat of the prefectural administration has been a “designated city” since 2009 , the second largest city in the prefecture (Kurashiki) has been a “core city” ( chūkakushi ) since 2002 .

In the following table, the districts are shown in italics, below each (indented) the small towns and the villages within them. The first two digits of the local authority code are the prefecture key of Okayama (= JP-33) as with all local authorities. The district affiliation of municipalities can be seen at the 3rd and 4th positions of the code: Since the districts are still used for statistical and geographical purposes, although they have been abolished as regional authorities since the 1920s, they were assigned to ten divisible regional authority codes ; the municipalities in the district received consecutive numbers, although mergers can result in gaps. At the beginning of the table are the 15 independent cities.

code	Surname		Area (in km²)	population	Population density (inh / km²)
code	Rōmaji	Kanji	1st October 2018	October 1, 2019 ³	October 1, 2015 ²
33100	Okayama- shi	岡山市	789.95	720.865	719.474	910.78
33202	Kurashiki- shi	倉敷市	355.63	475.843	477.118	1341.61
33203	Tsuyama- shi	津山市	506.33	100,387	103,746	204.9
33204	Tamano- shi	玉野市	103.58	57,631	60,736	586.37
33205	Kasaoka- shi	笠岡市	136.24	47.097	50,568	371.17
33207	Ibara- shi	井原市	243.54	39,172	41,390	169.95
33208	Soja- shi	総社市	211.90	68.172	66,855	315.5
33209	Takahashi- shi	高梁市	546.99	29,854	32,075	58.64
33210	Niimi- shi	新見市	793.29	28,327	30,658	38.65
33211	Bizen- shi	備前市	258.14	32,832	35.179	136.28
33212	Setouchi- shi	瀬戸内市	125.46	35,978	36,975	294.74
33213	Akaiwa- shi	赤磐市	209.36	42,628	43.214	206.41
33214	Maniwa- shi	真庭市	828.53	43,236	46.124	55.67
33215	Mimasaka- shi	美作市	429.29	26,059	27,977	65.17
33216	Asakuchi- shi	浅口市	66.46	33,063	34,235	515.12
33340	Wake gun	和気郡	144.21		14,412	99.94
33346	Wake-cho	和気町	144.21	13,690	14,412	99.94
33420	Tsukobo-gun	都窪郡	7.62		12,154	1595.01
33423	Hayashima-cho	早島町	7.62	12,409	12,154	1595.01
33440	Asakuchi-gun	浅口郡	12.23		10,929	893.62
33445	Satoshō-chō	里庄町	12.23	10,986	10,929	893.62
33460	Oda-gun	小田郡	90.62		14,201	156.71
33461	Yakage-cho	矢掛町	90.62	13,549	14,201	156.71
33580	Maniwa-gun	真庭郡	67.11		866	12.9
33586	Shinjō-son	新庄村	67.11	815	866	12.9
33600	Tomata-gun	苫田郡	419.68		12,847	30.61
33606	Kagamino-cho	鏡野町	419.68	12,071	12,847	30.61
33620	Katsuta-gun	勝田郡	123.56		17,031	137.82
33622	Shōō-chō	勝央町	54.05	10,960	11,125	205.83
33623	Nagi-cho	奈義町	69.52	5549	5906	84.95
33640	Aida gun	英田郡	57.97		1472	25.39
33643	Nishiawakura-son	西粟倉村	57.97	1408	1472	25.39
33660	Kume-gun	久米郡	310.81		19,339	62.22
33663	Kumenan-cho	久米南町	78.65	4578	4,907	62.39
33666	Misaki-cho	美咲町	232.17	13,297	14,432	62.16
33680	Kaga-gun	加賀郡	268.78		11,950	44.46
33681	Kibichūō-chō	吉備中央町	268.78	10,890	11,950	44.46
	Kojima-ko (Kojima Lake)	児島湖	7.05

Shi-bu ( All shi , part of urban districts)	市部	5611.74	1,788,316	1,806,324	322.29
Gun-bu ( All gun , proportion of counties)	郡部	1502.59	111,423	115,201	76.31
33000	Okayama-ken (Okayama Prefecture)	岡山県	7114.33	1,899,739	1,921,525	270.09

Note: There are areas of unexplained parish affiliation, including Kojima Lake, which is included in the subtotal of urban and prefecture areas of Okayama but not counted as a parish, and one between parishes in Okayama and Kagawa.

swell

² Results of the 2015 census
³ Estimated population 2018

Biggest places

Existing and former cities (-shi)
Census year	Residents
2015	2010	2005	2000
Okayama	719.474	709.584	674.746	626,642
Kurashiki	477.118	475,513	469.377	430.291
Tsuyama	103,746	106,788	110,569	90.156
Soy	66,855	66.201	66,584	56,531
Tamano	60,736	64,588	67,047	69,567
Kasaoka	50,568	54,225	57,272	59,300
Maniwa	46.124	48,964	51,782	-
Akaiwa	43.214	43,458	43,913	-
Ibara	41,390	43,927	45.104	34,817
Setouchi	36,975	37,852	39,081	-
Bizen	35.179	37,839	40.241	28,683
Asakuchi	34,235	36,114	-	-
Takahashi	32,075	34,963	38,799	25,374
Niimi	30,658	33,870	36,073	24,576
Mimasaka	27,977	30,498	32,479	-

November 1, 2004 - 3 municipalities merge to form the independent city of Setouchi .
March 7, 2005 - 4 parishes merge to form the independent city of Akaiwa .
March 31, 2005 - 9 municipalities merge to form the independent city of Maniwa .
March 31, 2005 - The small town of Mimasaka incorporates 5 communities and is raised to the status of an independent city .
March 21, 2006 - 3 municipalities merge to form the city of Asakuchi .

Population development in the prefecture

Census population
Census year	Total population	male population	female population	Gender ratio men to 1000 women	Area in km ²	Population density per km ²
1920	1,217,698	605.316	612,382	989	7018.77	173.5
1925	1,238,447	613.619	624,828	982	7018.77	176.5
1930	1,283,962	637.965	645.997	988	7046.48	182.2
1935	1,332,647	658.773	673.874	978	7046.48	189.1
1940	1,329,358	651.197	678.161	960	7046.48	188.7
1945	1,564,626	728.314	836.312	871	7046.48	222.0
1950	1,661,099	804.357	856.742	939	7059.00	235.3
1955	1,689,800	815.837	873.963	934	7059.93	239.4
1960	1,670,454	797.748	872.706	914	7059.93	236.6
1965	1,645,135	781.418	863.717	905	7063.83	232.9
1970	1,707,026	819.359	887,667	923	7077.91	241.2
1975	1,814,305	878.132	936.173	938	7078.57	256.3
1980	1,871,023	905.477	965,546	938	7086.70	264.0
1985	1,916,906	926.238	990,668	935	7089.91	270.4
1990	1,925,877	926.721	999.156	928	7111.05	270.8
1995	1,950,750	938,439	1,012,311	927	7111.05	274.3
2000	1,950,828	936.044	1,014,784	922	7112.13	274.3
2005	1,957,264	938,600	1,018,664	921	7112.73	275.2
2010	1,945,276	933.168	1.012.108	922	7113.21	273.5
2015	1,921,525	922.226	999,299	923	7114.50	270.1

Demographics

Population growth of the parishes in Okayama between the 2005 and 2010 censuses, increase in green, decrease in red

Most communities in Okayama are already seeing declining population numbers as the nationwide demographic change begins. Only the central cities of Okayama and Kurashiki and a few suburbs still saw population growth in the late 2000s. The total prefectural population declined for the first time in the five-year period between the 2005 and 2010 censuses.

The highest population density among the communities in Okayama is currently found in the small town of Hayashima, which continues to exist independently between the major cities of Kurashiki and Okayama even after the last great wave of community mergers in the 2000s.

police

The Headquarters of the Prefectural Police is also located in the main prefecture building in the Kita District of Okayama City.

The Okayama police force is one of the smaller in the country with around 3,500 police officers (2018 posts), but it is the second largest prefecture police force in the Chūgoku region after Hiroshima. It has 22 police stations: four in Mimasaka, nine in Bitchū and nine in Bizen. As in all prefectures, the police are under the supervision of the Public Security Commission, which in Okayama has five members. Three are appointed by the governor with the approval of parliament, two are nominated by the mayor and parliament of the city of Okayama, which as a designated city has additional say.

License Plate

Okayama has two license plates : Most of the prefecture, including Okayama City, uses the Okayama license plate . The Kurashiki license plate has been used in six communities in the southwest since the 2000s , even if the responsible MLIT traffic office is still in the city of Okayama and does not have its own branch in Kurashiki.

Outline
Korakuen
Matsuyama Castle
Kinojō Castle
Okayama Castle
Road signs in Okayama Prefecture

Web links

Commons : Okayama Prefecture - collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Kokudo Chiriin : 平成 26 年全国都道府県市区町村別面積調 , Appendix 3 島面積 , p. 102 [pdf: 104 of 113]: Okayama-ken, accessed on July 5, 2020

↑ Okayama Prefectural Administration, Environment and Culture Department: Natural Parks in Okayama

↑ Okayama Prefecture Administration : 岡山県統計年報平成２５年版 , Appendix pp. 257ff., 岡山県の沿革 , accessed on July 5, 2020 at around 5:30 p.m. CEST.

↑ Ishida Satoshi, 地理データ集 : 版籍奉還から廃藩置県まで（中国地方） and 府県の変遷（中国地方）

↑ Okayama Prefectural Parliament : MPs by Group , accessed August 9, 2019.

↑ 岡山県知事選現職の伊原木隆太氏が再選 . In: Mainichi Shimbun . October 23, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2017 (Japanese).

↑ ^a ^b ^c Kokudo Chiriin (GSI - Geospatial Information Authority of Japan), 平成 30 年全国都道府県市区町村別面積調 (Nationwide survey of all prefectures and municipalities 2018) , p. 74 f .: 33 Okayama-ken (Japanese ), accessed March 6, 2019

↑ e-stat (English), accessed on January 16, 2019

↑ 簡単検索・詳細検索・検索サンプル , accessed January 16, 2019 (Japanese)

↑ e-Stat database , accessed on December 16, 2018 (English)

↑ Iwate Prefecture Administration : 都道府県警察官の定員 , accessed March 6, 2019.

↑ Okayama Prefecture Administration: Police (Japanese), machine translations (English, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Indonesian, Vietnamese)

↑ Okayama Prefectural Administration: Public Safety Commission (Japanese)

34.7 133.84972222222Coordinates: 34 ° 42 ' N , 133 ° 51' E

[1] Kokudo Chiriin : 平成 26 年全国都道府県市区町村別面積調 , Appendix 3 島面積 , p. 102 [pdf: 104 of 113]: Okayama-ken, accessed on July 5, 2020

[2] Okayama Prefectural Administration, Environment and Culture Department: Natural Parks in Okayama