Nara prefecture

Nara-ken ; 奈良県
Basic data
Administrative headquarters :	Nara
Region :	Kinki
Main island :	Honshu
Area :	3,690.94 km²
Water content:	0.5 %
Residents :	1,331,330 ; (October 1, 2019)
Population density :	361 inhabitants per km²
Counties :	7th
Municipalities :	39
ISO 3166-2 :	JP-29
Governor :	Shōgo Arai
Website:	www.pref.nara.jp
Symbols
Prefecture flag :
Prefecture tree :	Crescent fir
Prefecture flower :	Prunus verecunda cv. Antiqua
Vogel prefecture :	Rostkehlnachtingall

The Nara ( Jap. 奈良県 , Nara-ken ) is a prefecture of Japan . It is located in the Kinki region on the island of Honshu . The seat of the prefecture administration is the city of the same name, Nara .

geography

Nara Prefecture is located in the center of the Kii Peninsula of Honshu. Topographically, the prefecture consists of the Nara basin ( Nara-bonchi ) in the northwest, the Yamato plateau ( Yamato-kōgen ) in the northeast, and the Kii mountains in the south. The highest point is the Hakkyō-ga-take with 1915.2 m.

Significant rivers are the Yamato-gawa and the Yoshino-gawa (Kinokawa).

history

The Yamato Province has been located in what is now the Nara Prefecture since ancient times .

It is certain that Yamato was a political center in the early history of Japan and that in the 3rd and 4th centuries a political power ruled at the foot of Mount Miwa , which united a large part of Japan. However, only a few documents exist from this period. Until it was moved to Heian-kyō ( Kyoto ) in 794 , the capital of Japan was mostly in today's prefecture - in Asuka-kyō ( Asuka ), Fujiwara-kyō ( Kashihara ) and, most recently, Heijō-kyō (Nara). The two historical epochs of the Asuka and Nara times were named after the former and the latter .

In the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the first Nara prefecture was created from areas previously controlled by the Tokugawa ( Bakuryō ) in the Yamato province. When the principalities were abolished in 1871, the prefecture was expanded to include principalities in the province of Yamato that were briefly converted into 15 prefectures . The first Nara Prefecture existed until 1876 when it became part of Sakai Prefecture ; this in turn was incorporated into Osaka Prefecture in 1881 . In 1887, the prefecture of Nara was separated again and has existed since then without any significant change in area. The first prefectural parliament opened its first session in 1888 in Tōdai-ji .

politics

Political groups in the prefecture parliament
(as of May 7, 2019)

A total of 43 seats

LDP : 11
LDP Nara: 9
Sōsei Nara : 5
Shinsei Nara (with DVP ): 5
KPY : 4
Nippon Ishin no Kai : 4
Kōmeitō : 3
LDP Kizuna: 2nd

The former national LDP deputy Shōgo Arai has been governor of Nara since 2007 and was re-elected for a fourth term in the unified regional elections in April 2019 . The LDP is the strongest party in the parliament, also elected in the unified regional elections.

In the national parliament , Nara elects one member per election to the council house , after the elections in 2016 and 2019 the Liberal Democrats Iwao Horii and Kei Satō , the number of constituencies in Nara for the House of Representatives was reduced to three for the 2017 election , and with Shigeki Kobayashi , Sanae Takaichi and Taidō Tanose now only represent Liberal Democrats in the prefecture there.

Partnerships

According to the prefecture administration, Nara maintains international partnerships with the Swiss canton of Bern (since 2015), the Korean province of Chungcheong-South (since 2011) and the Chinese province of Shaanxi (since 2011); A declaration on the establishment of a partnership was adopted in 2014 with the Vietnamese province of Phú Thọ .

Administrative division

Since 2006, the prefecture has been divided into 12 independent cities ( Shi ) as well as 15 (district / small) cities ( Chō ) and 12 villages ( Son ). The latter are organized in 7 districts ( Gun ).
By October 2004 there were 50 municipalities, 7 of which were independent cities. Nara , the seat of the prefecture administration, has also been a Chūkakushi ("core city") since 2002 .

In the table below, the districts ( 郡 ) are shown in italics, underneath each (indented) the small towns ( 町 ) and the villages ( 村 ) within them. A dependency between rural district and small town can also be seen in the first three digits of the code (1st column). The independent cities are at the beginning of the table.

code	Surname		Area (in km²)	population	Population density (inh / km²)
code	Rōmaji	Kanji	01.10.2017 ¹	01.10.2018 ³	01/10/2015 ²
29201	Nara- shi	奈良市	276.94	355,350	360.310	1301.04
29202	Yamatotakada- shi	大和高田市	16.48	62,489	64,817	3933.07
29203	Yamatokōriyama- shi	大和郡山市	42.69	85.405	87,050	2039.12
29204	Tenri- shi	天理市	86.42	65,942	67,398	779.89
29205	Kashihara- shi	橿原市	39.56	122,422	124.111	3137.29
29206	Sakurai- shi	桜井市	98.91	55,572	57,244	578.75
29207	Gojō- shi	五條市	292.02	29,161	30,997	106.15
29208	Gose- shi	御所市	60.58	25,457	26,868	443.51
29209	Ikoma- shi	生駒市	53.15	117,411	118.233	2224.52
29210	Kashiba shi	香芝市	24.26	78,542	77,561	3,197.07
29211	Katsuragi- shi	葛城市	33.72	37,028	36,635	1086.45
29212	Uda- shi	宇陀市	247.50	29,236	31,105	125.68
29300	Yamabe-gun	山辺郡	66.52	3389	3674	55.23
29322	Yamazoe-mura	山添村	66.52	3389	3,674	55.23
29340	Ikoma-gun	生駒郡	51.27	76,495	77,200	1505.75
29342	Heguri-cho	平群町	23.90	18,362	18,883	790.08
29343	Sango-cho	三郷町	8.79	23,381	23,571	2681.57
29344	Ikaruga- chō	斑鳩町	14.27	27,394	27.303	1913.31
29345	Ando-cho	安堵町	4.31	7358	7443	1726.91
29360	Shiki-gun	磯城郡	31.09	46.292	47.012	1512.13
29361	Kawanishi-cho	川西町	5.93	8424	8485	1430.86
29362	Miyake-cho	三宅町	4.06	6726	6836	1683.74
29363	Tawaramoto-chō	田原本町	21.09	31,142	31,691	1502.66
29380	Uda-gun	宇陀郡	127.34	3009	3308	25.98
29385	Soni-mura	曽爾村	47.76	1431	1549	32.43
29386	Mitsue-mura	御杖村	79.58	1578	1759	22.10
29400	Takaichi-gun	高市郡	49.89	12,221	12,718	254.92
29401	Takatori-cho	高取町	25.79	6882	7195	278.98
29402	Asuka- mura	明日香村	24.10	5339	5523	229.17
29420	Kitakatsuragi-gun	北葛城郡	37.68	96.192	96.507	2561.23
29424	Kammaki-cho	上牧町	6.14	21,484	22,054	3591.86
29425	Ōji-chō	王寺町	7.01	23,733	23,025	3284.59
29426	Kōryō-chō	広陵町	16.30	33,606	33,487	2054.42
29427	Kawai-cho	河合町	8.23	17,369	17,941	2179.95
29440	Yoshino-gun	吉野郡	2054.91	38,457	41,568	20.23
29441	Yoshino-cho	吉野町	95.65	6674	7399	77.35
29442	Ōyodo-chō	大淀町	38.10	17.179	18,069	474.25
29443	Shimoichi-cho	下市町	61.99	5155	5664	91.37
29444	Kurotaki-mura	黒滝村	47.70	605	660	13.84
29446	Tenkawa-mura	天川村	175.66	1240	1354	7.71
29447	Nosegawa-mura	野迫川村	154.90	387	449	2.90
29449	Totsukawa-mura	十津川村	672.38	3224	3508	5.22
29450	Shimokitayama-mura	下北山村	133.39	799	895	6.71
29451	Kamikitayama-mura	上北山村	274.22	445	512	1.87
29452	Kawakami-mura	川上村	269.26	1186	1313	4.88
29453	Higashiyoshino-mura	東吉野村	131.65	1563	1745	13.25

Shi-bu (proportion of urban districts)	市部	1272.23	1,064,015	1,082,329	850.73
Gun-bu (proportion of counties)	郡部	2418.70	276.055	281.987	116.59

29000	Nara-ken (Nara Prefecture)	奈良県	3690.94	1,340,070	1,364,316	369.64

swell

¹ Area data from 2017
² Results of the 2015 census
³ Estimated population 2018

Biggest places

Former and existing cities (-shi)
Census year	Residents
2015	2010	2005	2000
Yamatotakada	64,817	68,451	70,800	73,668
Yamatokōriyama	87,050	89.023	91,672	94,188
Tenri	67,398	69,178	71,152	72,741
Kashihara	124.111	125.605	124,728	125.005
Sakurai	57,244	60,146	61.130	63,248
Gojo	30,997	34,460	37,375	35.205
Gose	26,868	30,287	32,273	34,676
Ikoma	118.233	118.113	113,686	112,830
Kashiba	77,561	75,227	70.998	63,487
Katsuragi	36,635	35,859	34,985	——
Uda	31,105	34,227	——	——

On October 1, 2004 - two small towns merged to form the independent city of Katsuragi .
On January 1, 2006, three small towns and a village merged to form the independent city of Uda .

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	564,607	280.383	284.224	986	3730.09	151.37
1925	583,828	289.770	294.058	985	3730.09	156.52
1930	596.225	295,456	300,769	982	3688.60	161.64
1935	620.471	306.011	314,460	973	3688.60	168.21
1940	620.509	305,681	314,828	971	3688.60	168.22
1945	779.685	355.351	424.334	837	3688.60	211.38
1950	763.883	368,863	395.020	934	3687.97	207.13
1955	776.861	377.961	398,900	948	3692.11	210.41
1960	781.058	382.494	398,564	960	3692.15	211.55
1965	825.965	400.353	425.612	941	3692.15	223.71
1970	930.160	450,668	479,492	940	3692.15	251.93
1975	1,077,491	523.633	553.858	945	3692.15	291.83
1980	1,209,365	587,067	622.298	943	3692.15	327.55
1985	1,304,866	632.955	671.911	942	3692.15	353.42
1990	1,375,481	663.591	711.890	932	3690.41	372.72
1995	1,430,862	688.741	742.121	928	3691.09	387.65
2000	1,442,795	691.098	751.697	919	3691.09	390.89
2005	1,421,310	676.375	744.935	908	3691.09	385.07
2010	1,400,728	663,321	737.407	900	3691.09	379.49
2015	1,364,316	643.946	720.370	894	3690.94	369.64

Tōdai-ji in Nara
Tōdai-ji
Hōryū-ji
Kofuku-ji
Road signs in Nara prefecture

Culture

Important festivals

date	Firmly	place
January 1st	Nyōdō festival	Ōmiwa shrine
January 4th	Oyumi Hajime Festival	Ōyamato-ji
Sunday before the 2nd Monday in January	Yamayaki (grass burning) ceremony	Mount Wakakusa
January 23	Konin-e ceremony	Daian-ji
3 February	Shunie (driving out demons) ceremony	Hōryū-ji
3 February	Demon casting ceremony	Kofuku-ji
February 11th	Kigen Fest	Kashihara-jingu
11./12. February	Sand throwing festival	Hirose shrine
14th of February	Dada-oshi ceremony	Hare-dera
1st - 14th March	Shunie (water drawing) ceremony	Tōdai-ji
March 13th	Saru festival	Nara ; Kasuga Taisha
22.-24. March	Oeshiki ceremony	Hōryū-ji
March 30th – 5th April	Flower offering ceremony	Yakushi-ji
April 1st	Chan-chan festival	Ōyamato-ji
1-7 April	Hina-e-shiki ceremony	Hokke-ji
April 8th	Oitamatsu ceremony	Shin-Yakushi-ji
2nd weekend in April	Ochamori (Great Tea) Ceremony	Saidai-ji
May 14th	Procession of the 25 Bodhisattvas	Kitakatsuragi , Taima-dera
May 19th	Uchiwa-maki (fan throwing) ceremony	Toshodai-ji
5th-7th June	Kaisan-ki (ceremony for the founder's death)	Toshodai-ji
17th of June	Saigusa (lily) festival	Isakawa-ji
June 30th	Shinhen Togyo ceremony	Isonokami-jingū
7th of July	Frog hopping ceremony	Yoshino ; Kinpusen-ji
July 28th	Degyo-e - ceremony	Tōdai-ji
August 7th	Ritual cleaning of the Buddha statue	Tōdai-ji
14./15. August	Illuminated Lantern Ceremony	Nara ; Kasuga Taisha
23/24 August	Jizo-eshiki ceremony	Yamatokoriyama , Yata-dera
Full moon in September	Uneme festival	Uneme-ji
Full moon in September	Moon viewing	Toshodai-ji
Sundays and bank holidays in October	Cutting the deer antlers	Nara ; Nara Park at Kasuga Taisha
October 11th	Kakitsu Festival	Sakurai ; Tanzan shrine
October 12th	Daimoku-take ceremony	Hatchu-ji
15th October	Togyo ceremony	Isonokami-jingū
October, 16th	Annual autumn festival	Niukawakami Nakasha
3rd Sunday in October	Ball game festival	Sakurai ; Tanzan shrine
2nd Sunday in November	Jion-e ceremony	Yakushiki-ji or Kofuku -ji
14th November	Sake festival	Ōmiwa shrine
15-18 December	Kasuga Wakamiya On-matsuri	Nara ; Kasuga Taisha