Fukui Prefecture

Fukui Prefecture
	Fukui Prefecture
Japanese:	福井県
	Fukui-ken
Capital	Fukui
Region	Chūbu
Island	Honshū
Governor	Issei Nishikawa
Area (rank)	4,188.99 km² (34th)
- % water	0.2%
	Population (2005)
- Population	821,589 (43rd)
- Density	198 /km²
Districts	7
Municipalities	17
ISO 3166-2	JP-18
Website	www.pref.fukui.jp/english/
	Prefectural Symbols
- Flower	Narcissus (Narcissus tazetta)
- Tree	Pine tree (Pinus)
- Bird	Dusky thrush (Turdus naumanni)
- Fish	{{{Fish}}}
	File:PrefSymbol-Fukui.png; Symbol of Fukui Prefecture
	Template ■ Discussion ■ WikiProject Japan

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Map of Fukui Prefecture.

Tōjinbō, Sakai, Fukui

Maruoka Castle, Sakai, Fukui

Row of sakura, Asuwa River, Fukui, Fukui

Ichijōdani Asakura Family Historic Ruins, Fukui, Fukui

Kehi Matsubara beach, Tsuruga, Fukui

Myotsu-ji Temple, Obama, Fukui

Fukui Prefecture (福井県, Fukui-ken^?) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Fukui.

History

Fukui originally consisted of the old provinces of Wakasa and Echizen, before the prefecture was formed in 1871.

During the Edo period, the daimyō of the region was surnamed Matsudaira, and was a descendant of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Geography

The province faces the Sea of Japan, and has a western part (formerly Wakasa) which is a narrow plain between the mountains and the sea, and a larger eastern part (formerly Echizen) with wider plains including the capital and most of the population. The mountain side of the eastern part has much snow in winter.

Cities

Nine cities are located in Fukui Prefecture:

Towns and villages

Towns and villages in each district:

Imadate District

Ikeda

Mikata District

Mihama

Mikatakaminaka District

Wakasa

Nanjō District

Minamiechizen

Nyū District

Echizen

Ōi District

Ōi

Takahama

Yoshida District

Eiheiji

Mergers

Main article: List of mergers in Fukui Prefecture

Economy

Sabae city is famous for glasses industry.
Along the Wakasa Bay (Tsuruga city etc.) is Nuclear Power Station zone which supplies Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto.

Demographics

Culture

Fukui Prefecture is home to Maruoka-jō, the second oldest standing castle in Japan, after Inuyama Castle. It was built in 1576.
Eihei-ji is a serene temple offering training and education to Buddhist monks. Founded by Dogen Zenji in 1244, Eiheiji is located on a plot of land of about 330,000 m².
Many dinosaur fossils have been excavated in Fukui and they can been seen at the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum.
Residents of Fukui Prefecture have a distinctive accent, Fukui-ben.
Fukui has long been a center for papermaking in Japan (along with Kyoto). Its Echizen Papermaking Cooperative is a world-famous collection of papermakers making paper in the traditional Echizen style.

Tourism

Echizen Kaigan Coast
Eiheiji Temple
Tōjinbō, a scenic piece of coastline, which is also a notorious spot for suicide.
Visitors to Fukui can enjoy eating echizen-kani crabs prepared by local residents. Male crabs are called zuwai and female ones are called seiko. Another traditional sea-side Fukui dish is genge, a small guppy-like fish, that when eaten raw as sashimi, gives the body a brief tingling sensation.
In Fukui City, a trademark dish of Fukui prefecture (sauce katsudon) was created at Yoroppaken, a restaurant that started making the simple, inexpensive dish during the Taisho Period. By the 1940s, sauce katsudon became known throughout Japan as one of Fukui's trademark dishes.
Awara is a famous onsen in the north of the prefecture.