| Kumamoto Prefecture | |||||||||||
| Settlement Type: | Prefecture | ||||||||||
| Translit Lang1: | Japanese | ||||||||||
| Translit Lang1 Type: | Japanese | ||||||||||
| Translit Lang1 Info: | Japanese: 熊本県 | ||||||||||
| Translit Lang1 Type1: | Rōmaji | ||||||||||
| Translit Lang1 Info1: | Japanese: Kumamoto-ken | ||||||||||
| Flag Size: | 100px | ||||||||||
| Image Blank Emblem: | Emblem of Kumamoto Prefecture.svg | ||||||||||
| Blank Emblem Size: | 80px | ||||||||||
| Blank Emblem Type: | Symbol | ||||||||||
| Coordinates: | 32.7167°N 170°W | ||||||||||
| Subdivision Type: | Country | ||||||||||
| Subdivision Name: |  Japan | ||||||||||
| Subdivision Type1: | Region | ||||||||||
| Subdivision Name1: | Kyushu | ||||||||||
| Subdivision Type2: | Island | ||||||||||
| Subdivision Name2: | Kyushu | ||||||||||
| Seat Type: | Capital | ||||||||||
| Seat: | Kumamoto | ||||||||||
| Parts Type: | Subdivisions | ||||||||||
| Parts Style: | para | ||||||||||
| P1: | Districts 9 | ||||||||||
| P2: | Municipalities 45 | ||||||||||
| Leader Title: | Governor | ||||||||||
| Leader Name: | Takashi Kimura (木村敬) (from April 2024) | ||||||||||
| Area Total Km2: | 7409.48 | ||||||||||
| Area Water Percent: | 0.2 | ||||||||||
| Area Rank: | 15th | ||||||||||
| Population Total: | 1748134 | ||||||||||
| Population As Of: | 1 June 2019 | ||||||||||
| Population Rank: | 23rd | ||||||||||
| Population Density Km2: | auto | ||||||||||
| Demographics Type2: | GDP | ||||||||||
| Demographics2 Footnotes: | [1] | ||||||||||
| Demographics2 Title1: | Total | ||||||||||
| Demographics2 Info1: | JP¥ 6,363 billion US$ 58.4 billion (2019) | ||||||||||
| Iso Code: | JP-43 | ||||||||||
| Module: |
| ||||||||||
| Anthem: | Kumamoto kenmin no uta | ||||||||||
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū.[2] Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to the northeast, Miyazaki Prefecture to the southeast, and Kagoshima Prefecture to the south.
Kumamoto is the capital and largest city of Kumamoto Prefecture, with other major cities including Yatsushiro, Amakusa, and Tamana.[3] Kumamoto Prefecture is located in the center of Kyūshū on the coast of the Ariake Sea, across from Nagasaki Prefecture, with the mainland separated from the East China Sea by the Amakusa Archipelago. Kumamoto Prefecture is home to Mount Aso, the largest active volcano in Japan and among the largest in the world, with its peak 1592m (5,223feet) above sea level.
See also: Historic Sites of Kumamoto Prefecture.
Historically, the area was called Higo Province; and the province was renamed Kumamoto during the Meiji Restoration.[4] The creation of prefectures was part of the abolition of the feudal system. The current Japanese orthography for Kumamoto literally means "bear root/origin," or "origin of the bear." However, Man'yōgana-like phonetic transcriptions based on the kanji for "a ball, a sphere" (球 /ku/ ~ /kjū/) and "to polish, to grind, to brush (one's teeth)" (磨 /ma/) are used for the names of the Kuma River (球磨川) and Kuma District (球磨郡). The Kuma element also appears in the ancient Kumaso.
Kumamoto Prefecture is in the center of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four major Japanese islands. It is bordered by the Ariake inland sea and the Amakusa archipelago to the west, Fukuoka Prefecture and Ōita Prefecture to the north, Miyazaki Prefecture to the east, and Kagoshima Prefecture to the south.
Mount Aso, an extensive active volcano, is in the east of Kumamoto Prefecture. This volcano is located at the centre of the Aso caldera.
As of 31 March 2019, 21% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as natural parks: the Aso Kujū and Unzen-Amakusa National Parks; Kyūshū Chūō Sanchi and Yaba-Hita-Hikosan Quasi-National Parks; and Ashikita Kaigan, Itsuki Gokanoshō, Kinpōzan, Misumi-Ōyano Umibe, Okukuma, Shōtaisan, and Yabe Shūhen Prefectural Natural Parks.[5]
See also: List of cities in Kumamoto Prefecture by population.
Fourteen cities are located in Kumamoto Prefecture:
These are the towns and villages in each district:
See main article: List of mergers in Kumamoto Prefecture.
the population was 1,748,134 inhabitants with a population density of . The prefecture ranks 23rd in Japan.
The largest motorcycle production facility in the world is located in Kumamoto.[6]
In 2023, Mitsubishi Electric announced plans to spend 100 billion yen on a new semiconductor factory in Kumamoto, with a target start date of April 2026 to begin production.[7]
The prefecture has a mascot named "Kumamon", a black bear with red cheeks, who was created to attract tourists to the region after the Kyushu Shinkansen line opened.[8] [9]
These sports teams are based in the prefecture:
The Kumamoto Prefecture hosted the 2019 World Women's Handball Championship, having previously hosted the 1997 World Men's Handball Championship.
Kumamoto Prefecture is the 'sister state/prefecture' of Montana in the United States.
Kumamoto has a sister city located in Texas named San Antonio, which holds an annual fall festival 'akimatsuri' for its Japanese citizens. In 2015 the mascot, 'Kumamon' visited as an honorary ambassador during the festival located at the Japanese Tea Gardens.