A prefectural capital is a city where a prefectural government and assembly is located.

Japan

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In Japan, a prefectural capital is officially called todōfukenchō shozaichi (都道府県庁所在地, "seat of a prefectural government", singular: 都庁所在地,tochō shozaichi in the [Tōkyō]-to, 道庁所在地, dōchō shozaichi in the [Hokkai]-dō, 府庁所在地, fuchō shozaichi in -fu, 県庁所在地, kenchō shozaichi in -ken), but the term kento (県都, "prefectural capital") is also used (dōto (道都, in the -dō, but never "futo" or "toto")).

List of Japanese prefectural capitals

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Capital Prefecture  
Region
Island Pop.¹ ISO Status
  Akita   Akita Tōhoku Honshū 327,651 JP-05 Core city
  Aomori   Aomori Tōhoku Honshū 304,657 JP-02 Core city
  Chiba   Chiba Kantō Honshū 943,568 JP-12 Designated city
  Fukui   Fukui Chūbu Honshū 268,210 JP-18 Core city
  Fukuoka   Fukuoka Kyūshū Kyūshū 1,434,650 JP-40 Designated city
  Fukushima   Fukushima Tōhoku Honshū 288,602 JP-07 Core city
  Gifu   Gifu Chūbu Honshū 411,753 JP-21 Core city
  Hiroshima   Hiroshima Chūgoku Honshū 1,164,885 JP-34 Designated city
  Kagoshima   Kagoshima Kyūshū Kyūshū 604,268 JP-46 Core city
  Kanazawa   Ishikawa Chūbu Honshū 455,952 JP-17 Core city
  KobeKōbe   Hyōgo Kansai Honshū 1,532,305 JP-28 Designated city
  KochiKōchi   Kōchi Shikoku Shikoku 345,418 JP-39 Core city
  KofuKōfu   Yamanashi Chūbu Honshū 198,757 JP-19 Core city
  Kumamoto   Kumamoto Kyūshū Kyūshū 670,014 JP-43 Designated city
  Kyōto   Kyōto Kansai Honshū 1,468,065 JP-26 Designated city
  Maebashi   Gunma Kantō Honshū 317,167 JP-10 Core city
  Matsue   Shimane Chūgoku Honshū 195,008 JP-32 Core city
  Matsuyama   Ehime Shikoku Shikoku 514,771 JP-38 Core city
  Mito   Ibaraki Kantō Honshū 263,299 JP-08 Core city
  Miyazaki   Miyazaki Kyūshū Kyūshū 368,984 JP-45 Core city
  Morioka   Iwate Tōhoku Honshū 298,959 JP-03 Core city
  Nagano   Nagano Chūbu Honshū 377,328 JP-20 Core city
  Nagasaki   Nagasaki Kyūshū Kyūshū 446,551 JP-42 Core city
  Nagoya   Aichi Chūbu Honshū 2,243,564 JP-23 Designated city
  Naha   Okinawa Kyūshū Ryūkyū Islands 313,436 JP-47 Core city
  Nara   Nara Kansai Honshū 366,863 JP-29 Core city
  Niigata   Niigata Chūbu Honshū 811,613 JP-15 Designated city
  OitaŌita   Ōita Kyūshū Kyūshū 467,617 JP-44 Core city
  Okayama   Okayama Chūgoku Honshū 700,646 JP-33 Designated city
  Ōsaka   Ōsaka Kansai Honshū 2,649,601 JP-27 Designated city
  OtsuŌtsu   Shiga Kansai Honshū 330,044 JP-25 Core city
  Saga   Saga Kyūshū Kyūshū 239,003 JP-41 Special city
  Saitama   Saitama Kantō Honshū 1,197,471 JP-11 Designated city
  Sapporo   Hokkaidō Hokkaidō Hokkaidō 1,896,704 JP-01 Designated city
  Sendai   Miyagi Tōhoku Honshū 1,029,576 JP-04 Designated city
  Shinjuku[1]   Tōkyō Kantō Honshū 314,262 JP-13 Special wards
  Shizuoka   Shizuoka Chūbu Honshū 709,888 JP-22 Designated city
  Takamatsu   Kagawa Shikoku Shikoku 417,671 JP-37 Core city
  Tokushima   Tokushima Shikoku Shikoku 265,248 JP-36 City
  Tottori   Tottori Chūgoku Honshū 199,319 JP-31 Core city
  Toyama   Toyama Chūbu Honshū 420,584 JP-16 Core city
  Tsu   Mie Kansai Honshū 287,849 JP-24 City
  Utsunomiya   Tochigi Kantō Honshū 508,114 JP-09 Core city
  Wakayama   Wakayama Kansai Honshū 371,504 JP-30 Core city
  Yamagata   Yamagata Tōhoku Honshū 254,724 JP-06 Core city
  Yamaguchi   Yamaguchi Chūgoku Honshū 191,714 JP-35 City
  Yokohama   Kanagawa Kantō Honshū 3,643,641 JP-14 Designated city

Notes: ¹ As of 1 May 2008

Non-capitals which share a name with their prefecture

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In most cases, a city that shares a name with its prefecture is a prefectural capital. However, there are some municipalities that are not capitals.

Capitals that are not the largest city/metropolitan area in their prefecture

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Those in italics are prefectural capitals, or metropolitan areas of them.

  Fukushima Prefecture
1.   Iwaki 348,322  1. Kōriyama Metropolitan Area 537,493
2.   Kōriyama 338,887  2. Fukushima Metropolitan Area 412,353
3.   Fukushima 294,724  3. Iwaki Metropolitan Area 365,864
  Gunma Prefecture
1.   Takasaki 342,662  1. Takasaki Metropolitan Area 532,271
2.   Maebashi 317,114  2. Maebashi Metropolitan Area 458,996
  Mie Prefecture
1.   Yokkaichi 307,418  1. Yokkaichi Metropolitan Area 606,071
2.   Tsu 288,874  2. Tsu Metropolitan Area 308,375
  Shizuoka Prefecture
1.   Hamamatsu 812,692  1. Shizuoka Metropolitan Area 999,360
2.   Shizuoka 709,772  2. Hamamatsu Metropolitan Area 919,933
  Tottori Prefecture
1.   Tottori 199,263  1. Yonago Metropolitan Area 252,387
2.   Yonago 148,234  2. Tottori Metropolitan Area 249,067
  Yamaguchi Prefecture
1.   Shimonoseki 284,693  1. Shimonoseki Metropolitan Area 287,935
2.   Yamaguchi 191,740  2. Ube Metropolitan Area 258,180
3.   Ube 175,334  3. Yamaguchi Metropolitan Area 178,402

Notes:

City populations are as of July 2008.
Metropolitan area populations are as of 2000. (Urban Employment Areas)

References

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  1. ^ 都庁の所在地 Archived 2014-04-19 at the Wayback Machine Shinjuku is the location of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Tokyo not having itself been a "municipality" since 1943.