Kagawa Prefecture

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Kagawa Prefecture 香川県
Prefecture
Japanese transcription(s)
• Japanese	香川県
• Rōmaji	Kagawa-ken
Flag Symbol
Country	Japan
Region	Shikoku
Island	Shikoku
Capital	Takamatsu
Subdivisions	Districts: 5, Municipalities: 17
Government
• Governor	Keizō Hamada
Area [1][a]
• Total	1,876.80 km2 (724.64 sq mi)
Area rank	47th
Population  (September 1, 2020)[2]
• Total	949,358
• Rank	40th
• Density	510/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
ISO 3166 code	JP-37
Website	www.pref.kagawa.jp
Symbols Bird Lesser cuckoo (Cuculus poliocephalus) Flower Olive (Olea europaea) Tree Olive (Olea europaea)

Kagawa Prefecture (香川県, Kagawa-ken) is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku.^[3] Kagawa Prefecture has a population of 949,358 (as of 2020)^[2] and is the smallest prefecture by geographic area at 1,877 square kilometres (725 sq mi).^[1] Kagawa Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the southwest and Tokushima Prefecture to the south.

Takamatsu is the capital and largest city of Kagawa Prefecture,^[4] with other major cities including Marugame, Mitoyo, and Kan'onji. Kagawa Prefecture is located on the Seto Inland Sea across from Okayama Prefecture on the island of Honshu, which is connected by the Great Seto Bridge. Kagawa Prefecture includes Shōdoshima, the second-largest island in the Seto Inland Sea, and the prefecture's southern land border with Tokushima Prefecture is formed by the Sanuki Mountains.

History[]

Kagawa was formerly known as Sanuki Province.^[5]

For a brief period between August 1876 and December 1888, Kagawa was made a part of Ehime Prefecture.^[6]

Battle of Yashima[]

Located in Kagawa's capital city, Takamatsu, the mountain of Yashima was the battlefield for one of the best-known struggles between the Heike and Genji clans.

Geography[]

Kagawa comprises the northeast corner of Shikoku, bordering Ehime Prefecture on the west and Tokushima Prefecture on the south, with a coastline on the Seto Inland Sea facing Okayama Prefecture and the Kansai. The Sanuki Mountains run along the southern border.

Kagawa is currently the smallest prefecture, by area, in Japan. Kagawa is a relatively narrow prefecture located between the mountains of Shikoku and the sea.

As of April 1, 2012, 11% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely Setonaikai National Park and Ōtaki-Ōkawa Prefectural Natural Park.^[7]

Cities[]

Eight cities are located in Kagawa Prefecture:

Place name		Area (km2)[1]	Population (2020)[2]	Map
Rōmaji	Kanji
Higashikagawa	東かがわ市	152.86	28,305
Kan'onji	観音寺市	117.83	56,639
Marugame	丸亀市	111.83	109,165
Mitoyo	三豊市	222.70	61,839
Sakaide	坂出市	92.49	50,577
Sanuki	さぬき市	158.63	46,723
Takamatsu (capital)	高松市	375.42	417,814
Zentsūji	善通寺市	39.93	31,620

Towns[]

Kagawa has eight towns organized into five districts. Many were created after 1999 through mergers, as part of a national effort to reduce the number of small towns and villages.^[8]

Place name		Area (km2)[1]	Population (2020)[2]	District[9]	Map
Rōmaji	Kanji
Ayagawa	綾川町	109.75	22,730	Ayauta
Kotohira	琴平町	8.47	8,466	Nakatado
Mannō	まんのう町	194.45	17,324	Nakatado
Miki	三木町	75.78	26,859	Kita
Naoshima	直島町	14.22[a]	3,026	Kagawa
Shōdoshima	小豆島町	95.59	13,646	Shōzu
Tadotsu	多度津町	24.39	22,813	Nakatado
Tonoshō	土庄町	74.38	12,915	Shōzu
Utazu	宇多津町	8.10	18,897	Ayauta

Mergers[]

Economy[]

This section is empty. You can help by . (July 2010)

Foods[]

Sanuki udon (a type of udon noodle) is the most famous local food of Kagawa Prefecture. In 2008, there were over 700 udon restaurants in this prefecture alone.^[10]

Aside from udon, Kagawa is also famous for "hone-tsuki-dori", seasoned chicken thigh cooked on the bone. Originating from Marugame City, the dish has now become a popular dish in izakaya restaurants across the country.

Olives and olive-related products have also come to be recognized as Kagawa foods. As the first place in Japan to successfully cultivate olives, Kagawa has been producing olive-related products since 1908. As well as winning both domestic and international awards for the quality of its olive oil, Kagawa has also created two offshoot food brands from its olive industry - "olive beef" and "olive yellowtail". Waste organic matter from olive pressing is used as feed for cattle and the Yellowtail Amberjack. Due to the high amount of polyphenol in the olive waste, the flesh of the respective meats does not oxidize or lose colour easily.

Other local specialties include wasanbon sugar sweets, sōmen noodles and shōyu soy sauce. Rare sugar researches are thriving and have discovered mass production culture enzymes. D-tagatose 3-epimerase is an enzyme that catalyzes the reversible epimerization reaction of the 3rd carbon of ketose.

Demographics[]

This section is empty. You can help by . (July 2010)

Education[]

Universities[]

• Kagawa University in Takamatsu
• Kagawa Prefectural College of Health Sciences
• Shikoku Gakuin University in Zentsuji
• Takamatsu University
• Tokushima Bunri University in Sanuki

Sports[]

The sports teams listed below are based in Kagawa.

Baseball

• Kagawa Olive Guyners

Basketball

• Kagawa Five Arrows (Takamatsu)

Football (Soccer)

• Kamatamare Sanuki (Takamatsu)

Volleyball

• Shikoku Eighty 8 Queen

Ice Hockey

• Kagawa Ice Fellows (see Japan Ice Hockey Federation)

Tourism[]

• Kotohira
  • Kanamaruza Kabuki Theatre
  • Konpira Shrine
• Manno
  • Manno Lake
• Marugame
  • Marugame Castle
  • Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art
• Sakaide
  • Kagawa Prefectural Higashiyama Kaii Setouchi Art Museum (Kaii Higashiyama`s Art Museum)
  • Mountain Iino (Kagawa's Mount Fuji)
  • Kiyama (a castle ruins)
  • Shinto shrine (misasagi) (Emperor Sutoku's Tomb)
  • Fuchu Dam
  • Great Seto Bridge
• Naoshima Island
  • Ando Museum
  • Benesse House
  • Chichu Art Museum
  • Lee Ufan Museum
• Setonaikai National Park
• Shikoku Pilgrimage – Zentsū-ji, Motoyama-ji, Yashima-ji, etc.

• Shodoshima
  • Kankakei Gorge
  • Shodoshima Olive Park
• Takamatsu
  • Megijima and Ogijima
  • Ritsurin Garden
  • Takamatsu Castle
  • Yashima, the island on which the Battle of Yashima was fought
    

    Ritsurin Garden
• Teshima Island
  • Shima Kitchen
  • Teshima Art Museum

Based on its ancient name, Sanuki, Kagawa is famous for its Sanuki udon (wheat noodles). Recent years have seen an interest in Sanuki udon across Japan^{[citation needed]}, and many Japanese now take day-trips to taste the many Sanuki udon restaurants in Kagawa.

Transportation[]

Railroad[]

• JR Shikoku
  • Seto-Ōhashi Line
  • Yosan Line
  • Dosan Line
  • Kotoku Line
• Kotoden (Takamatsu Kotohira Electric Railroad)
  • Kotohira Line
  • Shido Line
  • Nagao Line

Bus[]

Departure from Takamatsu[]

• Tokyo Station
• Shinjuku of Tokyo
• Tokyo Disneyland
• Hachioji
• Yokohama
• Nagoya
• Kyoto Station
• Osaka
  • Umeda
  • Nanba
• Kansai Int'l Airport
• Kobe
  • Sannomiya
  • Maiko Bus Stop
• Tokushima
• Kōchi
• Matsuyama
• Yawatahama
• Hiroshima
• Fukuoka
  • Kokura Station
  • Hakata Station
  • Tenjin Station

Road[]

Expressway[]

• Seto-Chūō Expressway
• Takamatsu Expressway
• Matsuyama Expressway

National Highway[]

• Route 11 (Tokushima-Takamatsu-Marugame-Niihama-Maysuyama)
• Route 30
• Route 32 (Takamatsu-Kotohira-Kochi)
• Route 193
• Route 318
• Route 319
• Route 377
• Route 436
• Route 438

Port[]

• Port of Takamatsu – Ferry route to Uno, Tonoshō (Shōdoshima Island), Kobe, Naoshima
• Port of Marugame
• Port of Tadotsu
• Port of Tonoshō – Ferry route to Okayama, Himeji, Kobe and Osaka.

Airport[]

• Takamatsu Airport

In popular culture[]

The novel Battle Royale by Koushun Takami was set in the fictional town of Shiroiwa ('Castle Rock') in the Kagawa Prefecture. Okishima, the fictional island on which much of the novel takes place is placed in the Seto Inland Sea. The manga also places Shiroiwa in Kagawa Prefecture, while the film moves Shiroiwa to Kanagawa Prefecture.

Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture is also the main setting of the book "Kafka on the Shore" by Haruki Murakami.

Kagawa Prefecture is also the setting of the anime Poco's Udon World, My Bride is a Mermaid, and Yuki Yuna is a Hero.

In the asymmetrical horror video game, Dead by Daylight, The Spirit, also known as Rin Yamaoka, lives here.

Tonosho Town is the setting of the manga and anime Karakai Jōzu no Takagi-san (Teasing Master Takagi-san). Native creator Sōichirō Yamamoto was also raised in Tonosho Town.

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kagawa prefecture.

• Kagawa Prefecture English homepage
• (in Japanese) Official Kagawa Prefecture Japanese homepage
• National Archives of Japan ... Kagawa map (1891)^{[permanent dead link]}
• Notes from Shikoku in English

Coordinates: 34°16′N 133°57′E / 34.267°N 133.950°E / 34.267; 133.950