Miyagi Prefecture

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**Miyagi Prefecture (宮城県 *Miyagi-ken*)**

Capital	Sendai
Region	Tōhoku
Island	Honshū
Governor	Yoshihiro Murai
Area	7,285.16 km² (17^th)
- % water	0.3%
Population (October 1, 2002)
- Population	2,370,280 (15^th)
- Density	325 /km²
Districts	10
Municipalities	36
ISO 3166-2	JP-04
Website	www.pref.miyagi.jp/ english/
Prefectural Symbols
- Flower	Miyagi bush clover (Lespedeza thunbergii)
- Tree	Japanese zelkova (Zelkova serrata)
- Bird	Wild goose
Symbol of Miyagi Prefecture

Miyagi Prefecture (宮城県, Miyagi-ken^?) is located in the Tōhoku Region on Honshū island, Japan. The capital is Sendai.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Economy
4 Demographics
5 Culture
6 Sports
7 Visitor attractions
8 Prefectural symbols
9 Miscellaneous topics
10 External links

[edit] History

Miyagi Prefecture was formerly part of the province of Mutsu. Date Masamune built a castle at Sendai as his seat to rule Mutsu. In 1871, Sendai Prefecture was formed. It was renamed Miyagi prefecture the following year.

[edit] Geography

Map of Miyagi Prefecture.

Miyagi Prefecture is located in the central part of Tōhoku, facing the Pacific Ocean, and contains Tōhoku's largest city, Sendai. There are high mountains on the west and along the northeast coast, but the central plain around Sendai is fairly large.

Matsushima is known as one of the three most scenic views of Japan, with a bay full of 260 small islands covered in pine groves.

Oshika Peninsula projects from the northern coastline of the prefecture.

[edit] Cities

Thirteen cities are located in Miyagi Prefecture:

[edit] Towns and villages

These are the towns and villages in each district:

Igu District

Marumori

Kami District

Kami

Shikama

Katta District

Shichikashuku

Zaō

Kurokawa District

Miyagi District

Matsushima

Rifu

Shichigahama

Motoyoshi District

Minamisanriku

Motoyoshi

Oshika District

Onagawa

Shibata District

Toda District

Misato

Wakuya

Watari District

Watari

Yamamoto

[edit] Mergers

Through nine separate mergers under the revised municipality merger promotion law, which was designed to streamline local governments and decrease the burdens of small towns throughout the country, the total municipality count in Miyagi Prefecture was reduced from 71 to 36.

On April 1, 2003, the town of Kami (in Kami District) was formed from a merger between three towns in the district: Miyazaki, Nakaniida, and Onoda.

On April 1, 2005, the towns of Naruse and Yamoto (in the former Monou district) merged and created the city of Higashimatsushima. This merger, combined with the simultaneous Ishinomaki expansion, dissolved Monou district.

On April 1, 2005, all towns and villages in the Kurihara district (dissolved by this action) merged and created the city of Kurihara. One village and nine towns were involved in the merger. They were the towns of Ichihasama, Kannari, Kurikoma, Semine, Shiwahime, Takashimizu, Tsukidate, Wakayanagi, and the village of Hanayama.

On April 1, 2005, all towns in the Tome district (dissolved by this action) merged with Tsuyama town in the Motoyoshi district and created the city of Tome. Nine towns merged, which were Hasama, Ishikoshi, Minamikata, Nakada, Tome, Towa, Toyosato, Tsuyama, and Yoneyama

On April 1, 2005, five towns from the Monou District and Oshika town from the Oshika District merged with the city of Ishinomaki to create the new city of Ishinomaki. This expansion, combined with the Higashimatsushima merger, dissolved Monou district. The five towns from Monou district were Kahoku, Kanan, Kitakami, Monou and Ogatsu.

On October 1, 2005, the town of Shizugawa and the town of Utatsu from the Motoyoshi District merged to form the new town of Minamisanriku.

On January 1, 2006, the towns of Kogota and Nangou from Toda District merged into the new town of Misato.

On March 31, 2006, the city of Kesennuma merged with the town of Karakuwa from Motoyoshi District to create the new city of Kesennuma.

On March 31, 2006, the city of Furukawa merged with the towns of Iwadeyama and Naruko from Tamatsukuri District and Kashimadai, Matsuyama and Sanbongi from Shida District and Tajiri from Toda District to create the new city of Ōsaki. Tamatsukuri District and Shida District were dissolved as a result of this merger.

[edit] Future mergers

Both towns within Watari District are planning to merge and create a new city under the name of Watari. Watari District will dissolve if the city is created [1]

[edit] Economy

Although Miyagi has a good deal of fishing and agriculture, producing a great deal of rice and livestock, it is dominated by the manufacturing industries around Sendai, particularly electronics, appliances, and food processing.