Ishikawa Prefecture

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**Ishikawa Prefecture (石川県 *Ishikawa-ken*)**

Capital	Kanazawa
Region	Chūbu
Island	Honshū
Governor	Masanori Tanimoto
Area	4,185.22 km² (35^th)
- % water	%
Population (January 1, 2003)
- Population	1,180,744 (36^th)
- Density	282 /km²
Districts	6
Municipalities	19
ISO 3166-2	JP-17
Website	www.pref.ishikawa.jp/ index_e.htm
Prefectural Symbols
- Flower	Black lily (Fritillaria camtschatcensis)
- Tree	Hiba (Thujopsis dolabrata)
- Bird	Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)
Symbol of Ishikawa Prefecture

Ishikawa Prefecture (石川県, Ishikawa-ken^?) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshū island. The capital is Kanazawa.

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

Ishikawa was formed from the merger of Kaga Province and the smaller Noto Province.

Ishikawa is on the Sea of Japan coast. The northern part of the prefecture consists of the narrow Noto Peninsula, while the southern part is wider and consists mostly of mountains, with the prefecture's chief city, Kanazawa, located in the coastal plain. The prefecture also has some islands, including Notojima, Mitsukejima, Hegurajima.

Ten cities are located in Ishikawa Prefecture:

Towns and villages in each district:

Hakui District

Hōdatsushimizu

Shika

Hōsu District

Anamizu

Noto

Ishikawa District

Nonoichi

Kahoku District

Tsubata

Uchinada

Kashima District

Nakanoto

Nomi District

Kawakita

Map of Ishikawa Prefecture.

Main article: Merger and dissolution of municipalities of Japan

On March 1, 2004 - the towns of Takamatsu, Nanatsuka, and Unoke from Kahoku District merged to form the city of Kahoku.

On October 1, 2004 - the towns of Nakajima, Notojima and Tatsuruhama merged with the former city of Nanao to create the city of Nanao.

On February 1, 2005 - the following towns and villages from Ishikawa merged with the city of Mattō forming the city of Hakusan: Kawachi, Mikawa, Oguchi, Shiramine, Torigoe, Tsurugi, and Yoshinodani.

On February 1, 2005 - the towns of Neagari, Tatsunokuchi, and Terai from Nomi District merged forming the city of Nomi.

On March 1, 2005 - the town of Noto and village of Yanagida from the former Fugeshi District merged with the town of Uchiura from the former Suzu District, Ishikawa forming a new town of Noto and the districts merged forming Hōsu District.

On March 1, 2005 - the towns of Oshimizu and Shio from Hakui District merged forming the town of Hōdatsushimizu.

On March 1, 2005 - the towns of Kashima, Toriya, and Rokusei from Kashima District merged, forming the town of Nakanoto.

On September 1, 2005 - the towns of Togi and Shika from Hakui District merged to create the new town of Shika.

On October 1, 2005 - the town of Yamanaka from Enuma District and the former city of Kaga merged, forming the new city of Kaga. Enuma District was dissolved as a result of this merger.

On February 1, 2006 - the town of Monzen from Hōsu District and the former city of Wajima merged, forming the new city of Wajima.

Ishikawa's industry is dominated by the textile industry, particularly artificial fabrics, and the machine industry, particularly construction machinery.

Ishikawa Prefecture has an area of 4,185 km² and as of April 1, 2006 it has a population of 1,698,539 persons.

Data	Unit	Statistics
Area	km²	4,185
Population	Persons	1,698,539
Population Density	Persons per km²	405
Number of Households	Households	411,341
Income per person	Thousand yen	2,707
Power consumed	Kwh per household	6,446
# Doctors	Physicians per 100,000 people	249

Most of the area's culture is made up of traditional arts and crafts. They are listed below:

Nō was introduced to the area during the rule of the fifth Maeda lord Tsunanori and was refined into the Kaga hosho style.
The tea ceremony arrived in 1666 when Maeda Toshitsune invited Senbiki Soshitsu of urasenke to Kanazawa.
Kutani porcelain (Kutani yaki), bright colored glazes not unlike Chinese porcelain.
Ohi teaware (Ōhi yaki), a pottery style unique to Kanazawa.
Kaga silk (Kaga yūzen), a complicated silk print technique with an intentional rough look (wabi-sabi).
Kanazawa lacquerware (Kanazawa shikki), high quality lacquerware traditionally decorated with gold dust.
Kanazawa gold leaf (Kanazawa haku), a technique of beating gold into wafer-thin sheets.
Kaga mizuhiki, ribbon-like decorations made from glued Japanese paper (washi).
Kaga inlay crafts (Kaga zōgan), a combination of thin flat and thread metal inlays.

The most popular destination in Ishikawa is Kanazawa. Tourists can get to Ishikawa by plane via Komatsu.

Hideki Matsui, a current player for the New York Yankees, was born and raised in Neagari Town (now Nomi City), Ishikawa. He gained fame as a baseball player while attending high school in Kanazawa.