Nagasaki Prefecture

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**Nagasaki Prefecture (長崎県; *Nagasaki-ken*)**

Capital	Nagasaki
Region	Kyūshū
Island	Kyūshū
Governor	Genjiro Kaneko
Area	4,092.80 km² (37^th)
- % water	8.5%
Population (2000)
- Population	1,516,536 (26^th)
- Density	371 /km²
Districts	4
Municipalities	23
ISO 3166-2	JP-42
Website	www.pref.nagasaki.jp/en/
Prefectural Symbols
- Flower	Unzentsutsuji (Rhododendron serpyllifolium)
- Tree	Sawara (Chamaecyparis pisifera)
- Bird	Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata)
Symbol of Nagasaki Prefecture

Nagasaki Prefecture (長崎県, Nagasaki-ken^?) is located on the island of Kyūshū in Japan. The capital is the city of Nagasaki.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Regions
4 Economy
5 Culture
- 5.1 Religion
6 Tourism
7 Prefectural symbols
8 External links

Nagasaki Prefecture, a unification of former provinces of Hizen, Tsushima, and Iki, has had close ties with foreign civilization for centuries. Facing China and Korea, the region around Hirado was a traditional center for traders and pirates.

During the 16th century, Catholic missionaries and traders from Portugal arrived and became active in Hirado and Nagasaki, which became a major center for foreign traders. After being given free reign in Oda Nobunaga's period, the missionaries were forced out little by little, until finally, in the Tokugawa era, Christianity was banned under the Sakoku policy. After the prohibition of Christianity in the Edo period, foreign trade was restricted to Chinese and Dutch traders in Nagasaki, Dejima, but Kirishitan (Japanese Christian) worship continued underground. These Kakure Kirishitan (hidden Christians) were tried at every step, forced to step on fumi-e ("trample pictures", images of the Holy Mother Mary and saints) to prove that they were non-Christian. And with the banishment of all Catholic missionaries, traders from Catholic countries were also forced out of the country. Along with them, their children, half Japanese and half European, were also forced to leave the country. The majority was sent to Jagatara (Jakarta) and are still remembered by the locals as the people who wrote the poignant letters which were smuggled across the sea to their homeland. Today, Nagasaki has a prominent Chinatown[1] and Catholic churches[2].

During the Meiji Restoration, Nagasaki and Sasebo became major ports for foreign trade, and eventually major naval bases and shipbuilding centers up to World War II. On August 9, 1945, a United States bomber dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, which was reconstructed after the war.

Map of Nagasaki Prefecture.

Nagasaki borders Saga Prefecture on the east, and is otherwise surrounded by water, including Ariake Bay, the Tsushima Straits, and the East China Sea. It also includes a large number of islands such as Tsushima and Iki. Most of the prefecture is near the coast and there are a number of ports such as Nagasaki and the United States naval base at Sasebo.

Oranda-zaka ("Dutch Slope") in Nagasaki.

Castle in Shimabara.

Nagasaki Prefecture has 13 cities, 4 districts, and 10 towns. There are no more villages within Nagasaki Prefecture since the merger of Oshima.

The following municipalities have been dissolved during the last seven years, and any municipalities not listed can be seen in Dissolved municipalities of Nagasaki Prefecture.

Nishisonogi District: Seihi, Oseto, Saikai, Sakito, Oshima, Sotome, Iojima, Takashima, Kinkai, Tarami
Kitatakaki District: Moriyama, Iimori, Konagai, Takaki
Kitamatsuura District: Oshima, Ikitsuki, Tabira, Fukushima, Takashima, Uku, Kosaza
Minamitakaki District: Aino, Ariake, Arie, Azuma, Chidiwa, Fukae, Futsu, Kazusa, Kitaarima, Kuchinotsu, Kunimi, Minamiarima, Minamikushiyama, Mizuho, Nishiarie, Obama
Minamimatsuura District: Arikawa, Kamigotō, Wakamatsu, Shin'uonome, Narao, Tamanoura
Shimoagata District: Izuhara, Mitsushima

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Nagasaki is the most christianized area in Japan. As of 2002, there are 68,617 Catholics in Nagasaki Prefecture, accounting for 4.52 percent of the total population of the prefecture.