Prefectures of Japan

Prefectures of Japan coloured by region

The main article for this section is Impact

Many of the east-coast Prefectures of Japan have been affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and, in some cases, the nuclear meltdown.

Click here for a comprehensive breakdown of damage caused by the disasters by preferecture.

Hokkaido region

Hokkaido Region

Hokkaido Prefecture (北海道)is the sole prefecture of the Hokkaido region. It governs the entirety of Hokkaido island. Its capital is Sapporo, a designated city. The prefecture has no land borders but has overlapping claims with Russia (the Kuril islands). The southeastern coastal regions were affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

In Hokkaido, 1 person was killed and three people went missing. 1354 buildings were totally or partially damaged due to the tsunami.

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Kantō region

Chiba Prefecture

Chiba Prefecture (千葉県) is a prefecture of Japan, within the Kantō region. Chiba City is its captal. Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to its north, and Saitama and Tokyo Prefectures to the west. The prefecture of Chiba, which mostly lies on a peninsula, was adversely affected by the tsunami that struck the region in 2011.

The tsunami and earthquake left 21 dead and two missing in Chiba. 258 people were injured. 67483 buildings were totally or partially damaged, not including vast infrastructure damage to roads.

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Ibaraki Prefecture

Ibaraki Prefecture (茨城県) is a province in the Kantō region, bordering Fukushima Prefecture to the north, Tochigi Prefecture to the west, Chiba Prefecture t the south and Saitama Prefecture to the southwest. Its capital is Mito. The coastal regions of Ibaraki were damaged by the 2011 tsunami.

There were 24 casualties, 721 injured and 1 missing person, as a result of the combined natural disasters. 235838 homes were damaged and large infrastructural damage was done.

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Saitama Prefecture

Saitama Prefecture (埼玉県) borders Gunma Prefecture to the northwest, Ibaraki and Chiba Prefectures to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the southwest, and Tokyo Metropolis to the south. Saitama Prefecture also has short borders with the prefectures of Tochigi (north) and Nagano (west). The capital of Saitama is Saitama city. Depsite being inland, Saitama was heavily affected by the 2011 disasters.

45 people in Saitama were injured, with 2058 damaged buldings.

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Tōkyō Metropolis

The Tokyo Metropolis (東京都 ) borders the Prefectures of Saitama (to the north), Chiba (to the east), Kanagawa (to the south) and Yamanashi (to the west).

The tsunami left 7 dead, 117 injured,6162 buildings damaged in Tokyo.

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Tōhoku region

Aomori Prefecture

Aomori Prefecture (青森県) is a prefecture in the Tōhoku region, the northernmost prefecture of Honshu island. Its capital is Aomori city. The prefecture is bordered to the south by Akita and Iwate Prefectures. The eastern coast of the prefecture was damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku.

The combination of disasters left 3 dead and one missing in Aomori. 111 people were injured and 3417 homes were destroyed. There was less infrastructural damage done in Aomori province, due to its location.

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Fukushima Prefecture

Fukushima Prefecture (福島県) is a prefecture of the Tōhoku region, bordering Miyagi and Yamagata Prefectures to the north, Gunma, Tochigi and Ibaraki Prefectures to the south and Nigata Prefecture to the east. The capital of the region is Fukushima city. The area was devastated by the Tōhoku earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown.

1609 people were found dead in Fukushima Prefecture, and another 207 were missing. 182 people were injured due to the disaster, which also left 257896 homes destroyed or damaged. Vast damage was done to roads and railways. 51 landslides occurred in Fukushima Prefecture due to the earthquake and tsunami, and 45 dikes broke. Many residential areas also had to evacuate due to radioactive waste leaking from the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

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Iwate Prefecture

Iwate Prefecture (岩手県) is a prefecture in the Tōhoku region of Japan. It was affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The capital of Iwate is Morioka. Iwate is bordered to the north by Aomori Prefecture, to the west by Yamagata Prefecture and to the south by Miyagi Prefecture.

In Iwate, 4673 people died, and another 1132 went missing. 213 people were injured. 48714 homes were damaged or destroyed during the tsunami and earthquake, which also damaged roads and bridges.

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Miyagi Prefecture

See also: Sendai

Miyagi Prefecture (宮城県) is an area of the Tōhoku region, Japan. The area was adversly affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown. The capital of Miyagi Prefecture is Sendai city. The area is boredered to the south by Fukushima Prefecture, to the east by Yamagata Prefecture, to the north by Iwate Prefecture and the northeast by Akita Prefecture.

9538 people in Miyagi died, and 1269 people went missing

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Media

Breakdown of damages across each of the preferectures affected