Japan’s prefectural flags

Hokkaido

A red seven-pointed star edged in white, on dark blue: the star of the 19th-century settlement office.

Aomori

A green outline map of the prefecture, on white.

Iwate

A stylised 岩 (iwa, “rock”), the first character of Iwate, on teal grey.

Miyagi

Miyagino-hagi bush clover, the prefectural flower, drawn so it also reads as み (mi) for Miyagi.

Akita

The katakana ア (a) for Akita, drawn as a sweeping, leaping shape on dark red.

Yamagata

Three white peaks for Yamagata’s mountains, which also trace the flow of the Mogami River.

Fukushima

A ring built from ふ (fu), the first letter of Fukushima, on orange.

Ibaraki

An opening rose bud, the prefectural flower, with a spiral at its heart.

Tochigi

An abstract 栃 (tochi); the three arrows in the corner come from an ancient form of 木, “tree”.

Gunma

The old form of 群 (gun) at the centre, ringed by three crescents for Gunma’s three famous mountains, Akagi, Haruna and Myōgi.

Saitama

A ring of sixteen magatama, the curved beads of ancient Japan, forming a sun.

Chiba

The katakana チ (chi) and ハ (ha) joined into one emblem, edged in the pale yellow of rapeseed blossom, on sky blue.

Tokyo

Edo purple, with a white six-rayed sun emblem.

Kanagawa

A stylised 神, the first character of Kanagawa’s name.

Niigata

A cursive 新 (nii) at the top of a ring formed from the katakana ガタ (gata), in gold on red.

Toyama

The peaks of Mount Tateyama in green, with と (to) for Toyama inside them.

Ishikawa

The characters 石川 (Ishikawa) combined with the shape of the prefecture; the blue stands for the Sea of Japan and Ishikawa’s clean water and air. Ishikawa has no separate emblem, so this design stands in for one.

Fukui

The katakana フクイ (Fukui), shaped to resemble a young leaf sprouting between two others.

Yamanashi

Three 人 (“person”) characters joined into 山 (yama), inside an outline of Mount Fuji, on grape purple.

Nagano

The katakana ナ (na) drawn in a circle as a bird in flight; above the crossbar are mountains, below it their reflection in a lake.

Gifu

The character 岐 (gi) in a green ring, the ring standing for peace and harmony.

Shizuoka

Mount Fuji and the curve of the prefecture’s coastline in orange, on Pacific blue.

Aichi

The hiragana あいち (Aichi) drawn as the rising sun over a wave crest, for a prefecture facing the Pacific.

Mie

A bold み (mi) for Mie, slanting up to the right, which also stands for the pearl farming Mie is known for.

Shiga

The katakana シ (shi) and ガ (ga) on either side, with the space between them shaped like Lake Biwa, under a pair of wings.

Kyoto

A six-lobed crest for the old capital, with 京 (kyō) at the centre shaped like a human figure; together they stand for the people’s unity.

Osaka

A stylised gourd, the battle standard of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who built Osaka Castle.

Hyogo

The character 兵 (hyō) drawn as waves, for a prefecture with coasts to both north and south.

Nara

The katakana ナ (na) for Nara drawn as a circle within a circle.

Wakayama

The katakana ワ (wa) for Wakayama, widening like an opening fan; the widening shape stands for the prefecture’s endless growth.

Tottori

The hiragana と (to) for Tottori, shaped into a bird in flight.

Shimane

Four katakana マ (ma) joined into a cloud shape; “four ma” reads shi-ma, as in Shimane.

Okayama

The character 岡 (oka) for Okayama, drawn as a circle, in yellow on purple.

Hiroshima

The katakana ヒ (hi) for Hiroshima, drawn as two overlapping crescents.

Yamaguchi

The characters 山 (yama) and 口 (kuchi) combined into a bird flying towards the sun.

Tokushima

The hiragana とく (toku) for Tokushima, shaped into a flying bird, in yellow on blue.

Kagawa

The katakana カ (ka) for Kagawa, drawn to suggest both the prefecture’s distinctive mountains and an olive leaf.

Ehime

A white mandarin-orange blossom, the prefectural flower, on a green band between two broad stripes.

Kochi

とさ (Tosa), the old province name, with the コ (ko) of Kōchi inside: a ring topped by an upward sword tip.

Fukuoka

A stylised plum blossom, the prefecture’s flower.

Saga

A camphor flower, the prefectural flower, with red stamens on camphor-leaf green.

Nagasaki

An N for Nagasaki that doubles as a dove of peace, in blue.

Kumamoto

The katakana ク (ku) for Kumamoto, shaped like the island of Kyushu; the round hole marks Kumamoto at its centre.

Oita

Three 大 (ō) characters, from Ōita, joined hand in hand into a ring that also suggests the rising sun.

Miyazaki

Sunlight falling on green land, drawn as the katakana ミ (mi) in three yellow steps.

Kagoshima

The outline of Kagoshima’s two peninsulas wrapped round a red disc for the volcano Sakurajima. A separate symbol flag, adopted in 1994, is now used more often.

Okinawa

A red ring on white: an O for Okinawa and the ocean around it.