is a prefecture of Japan located on Ky?sh? Island. The capital is the city of Kumamoto.

History

Historically the area was called Higo province and was renamed to Kumamoto prefecture during the Meiji Restoration as part of the abolition of the feudal system. The current Japanese orthography for Kumamoto literally means "bear root/origin", or "origin of the bear".

Geography

Map of Kumamoto Prefecture showing municipal boundries.

Mt. Aso (1592 m), an extensive active volcano, is in the east of Kumamoto Prefecture. This volcano is located at the center of the Aso caldera, the most famous caldera in Japan.

Cities

Fourteen cities are located in Kumamoto Prefecture:

• Amakusa
• Arao
• Aso
• Hitoyoshi
• Kami-Amakusa
• Kikuchi
• K?shi

• Kumamoto (capital)
• Minamata
• Tamana
• Uki
• Uto
• Yamaga
• Yatsushiro

Towns and villages

Towns and villages in each district:

Mergers

Economy

Kumamoto hosts a large Honda automobile plant. In 2007, a Honda factory on the site began to produce non-silicon solar cells for homes and businesses, with a projected capacity roughly equivalent to 8,000 households/year.http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051219/bs_nm/autos_japan_honda_dc

Sports

The sports teams listed below are based in Kumamoto.

Football (soccer)

• Rosso Kumamoto (Kumamoto city)

Demographics

Tourism

Prefectural symbols

Miscellaneous topics

• Kumamoto Prefecture is the 'sister state/prefecture' of Montana in the U.S.A.http://businessresources.mt.gov/BRD_TIR_KumaAbout.asp
• Kumamoto is also the birth place of Hollywood actor Tetsu Komai.
• Kumamoto is the birth place of Japanese-Brazilian painter Manabu Mabe.

External links

• Official Kumamoto Prefecture homepage
• Kumamoto Links
• Wikitravel guide to Kumamoto
• National Archives of Japan ... Kumamoto map (1891)

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