Tokushima Prefecture

History

Until the Meiji Restoration, Tokushima Prefecture was known as Awa Province.

Tokushima Prefecture and Myodo Prefecture

In ancient times, Tokushima City belonged to a region known as Myōdō-gun. In the first wave of government consolidation following the abolishment of the fiefdom system and construction of prefectures in 1871, it became known as Myodo Prefecture. At the time, it included the Awa region to the south and the Awaji Island regions as well. In 1873 it further incorporated the region currently occupied by Kagawa Prefecture in its borders.

In the second wave of government consolidation, on September 5, 1875, the Sanuki Region separated to form the modern day Kagawa Prefecture. On August 21, 1876, Awaji Island separated to join Hyōgo Prefecture and the Awa region separated to form Kochi Prefecture.

On March 2, 1880, Myodo Prefecture fully separated from Kochi Prefecture to be inaugurated as Tokushima Prefecture.

Post-war

1945 August – End of World War II. The Washi no Mon gate to Tokushima Castle is destroyed by fire.

1946 December – The Nankai earthquake occurs, causing vast damage throughout the prefecture.

1947 May – Naruto City is inaugurated.

1949 May – Tokushima University is created.

1951 June – Komatsushima City is inaugurated.

1953 November – The Prefectural Library is completed in Tokushima Park

1957 November – The Nagayasuguchi Dam is completed along the Naka River

1958 January – A ferry from Komatsushima to Wakayama sinks. All passengers are lost.

1958 May – Anan City is inaugurated.

1959 April – Shikoku Hoso begins TV broadcasts.

1960 May – A tsunami caused by a quake in Chile causes damage in the prefecture's south.

1961 April – The Short Term Women's College in Tokushima is opened, later reformed into Shikoku University.

1961 July – The Lesser Naruto Bridge is opened in the Lesser Naruto Straits.

1963 April – The Tokushima Municipal Culture Center is completed.

1963 July – A new thermal electric power plant is created in Anan.

Geography

The Sanuki Mountains run along the northern border of the prefecture.

As of April 1, 2012, 9% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely the Setonaikai National Park; Muroto-Anan Kaigan and Tsurugisan Quasi-National Parks; and Chūbu Sankei, Dochū-Kōtsu, Hashikura, Higashi Sankei, Okumiyagawa-Uchidani, and Ōasayama Prefectural Natural Parks.

Cities

Eight cities are located in Tokushima Prefecture:

Towns and villages

These are the towns and villages in each district:

Economy and industry

Tokushima depends on agriculture, forestry and fisheries. The percentage of agricultural workers and productivity is the second largest in Shikoku next to Kochi. Rice fields occupy the lower region of the Yoshino River and the small, narrow plains along the shore. Much of the remaining land is used for vegetables and flowers. The prefecture is the nation's largest supplier of cauliflower and lotus roots, and the fourth largest producer of carrots. Japanese indigo is only produced here.

Northern Tokushima's growth was accelerated by the completion of the Akashi Channel Bridge, which completes the road connection from Tokushima to Kobe. Industrial development continues around the Tokushima and Naruto districts. In particular, Itano District's Aizumi Town and Kitajima Town have experienced rapid growth, which has led to a proposed merger of the towns of Itano District into Itano City in the future.

In April 2023 a school of tech entrepreneurship - the first of its kind in Japan - was opened in the Tokushima town of Kamiyama. The students, aged from 15 to 20, will be taught engineering, programming and designing, as well as business skills such as marketing. They will also learn how to pitch their business plans to investors in order to raise money.

The man behind it is Chikahiro Terada, the boss of Tokyo-based start-up Sansan, which specialises in the digitalisation of business cards. These still play a huge role in Japan's corporate world.

Agriculture

Tokushima abounds in agricultural resources and is the site of large-scale production of many different types of vegetables. The plains north of the Yoshino River are particularly fertile and the produce here is often shipped to mainland Japan in the areas around Kobe, Osaka and Kyoto. Produce from Tokushima always claims top shares in markets in the Kansai region and particularly prominent are Naruto sweet potatoes, the citrus fruit "sudachi", lotus roots and strawberries.

The lack of goods heading to Tokyo has led to a relatively low national profile for local Tokushima brands. To combat this, the local Tokushima government now sends the "Fresh! Tokushima" moving display about the country with its mobile kitchen set to increase general awareness of the local food available in Tokushima Prefecture.

Rice – Anan City

Naruto Sweet Potatoes – Naruto City

Corn – Ishii-cho, Yoshinogawa City East

Sudachi – All across the prefecture, but mainly in Kamiyama-cho

Bamboo Shoots – Anan City

Spring Onions – Tokushima City

Lettuce – Awa City and the north shore of the Yoshino River

Lotus roots – Naruto City

Carrots – All across the prefecture, but mainly in Aizumi-cho

Cranshaw – All across the north shore of the Yoshino River, but mainly in Itano-cho

Rakkyo – Naruto City

Taranome – All across the West of the prefecture, but mainly in Yamashiro-cho, Miyoshi City

Culture

Awa Marionette Jōruri

Awa Odori Kaikan Hall

Ichinomiya Castle

Iya Valley

Mt. Bizan

Naruto whirlpools

Oboke Koboke Gorge

Otsuka Museum of Art

Tokushima Castle

Tokushima Handicraft Village

Tokushima Prefectural Awa Jurobei Yashiki Puppet Theater and Museum

Tokushima University

Sports

Tokushima hosted the official 2007 Asian Basketball Championship.

Further, the sports teams listed below are based in Tokushima.

Baseball

Tokushima Indigo Socks

Football (soccer)

Tokushima Vortis

Transportation

Railway

Asa Seaside Railway

JR Shikoku

Dosan Line

Kotoku Line

Mugi Line

Naruto Line

Tokushima Line

Road

National Route 11

National Route 28

National Route 32 (Miyoshi)

National Route 55

National Route 192

National Route 193

National Route 195

National Route 318

National Route 319

National Route 377

National Route 438

National Route 439

National Route 492

Expressway

Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway

Takamatsu Expressway

Tokushima Expressway

Tokushima South Expressway

Long-distance bus (from Tokushima)

Fukui

Hiroshima

Kanazawa

Kansai International Airport

Kobe (Sannomiya, Maiko)

Kochi

Kyoto

Matsuyama

Nagoya

Okayama

Osaka (Umeda, Namba, Universal Studio Japan)

Sumoto

Takamatsu

Tokyo (Tokyo Station, Shinagawa, Shinjuku)

Tokyo Disneyland

Toyama

Yokkaichi

Yokohama

Airport

Tokushima Awa-Dancing Airport

Ferry from Tokushima Port

Kitakyushu

Tokyo

Wakayama

Prefectural symbols

Tokushima's prefectural symbol is a stylized combination of the hiragana for to and ku, the first two characters in the hiragana spelling of the prefecture's name.

Politics

Prefectural Governor (as elected by public vote)

1st – Goro Abe (阿部五郎 – April 16, 1947 – April 1, 1951

2nd – Kuniichi Abe (阿部邦一) – May 21, 1951 – March 30, 1955

3rd – Kikutaro Hara (原菊太郎) – April 25, 1955 – September 15, 1965

4th – Yasunobu Takeichi (武市恭信) – October 9, 1965 – October 4, 1981

5th – Shinzo Miki (三木申三) – October 5, 1981 – October 4, 1993

6th – Toshio Endo (圓藤寿穂) – October 5, 1993 – March 15, 2002

7th – Tadashi Oota (大田正) – April 30, 2002 – March 30, 2003

8th – Kamon Iizumi (飯泉嘉門) – May 18, 2003 – May 17, 2023

9th – Masazumi Gotoda (後藤田 正純) – May 18, 2023 – present

Prefectural Assembly

All data is current to May 1, 2007.