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Mie Prefecture (三重県 Mie-ken) is a prefecture of Japan (and later West Japan), which is part of the Kansai region on the main Honshu island. The capital is the city of Tsu while the largest city in Yokkaichi. The Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,669,660 people.

Economy[]

Mie Prefecture has traditionally been a link between east and west Japan, thanks largely to the Tokaido and Ise Pilgrimage Roads. Traditional handicrafts such as Iga Braid, Yokkaichi Banko Pottery, Suzuka Ink, Iga Pottery and Ise Katagami flourished. With 65% of the prefecture consisting of forests and with over 1,000 km (600 mi) of coastline, Mie has a long been associated with forestry and seafood industries. Mie also produces tea, beef, cultured pearls and fruit, mainly mandarin oranges. Food production companies include Azuma Foods.

Northern Mie is home to a number of manufacturing industries, mainly transport machinery manufacturing (vehicles and ships) and heavy chemical industries such as oil refineries. As well as this, Mie Prefecture is expanding into more advanced industries including the manufacture of semiconductors and liquid crystal displays. In Suzuka, the Honda Motor Company maintains a factory established in 1960 that built the Honda Civic as well as other vehicles.

Geography[]

Mie Prefecture forms the eastern part of the Kii Peninsula, and borders on Aichi, Gifu, Shiga, Kyoto, Nara, and Wakayama. It is considered part of the Kansai and Tōkai regions due to its geographical proximity to Aichi Prefecture and its cultural influence from Kansai, such as the fact that Kansai dialect is spoken in Mie. Traditionally, though, the Iga region of Mie is considered to have always been a part of Kansai.

Mie Prefecture measures 170 km (106 mi) from north to south, and 80 km (50 mi) from east to west, and includes five distinct geographical areas:

  • The north-west of Mie consists of the Suzuka Mountains
  • Along the coast of Ise Bay from the Aichi border to Ise City lies the Ise Plain, where most of the population of Mie live
  • South of the Ise Plain is the Shima Peninsula
  • Bordering Nara in the central-west is the Iga Basin
  • Running from central Mie to its southern borders is the Nunobiki Mountainous Region.

Mie has a coastline that stretches 1,094.9 km (680.3 mi) and, as of 2000, Mie's 5,776.44 km2 (2,230.30 sq mi) landmass is 64.8% forest, 11.5% agriculture, 6% residential area, 3.8% roads, and 3.6% rivers. The remaining 10.3% are not classified.

The Ise Plain has a relatively moderate climate, averaging 14 to 15 degrees Celsius for the year. The Iga Basin has more daily temperature variance and averages temperatures 1 to 2 degrees cooler than the Ise Plain. Southern Mie, south of the Shima Peninsula, has a warmer Pacific marine climate, with Owase Region having one of the heaviest rainfall figures for all of Japan.

As of March 31, 2008, 35% of the total area of the prefecture comprised designated Natural Parks, namely:

  • Ise-Shima National Park
  • Yoshino-Kumano National Park
  • Murō-Akame-Aoyama Quasi-National Park
  • Suzuka Quasi-National Park
  • Akame Ichishikyō Prefectural Natural Park
  • Ise-no-Umi Prefectural Natural Park
  • Kahadakyō Prefectural Natural Park
  • Okuise Miyagawakyō Prefectural Natural Park
  • Suigō Prefectural Natural Park

Towns and Cities[]

Cities[]

  • Iga
  • Inabe
  • Ise
  • Kameyama

  • Kumano
  • Kuwana
  • Matsusaka
  • Nabari

  • Owase
  • Shima
  • Suzuka

  • Toba
  • Tsu (capital)
  • Yokkaichi (largest city)

Towns[]

  • Inabe District
    • Tōin
  • Kitamuro District
    • Kihoku
  • Kuwana District
    • Kisosaki

  • Mie District
    • Asahi
    • Kawagoe
    • Komono
  • Minamimuro District
    • Kihō
    • Mihama

  • Taki District
    • Meiwa
    • Ōdai
    • Taki
  • Watarai District
    • Minamiise
    • Taiki
    • Tamaki
    • Watarai
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