Japan's Weirdly Out Of Place Region Name

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SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
List of Japanese prefectural name etymologies: en.wikipedia.o...
Prefectures of Japan: en.wikipedia.o...
List of administrative divisions by country: en.wikipedia.o...
Administrative division: en.wikipedia.o....
Prefecture: en.wikipedia.o...
Why 'prefecture' for Japanese administration areas?: english.stacke...
Why does Japan have Prefectures?: japanthis.com/...
The Isolation of Japan: www.butterfiel...
Todōfuken: www.todofuken.net/
Japan's geographical layer cake: www.japantimes...
Place names in Japan: ipfs.io/ipfs/Q...
Prefecture on Etymonline: www.etymonline...
Prefecture Definition: www.merriam-we...
The Tokugawa Shogunate: www.thoughtco....
The Meiji Restoration: www.britannica...
Fiefdom: www.merriam-we...

[@NameExplain]

Which prefectures of Japan have you been to? I've been to Tokyo, Kyoto, and Gifu. And travelled between a few others!

[@Fun-gs6ly]

Love u Name Explain #NameExplain

[@zaidenallen9933]

I’ve only been to kanto and hoenn

[@dogedog8686]

Yes

[@NameExplain]

@@zaidenallen9933 It's pretty easy to get to Johto from Kanto. You should visit next time you're in the area.

[@GeographyWorld]

None.

[@ErikJensenDetroit]

It's beyond the scope of this video, but I wanted to mention that the names of the subdivisions within US states are different depending on the State. For example, in Michigan we have counties, but in Louisiana they have parishes. Other states use different names for their subdivisions as well.

[@NameExplain]

That's really interesting, thanks for sharing! (sorry if that sounded sarcastic lol)

[@JackTheGamingGuy4REALZ]

@@NameExplain oh it's all good

[@trien30]

They use Townships in New Jersey and Counties in New York, where in NYC, they can either be counties or boroughs. The caveat here is to use either term and not to mix between county & borough when speaking, etc... For more look up The names of New York City or check this link before visiting New York City: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jInPlmZmmK16oc0

[@exxpomarkerman8780]

Alaska has boroughs if I’m nit mistaken

[@lewatoaofair2522]

While the names do vary, the vast majority of states use Counties, and everything else is called “County-equivalent”.

[@AVClarke]

'Todofuken' sounds like a special attack in Street Fighter.

[@mirelion5328]

Rempuuken!

[@TheInkPitOx]

Except that the name would get censored

[@Salsuero]

Sounds like what players plan to do at the end of their dates to me!

[@AzuRemilia]

Might be the -ken suffix

[@bruhz_089]

To do fucking

[@harbours2774]

In Japan we have 47 regions and they're called 47 todofuken. We have 1 TO, 1 DO, 2 FU and 43 KEN. TO, DO and FU are used for TokyoTO, HokkaiDO, OsakaFU and KyotoFU. I think it's quite difficult for foreigners but interesting. I want you guys to know about it.

[@sohopedeco]

What is the difference in terms of powers between those four?

[@harbours2774]

Pedro Figueira Almost the same. Ken(県) is the most common. １.Fu(府) were used for Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto because they're the most important cities in Japan. Also Tokyo was Tokyo-fu(1868-1943). To(都) means capital. ２.Kyoto-fu and Osaka-fu are more important than Ken. ３.Do(道) is a short form for Hokkaido however it's same as name of regions now. I'm sorry if I'm wrong and my bad explain in English

[@sunglassshinpan1352]

@@harbours2774 What's difficult about it? I lived there for 20 years, and have been to ALL 47 of them.

[@harbours2774]

Sunglass Shinpan I think foreigners can understand about the system but They can't understand the differences between TO, DO, FU and KEN easily. Because it comes from the Japanese history. Are you a foreigner in Japan?

[@garret1930]

@@harbours2774 so from that, does the name for "Kyoto" come from it being the capital of a place called Kyo? I never noticed before but Tokyo and Kyoto look like the same word but with the order of To and Kyo switched.

[@pedromenchik1961]

In Brazil, we still use the word "prefeitura", but it means "town hall". That's because this is where the "prefeito" (=mayor) works, which has the same etymology as "prefect"

[@rodrigofpteixeira]

Verdade, nós em Portugal já não usamos esse termo!

[@rodrigofpteixeira]

O vídeo explica ao minuto 8:43 que foram os portugueses que levaram essa palavra (e muitas outras) :)

[@Yurinsm]

Weirdly enough, that's not the name of the administrative division itself, which is called "municipality" (município), only the executive branch of a municipality is called "prefecture" (prefeitura). They're often mixed up.

[@busnello1987]

como se divide em portugal? pensava ser prefeitura também.

[@rodrigofpteixeira]

@@busnello1987 Câmara Municipal!

[@jamescook2412]

The German language has the word"Staaten", yet they call their states "Bundesländer"

[@sofia.eris.bauhaus]

yes, it's Länder (lands) or Bundesländer (federal lands), Staaten is mostly used for nation states. and saying "dieser Staat" (this state) in germany basically always refers to all of germany. the US subdivisions are also called Staaten (states) or more commonly Bundesstaaten (federal states). "states" is only used when referring to the german lands in english. and i think it sounds fairly odd, like an american not knowing the names for subdivisions aren't universal 😅.

[@of7076]

Staat in german does not always perfectly translate to state as used in English, the way I understand it at least.

[@tequilyps]

Man, I remember having to learn all 16 Bundesländer in school... everybody bitched, but it's come in strangely handy, für mich

[@sofia.eris.bauhaus]

@@tequilyps i still think it was pretty useless. :P

[@志瑜杨]

sofias. orange lol you guys only had 16 to learn about. I’m in the US so I have to learn about 50.

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

Hokkaido is my favorite, some guy escaped a prison there using miso soup

[@BillKermanKSP]

you again...

[@kamilnaqvi1526]

how's it going in the north mate?

[@herisonrk2835]

I see a fellow Kento Bento fan here

[@borntowild480]

Hey!! You are alive Kim. Please do some stunt I am bored with this CONVID-19 news 🤣🤣

[@Insert-thing-here-Fan]

Its Shiratori

[@samueljameskennedy3093]

County isn't used in Scotland. We traditionally used Shire from medieval times until 1975 when the United Kingdom / English government changed the subdivisions to what we now call 'council areas' with the collection noun of them being ' The councils of Scotland'. :)

[@grdn2607]

Most people I know still use shire. My shire, Ayrshire, has been split into 3 councils.

[@samueljameskennedy3093]

@@grdn2607 Ha, funny enough, I too come from Ayrshire. :)

[@grdn2607]

Samuel James Kennedy as much as everyone here love to hate ayrshire it's honestly one of the most beautiful places in the lowlands

[@samueljameskennedy3093]

​@@grdn2607 Oh I completely agree, Ayrshire is stunning, it is filled with such rich history, so many beautiful castles (Like Eglinton, Culzean, Craufurdland, Dean, Cassillis and Rowallan just to name a few) countless gorgeous beaches, and more inland around East Ayrshire, you have Loch Doon, Loudoun Hill, Dumfries House (ignoring whether or not, either of us supports the English/British Royals owning property in Scotland, it still is such a beautiful estate). It's just such a shame what Thatcher did to our bonnie shire, as well as the councils not giving too much attention towards the towns. Look at Ayr, how much of a bustling seaside resort it used to be, or how Kilmarnock was an industrial powerhouse; Making the carpets for Titanic, Johnnie Walkers' Whisky, The train service depot, and now Kilmarnock has nothing but an ugly massive car-park and the most casual public drug-dealing you'll ever see at the bus station. I do hope that one day, Ayrshire could return to some kind of glory, but I doubt that'll ever happen now. So sad!

[@grdn2607]

Samuel James Kennedy I’m very pro independence but after reading that I want Indy for Ayrshire 😂 the economy will be fast food and heroin

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Bill: Wait who’s in charge of France now? Napoleon: *Me* Japan: 😍

[@instantinople3796]

You again

[@raritania7581]

No

[@youtubehandlesareridiculous]

@@instantinople3796must live on KZbin

[@TheManinBlack9054]

why do i see everywhere I go

[@aman-hl9re]

Bill wurtz reference *i see youre the man of culture as well*

[@nlpnt]

I'd always wondered why "ken" was translated as "prefecture" rather than province or county. Thanks!

[@Apelles42069]

Prior to the Meiji era, Japan was indeed split up into provinces, which had their own districts, and were arranged into regional circuits, all of which coexisted with the domain system of feudal lords.

[@HenrikoMagnifico]

And the 'Landskap' or "Landscapes" in Sweden!

[@noxtrin1878]

But those doesn’t hold any administrative power. Its the ”Län” that Holds regional power. Län means county

[@HenrikoMagnifico]

@@noxtrin1878 Yes Län is an even better example!

[@RBuckminsterFuller]

Shh, don't mention the landsdelar, landskap, län and regioner (landsting?).

[@borisxanovavich4466]

I really liked this video, although I've personally never been to Japan. On the subject of subdivisions, the Philippines is divided into several levels of subdivisions, which are listed below (in order of their seniority): Regions - all except one are only for coordination between lower levels of government, and thus have no formal elected leadership Provinces, Independent Cities, and the Municipality of Pateros - have elected officials and representation in Congress (ICs are bigger cities that are completely autonomous from higher levels and are supervised by the president) Component Cities and Municipalities - various townships that do not meet an income requirement to be considered independent from their province Barangays - from the Filipino word for village or district; generally a neighborhood or distinct community in a town or city

[@romanusinvictusaeternus3144]

How interesting !

[@tykep1009]

As a Japanese, I have never thought of that why we call 都道府県 as Prefecture in English, and didn't know the differences between State or County with it also. This excellent video was an eye-opner for me.

[@sebas1111_]

We have a weird subdivision name in Peru as well. We call our divisions "Departamentos" which in English would be Departments. No idea why.

[@sohopedeco]

Current France is also divided in "départements". It's probably their influence.

[@jamescook2412]

I think it's a south american thing, isn't that how colombia & venezuela are divided too?

[@sion8]

@@jamescook2412 Colombia, yes. Venezuela, no. Venezuela is supposed to be a federal republic made of states, but it's very centralized as with most federations in Latin America, but even more so in the case of Venezuela.

[@teresarivasugaz2313]

Though we no longer have "departamentos", now they are just called "regions".

[@sion8]

@@teresarivasugaz2313 True, but departments are below that.

[@sunglassshinpan1352]

Osaka=Big Slope Okinawa=Offshore Rope Iwate=Boulder Hand Ehime=Love Princess

[@HasekuraIsuna]

Tokyo = East Capital Kyoton = Capital Metropolis Fukuoka = Happiness Hill Shizuoka = Silent Hill Hokkaido = North Sea Way Aomori = Grue Forest Nagasaki = Long Cape Nagano = Long Field Yamanashi = Mountain Pear

[@FourOf92000]

Ehime it is

[@jamescook2412]

@@HasekuraIsuna Tokio = East Capital, Beijing = North Capital, Seoul = Country's Capital?

[@HasekuraIsuna]

@@jamescook2412 I don't know about Seoul as I don't read hangul, but yes 東京 Tokyo = East Capital 北京 Beijing = North Capital 南京 Nanjing = South Capital

[@sunglassshinpan1352]

@@FourOf92000 You got that right! And what a year I had when I lived there! 😍

[@PockASqueeno]

Patrick, I have a request. I think it would be awesome if you explained how baby name fads begin. I’ve always found it weird how a lot of times, new parents want to name their child something “unique,” and when they choose the name, they legitimately think it’s unique, but then a year later they discover that everyone is naming their children that same name, or at least a similar one. For example, my nephew is named Hayden. He was born 14 years ago, and my stepsister thought it was a unique name. But I feel like every Gen Z-er has either that name or another “-ayden” name like Caiden, Jaden, Braden, etc. I mean, I get that names become popular, so some parents just go with the flow, but what are the chances that everyone happens to think it’s unique…at the same time?

[@MrWertheron]

It seems like there is a confusion here with the French terms préfectures. Préfecture is not really a geographical subdivision in France. Prefecture is the city where the préfet lives (by extension all the administrative services of the préfet). The préfet is not elected because he is simply a representative of the central governement in administrative subdivisions. So, a préfet represents the State (= French governement) in départements which are the actual territorial subdivision (closer to what a japanase prefecture is). So, in 1800 Napoléon didn't create a new subdivision, he just sent 1 préfet per départment (created in 1790 during the Revolution). Nowadays you also have préfets de région who represents the governement in a région (which, apart from overseas régions, includes multiple departments). I don't know if there is a equivalent in the US system.

[@ilkoallexandroff]

I’ve been to 43 prefectures already, soon planning to visit the remaining 4! But it’s interesting that normal people here never use the word prefecture, most of the people I’ve talked to they didn’t even know that word, it is ToDoFuKen! Cheers from Japan!

[@gabrielpmo]

We also use the name "prefecture" in Brazil, and like you said in Portuguese they are called "prefeitura", but our prefecture is the building where the Prefect works, the Prefect (Prefeito in Portuguese) being the mayor of our cities. In this case a prefecture is part of a larger area, has no connotation of independence, but the leader is elected by popular vote.

[@yali_shanda]

1:39 Just a slight correction, in Bulgaria we also use "oblast" instead "province" for the administrative subdivisions. Fun fact: we use "the province" as a term referring to "everything else except the capital (which sounds offending to some people).

[@texasyojimbo]

Some of the states call themselves Commonwealths (e.g. the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the correct legal name of the state of Massachusetts). And two of the states use names other than "county" for their subdivisions; Louisiana has parishes (for example, St. Tammany Parish is in suburban New Orleans) and Alaska has boroughs.

[@sion8]

In the legal systems of those states, yes Commonwealth. But they are all states, their official names don't change anything. The Census Bureau (I think that's the right agency) uses county-equivalent for all boundaries set up by states, given that yes Alaska (burroughs) and Louisiana (parishes) don't have counties as their subdivisions.

[@PongoXBongo]

@@sion8 Right? It's like "you can call yourself "Mr. Awesome" all you want, but we're going to keep calling you "Steve" as that's your real name."

[@geronimowindow]

Kind of explains why there's Virginia Commonwealth University, because Virginia is technically a commonwealth by name.

[@sion8]

@@geronimowindow Indeed. People from the states that call themselves officially "Commonwealth of…" defend that usage hard! So yeah, commonwealth everywhere!

[@Apelles42069]

@@geronimowindow Go Rams!

[@sombatromba]

Poland also has cool names for regions - voivodeships (województwo)! This name comes from the position of voivode (wojewoda in Polish), which was pretty much the eastern European equivalent to a duke. Nowadays, that title is an administrative position given to the "governor" or "president" of one of the voivodeships. I think that the names of these subdivisions and in general a lot of places in Poland is a really cool topic, both in English and Polish (although some of the names are a bit boring - I'm looking at you, Greater Poland and Lesser Poland). In general, I think Slavic word formation and languages in general are really cool, and I'd love to see you cover them more Pat!

[@eyeballpapercut4400]

"Where are you going with my Corolla?" "To Do Fuken Tokyo Drift."

[@phosphoros60]

1:33 Saxons: How dare you pretend Saxony is part of Bavaria? Bavarians: How dare you pretend Bavaria is part of Saxony?

[@s.b.1352]

Would be some weird mixture of dialects...

[@nehcooahnait7827]

Racist colonial English people: we, the superior Anglo-Saxon race!

[@itscomplexb1558]

Actually “Province” in Bulgarian is “oblast”

[@user-tv4ih2kq6r]

It must be a slavic word then

[@trojan-not]

Most likely but it's weird to think the russian ones don't get translated while the bulgarian do

[@galaxypedestalfan]

@@trojan-not it’s probably because while in Bulgarian, oblast means “province”, in Russian, it just means “area”.

[@trojan-not]

@@galaxypedestalfan not the case. oblast can be used as "area" in bulgarian too. I'd even assume that's how we use it for 'province' names, because I have never percieved the word oblast as having a double meaning.

[@Eric-jy4qm]

Thanks for the video! I’d like to point out an error at 5:43. 1853 was the year that Commodore Perry forced the Tokugawa government to sign a trade agreement with the U.S. Although that catalyzed a lot of unrest against the shogunate, the Meiji Restoration didn’t technically happen until 1868, when the new emperor was recognized as the ruler of Japan. (And even then, there was still lots of fighting between pro-emperor and pro-shogun forces in the years after that.) Also, on another note, it might’ve been good to talk about the previous name for administrative subdivisions back in the shogunate days, “han” 藩, which is translated to English as “domain”.

[@davidfreeman3083]

To be exact: Japan's weird region name TRANSLATION. And you can literally make a video about most Asian countries at least on how they picked the translation of the names of their admin regions, like provinces of China. And also, China has 'prefectures' too, it's a level under province but above county. But most of them are organized into major 'cities', like Wuhan, Chengdu, Guangzhou, etc.

[@tohkenghoe]

David Freeman actually prefectures in China is the same as FU in Japan and major cities are called FU just like Osaka and Kyoto

[@davidfreeman3083]

@@tohkenghoe That's sort of too much of a simplification. I'd call it mainly a translation problem

[@tohkenghoe]

David Freeman it is likely the same cos it was legacy of the Tang dynasty which is where the Japanese took most of the stuff from. Even the days of the week is from the Tang dynasty

[@modmaker7617]

Poland has 3 level administrative decisions. Województwo/Voivodeship (Province or State) 16 in total Powiat (County or District) 380 total (314 land & 66 cities) Gmina (Municipality or Commune) 2477 in total (302 urban, 638 urban-rural & 1537 rural) Nobody truly cares about Counties or Municipalities but only the Voivodeships.

[@hamsterama]

I wonder if Gmina is a loanword from German, Gemeinde. Sounds too similar to be a coincidence.

[@katarzynasoyka8538]

@@hamsterama it is indeed. Apparently it has been in use in Polish language since before medieval times. Voivodeship and powiat are slavic on the other hand. First is derived from word 'wojewoda' which is combination of words 'warrior' and 'to lead' - those people would lead the army if the royal couldn't. Powiat is derived from word 'wiec' which means gathering (although that's not really in use anymore - nowadays it means "witch sabbath") - it was a division for early judicial system as there were no specific buildings for courts.

[@10hawell]

If you don't have a local identity then the Voivodeship is enough for you, my Poviat is very ethnically unique so I wouldn't say that "nobody truly cares", and voivodships are controlled by the government, poviats are self-governing. There are also Stolectvo (community) - consisting of one or several villages in the gmina.

[@modmaker7617]

@@10hawell When I say "nobody truly cares" it just me. I am from Pomorskie (Pomerania). I don't know much about Powiats or Gminas. I currently live in Scotland, UK. Sorry if you care about your Powiat but I don't.

[@hamsterama]

@@katarzynasoyka8538 Very interesting info, thank you! And thanks for explaining the history of the names of Polish government units. I'm American, and I'm of Polish ancestry. I always like to learn something new about the land of my ancestors. I visited the city of Szczecin almost 15 years, by taking a train via Germany. I'd like to visit Poland again sometime soon!

[@axolotl-guy9801]

Says that their wasn't much info to get about Japan before the restoration. --> Doesn't talk about Dutch influance in Japan shogunate of the Edo period... おもしろい

[@puellanivis]

Or the Portuguese influence either. But it’s super common for people to just assume the Sakoku policies meant that the Japanese totally isolated, rather than simply withdrew and strictly limited contact. I mean, he also said that at the end of the Shogunate, Japan “came back under the rule of an Emperor”, while the Emperor had all that time been nominally in charge of the country already. The governments of Japan are always a super tricky thing to cover, because every one of their revolutions has basically always been to restore the Emperor to his rightful place in charge of the people… even the original Tokugawa Shogunate. Technically, the Shogun still served at the pleasure of the Emperor, even though de facto the Shogun ran everything. But I’m preaching to the choir here, aren’t I?

[@axolotl-guy9801]

@@puellanivis Yes, I agree, but the Portuguese influence is much smaller because of the time period of trading, for Portugal (1609-1649) and for the Dutch (1609-1859). Many of the earlier words that people nowadays assume were from English actually came from Dutch. Like the word kōhī コ ー ヒ ー for Coffee and Kokku for Kok in Dutch. And the word for electricity and telescope. Nowadays you see so many videos on the internet with titles like "10 surprising words in Japanese that came from English". Or something else. While in fact many of those words are Dutch of dirived trough Dutch. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_Japanese_words_of_Dutch_origin There was even a subject taught, Rangkaku (Dutch studies) that helped to study the West. It was a huge study of the elite and had a high standard in Japan. The Dutch introduced increasing painting techniques and telescopes etc. And other scientific outbreaks from the west. Some historians even believe that, without the Dutch influence (and a little Portuguese too), the Mejji restoration could never actually have been done so 'easily'. The Japanese learned new knowledge and techniques from the Netherlands and Europe through Dutch books. This ultimately helped Japan to modernize quickly I mean, they provided them with about 250+ years of information, brought to Japan only by them. The only countries that could influance in any way were China and I believe India. But they are not Western. A number of terms have been adopted from Dutch into the Japanese language. At one point, it is thought that about 3,000 words have been used, especially in the areas of technical and scientific vocabulary. In standard Japanese, about 160 such words of Dutch origin remain in use to date. But note, that is only in standard Japanese. But I agree with you. These were just more examples. It was only a assumption of the maker of this channel, wich many people assume to. It doesn't really matter. I like his channel a lot! Thankyou for your comment. If I reacted quite lately than that is because of the time zones I assume.

[@HasekuraIsuna]

@@axolotl-guy9801 Which Japanese word for electricity is from Dutch, the only one I know of is 電気. And telescope, is there something except 望遠鏡?

[@axolotl-guy9801]

@@HasekuraIsuna erekishiteito - エ レ キ シ テ イ ト. It may not be used that commen. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_Japanese_words_of_Dutch_origin And telscoop is: Teresukoppu テ レ ス コ ッ プ Howerever, apparently that one is not used any more and it is become: taionkei ( 体温計 ). But note that it was the only word back in the days in the Edo period. My Japananese language skills are not that great, but I am learning it. I can not (jet) read Kanji. Just remember that some of the words you use has only been used "recently". Some Dutch words have been used for some 250+ years. And then some were replaced by other words. Others are still used. あい

[@HasekuraIsuna]

@@axolotl-guy9801 I think those two are rather than "uncommon" are "extinct" by now lol. And I think you copy pasted wrong, because 体温計 (literally body-warmth-measure) is thermometer. I took a look at the list, seems like a lot of the scientific words got in from Dutch and stays around today! Good luck in your Japanese studies, it is a wonderful language! Don't let the many kanji frighten you, they may be many but they all tell a story. If you need any help feel free to ask, I'm a kanji-nerd. (｀・ω・´)

[@jamescook2412]

Cantons in Switzerland? Shires in Lord of the Rings or the British Isles? Deparmentos in Colombia/Peru.

[@sion8]

Shires are also used in Australia, but in a different manner. In Britain they use it as a suffix but in Australia is done in the format "Shire of…"

[@eriathdien]

Yes! Derpartment of Cundinamarca (Colombia) represent!

[@mikeoxsmal8022]

Shire isn't something used all over the "british" Isles It is an old English word that has also spread to Wales and Scotland

[@petersansgaming8783]

I am Swiss and I really want to know the origin of Canton/Kanton.

[@haphazardlark1502]

returning cause i finally noticed where the notifications tell you abt replies to your comments and scrolled around a lot more than last time, and wow, this channel's comment section is a delight. even educational channels i watch often have rougher ones to sift through to find all the people adding awesome related tidbits but it's just a sea of people sharing language trivia down here.

[@AdriaOliSal]

0:49 SubSivision hehe

[@NameExplain]

What am I like?

[@JECastle4]

Subcribe?

[@tilotequilo7455]

The first minute I was reading "Falk Lands" 🤣

[@allanrichardson1468]

Headline in a newspaper just before war with Argentina in the 1980s: British Left Waffles On Falklands (Allegedly)

[@sohopedeco]

Here in Brazil, we use "prefeitura" to refer to city-level governments. Despite that "prefeitos" (mayors) and "vereadores" (members of the municipal legislative branch) are elected and are autonomous to relevant degree.

[@sion8]

Etymology doesn't do much, usage is what really matters but etymology can be used as a factor in usage.

[@rodrigofpteixeira]

8:43 claro, pois foram os portugueses também a levar essa palavra (e muitas outras) para o Japão :)

[@sunglassshinpan1352]

And within the prefectures, there are smaller areas called 郡(gun, said goon); counties.

[@HasekuraIsuna]

Only in the rural areas, there are no 郡 in Tokyo afaik.

[@wesleynishi6081]

@@HasekuraIsuna Not true. Tokyo has one gun Nishitama-Gun （西多摩郡）. All towns and villages (町,and 村）not within a 市 will always be under a 郡。

[@HasekuraIsuna]

@@wesleynishi6081 I had no idea! I've been living in Tokyo for six years and in my work I regurarly check the addresses of customers from all over the country and never came across 郡 in non-rural areas. Hat off sir, I stand corrected.

[@peepingtom9342]

@@wesleynishi6081 What about 区 ? I've seen this kanji in my textbook, and it was translated as a "ward" in Tokyo.

[@wesleynishi6081]

@@peepingtom9342 区is a special city district. They have their own government/council that oversees the area. They are generally only found in larger cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, but not in smaller cities like Tokushima, Toyama, Miyazaki etc. In these smaller cities, you will often have 町or towns. They are not separate towns nor do they have any council/government oversight. The 区designation applies to cities requiring local government oversight.

[@CalloohCalley]

Wow, good video! Thank you for the info.

[@omrikad]

Great video! Only a correction, the sakoku is the name for the policy itself, not the time period (which is actually called the " edo jidai").

[@galaxiaknight]

I would love a video on the origins of Spanish comunidades autónomas (there are 17 of them) or even provinces! There are a bit too many provinces for a regular video, i think it would be too much to ask, but there are many interesting ones such as León and Zaragoza that come from unexpected Latin names!

[@thorvoet8607]

In Belgium our regions are divided into provinces.

[@thorvoet8607]

But Belgium is complicated you could make a video about Belgium.

[@rentoni6373]

Here in Spain we also use provinces

[@sion8]

He wasn't doing 2nd-level subdivisions, just 1st-level.

[@KimDumanon]

Great video about Japan! By the way, although it's translated in English as provinces, the subdivisions in Bulgaria are also called "oblast".

[@Fun-gs6ly]

Who ever reads this I hope u have a Great 24 hours

[@LuinTathren]

Thank you. Hope you have a great 24 hours as well. And thank you for sharing positivity and inclusiveness. 🙂

[@lagcom]

I appreciate that he wasn’t a like hoarder asking to like him to have a nice day

[@Grimfang999]

24 hours, but no more.

[@uekiguy5886]

Fun2 -- Thanks. I had a great 23 hours and 55 minutes plus 5 minutes of horror. You came darn close and I appreciate your effort.

[@saffffffff]

wow only 24 hours

[@gamermapper]

In the UK, subdivisions are called countries. In the US, there's also the autonomous subdivisions that don't show often on maps, despite the fact they're more autonomous than states and their legal status does matter. They're called Indian reservations, but often today called nations by the people who live there.

[@AvaFayIliza]

Cool video! BTW, the "F" in "FU" is pronounced a lot closer to an "H". It is a part of the "HA HI FU HE HO" section of the Japanese syllabary, and as such sounds more like an "H" with a very slight whooshing of air across the front teeth but without the hard start of the front teeth on the bottom lip like English speakers pronounce the letter "F". This is one of the most common mistakes in pronouncing Japanese. I too was guilty of it until my Japanese teacher corrected me. So "TODOUFUKEN" actually sounds closer to "to do hu ken" with the "FU" being the only change from your pronunciation. This is similar to the reason why native Japanese speakers can have trouble with the letters "L" and "R" in English (and other languages). In Japanese there isn't a native "L" sound and the "R" sounds like a blend of "R" and "L" with the "R" sound being slightly more dominant. (As a native English speaker myself, this was/is one of the most difficult pronunciation aspects of Japanese.) Anyway, thanks for the interesting video!

[@Youthure]

Not to confuse you - as we like to do - but Belgium has both regions and provinces. When Belgium was founded, it only had provinces as a subdivision. However, given that structure is way too simple, we added regions and language communities as a layer in between the national state and provinces. (* there were legitimate reasons to do this)

[@EJJunkill]

Another great one! Thanks!

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

In all seriousness, this channel has one of the most informative videos I've watched, it's really underrated and deserves more views.

[@gimyuwon]

No, u.

[@sundalongpatpat]

In the Philippines we have, the state/country, the regions, the provinces, the cities/municipalities, then the barangays (villages). The National Capital Region (Metro Manila) is an exception as cities and a municipality comprise it, no provinces. Additionally, barangays are grouped as a district within a city/municipality. We can also group the regions into three main island groups of the Philippines: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. We have one autonomous region: the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and one administrative region, the Cordillera Administrative Region with minimal autonomy.

[@ironpainting1210]

This is a comment that doesn't say "first". Now give me likes.

[@WQIOPA]

take my like good sir

[@WQIOPA]

@Takeo i know

[@WQIOPA]

@Takeo i just like being nice

[@rft9776]

No

[@stargasior]

Before the Meiji Restoration areas of Japan were known as "kuni" 国 which means "country". They were autonomous states controlled by a Daimyo (feudal lord). The change to prefecture makes sense, but now that prefectural governors are elected by the people, state might be better.

[@filip5052]

In Poland we have voivodeships (województwa)

[@bronekjeszczeniezdechchwaakrl]

@Deva Rafael no

[@filip5052]

@Deva Rafael i'm sure that oblast(in polish okrąg) and kraj isn't equal to voivodeship. I think that kraj would be translated to country. Voivodeship is unique to Poland

[@vladprus4019]

@Deva Rafael It literally means "region/domain of voivode" as voivode during Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a position that was basically a regional overseer (with very little actual power, it wasn't an aristocratic title) appointed by the king.

[@llawliet5921]

In India we have two types of country subdivisions: States and Union Territories. Subdivisions of states and union territories are called district. While states are autonomous union territories are governed by central government

[@LOLquendoTV]

Before watching : guessing prefect(its translation in japanese) is a common word for administrator or ruler or something

[@levimcglinchey5843]

What a unique voice you have, towards the end of sentences especially

[@YouHaveReachedBob]

I'd like todofuken right now, but I can't due to social distancing. :(

[@camronk22]

Honestly, its todofuken insanity

[@ZaWyvern]

都道府県 (todoufuken) doesn't really mean prefectures as you said. They don't bother to give them as supercategory name and just jam them all together, but only when specifically talking about that topic, like during social studies class. There is only one 都: Tokyo. 2 府: Osaka and Kyoto, 1 道 (which literally means route) Hokkaido (northern route) and the rest are 県. Generally the default when talking about all prefectures is 全国 (zenkoku), or whole country. The default however is 県 (ken). When asking someone what prefecture they're from you'd ask: 出身は何県ですか。(Shusshin ha nani ken desu ka?) What prefecture is your hometown (origin)? So to avoid confusion, only think of todoufuku as an academic term. "Prefecture" is just an overly simplified word used to give a basic ideas to outsiders, as opposed to a full explanation.

[@FoxuPony]

I know the video is about Japan, but since I'm from Bulgaria I'd like to make a small correction and say that we don't separate our regions in provinces but we actually use oblast, which basically just means region/area.

[@simeondermaats]

As a Belgian, I'd like to add to the Belgium stuff. We do have two regions (gewesten in Dutch) but within those we have five provinces each. We also divide our country based on the language that people speak, and *we have a government for each of them* . Oh, mighty Belgium. An organisational shitstorm through and through.

[@Blublod]

Oh boy, you said it. When I first visited Belgium I couldn't believe it. In my opinion Belgium is ready to dismember itself at any time. When you really look into it you begin to wonder how the hell it holds itself together. I suppose this explains why they are such big supporters of the European Union, although the way that project is going I don't see much future to it.

[@Vindude1029]

Don’t forget about Brussels-Capital Region (Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest)

[@prion42]

You'll always be remembered for your waffles

[@henrydelta1165]

Prefecture is only an English translation...Japanese never use the word to refer to their subdivisions themselves. Before Meiji, Japan was divided in to Kuni (countries), that is how Shikoku (four countries) and Kyushu (nine province) got their names, because in Shikoku there are four kuni (Sanuki, Iyo, Awa and Tosa), in Kyushu there are nine. In Meiji, they reform from the Kuni to the Fu(府, for big cities), Ken(県for other places) and later an independent Cho (庁 for Hokkaido); It was near the end of the war they made Tokyo a special To (都) and after the war they change Hokkaido from Cho to Do (道). And they use the Prefecture translation because it was different from the feudal system that the local government are local warlords, but was send as prefect by the central government. They continued on the translation even after Japan became democratic and the local government are elected by the people. Don't use an English Wikipedia as a source use Japanese source...

[@guntherimmers1529]

The U.S.A.'s states are broken up into county's too each being able to pass laws for their county

[@katiearbuckle9017]

Then you have the Districts inside those that double as Towns & Cities.

[@samhendrickx3614]

While Belgium does have regions, these regions are themselves further split up into 10 different provinces, so I guess we belong to both categories

[@Bumblbroh]

the USA uses more than just states, also counties, parishes, and even census areas, for instance, in arkansas the state the subdivisions within state borders are called counties, in louisiana they are called parishes, and in alaska they are called census areas

[@gigog27]

1:35 We bulgarians call a region an "oblast", it literally says it on the wikipedia page you linked

[@trien30]

They also use the province, called 省， "shēng" or "sheng1" in Mandarin in China. Province (called "Tỉnh" in Vietnamese was derived from the Chinese word above) is also used in Vietnam. After the District (called "Quận" in Vietnamese which was derived from 郡 in Chinese) in Vietnam， then they also have the Ward (called "Phường" in Vietnamese which was derived from 坊 in Chinese.)

[@jansenart0]

1:08 Subsivision, the MOST Weirdly Out Of Place Region Name

[@anglox8240]

The Japanese region name “chugoku” literally “中国” exactly the same as “China”

[@ichifish]

Well, it means "middle country," which is what it was before the Tokugawa regime consolidated power. Not a particularly creative name, but there you have it.

[@uncledaisy]

True but misleading. From Wikipedia: "Chūgoku literally means "middle country", but the origin of the name is unclear." ... "In Japanese, the characters 中国 and the reading Chūgoku began to be used to mean "China" after the founding of the Republic of China."

[@wolfdragon4176]

Where I live we have a place that was called China until the end of the industrial revolution when we changed it

[@Nomenius1]

Wait, so the collective name for the different types of prefectures is just the names for each type mashed together?

[@Notfallkaramell]

Yes.

[@aksb2482]

0:37 *laughs in Gaelic*

[@sion8]

?

[@TomorrowWeLive]

Cornish is Brythonic Celtic, not Gaelic

[@aksb2482]

@@TomorrowWeLive I know, the joke is that Scotland has a much bigger and plausible independence movement that Cornwall

[@mikeoxsmal8022]

@@aksb2482 Cornwall has a plausible independence movement they aren't English

[@LittlieGamingItaly]

Yeah it’s cool seeing the lasting effect of French colonization in the states, with every state calling its subdivisions counties; but Louisiana stands alone with parishes being the equivalent

[@chavem]

You BUTCHERED that latin word facere godness me Edit: The French too.

[@mastism]

Fun fact, while the large subdivision in the US is, are states, counties and parishes are used here too. Each state is divided further, with most being divided into various tiny counties, whereas the state of Louisiana is divided into parishes. Also, the subdivisions of Alaska are boroughs. Mind you, counties, parishes, and boroughs act in virtually the same way, so when generally speaking, Americans may just say that the states are divided each into counties, since most states have counties. There are 3,141 counties or county-equivalents in the US. My home state, Kentucky alone has 120 counties, which is the 4th most of any state.

[@HenrikoMagnifico]

*So Metropolis Prefecture + Urban Prefecture = Tofu?*

[@HasekuraIsuna]

Close, but no cigar! If we use "proper" spelling metropolis = to urban pref. = fu tofu = toufu You are missing a "u"

[@PongoXBongo]

@@HasekuraIsuna What? To + Fu =/= ToUFu. And who translates the Japanese into "toufu" anyway? It's commonly spelled "tofu" (no extra u) in English. Alternative Romanizations, despite repeated efforts, are not a thing.

[@your_opponent]

In japanese alphabet(kana), toufu is written with 3 letters like ;to u fu. In english, "to+u" sounds like single long vowel. Prefecture of "to" is short vowel, so it has totally different sound. There are two official spelling rules for japanese in latin alphabet. One way does not recognize long/short vowels so it is written like tofu in both case of long/short vowels. Another way does recognize them; long vowel is written like tōfu (this video uses this ō letter), short vowel is written like tofu. I personally prefer the latter way because it makea easier to understand japanese phonology.

[@PongoXBongo]

@@your_opponent Easier understanding does sound appealing. However, English specifically, unlike other Latin alphabet languages, does not use accents over letters.

[@HasekuraIsuna]

@@PongoXBongo OP made a "pun" _in Japanese_ so I only explained why that pun doesn't work. And it doesn't work in English because you don't use "to" and "fu" in English, you use "prefecture". But by all means, let's use words from both languages to make "puns", it'll be fun like a Chestnut-Vinegar-Trout party!

[@eriathdien]

Since I grew up with a lot of educational TV imported from Japan (very common in Latinamerica in the 80s and 90s) I have always related prefecture more to Japan than Rome or any other country.

[@Dian_Borisov_SW]

Wait, don't we Бulgarians have oblasts too?

[@Sephivoiceactor]

The American states have counties within them as well, btw. Most US states are the size of European countries, so it makes sense to do this.

[@JeremyLevi]

Canada does the same for similar reasons. Each province is divided into counties, and each county into townships, with large cities further divided into wards, although it does vary a little bit depending on the province or territory. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Canada

[@davidfreeman3083]

So are Chinese provinces. But technically there're 'prefectures' there too, which is the level between a province & a county, and a level that most major Chinese cities are at (such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Wuhan, etc., but NOT Beijing & Shanghai, they're both 'province level', similar to Washington DC as well as Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen). Hence the most common name for that level is 'city' (or 'municipality' to be exact, but that word is translated to refer to province level cities like Beijing & Shanghai instead). The only 'prefectures' in official names usually has 'autonomous' before it, indicating an area (usually rural) that's mostly populated by an ethnic minority.

[@erickemiliogazconarevalo3989]

México does it too. Every state is divided into Municipalities or regions (which are subdivided in Municipalities) and each one may be subdivided into districts, and each district is subdivided into Colonies, división or commons or any combination of those.

[@iapetusmccool]

Same in the UK. The main divisions are countries (England, Scotland, Wales*, Northern Ireland*). These are subdivided into counties**, which can then be further divided into e.g. districts, parishes, etc. * some people dispute that Wales and Northern Ireland are countries, but that's what they are officially called. ** at least in England. I think Scotland uses different names.

[@francogiobbimontesanti3826]

In Brazil were our states are divided into municipalities wich funny enough are ruled by prefects.

[@Ifoundnohappinesshere]

Anyone who did some research while watching this video? Hmm I might guess there is some of you here that did

[@Yuushz80]

In Brazil "prefeito" (or prefeita for women) means "city mayor" and "prefeitura" is "city hall" or "city government" :)

[@Numba003]

Hey, I bought that figurine thing you were advertising a while back, but I had my money refunded, so I’m guessing that’s not happening anymore? Anybody else have that issue? Stay well out there everybody, and Jesus Christ be with you friends.😊

[@Paranoid_Found]

Prefectures as an European term for subdivisions of Asian countries are not unique to Japan. The second level administrative regions in China are also translated into prefectures. They are subdivisions of provinces and the sizes of which are comparable to the prefecture of Japan. They were known as 州(zhou)/道(dao)/府(fu) in different eras. The Zhou term is the reason behind why many Chinese cities are XXZhou(Guangzhou/Hangzhou/Fuzhou/etc.)

[@乐匠]

Guess what, this is how administrative regions were divided in ancient China.

[@rogerpereira5613]

I would enjoy these videos more if he stopped slurring his words and took pauses

[@IchWillNicht0119]

I agree. And for a channel that's about names I think he should take a bit more time on learning at least an approximation of the pronunciations. Even resorting to a quick Google Translate TTS doing its thing helps things a long way if one is not familiar with using IPA phonemes. Speaking as a multilingual person (mostly out of necessity. Not being elitist but just sharing an oft neglected perspective by monolingual Anglos.), I like the content and the new knowledge but its just one facet where it pulls the experience down.

[@LuukvdHoogen]

was about to comment this

[@BertGrink]

Indeed! This is something that has bothered me too for quite a while.

[@sifridbassoon]

not sure when/if you intend to mention it, but forty-nine of the fifty states in the US subdivide themselves into counties. Louisiana, however, subdivides into parishes (something to do with its French Catholic history). The only way any of the rest of us non-Louisianans learned this is that in the front of every school book there was a form where a book could be registered to a particular school district (I grew up in Texas and I NEVER saw any book with that chart filled in). There was one field labeled State or Parish, and so we students wanted to know what a parish was.

[@Franciscoluche]

Portugal again, of course !!! 😉❤️🇵🇹

[@dstinnettmusic]

The United States also has counties, which are what most states in the US call their own subdivisions, except Louisiana who has parishes, because Catholicism.

[@jayasuryangoral-maanyan3901]

And alaska which has boroughs

[@gavy4306]

If your reading this your are not first

[@AlirioAguero2]

We call our sub-regions ''županija'' (pronouned as zhupaniya, with accentuated ''pa'' syllable) in Croatia. But it gets translated as ''county'' when transcribed in English. There are 21 of them (20 + City of Zagreb) and each has a ''župan'' running them. Still, much like prefectures, they aren't autonomous to the point of being a state. Then we have 428 municipalities (općine - opchine) (yes, THAT much) and they are argued to be pretty much obsolete. It's argued that it would be much cheaper and much more efficient to reduce that number.

[@tohkenghoe]

France still use prefecture, there are three maritime prefectures led by a navy admiral for the sea regions of English Channel, Atlantic and Mediterranean.

[@hamidli2652]

The picture shown at about 5:00 is an ancient Chinese painting.

Not coincidentally, China also chose to use "prefecture" in the 1920s, but for a different level of administrative division. They basically have 5 levels of administrative division from largest to smallest: Province → Prefecture → County → Town → Village. I think this is fitting, not only because many Chinese province-level administrative divisions are comparable in size and population to all of Japan, but because they are granted much more autonomy from the central government than Japanese prefectures. They include 23 provinces, 4 municipalities, 5 autonomous regions, and 2 special administrative regions.

[@timothyodonnell8591]

Louisiana (a state in the U.S.) is subdivided into parishes.

[@sohopedeco]

What is the head of the parish called? A bishop?

[@brolydictcumberbatchmontou401]

A french thing? 🤔

[@augth]

To correct the video about France, the subdivisions are called départements since the Revolution. The préfecture is the "capital city" of the département, which is ruled by the préfet.

[@TheNintendoFAILS]

When referring to the plan of sending educated Japanese people to Europe and America in order to see how these modern states run their country, it mostly refers to the iwakura mission (岩倉使節団). But this mission started in 1871 and ended 2 years later, while the haihaichiken (廃藩置県 / basically replacing the feudal domains with the newly formed ken) already occurred in the same year. I highly doubt that the french system had that much of an influence regarding the use of the term ken 県. Maybe I'm just a bit blended because I strongly believe that one big reason for structuring the administration system in the way they did it was to show dominance against all those domains who was not on the side when the Coup d'etat took place. For me this is a very interesting topic and everybody who wants to know more about it can read this interesting Wikipedia article. ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B3%9E%E7%BD%B0%E7%9A%84%E7%9C%8C%E5%90%8D%E8%AA%AC

[@professorquarter]

In mainland china they used both prefectures and counties, and cities can also be county-level, prefecture-level, or event province-level. In a couple parts of the country, the county < prefecture hierarchy is also reversed. While of course the terms in Chinese are different and have their own histories, it's still interesting.

[@乐匠]

The only difference is that Japan uses the ancient Chinese division method. And we no longer have to.

[@carsonianthegreat4672]

America also uses “county.” A county is a division of a state.

[@مرحبابك-ض1ن]

The same terminology is used in Egypt - the Arabic translates to prefecture though it is usually anglicised governorate. Presumably inspired by the French too.

[@middler5]

Ireland has an international border, provinces and counties. Provinces are not officially used for anything though.

[@GeographyWorld]

Counties subdivided into municipal districts, baronnies, parishes and townlands.

[@pawelabrams]

And there's always Poland with its województwa (voivodeships, as someone commented literally warlordships), powiaty (districts that were formerly judiciary) and gminy (communes). And województwa are led by wojewodowie (aforementioned warlords) and marszałkowie (marshalls, if your war vocab administration wasn't broad enough) :D

[@Max-is4qu]

This is the type of information I absolutly don't need but I watch it anyway

[@jakep7378]

My man, I feel like that's the wrong Napoleon. Napoleon Bonaparte (the guy in the painting) died in 1821. Like 30 and some change years before the Meiji Restoration. Pretty sure the Napoleon you're referencing is Napoleon III.

[@reidate7274]

Administrative division before prefectures were controlled by feudal "warlords" who ran independent taxation and regional affairs while ultimately under the control of the Shogunate, this fact attributed to a major part of how the Emporer was restored in the first place, and the geographic divisions were named after an older administrative division terminology from the Pre-Shogunate era. Immediately after the Restoration, they started dividing up new administrative regions but not yet abolishing local feudal self-governing powers, the Fu and Ken Suffix was popularized during this time. During the actual re-division AKA "haihanchiken", they removed the traditional suffixes like Han, Koku and Do which hinted at inheritable claims and individual self-governing entities, calling most divisions "Ken" while kept using the word "Fu" for Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, 3 historical political centres. "Do" was reintroduced as the official name after the 2nd reform on the nation-wide administrative re-division, and was mimicking the ancient method of naming regional after the government-own roadways that connected said regions to central Japan. "To", as in Kyoto naming "capital" was only officially used as suffix of Tokyo in July 1943, almost an entire century AFTER the whole idea of administrative division started.

[@noelleggett5368]

If it helps prevent embarrassment, the u in todōfuken is voiceless, which means it is ‘whispered’ - practically silent. You’d be understood if you were to pronounce it toh-DOHF-ken.

[@SteMegManzaroli]

In italy we still have figures called Prefetto which govern a Prefettura, but it’s just an administrative job and has nothing to do with our Regions and Provinces that are the subdivisions of the territory