How to say 'Prefecture' in Japanese | 県

Wondering how to say 'Prefecture' in Japanese? You're in the right place!

The Japanese word for Prefecture is 'Ken', written as 県 in Japanese.'Prefecture' in hiragana is けん.

word

県

Meaning

Prefecture

Reading

けん

ken

Kanji

県Prefecture

Explanation

The Japanese noun '県 (けん)' refers to a 'prefecture', which is an administrative division in Japan, similar to a state or province in other countries. Japan is divided into 47 prefectures, each with its own local government. This term is commonly used in addresses, official documents, and when discussing regional differences. For example: I live in Tokyo Prefecture「私は東京都に住んでいます」(わたしはとうきょうとにすんでいます). Kyoto Prefecture is beautiful「京都県は美しい」(きょうとけんはうつくしい). Note that some prefectures, like Tokyo (東京都, とうきょうと), use '都' instead of '県' in their names.

Part Of Speech

noun

Kanji JLPT

Kanji Grade

Frequency

303

Composition

kanji

Handwriting

Kanji in the Word 県

This word contains 1 kanji character:

kanji

県

Meaning

Prefecture

Words Related to 県 Through the Kanji 県

These 2 Words contain the Kanji 県 as well.

word

県立

Meaning

Prefectural

word

県庁

Meaning

Prefecture office

Learn the Word 県

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What does 'Ken' (県) mean?

'Ken' means 'Prefecture' .

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