character is used to refer to the counties of China, counties of Taiwan and districts of Vietnam. Lists of prefectures The different systems of parsing frame the ways in which Japanese prefectures are perceived: By Japanese ISO The prefectures are also often grouped into eight regions (Chihō). Those regions are not formally specified, they do not have elected officials, nor are they corporate bodies. But the practice of ordering prefectures based on their geographic region is traditional. This ordering is mirrored in Japan's International Organization for Standardization (ISO) coding. From north to south (numbering in ISO 3166-2:JP order), the prefectures of Japan and their commonly associated regions are: Hokkaidō Tōhoku Kantō Chūbu Kansai Chūgoku Shikoku Kyūshū By English name The default alphabetic order in this sortable table can be altered to mirror the traditional Japanese regions and ISO parsing. Former prefectures 1870s 1880s Lost after World War II Here are some territories that were lost after World War II. This does not include all the territories of the Empire of Japan such as Manchukuo. See also List of Japanese prefectural name etymologies List of Japanese prefectures by area List of Japanese prefectures by population List of Japanese prefectures by GDP List of Japanese prefectures by GDP per capita List of Japanese prefectures by Human Development Index List of Japanese prefectures by life expectancy List of Japanese prefectures by highest mountain List of prefectural capitals in Japan List of Prefecture songs of Japan ISO 3166-2 codes for Japan List of prefectural governors in Japan Flags of Japanese prefectures Provinces of Japan General List of regions of Japan Government of Japan References External links National Governors' Association website Map of Japan showing prefectures Japanese essay on types of prefectures CityMayors.com profile of prefectures 1 Prefectures Japan 1 Prefectures, Japan Lists of places in Japan