A prefectural capital is a city where a prefectural government and assembly is located. Japan In Japan, a prefectural capital is officially called , but the term is also used (). List of Japanese prefectural capitals Notes: ¹ Non-capitals which share a name with their prefecture In most cases, a city that shares a name with its prefecture is a prefectural capital. However, there are some municipalities that are not capitals. Iwate, Iwate Prefecture Ibaraki, Ibaraki Prefecture Okinawa, Okinawa Prefecture Tochigi, Tochigi Prefecture Yamanashi, Yamanashi Prefecture Capitals that are not the largest city/metropolitan area in their prefecture Those in italics are prefectural capitals, or metropolitan areas of them. Notes: City populations are as of July 2008. Metropolitan area populations are as of 2000. (Urban Employment Areas) References Japan, Prefecture Capitals