Name: Shizuoka Prefecture

Country: Japan

Area: 7,777 square kilometers

Population: 3.63 million (2020)

Shizuoka Prefecture, located between Tokyo and Osaka, is one of Japan's transportation hubs. The Shizuoka Hamamatsu Metropolitan Area of the prefecture, with Shizuoka and Hamamatsu as the two urban cores, is a metropolitan area in central Japan, next to the top three metropolitan clusters in Japan. Mt. Fuji, Mt. Ashitaka and other volcanic mountain ranges stretch to the Izu Peninsula. The prefecture is known as the Hot Spring Peninsula for its abundant hot spring resources. Also located in the prefecture are the Suruga Bay, Enshuu-Nada, Lake Hamana, the Tenryu River, the Oi River and estuary plains.

Shizuoka Prefecture is one of the most advanced industrial regions in Japan, ranking among the top five in Japan. Manufacturing is its pillar industry, earning the prefecture the reputation as a hub for manufacturing. Machinery, particularly transportation and electronic machinery, and electronics are the backbone of its economy. It leads the country in the production of musical instruments and motorcycles and is also Japan's top producer of paper, medicine, furniture. 90% of enterprises in the prefecture are small and medium-sized enterprises, mainly in transportation, electrical and precision machinery, precision chemicals for pharmaceutical manufacturing, and food processing industry. In addition to dominating the Japanese market, Shizuoka-based companies are world leaders in several major industrial sectors. Honda, Yamaha, and Suzuki brand motorcycles all had their start in Shizuoka and are still manufactured locally. Other global brands include Yamaha and Kawai pianos, Hamamatsu photonics and Dashiowa paper.

Shizuoka Prefecture is a dominant producer of tea and mandarin orange, accounting half of the green tea production in Japan. Other agricultural products such as melon, strawberry, tomato, and potato are also among the best. Sakura Ebi, also called cherry blossom shrimp, is a famous specialty of the Shizuoka Prefecture, and Suruga bamboo products and Suruga lacquer wares are also its well-known handicrafts.

Shizuoka is rich in fishery resources, including bonito, tuna, eel, etc. Freshwater aquaculture is also developed with a large variety of freshwater fishes, such as the tiger puffer and rainbow trout.

Shizuoka Prefecture is the seat of many higher education institutions, including the National Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu Medical University, Shizuoka Prefectural University, Tokai University, Tokoha Gakuen University, etc. The major newspaper is Shizuoka Shimbun and popular sports include baseball, football, judo, sumo, track and field, swimming, Go, etc. The prefectural football team won seven championships in Japan.

Shizuoka has one of the richest tourism resources in Japan. Mt. Fuji, the Izu Peninsula, and Lake Hamana attract more than 100 million tourists from home and abroad every year.

Heita Kawakatsu, the incumbent governor, was first elected in July 2009 and re-elected for a third term in July 2017.

Zhejiang and Shizuoka established friendly relations in 1982.