Prefectures of Japan - Where are You? Quiz

Answer:

In the incorrect answers there are basically three different types - Japanese cities, Chinese prefectures, and Japanized American state names.

Nagoya is a major city, and as of the first quarter of the 21st century it was ranked as the fourth largest city in the country behind only Tokyo, Yokohama, and Osaka in that order. Nagoya is a thriving cultural city that has rebuilt from the ruins of war into a shining new metropolis. It is the capital of Aichi prefecture.

Likewise, Sendai is a wonderful city in the north which has seen a lot of growth recently. But, as of when this quiz was written, it still had a large covered market area built right after the war and is home to numerous tiny bars, strange restaurants, and high weirdness of all kinds. Get there, before it is gone. Sendai is the capital of Miyagi prefecture.

Utsunomiya is a fairly usual large city without much to attract a tourist...except of an insane man-made cave structure running under the city. It claims to be a museum, but it is so much more than that. Utsunomiya is the capital city of Tochigi.

Hebei is a province of China that contains some of the more spectacular stretches of the Great Wall, including the section of the Wall that you are probably picturing now. Jiangsu is the province just north of Shanghai boasting temples, ancient architecture, and some fabulous canals that you can go punting down.

Furorida, Ohaio, and Kariforunia are simply the romanization of the Japanese words for Florida, Ohio, and California.

Finally, you may be wondering about that strange little quirk that has Tokyo and Osaka being listed as prefectures, when I very clearly said that they were cities above. Well, in fact Tokyo and Osaka are prefectures with both of them being administered by governors and not mayors. The outside world refers to them as cities, and we do too sometimes, but they really aren't. They occupy that liminal space that Vatican City does, being both a country and a city (though of course no one refers to Vatican City as a city), or that Washington D.C. kind of does by having 3 electors for the presidency, but still being "just" a city.