frix@austin.rr.com writes:

> Dumb question
Not really. I think it's a fairly good one.

are they like, what states are to the U.S?  Or they > 
> smaller like counties that cover over one large city and smaller 
> surrounding towns. 
As I'm feeling a bit lazy and this is all I really think needs to be said,
in size they're like counties (there are 47 of them, and you know how small 
Japan is). In administration they're between county and state, but closer to 
state. They have greater autonomy when it comes to things like taxes, 
variation 
 
in certain laws, and things like that. (Counties have these things, but to a 
lesser extent.) Each has its own governor and assembly.
47 prefectures, 43 of them are regular prefectures, 1 (Tokyo) is a 
metropolitan prefecture, 2 (Kyoto and Osaka) are urban prefectures, 1 
(Hokkaido) is a 
 
special prefectural district. I didn't know that off the top of my head, but I 
found it when checking for any more to add, and it's kinda interesting.

-Robert Staubs (Nekokaze, Mizuho Rakai)
AIM: Washu2oooo   Email: Washu2oooo@aol.com
"I had a feeling once about mathematics -- that I saw it all. Depth beyond 
depth was revealed to me -- the Byss and the Abyss. I saw -- as one might see 
the transit of Venus or even the Lord Mayor's Show -- a quantity passing 
through 
 
infinity and changing its sign from plus to minus. I saw exactly why it 
happened and why tergiversation was inevitable -- but it was after dinner and 
I let 
 
it go." -- Winston Churchill