Japan Genealogy

Japan Wiki Topics

Japan Beginning Research

Getting Started Online Learning Record Finder Research Strategies Finding Town of Origin

Record Types

Adoption Cemeteries Census Church Records Civil Registration Compiled Genealogies Emigration & Immigration Military Records Newspapers Online Genealogy Records Religious Records Websites

Japan Background

Dates & Calendars For Further Reading History Languages Maps Naming Customs Periodicals Social Life & Customs

Japan Genealogical Word Lists

Japanese

Local Research Resources

Archives & Libraries Societies Local FamilySearch Center

In other languages: 日本語

Asia

Japan

Guide to Japan ancestry, family history and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Information

Japan is an island country in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Asia. Its nearest neighbors are China, North Korea, South Korea, Russia, and Taiwan. While there is no official language, Japanese is the national language.

Japan Online Genealogy Records

Online
Research Help

Getting
Started

Japan Map

Genealogy records are kept on the local level in Japan. Click on a place below to go to the corresponding Wiki article listing more information.

Jurisdictions

Genealogy records are kept on the local level in Japan. Click on a place below to go to the corresponding Wiki article listing more information.

Japan is divided into a number of areas called Prefectures. These are analogous to states or provinces in other countries. They were created after the Meiji Restoration (1868) by consolidating feudal domains. Some include a city by the same name within their boundaries.

Regions

Chūbu Chūgoku Hokkaidō Kansai

Kantō Kyūshū Shikoku Tōhoku

Prefectures

• Aichi
• Akita
• Aomori
• Chiba
• Ehime
• Fukui
• Fukuoka
• Fukushima
• Gifu
• Gunma
• Hiroshima
• Hokkaidō
• Hyōgo
• Ibaraki
• Ishikawa
• Iwate
• Kagawa
• Kagoshima
• Kanagawa
• Kōchi
• Kumamoto
• Kyōto
• Mie
• Miyagi
• Miyazaki
• Nagano
• Nagasaki
• Nara
• Niigata
• Ōita
• Okayama
• Okinawa
• Ōsaka
• Saga
• Saitama
• Shiga
• Shimane
• Shizuoka
• Tochigi
• Tokushima
• Tōkyō
• Tottori
• Toyama
• Wakayama
• Yamagata
• Yamaguchi
• Yamanashi

Cities, Towns, and Villages

Within each prefecture is a number of cities, towns and villages, The larger cities are very populous, while many towns and villages are quite small and often can border each other in a way that they are at times considered part of a larger city. Most though have some space between them.