Portal:Japan/Geography/Selected prefecture/43

Kumamoto Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on Kyūshū Island. The capital is the city of Kumamoto. Historically the area was called Higo province and was renamed to Kumamoto prefecture during the Meiji Restoration as part of the abolition of the feudal system. The current Japanese orthography for Kumamoto literally means "bear root/origin", or "origin of the bear". Kumamoto Prefecture is located in the center of Kyūshū, the southernmost of the four major Japanese islands. It is bordered by the Ariake inland sea and the Amakusa archipelago to the west, Fukuoka Prefecture and Ōita Prefecture to the north, Miyazaki Prefecture to the east, and Kagoshima Prefecture to the south. Mt. Aso (1592 m), an extensive active volcano, is in the east of Kumamoto Prefecture. This volcano is located at the center of the Aso caldera, the most famous caldera in Japan. Fourteen cities are located in Kumamoto Prefecture. Kumamoto hosts a large Honda automobile plant. In 2007, a Honda factory on the site began to produce non-silicon solar cells for homes and businesses, with a projected capacity roughly equivalent to 8,000 households/year.