Saga Prefecture

[3] Saga Prefecture's western region is known for the production of ceramics and porcelain, particularly in the towns of Karatsu, Imari, and Arita.

Also exerting great influence during this time was a samurai clan operating along the Genkai Sea called the Matsuratō.

The cost of defending Nagasaki was increasing and, difficult from the start, the financial situation was worsened by the great Kyōhō famine and the Siebold Typhoon of 1828.

Around the middle of the 19th century, Naomasa Nabeshima strove to set right the domain's financial affairs, reduce the number of government officials, and encourage local industry such as Arita porcelain, green tea, and coal.

Also, thanks to the proximity of the international port of Nagasaki, new technologies were introduced from overseas, such as the reverberatory furnace and models of steam locomotives.

In the Meiji era the modernization of coal mines in Kishima and Higashimatsuura districts, among others, progressed bolstered by the construction of railroads.

Saga's proximity to mainland Asia has made it an important gateway for the transmission of culture and trade throughout Japanese history.

The prefecture is the largest producer of mochigome (sticky rice) and greenhouse mandarin oranges in Japan.

According to 2002 figures, regional trade exports are focused primarily towards North America (29.3%), Western Europe (26.1%), and the Newly Industrializing Economies of South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore (19.9%).

In the festival a crashing battle takes place between the two huge portable shrines, the Ara-mikoshi and the Danjiri.

Football (soccer) Volleyball Basketball Baseball Karatsu, with its fine castle, is a tourist destination in Saga.

The Saga prefecture helped sponsor the 2018 anime Zombie Land Saga, which has attracted tourists to various locations showcased in the series, including the museum that doubles in the series as the girls' house and Drive-In Tori Chicken.

A reconstruction of a Yayoi period building at the Yoshinogari site
Saga Castle (Shachi gate)
Eto Shimpei in Saga. Woodblock print from Tokyo Nichinichi Shimbun , 1874.
Map of Saga Prefecture showing municipal boundaries.
City Town
Saga City
Karatsu
Tara Town
Saga prefecture population pyramid in 2020