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Saga Prefecture

prefecture of Japan

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 30, 2026
Entity authorityQ160420 ↗
Source-derived summary

Saga Prefecture (佐賀県, Saga-ken; Japanese pronunciation: [saꜜ.ɡa, -ŋa, sa.ɡaꜜ.keɴ, -ŋaꜜ.keɴ]) is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of roughly 780,000 and has a geographic area of 2,439 square kilometres (942 sq mi). Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasaki Prefecture to the southwest.

Saga is the capital and largest city of Saga Prefecture, with other major cities including Karatsu, Tosu, and Imari. Saga Prefecture is located in the northwest of Kyūshū covering an isthmus-like area extending between the Sea of Japan and the Ariake Sea. Saga Prefecture's western region is known for the production of ceramics and porcelain, particularly in the towns of Karatsu, Imari, and Arita.

History

In ancient times, the area composed by Nagasaki Prefecture and Saga Prefecture was called Hizen Province. The current name dates from the Meiji Restoration. Rice farming culture has prospered here since ancient times, and vestiges can be seen at the ruins of Nabatake in Karatsu and the Yoshinogari site in Yoshinogari.

Feudal period

From the Kamakura period to the Muromachi period, it is thought that over 100 feudal clans existed.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Saga Prefecture” is prefecture of Japan. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Saga, Prefecture and prefecture, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current 190-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Saga, Prefecture and prefecture is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “prefecture of Japan” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q160420. VIAF identifies the subject as 254715218. The Library of Congress control number is n80022933. Authority coordinates are 33.249, 130.299. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Saga Prefecture”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Saga Prefecture primary sources, Saga Prefecture archive and Saga research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Saga Prefecture”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Saga Prefecture” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.