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I noticed a license plate with hiragana characters written on it instead of
Kanji. I had assumed that all prefecture names would be written in Kanji.
Thank you.
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2017-03-16T17:48:18.770
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question
words kanji hiragana
Why are some prefecture names written in hiragana on license plates?
License plates in Japan are issued by a few designated cities in each
prefecture, and not the prefecture itself. So the name written on the license
plate is the name of the city. In a few cases (Naniwa, Tsukuba, Tochigi, and
Saitama are the ones I know about) the city's name is officially written in
hiragana. Because the city's name is hiragana, it is on the license plate as
hiragana. Why a city's name is hiragana changes from city to city and would
probably be better as a different question.
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2017-03-16T18:40:03.550
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answer
No prefecture names are written in Hiragana officially. As you note they are
all written in Kanji.

License plates are not from the prefecture but designated cities (some of
which ARE written in hiragana (usually due a dispute about what the name a
newly formed city after a merger, e.g. さいたま市))

For scooter liscence plates, any city/ward/village/town can issue them so the
city/ward/village/town name appears. If that happens to be Hiragana then
hiragana is displayed on the plate.
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answer