Fukui is situated at the center of the Japan Sea Coast of Honshu Island, where a deeply indented coastline stretches long. Fukui’s characteristic climate is observed in winter: many cold, cloudy and snowy days due to the northwestern seasonal wind. Fukui enjoys distinctive seasonal changes throughout the year, each season with its typical natural beauty.

Fukui’s economy and culture developed in the old days as a strategic transportation point linking cities along the Japan Sea Coast with Kansai region and a reception point of cultural influence from the Continent. Fukui boasts natural beauty, gastronomy and a rich and varied cultural reservoir of traditions, as seen in old temples and Zen practice, nurtured by its long history.

Fukui’s principal industries are textiles and spectacle manufacturing. Fukui accounts for over 95% of the spectacle frame production in Japan. Traditional industrial arts, such as washi (traditional Japanese paper) making, are also active. Nuclear power plants that supply some 50% of the electricity consumed by the Kansai region dot the coastline. Fukui is also a well-known rice production center and the birthplace of the famous rice brand Koshihikari.

Thanks to its coastal location, Fukui boasts such scenic sights as Echizen Beach, Wakasa Bay, and Tojinbo, a precipice 1 km long and 25 m high. Eihei-ji Temple, one of Soto Zen’s head temples, known for its Zen meditation practice, and Awara hot springs, famous all over Japan as the “hidden guest room” of Kansai, are also to be found in Fukui. This prefecture is also known as the locality of Japan’s largest collection of dinosaur fossils and its Prefectural Dinosaur Museum is one of the top display facilities in this field.