DuringWorld War II, Fukui was heavily bombed and its palace,Fukui Castle, surrounded by a moat, was demolished. Buildings for the Fukui Prefectural government were built on the site of the castle.
Fukui faces theSea of Japan, and has a western part (formerly Wakasa) which is a narrow plain between the mountains and the sea, and a larger eastern part (formerly Echizen) with wider plains including the capital and most of the population. The province lies within Japan's "snow country".
Sabae is known for producing 90% of Japan's domestically madeglasses.
There are several nuclear power plants located along Wakasa Bay inTsuruga which supply power to theKeihanshin metropolitan region. Fukui has 14reactors, the most of anyprefecture.[8]
Fukui is one of the less populated prefectures of Japan; in September 2015 there were an estimated 785,508 people living in 281,394 households.[10] As seen in most of Japan, Fukui is facing the problem of both an aging and decreasing population; 28.6% of the population was over the age of 65 in July 2015[10] and the population has decreased by 2.6% from the 806,000 measured in the October 2010 national census.[11]
Eihei-ji is a temple offering training and education to Buddhist monks. Founded by Dogen Zenji in 1244, Eiheiji is located on a plot of land covering about 33 hectares.
Fukui is home toMaruoka Castle, the oldest standing castle in Japan. It was built in 1576.
Residents of Fukui Prefecture have a distinctive accent,Fukui-ben.
Fukui has long been a center for papermaking in Japan (along with Kyoto). Its Echizen Papermaking Cooperative is a world-famous collection of papermakers making paper in the traditional Echizen style.
Fukui is also renowned for its clean water and crops, which result insake, rice, andsoba noodles.[12]
In August 2010 Fukui launched its own dating website entitled Fukui Marriage-Hunting Café in hopes of helping the declining population growth of Japan increase. Couples who meet in the site and continue on to marry receive monetary aid from the government as well as gifts.[13]
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