Ishikawa prefecture is located in the middle of the Hokuriku region. To the East are Toyama and Gifu prefectures, to the South is Fukui prefecture, and to the North is the Noto peninsula jutting out into the Sea of Japan. The shape of the prefecture is long and narrow from the Southwest to the Northeast, and is 100.4km from East to West and 198.4km from North to South. The coastline extends some 581.0km. There are 9 major cities in addition to Kanazawa, 9 small towns.