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The bureaucratic administration of
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
is divided into three basic levels; national, prefectural, and municipal. They are defined by the Local Autonomy Law of 1947. Below the national government there are 47
prefectures A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...
, six of which are further subdivided into subprefectures to better service large geographical areas or remote islands. The 1718
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...
(792 cities, 743 towns, and 183 villages) and 23 special wards of
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
are the lowest level of government; the twenty most-populated cities outside Tokyo Metropolis are known as designated cities and are subdivided into wards.


Prefectural divisions

The top tier of administrative divisions are the 47 prefectural entities: 43 proper, two , one , and one . Although different in name, they are functionally the same.


''Ken''

are the most common types of prefectural divisions total of 43 ken. The ''
kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...
'' (character) from which this is derived means "county".


''To''

Tokyo Metropolis is referred to as a after the dissolution of
Tokyo City was a municipality in Japan and part of Tokyo-fu which existed from 1 May 1889 until its merger with its prefecture on 1 July 1943. The historical boundaries of Tokyo City are now occupied by the Special Wards of Tokyo. The new merged gov ...
in 1943, Tōkyō-fu (Tokyo Prefecture) was upgraded into Tōkyō-to and the former Tokyo City's wards were upgraded into special wards. The ''kanji'' (character) from which this is derived means "capital".


''Fu''

Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nar ...
and Kyoto Prefecture are referred to as an . The Chinese character from which this is derived implies a core urban zone of national importance in middle period of China, or implies a sub division of a province in late period of China.


''Dō''

Hokkaido is referred to as a , this term was originally used to refer to Japanese regions consisting of several
provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
. This was also a historical usage of the character in China meaning circuit.


Subprefectural divisions

There are only two types of subprefectural divisions: subprefecture and district.


Subprefecture

are a Japanese form of self-government which focuses on local issues below the prefectural level. It acts as part of the greater administration of the state and as part of a self-government system.Imperial Japanese Commission to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. (1903)
''Japan in the beginning of the 20th century'', p. 80


District

were administrative units in use between 1878 and 1921 that were roughly equivalent to the counties of China or the United States. In the 1920s, municipal functions were transferred from district offices to the offices of the towns and villages within the district. District names remain in the postal address of towns and villages, and districts are sometimes used as boundaries for electoral districts, but otherwise serve no official function. The Classical Chinese character from which this is derived means
commandery In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and ...
.


Municipal divisions

The municipal divisions are divided into three main categories city, town, and village. However the city entities are further categorized. The
Special wards of Tokyo are a special form of municipalities in Japan under the 1947 Local Autonomy Law. They are city-level wards: primary subdivisions of a prefecture with municipal autonomy largely comparable to other forms of municipalities. Although the auton ...
are also considered to be municipal divisions.


Cities

Cities in Japan are categorized into four different types, from the highest the designated city, the core city, the special city, and the regular city at the lowest.


Designated city

A , also known as a or , is a Japanese city that has a population greater than 500,000 and has been designated as such by an order of the
cabinet of Japan The is the chief executive body of the government of Japan. It consists of the prime minister, who is appointed by the emperor after being designated by the National Diet, and up to nineteen other members, called Ministers of State. The p ...
under Article 252, Section 19 of the Local Autonomy Law. Designated cities are also subdivided into wards.


Core city

A is a Japanese city that has a population greater than 300,000 and an area greater than 100 square kilometers, although special exceptions may be made by order of the cabinet for cities with populations under 300,000 but over 200,000. Core city was created by the first clause of Article 252, Section 22 of the Local Autonomy Law of Japan.


Special city

A of Japan is a
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
with a population of at least 200,000. This category was established by the Local Autonomy Law, article 252 clause 26.


City

A is a local administrative unit in Japan with a population of at least 50,000 of which at least 60% of households must be established in a central urban area, and at least 60% of households must be employed in commerce, industry or other urban occupations. Cities are ranked on the same level as and ; the only difference is that they are not a component of . Like other contemporary administrative units, they are defined by the Local Autonomy Law of 1947.


Town

A is a
local administrative unit Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics or NUTS (french: Nomenclature des unités territoriales statistiques) is a geocode standard for referencing the subdivisions of countries for statistical purposes. The standard, adopted in 2003, ...
in Japan. It is a local public body along with prefecture (''ken'' or other equivalents), city (''shi''), and village (''mura''). Geographically, a town is contained within a
prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...
.


Village

A is a
local administrative unit Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics or NUTS (french: Nomenclature des unités territoriales statistiques) is a geocode standard for referencing the subdivisions of countries for statistical purposes. The standard, adopted in 2003, ...
in Japan. It is a local public body along with , , and . Geographically, a village's extent is contained within a
prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...
. It is larger than an actual settlement, being in actuality a subdivision of a rural , which are subdivided into
towns A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an or ...
and villages with no overlap and no uncovered area.


Special Ward

The are 23
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...
that together make up the core and the most populous part of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. Together, they occupy the land that was originally the
Tokyo City was a municipality in Japan and part of Tokyo-fu which existed from 1 May 1889 until its merger with its prefecture on 1 July 1943. The historical boundaries of Tokyo City are now occupied by the Special Wards of Tokyo. The new merged gov ...
before it was abolished in 1943 to become part of the newly created Tokyo Metropolis. The special wards' structure was established under the Japanese Local Autonomy Law and is unique to Tokyo Metropolis.


Submunicipal divisions


Ward

A is a subdivision of the cities of Japan that are large enough to have been designated by government ordinance."Statistical Handbook of Japan 2008" by Statistics Bureau, Japan
Chapter 17: Government System (Retrieved on 4 July 2009)


History

Although the details of local administration have changed dramatically over time, the basic outline of the current two-tiered system since the
abolition of the han system The in the Empire of Japan and its replacement by a system of prefectures in 1871 was the culmination of the Meiji Restoration begun in 1868, the starting year of the Meiji period. Under the reform, all daimyos (, ''daimyō'', feudal lord ...
by the
Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...
in 1871 are similar. Before the abolition of the han system, Japan was divided into then subdivided into and then at the bottom.


Structural hierarchy


See also

* Decentralisation in Japan


References


External links

{{Asia topic, Administrative divisions of
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...