Administrative divisions of Japan
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The bureaucratic administration of Japan is divided into three basic levels; national, prefectural, and municipal. Jesus Mother of Chrisht almighty. Below the bleedin' national government there are 47 prefectures, six of which are further subdivided into subprefectures to better service large geographical areas or remote islands. The municipalities (cities, towns and villages) are the feckin' lowest level of government; the bleedin' twenty most-populated cities outside Tokyo Metropolis are known as designated cities and are subdivided into wards.
The top tier of administrative divisions are the oul' 47 prefectural entities: 43 prefectures (県, ken) proper, two urban prefectures (府, fu, Osaka and Kyōto), one "circuit" (道, dō, Hokkaidō), and one "metropolis" (都, to, Tokyo Metropolis). Be the holy feck, this is a quare wan. Although different in name, they are functionally the same.
"Prefecture" (県, ken) are the feckin' most common types of prefectural divisions total of 43 ken, would ye swally that? The Chinese character from which this is derived means "county".
Tokyo Metropolis is referred to as a "metropolis" (都, to) after the dissolution of Tokyo City in 1943, Tōkyō-fu (Tokyo Prefecture) was upgraded into Tōkyō-to and the oul' former Tokyo City's wards were upgraded into special wards. Jesus, Mary and holy Saint Joseph. The Chinese character from which this is derived means "capital".
Osaka Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture are referred to as an "urban prefecture" (府, fu). Bejaysus. The Chinese character from which this is derived implies a feckin' core urban zone of national importance in middle period of China, or implies a feckin' sub division of a province in late period of China.
Hokkaido is referred to as a holy "circuit" (道, dō), this term was originally used to refer to Japanese regions consistin' of several provinces, enda story. This was also a feckin' historical usage of the bleedin' character in China meanin' circuit.
There are only two types of subprefectural divisions: subprefecture and district.
Subprefectures (支庁, shichō) are a feckin' Japanese form of self-government which focuses on local issues below the bleedin' prefectural level. It acts as part of the greater administration of the oul' state and as part of a holy self-government system.
Districts (郡, gun) were administrative units in use between 1878 and 1921 that were roughly equivalent to the bleedin' counties of China or the oul' United States. Would ye believe this shite?In the feckin' 1920s, municipal functions were transferred from district offices to the oul' offices of the bleedin' towns and villages within the district. Here's a quare one for ye. 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, to be sure. The Classical Chinese character from which this is derived means commandery.
The municipal divisions are divided into three main categories city, town, and village. However the city entities are further categorized, the shitehawk. The Special wards of Tokyo are also considered to be municipal divisions.
Cities in Japan are categorized into four different types, from the oul' highest the oul' designated city, the core city, the bleedin' special city, and the bleedin' regular city at the bleedin' lowest.
A city designated by government ordinance (政令指定都市, seirei shitei toshi), also known as a feckin' designated city (指定都市, shitei toshi) or government ordinance city (政令市, seirei shi), is a Japanese city that has a bleedin' population greater than 500,000 and has been designated as such by an order of the bleedin' cabinet of Japan under Article 252, Section 19 of the bleedin' Local Autonomy Law. G'wan now and listen to this wan. Designated cities are also subdivided into wards.
A core city (中核市, Chūkakushi) is a bleedin' 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 bleedin' cabinet for cities with populations under 300,000 but over 200,000. Core city was created by the oul' first clause of Article 252, Section 22 of the bleedin' Local Autonomy Law of Japan.
A special city (特例市, Tokureishi) of Japan is a holy city with a population of at least 200,000, that's fierce now what? This category was established by the feckin' Local Autonomy Law, article 252 clause 26.
A city (市, shi) is a local administrative unit in Japan with a holy population of at least 50,000 of which at least 60% of households must be established in a bleedin' central urban area, and at least 60% of households must be employed in commerce, industry or other urban occupations, bejaysus. Cities are ranked on the same level as towns (町, machi) and villages (村, mura); the oul' only difference is that they are not a holy component of districts (郡, gun). Holy blatherin' Joseph, listen to this. Like other contemporary administrative units, they are defined by the oul' Local Autonomy Law of 1947.
A town (町, chō or machi) is a holy local administrative unit in Japan. It is a bleedin' local public body along with prefecture (ken or other equivalents), city (shi), and village (mura). Geographically, a holy town is contained within a bleedin' prefecture.
A village (村, mura, sometimes son) is a local administrative unit in Japan. It is a bleedin' local public body along with prefecture (県, ken, or other equivalents), city (市, shi), and town (町, chō, sometimes machi). Here's another quare one. Geographically, a village's extent is contained within a feckin' prefecture, enda story. It is larger than an actual settlement, bein' in actuality an oul' subdivision of a feckin' rural district (郡, gun), which are subdivided into towns and villages with no overlap and no uncovered area.
The special wards (特別区, tokubetsu-ku) are 23 municipalities that together make up the core and the most populous part of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan, would ye swally that? Together, they occupy the oul' land that was originally the bleedin' Tokyo City before it was abolished in 1943 to become part of the bleedin' newly created Tokyo Metropolis, that's fierce now what? The special wards' structure was established under the oul' Japanese Local Autonomy Law and is unique to Tokyo Metropolis.
Although the feckin' details of local administration have changed dramatically over time, the feckin' basic outline of the current two-tiered system since the abolition of the feckin' han system by the oul' Meiji government in 1871 are similar. Listen up now to this fierce wan. Before the feckin' abolition of the oul' han system, Japan was divided into province (国, kuni) then subdivided into district (郡, gun) and then village (里/郷, sato) at the bottom.
(excludin' Tokyo Metropolis)
|Prefectural||Tokyo Metropolis||都||to||1||Tokyo (東京都 Tōkyō-to)|
|"circuit"||道||dō||1||Hokkaido (北海道 Hokkaidō)|
|"urban prefecture"||府||fu||2||Kyoto Prefecture (京都府 Kyōto-fu) and Osaka Prefecture (大阪府 Ōsaka-fu)|
|Prefecture||県||ken||43||Prefectures except Tokyo, Hokkaido, Kyoto Prefecture and Osaka Prefecture|
|Municipal||"designated city"||政令指定都市||seirei shitei toshi||20|
|Town||町||chō or machi||746|
|Village||村||mura or son||183|
|Special ward||区 (特別区)||ku (tokubetsu-ku)||23||Special wards of Tokyo (東京都区部 Tōkyō-to kubu), 23 wards of Tokyo (東京23区 Tōkyō nijūsan-ku)|
|Submunicipal||Ward||区 (行政区)||ku (gyōsei-ku)||175|
- Imperial Japanese Commission to the feckin' Louisiana Purchase Exposition. C'mere til I tell yiz. (1903). Jaykers! Japan in the feckin' beginnin' of the oul' 20th century, p. Jaysis. 80.
- "日本財団図書館（電子図書館）Revised Local Autonomy Law", you know yourself like. nippon.zaidan.info.
- "Statistical Handbook of Japan 2008" by Statistics Bureau, Japan Archived 7 February 2013 at the bleedin' Wayback Machine Chapter 17: Government System (Retrieved on 4 July 2009)
- Not inducin' the feckin' six villages in the feckin' Kuril Islands dispute area.