The bureaucratic administration of Japan is divided into three basic levels: national, prefectural, and municipal. They are defined by the Local Autonomy Act of 1947.
Below the national government there are 47 prefectures, six of which are further subdivided into subprefectures to better service large geographical areas or remote islands.
The 1718 municipalities (792 cities, 743 towns, and 183 villages)
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.
Municipal divisions
thumb|1,742 municipal and 175 submunicipal entities of Japan
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 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 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. This category 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 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 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.
Village
A is a local administrative unit in Japan. It is a local public body along with , , and . Geographically, a village's extent is contained within a prefecture. It is larger than an actual settlement, being in actuality a subdivision of a rural , which are subdivided into towns and villages with no overlap and no uncovered area.
Special Ward
The are 23 municipalities 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 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 Act 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.
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 by the Meiji government 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
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!Prefectural
!colspan="2"|Subprefectural
!Municipal
!Submunicipal
|-
|rowspan="6"|Prefectures<br>(excluding Tokyo Metropolis)
|colspan="2"|Subprefecture
|rowspan="2"|"designated city"
|rowspan="2"|Ward
|-
|colspan="2" align="center" |
|-
|colspan="2"|District
|rowspan="2"|Town<br>Village
|rowspan="6" |none
|-
|rowspan="2"|Subprefecture
|District
|-
|align="center" |
|rowspan="2"|"core city"<br>"special city"<br>City
|-
|rowspan="2" colspan="2" align="center" |
|-
|rowspan="2"|Metropolis
|City<br>Special wards
|-
|colspan="2"|District<br>Subprefecture
|Town<br>Village
|}
{|class=wikitable
!colspan="2"|Level!!Type!!style="width:9%"|Kanji!!style="width:13%"|Romaji!!No.!!
|-
|rowspan="4" colspan="2" style="border-bottom:none" align="right"|Prefectural
| Tokyo Metropolis
|都
|to
|style="text-align:center"|1
|Tokyo (東京都 Tōkyō-to)
|-
|"circuit"
|道
|dō
|style="text-align:center"|1
|Hokkaido (北海道 Hokkaidō)
|-
|"urban prefecture"
|府
|fu
|style="text-align:center"|2
|Kyoto Prefecture (京都府 Kyōto-fu) and Osaka Prefecture (大阪府 Ōsaka-fu)
|-
|Prefecture
|県
|ken
|style="text-align:center"|43
|Prefectures except Tokyo, Hokkaido, Kyoto Prefecture and Osaka Prefecture
|-
|rowspan="2" style="border-top:none"| ||rowspan="2" align="right" |Subprefectural
|Subprefecture
|支庁
|shichō
|style="text-align:center"|158
|
|-
|District
|郡
|gun
|style="text-align:center"|374
|
|-align=center
!colspan="6"|
|-
|rowspan="7" colspan="2" style="border-bottom:none" align="right"|Municipal
|"designated city"
|政令指定都市
|seirei shitei toshi
|style="text-align:center"|20
|
|-
|"core city"
|中核市
|chūkaku-shi
|style="text-align:center"|42
|
|-
|"special city"
|特例市
|tokurei-shi
|style="text-align:center"|40
|
|-
|City
|市
|shi
|style="text-align:center"|792
|Including designated, core and special cities.
|-
|Town
|町
|chō machi
|style="text-align:center"|743
|
|-
|Village
|村
|mura son
|style="text-align:center"|183
|
|-
|Special ward
|区 (特別区)
|ku (tokubetsu-ku)
|style="text-align:center"|23
|Special wards of Tokyo (東京都区部 Tōkyō-to kubu), 23 wards of Tokyo (東京23区 Tōkyō nijūsan-ku)
|-
|rowspan="1" style="border-top:none"| ||rowspan="1" align="right" |Submunicipal
|Ward
|区 (行政区)
|ku (gyōsei-ku)
|style="text-align:center"|175
|Only used for designated cities
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! ISO
! Prefecture
! Kanji
! Region
! Cities <br>(Special wards)
! Wards
! Districts
! Towns
! Villages
|-
| JP-23 || || || bgcolor=#79efd8|Chūbu || 38 || 16 || 7|| 14 || 2
|-
| JP-05 || || || bgcolor=#efe979|Tōhoku || 13 || || 6 || 9 || 3
|-
| JP-02 || || || bgcolor=#efe979|Tōhoku || 10 || || 8 || 22 || 8
|-
| JP-12 || || || bgcolor=#87ef79|Kantō || 37 || 6 || 6 || 16 || 1
|-
| JP-38 || || || bgcolor=#cc79ef|Shikoku || 11 || || 7 || 9 ||
|-
| JP-18 || || || bgcolor=#79efd8|Chūbu || 9 || || 7 || 17 ||
|-
| JP-40 || || || bgcolor=#b4b4b4|Kyushu || 28 || 14 || 12 || 30 || 2
|-
| JP-07 || || || bgcolor=#efe979|Tōhoku || 13 || || 13 || 31 || 15
|-
| JP-21 || || || bgcolor=#79efd8|Chūbu || 21 || || 9 || 19 || 2
|-
| JP-10 || || || bgcolor=#87ef79|Kantō || 12 || || 7 || 15 || 8
|-
| JP-34 || || || bgcolor=#efb179|Chūgoku || 14 || 8 || 5 || 9 ||
|-
| JP-01 || || || bgcolor=#ef7979|Hokkaido || 35 || 10 || 66 || 129 || 15
|-
| JP-28 || || || bgcolor=#9579ef|Kansai || 29 || 9 || 8 || 12 ||
|-
| JP-08 || || || bgcolor=#87ef79|Kantō || 32 || || 7 || 10 || 2
|-
| JP-17 || || || bgcolor=#79efd8|Chūbu || 11 || || 5 || 8 ||
|-
| JP-03 || || || bgcolor=#efe979|Tōhoku || 14 || || 10 || 15 || 4
|-
| JP-37 || || || bgcolor=#cc79ef|Shikoku || 8 || || 5 || 9 ||
|-
| JP-46 || || || bgcolor=#b4b4b4|Kyushu || 19 || || 8 || 20 || 4
|-
| JP-14 || || || bgcolor=#87ef79|Kantō || 19 || 28 || 6 || 13 || 1
|-
| JP-39 || || || bgcolor=#cc79ef|Shikoku || 11 || || 6 || 17 || 6
|-
| JP-43 || || || bgcolor=#b4b4b4|Kyushu || 14 || 5 || 9 || 23 || 8
|-
| JP-26 || || || bgcolor=#9579ef|Kansai || 15 || 11 || 6 || 10 || 1
|-
| JP-24 || || || bgcolor=#9579ef|Kansai || 14 || || 7 || 15 ||
|-
| JP-04 || || || bgcolor=#efe979|Tōhoku || 13 || 5 || 10 || 21 || 1
|-
| JP-45 || || || bgcolor=#b4b4b4|Kyushu || 9 || || 6 || 14 || 3
|-
| JP-20 || || || bgcolor=#79efd8|Chūbu || 19 || || 14 || 23 || 35
|-
| JP-42 || || || bgcolor=#b4b4b4|Kyushu || 13 || || 4 || 8 ||
|-
| JP-29 || || || bgcolor=#9579ef|Kansai || 12 || || 7 || 15 || 12
|-
| JP-15 || || || bgcolor=#79efd8|Chūbu || 20 || 8 || 9 || 6 || 4
|-
| JP-44 || || || bgcolor=#b4b4b4|Kyushu || 14 || || 3 || 3 || 1
|-
| JP-33 || || || bgcolor=#efb179|Chūgoku || 15 || 4 || 10 || 10 || 2
|-
| JP-47 || || || bgcolor=#b4b4b4|Kyushu || 11 || || 5 || 11 || 19
|-
| JP-27 || || || bgcolor=#9579ef|Kansai || 33 || 31 || 5 || 9 || 1
|-
| JP-41 || || || bgcolor=#b4b4b4|Kyushu || 10 || || 6 || 10 ||
|-
| JP-11 || || || bgcolor=#87ef79|Kantō || 40 || 10 || 8 || 22 || 1
|-
| JP-25 || || || bgcolor=#9579ef|Kansai || 13 || || 3 || 6 ||
|-
| JP-32 || || || bgcolor=#efb179|Chūgoku || 8 || || 5 || 10 || 1
|-
| JP-22 || || || bgcolor=#79efd8|Chūbu || 23 || 6 || 5 || 12 ||
|-
| JP-09 || || || bgcolor=#87ef79|Kantō || 14 || || 5 || 12 ||
|-
| JP-36 || || || bgcolor=#cc79ef|Shikoku || 8 || || 8 || 15 || 1
|-
| JP-13 || || || bgcolor=#87ef79|Kantō || 26 (23) || || 1 || 5 || 8
|-
| JP-31 || || || bgcolor=#efb179|Chūgoku || 4 || || 5 || 14 || 1
|-
| JP-16 || || || bgcolor=#79efd8|Chūbu || 10 || || 2 || 4 || 1
|-
| JP-30 || || || bgcolor=#9579ef|Kansai || 9 || || 6 || 20 || 1
|-
| JP-06 || || || bgcolor=#efe979|Tōhoku|| 13 || || 8 || 19 || 3
|-
| JP-35 || || || bgcolor=#efb179|Chūgoku || 13 || || 4 || 6 ||
|-
| JP-19 || || || bgcolor=#79efd8|Chūbu || 13 || || 5 || 8 || 6
|-
! colspan=4|Total
! 792 (23)
! 175
! 307
! 743
! 183
|}
See also
- Decentralisation in Japan