List of Japanese cities by population

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Japan has many major cities. Many of these cities are crowded into a relatively small area of land along the Pacific coast of Honshū, between Tōkyō and Kōbe. This heavily urbanized strip is known as the Tōkaidō Megalopolis. It is named for the historic highway that connected the cities of Tōkyō and Kyōto, which has now been replaced by expressways and the high-speed Shinkansen railway.

Contents

[edit] Methods

In Japan, there are two common methods to count population. One is the Estimated Population (推計人口?) and another is the Registered Population (登録人口?).

The Estimated Population is based on the Legal Population (法定人口?), which itself is based on the national census. The Estimated Population counts births, deaths, and changes of residences each month from the Legal Population. Since the census information is collected from the actual residents, the Legal Population and the Estimated Population are relatively reliable figures.

The Registered Population is population registered on a jūminhyō (residential registration card) or an alien registration. As registered person may or may not reside the place, the figure does not show the real population. However, since municipal governments tax registered residents rather than actual residents, the figure is useful for such purposes.

[edit] List

Because of the reasons above, this list uses the Estimated Population rather than the Registered Population. Each figure is from the corresponding municipal official websites. When a municipal website does not show the Estimated Population, the figure from the corresponding prefectural official website is used instead. If neither shows the Estimated Population (which is the case of the three cities of Hokkaidō), the Registered Population without foreigners is written in blankets. For a comparison, the Registered Population of the last day of September, 2005, is written under the Legal Population.

The Estimated Population is written in red if it is smaller than the Legal Population.

The list includes the 23 special wards of Tokyo as single city. It also includes each special ward in italics.

Abbreviations:
Est. Pop.: Estimated Population, as of May 1, 2008.
Legal Pop.: Legal Population, as of October 1, 2005.
Pref. capital: Prefectural capital
Source Prefecture City Est.
Pop.		 Legal
Pop.		 Status Pref.
capital
[1] TokyoTōkyō 23 special wards 8,717,529 8,483,050 Group of special wards Yes
[2] Kanagawa Yokohama 3,643,641 3,579,133 Government ordinance city Yes
[3] OsakaŌsaka OsakaŌsaka 2,649,601 2,628,776 Government ordinance city Yes
[4] Aichi Nagoya 2,243,564 2,215,031 Government ordinance city Yes
[5] Hokkaidō Sapporo 1,896,704 1,880,875 Government ordinance city Yes
[6] Hyōgo KobeKōbe 1,532,305 1,525,389 Government ordinance city Yes
[7] Kyōto Kyōto 1,468,065 1,474,764 Government ordinance city Yes
[8] Fukuoka Fukuoka 1,434,650 1,400,621 Government ordinance city Yes
[9] Kanagawa Kawasaki 1,385,003 1,327,009 Government ordinance city No
[10] Saitama Saitama 1,197,471 1,176,269 Government ordinance city Yes
[11] Hiroshima Hiroshima 1,164,885 1,154,595 Government ordinance city Yes
[12] Miyagi Sendai 1,029,576 1,024,947 Government ordinance city Yes
[13] Fukuoka Kitakyūshū 985,046 993,483 Government ordinance city No
[14] Chiba Chiba 943,568 924,353 Government ordinance city Yes
1 TokyoTōkyō Setagaya 860,808 841,399 Special ward N/A
[15] OsakaŌsaka Sakai 835,202 831,111 Government ordinance city No
[16] Nigata Niigata 811,613 813,847 Government ordinance city Yes
[17] Shizuoka Hamamatsu 811,553 804,067 Government ordinance city No
[18] Shizuoka Shizuoka 709,888 713,716 Government ordinance city Yes
[19] Kanagawa Sagamihara 707,976 701,568 Core city No
2 TokyoTōkyō Nerima 707,691 692,225 Special ward N/A
[20] Okayama Okayama 700,646 696,172 Core city Yes
3 TokyoTōkyō OtaŌta 678,684 665,370 Special ward N/A
[21] Kumamoto Kumamoto 670,014 669,541 Core city Yes
4 TokyoTōkyō Edogawa 665,401 653,882 Special ward N/A
5 TokyoTōkyō Adachi 634,184 624,548 Special ward N/A
[22] Kagoshima Kagoshima 604,268 604,387 Core city Yes
[23] Chiba Funabashi 589,307 569,829 Core city No
[24] TokyoTōkyō Hachiōji 569,991 560,048 No
6 TokyoTōkyō Suginami 539,517 528,180 Special ward N/A
[25] Hyōgo Himeji 535,756 536,234 Core city No
7 TokyoTōkyō Itabashi 531,906 522,710 Special ward N/A
[26] Ehime Matsuyama 514,771 514,944 Core city Yes
[27] OsakaŌsaka Higashiōsaka 508,255 513,744 Core city No
[28] Tochigi Utsunomiya 508,114 502,279 Core city Yes
[29] Saitama Kawaguchi 495,250 479,986 Special city No
[30] Chiba Matsudo 479,888 472,504 No
[31] Hyōgo Nishinomiya 477,844 465,338 No
[32] Okayama Kurashiki 471,876 469,372 Core city No
[33] Chiba Ichikawa 471,861 466,408 No
[34] OitaŌita OitaŌita 467,617 462,322 Core city Yes
[35] Hyōgo Amagasaki 460,956 462,484 Special city No
[36] Hiroshima Fukuyama 460,292 459,015 Core city No
[37] Ishikawa Kanazawa 455,952 454,607 Core city Yes
[38] Nagasaki Nagasaki 446,551 455,131 Core city Yes
8 TokyoTōkyō KotoKōtō 444,160 420,831 Special ward N/A
9 TokyoTōkyō Katsushika 429,750 424,801 Special ward N/A
[39] Kanagawa Yokosuka 422,572 426,162 Core city No
[40] Aichi Toyota 421,820 412,131 Core city No
[41] Toyama Toyama 420,584 421,156 Core city Yes
[42] Kagawa Takamatsu 417,671 417,986 Core city Yes
[43] TokyoTōkyō Machida 415,325 404,798 No
[44] Gifu Gifu 411,753 413,356 Core city Yes
[45] OsakaŌsaka Hirakata 406,189 404,004 Special city No
[46] Kanagawa Fujisawa 404,239 395,997 No
[47] Chiba Kashiwa 391,210 381,016 No
[48] OsakaŌsaka Toyonaka 388,043 386,633 Special city No
[49] Nagano Nagano 377,328 378,495 Core city Yes
[50] Aichi Toyohashi 376,716 372,471 Core city No
[51] Aichi Ichinomiya 376,586 371,446 Special city No
[52] Aichi Okazaki 372,089 363,811 Core city No
[53] Wakayama Wakayama 371,504 375,718 Core city Yes
[54] Miyazaki Miyazaki 368,984 366,867 Core city Yes
[55] Nara Nara 366,863 370,106 Core city Yes
10 TokyoTōkyō Shinagawa 358,312 346,361 Special ward N/A
[56] Hokkaidō Asahikawa 356,318-
（356,318）sm=n		 354,988
（360,118）		 Core city No
[57] OsakaŌsaka Suita 354,864 353,853 Special city No
[58] OsakaŌsaka Takatsuki 354,257 351,803 Core city No
[59] Fukushima Iwaki 348,403 354,403 Core city No
[60] KochiKōchi KochiKōchi 345,418 348,909 Core city Yes
[61] Gunma Takasaki 342,046 339,860 Special city No
[62] Saitama Tokorozawa 338,896 336,081 Special city No
[63] Fukushima KoriyamaKōriyama 338,712 338,830 Core city No
[64] Saitama Kawagoe 336,625 333,765 Core city No
11 TokyoTōkyō Kita 333,575 330,378 Special ward N/A
[65] Shiga OtsuŌtsu 330,044 323,713 Special city Yes
[66] Akita Akita 327,651 333,047 Core city Yes
[67] Saitama Koshigaya 319,435 315,782 Special city No
[68] Gunma Maebashi 317,167 318,653 Special city Yes
12 TokyoTōkyō Nakano 314,765 310,210 Special ward N/A
13 TokyoTōkyō Shinjuku 314,262 302,287 Special ward N/A
[69] Okinawa Naha 313,436 312,308 Yes
[70] Mie Yokkaichi 306,374 303,851 Special city No
[71] Fukuoka Kurume 304,683 306,439 Special city No
[72] Aomori Aomori 304,657 311,307 Core city Yes
[73] Aichi Kasugai 300,399 295,795 Special city No
[74] Iwate Morioka 298,959 300,740 Special city Yes
[75] Hyōgo Akashi 292,228 291,033 Special city No
[76] Fukushima Fukushima 288,602 290,867 Yes
[77] Hokkaidō Hakodate 288,155-
（288,155）sm=n		 294,212
（297,280）		 Core city No
[78] Mie Tsu 287,849 288,876 Yes
[79] Yamaguchi Shimonoseki 284,981 290,693 Core city No
[80] Niigata Nagaoka 280,292 283,234 Special city No
[81] Chiba Ichihara 279,478 280,241 No
[82] OsakaŌsaka Yao 272,163 273,474 Special city No
[83] OsakaŌsaka Ibaraki 272,153 267,976 Special city No
14 TokyoTōkyō Meguro 268,839 264,158 Special ward N/A
[84] Fukui Fukui 268,210 269,147 Special city Yes
[85] Hyōgo Kakogawa 267,455 267,103 Special city No
[86] Tokushima Tokushima 265,248 267,845 Yes
[87] Ibaraki Mito 263,299 262,532 Special city Yes
[88] Kanagawa Hiratsuka 260,241 259,017 Special city No
15 TokyoTōkyō Toshima 258,574 250,153 Special ward N/A
[89] Yamagata Yamagata 254,724 255,959 Special city Yes
[90] Nagasaki Sasebo 253,874 258,324 Special city No
[91] TokyoTōkyō Fuchū 250,745 245,626 No
[92] Hiroshima Kure 245,188 251,009 Special city No
16 TokyoTōkyō Sumida 240,939 230,996 Special ward N/A
[93] Aomori Hachinohe 240,178 244,678 Special city No
[94] Saga Saga 239,003 241,370 Yes
[95] OsakaŌsaka Neyagawa 238,822 241,825 Special city No
[96] Saitama SokaSōka 238,626 236,268 Special city No
[97] Shizuoka Fuji 237,184 236,493 Special city No
[98] Saitama Kasukabe 236,601 238,499 No
[99] Kanagawa Chigasaki 231,703 228,430 Special city No
[100] Nagano Matsumoto 227,042 227,579 Special city No
[101] Kanagawa Atsugi 225,732 222,349 Special city No
[102] Kanagawa Yamato 223,605 221,218 Special city No
[103] Hyōgo Takarazuka 222,713 219,853 Special city No
[104] Saitama Ageo 222,698 220,223 No
[105] TokyoTōkyō Chōfu 221,120 216,146 No
[106] Gunma OtaŌta 214,282 213,300 Special city No
17 TokyoTōkyō Minato 209,682 185,649 Special ward N/A
[107] Ibaraki Tsukuba 206,679 200,546 Special city No
[108] Shizuoka Numazu 206,137 208,001 Special city No
[109] Niigata Jōetsu 205,333 208,083 Special city No
18 TokyoTōkyō Shibuya 204,959 203,129 Special ward N/A
[110] Saitama Kumagaya 204,905 204,676 No
[111] Gunma Isesaki 204,343 202,442 Special city No
[112] OsakaŌsaka Kishiwada 200,058 200,984 Special city No
[113] Tottori Tottori 199,319 201,727 Special city Yes
[114] Yamanashi KofuKōfu 198,757 200,097 Special city Yes
[115] Kanagawa Odawara 198,717 198,722 Special city No
20 TokyoTōkyō Arakawa 198,342 191,145 Special ward N/A
[116] Mie Suzuka 197,474 193,112 No
19 TokyoTōkyō Bunkyō 197,414 189,589 Special ward N/A
[117] Ibaraki Hitachi 195,068 199,203 No
[118] Shimane Matsue 195,008 196,603 Yes
[119] Hyōgo Itami 194,705 192,248 No
[120] TokyoTōkyō Nishitōkyō 193,941 189,749 No
[121] Yamaguchi Yamaguchi 191,714 191,682 Yes
[122] Kyoto Uji 191,311 189,589 No
[123] Hokkaidō Kushiro 189,413-
（189,413）sm=n		 198,243
（195,039）		 No
[124] Hiroshima Higashihiroshima 187,056 184,423 No
[125] Tokyo Kodaira 186,253 183,796 No
21 TokyoTōkyō Taitō 170,384 165,193 Special ward N/A
22 TokyoTōkyō Chūō 110,807 98,135 Special ward N/A
23 TokyoTōkyō Chiyoda 44,574 41,721 Special ward N/A

[edit] Gallery

1 - Flag of Tokyo Tōkyō

2 - Yokohama

3 - Ōsaka

4 - Nagoya

5 - Sapporo

6 - Kōbe

7 - Kyōto

8 - Fukuoka

9 - Kawasaki

10 - Saitama

11 - Hiroshima

12 - Sendai

13 - Kitakyūshū

14 - Chiba

15 - Sakai

16 - Niigata

[edit] See also