| Administrative divisions of Japan |
|---|
| Prefectural level |
| Prefectures (都道府県 todōfuken) |
| Subprefectural level |
| Subprefectures (支庁 shichō) |
| Municipal level |
| Designated cities (政令指定都市 seirei-shitei-toshi) Special cities Special wards (Tokyo) |
| Sub-municipal level |
| Wards (区 ku) |
The prefectures of Japan are the country's 47 subnational jurisdictions: one "metropolis" (都 to), Tokyo; one "circuit" (道 dō), Hokkaidō; two urban prefectures (府 fu), Osaka and Kyoto; and 43 other prefectures (県 ken). In Japanese, they are commonly referred to as todōfuken (都道府県). Prefectures are governmental bodies larger than cities, towns, and villages.
The chief executive of each prefecture is a directly elected governor (知事 chiji). Ordinances and budgets are enacted by a single-chamber assembly (議会 gikai) whose elected members serve four-year terms.
Under the current Local Autonomy Law, each prefecture is further subdivided into cities (市 shi) and districts (郡 gun). Each district is further subdivided into towns (町 chō or machi) and villages (村 son or mura). For example, Hokkaidō has 14 subprefectures which act as branch offices (支庁 shichō) of the prefecture. Some other prefectures also have branch offices, which carry out prefectural administrative functions outside the capital.
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The current system was established by the Meiji government in July 1871 with the abolition of the han system and establishment of the prefecture system (廃藩置県 haihan-chiken). Although there were initially over 300 prefectures, many of them being former han territories, this number was reduced to 72 in the latter part of 1871, and 47 in 1888. The Local Autonomy Law of 1947 gave more political power to prefectures, and installed prefectural governors and parliaments.
In 2003, then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi proposed that the government consolidate the current prefectures into about 10 regional states. The plan called for each region to have greater autonomy than existing prefectures. This process would reduce the number of sub-prefecture administrative regions and cut administrative costs.[1] The Japanese government is also considering a plan by which several groups of prefectures would merge, creating a sub-national administrative division system consisting of between nine and thirteen states, and giving these states more local autonomy than the current prefectures enjoy.[2] As of February 2011[update], no reorganization has been scheduled.
There are four historical "types" of prefectures, which differ in Japanese suffixes only. Normally, Japanese speakers dispense with the suffix unless there is a possibility of ambiguity. For example, when distinguishing between the city and prefecture of Hiroshima.
During the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate established bugyō-ruled zones (奉行支配地) around the nine largest cities in Japan, and 302 township-ruled zones (郡代支配地) elsewhere. When the Meiji government began to create the prefectural system in 1868, the first year of Meiji period, while the nine bugyō-ruled zones became fu (府), the township-ruled zones and the rest of the bugyo-ruled zones became ken (県): later, in 1871 the government designated Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto as fu, and relegated the other fu to the status of ken. During World War II, in 1943, Tokyo became a to, a new type of pseudo-prefecture (see below).
Before World War II, different laws applied to fu and ken, but this distinction was abolished after the war, and the two types of prefecture are now functionally the same.
The term dō (circuit) was originally used to refer to regions of Japan, such as Tōkaidō and Saikaidō, consisting of several provinces. It uses the kanji for "road" and is considered to have been settled by Emperor Temmu.
Hokkaidō, the only remaining dō today, was not one of the original seven dō (it was known as Ezo in the pre-modern era). Its current name is believed to originate from Matsuura Takeshiro, an early Japanese explorer of the island. Since Hokkaidō did not fit into the existing dō classifications, a new dō was created to cover it.
The Meiji government originally classified Hokkaidō as a "Settlement Envoyship" (開拓使 kaitakushi), and later divided the island into three prefectures (Sapporo, Hakodate, and Nemuro). These were consolidated into a single Hokkaidō Department (北海道庁 Hokkaidō-chō) in 1886, at prefectural level but organized more along the lines of a territory. In 1947, the Department was dissolved, and Hokkaidō became a full-fledged prefecture. The -ken suffix was never added to its name, so the -dō suffix came to be understood to mean "prefecture."
When Hokkaidō was incorporated, transportation on the island was still very underdeveloped, so the prefecture was split into several "sub-prefectures" (支庁 shichō) that could fulfill administrative duties of the prefectural government and keep tight control over the developing island. These sub-prefectures still exist today, although they have much less power than they possessed before and during World War II: they now exist primarily to handle paperwork and other bureaucratic functions.
"Hokkaidō Prefecture" is, technically speaking, a redundant term, although it is occasionally used to differentiate the government from the island itself. The government of the prefecture calls itself the "Hokkaidō Government" rather than the "Hokkaidō Prefectural Government".
The largest city and prefectural capital of Hokkaidō is Sapporo, the fifth largest city in Japan. Other major cities include Hakodate.
The only to in Japan is Tokyo. Following the abolition of the han system, Tokyo-fu (an urban prefecture like Kyoto and Osaka) encompassed a number of cities, the largest of which was Tokyo City. Tokyo City was divided into 15 wards.
In 1943, Tokyo City was abolished, Tokyo-fu became Tokyo-to, and Tokyo's wards became the special wards, local authorities falling directly under the prefecture in hierarchy, each with their own elected assemblies (kugikai) and mayors (kucho). A number of suburban villages and towns of Tokyo City were changed to wards, bringing the total number of special wards to 35.
The reason for this reorganization was to consolidate the administration of the area around the capital by eliminating the extra level of authority in Tokyo. The central government wanted to have a greater degree of control over Tokyo due to Japan's deteriorating position in World War II and the possibility of emergency in the metropolis.
After the war, Japan was forced to decentralize Tokyo again, following the general terms of democratization outlined in the Potsdam Declaration. Many of Tokyo's special governmental characteristics disappeared during this time, and the wards took on an increasingly municipal status in the decades following the surrender. Administratively, today's special wards are almost indistinguishable from other municipalities.
The postwar reforms also changed the map of Tokyo significantly. In 1947, the 35 wards were reorganized into the 23 special wards, because many had died in the bombardments during the war, many survivors had left the city, and many men who had been drafted had not returned.
There are some differences in terminology between Tokyo and other prefectures: police and fire departments are called chō (庁) instead of honbu (本部), for instance. However, the only functional difference between Tokyo-to and other prefectures is that Tokyo administers wards as well as cities. Today, since the special wards have almost the same degree of independence as Japanese cities, the difference in administration between Tokyo and other prefectures is fairly minor (see 23 special wards for details).
The Japanese government still translates Tokyo-to as "Tokyo Metropolis" in almost all cases, and the government is officially called the "Tokyo Metropolitan Government." However, some people still call Tokyo-to "Tokyo Prefecture" in English.
The prefectures are also often grouped into regions. Those regions are not formally specified, they do not have elected officials, nor are they corporate bodies. However, the practice of ordering prefectures based on their geographic location is common. From north to south (numbering in ISO 3166-2:JP order), the prefectures of Japan and their commonly associated regions are:
|
1. Hokkaidō 2. Aomori 8. Ibaraki |
15. Niigata 24. Mie 31. Tottori |
36. Tokushima 40. Fukuoka 47. Okinawa |
| Prefecture | Japanese | Capital | Region | Island | Population¹ | Area² | Density³ | Distr. | Municip. | ISO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aichi | 愛知県 | Nagoya | Chūbu | Honshū | 7,043,235 | 5,153.81 | 1,366 | 7 | 54 | JP-23 |
| Akita | 秋田県 | Akita | Tōhoku | Honshū | 1,189,215 | 11,612.11 | 102 | 6 | 25 | JP-05 |
| Aomori | 青森県 | Aomori | Tōhoku | Honshū | 1,475,635 | 9,606.26 | 154 | 8 | 40 | JP-02 |
| Chiba | 千葉県 | Chiba | Kantō | Honshū | 5,926,349 | 5,156.15 | 1,149 | 6 | 54 | JP-12 |
| Ehime | 愛媛県 | Matsuyama | Shikoku | Shikoku | 1,493,126 | 5,676.44 | 263 | 7 | 20 | JP-38 |
| Fukui | 福井県 | Fukui | Chūbu | Honshū | 828,960 | 4,188.76 | 198 | 7 | 17 | JP-18 |
| Fukuoka | 福岡県 | Fukuoka | Kyūshū | Kyūshū | 5,015,666 | 4,971.01 | 1,009 | 12 | 60 | JP-40 |
| Fukushima | 福島県 | Fukushima | Tōhoku | Honshū | 2,126,998 | 13,782.54 | 154 | 13 | 59 | JP-07 |
| Gifu | 岐阜県 | Gifu | Chūbu | Honshū | 2,107,687 | 10,598.18 | 199 | 9 | 42 | JP-21 |
| Gunma | 群馬県 | Maebashi | Kantō | Honshū | 2,024,820 | 6,363.16 | 318 | 7 | 35 | JP-10 |
| Hiroshima | 広島県 | Hiroshima | Chūgoku | Honshū | 2,878,949 | 8,476.95 | 340 | 5 | 23 | JP-34 |
| Hokkaido | 北海道 | Sapporo | Hokkaidō | Hokkaidō | 5,682,950 | 83,452.47 | 68 | 66 | 180 | JP-01 |
| Hyōgo | 兵庫県 | Kobe | Kansai | Honshū | 5,550,742 | 8,392.42 | 661 | 8 | 41 | JP-28 |
| Ibaraki | 茨城県 | Mito | Kantō | Honshū | 2,985,424 | 6,095.62 | 490 | 7 | 44 | JP-08 |
| Ishikawa | 石川県 | Kanazawa | Chūbu | Honshū | 1,180,935 | 4,185.32 | 282 | 5 | 19 | JP-17 |
| Iwate | 岩手県 | Morioka | Tōhoku | Honshū | 1,416,198 | 15,278.51 | 93 | 10 | 33 | JP-03 |
| Kagawa | 香川県 | Takamatsu | Shikoku | Shikoku | 1,022,843 | 1,861.70 | 549 | 5 | 17 | JP-37 |
| Kagoshima | 鹿児島県 | Kagoshima | Kyūshū | Kyūshū | 1,786,214 | 9,132.42 | 196 | 8 | 43 | JP-46 |
| Kanagawa | 神奈川県 | Yokohama | Kantō | Honshū | 8,489,932 | 2,415.42 | 3,515 | 6 | 33 | JP-14 |
| Kōchi | 高知県 | Kōchi | Shikoku | Shikoku | 813,980 | 7,104.70 | 115 | 6 | 34 | JP-39 |
| Kumamoto | 熊本県 | Kumamoto | Kyūshū | Kyūshū | 1,859,451 | 6,908.45 | 269 | 9 | 45 | JP-43 |
| Kyoto | 京都府 | Kyoto | Kansai | Honshū | 2,644,331 | 4,612.93 | 573 | 6 | 26 | JP-26 |
| Mie | 三重県 | Tsu | Kansai | Honshū | 1,857,365 | 5760.72 | 322 | 7 | 29 | JP-24 |
| Miyagi | 宮城県 | Sendai | Tōhoku | Honshū | 2,365,204 | 7,285.16 | 325 | 10 | 35 | JP-04 |
| Miyazaki | 宮崎県 | Miyazaki | Kyūshū | Kyūshū | 1,170,023 | 6,684.67 | 175 | 6 | 26 | JP-45 |
| Nagano | 長野県 | Nagano | Chūbu | Honshū | 2,214,409 | 12,598.48 | 163 | 14 | 77 | JP-20 |
| Nagasaki | 長崎県 | Nagasaki | Kyūshū | Kyūshū | 1,516,536 | 4,092.80 | 371 | 4 | 21 | JP-42 |
| Nara | 奈良県 | Nara | Kansai | Honshū | 1,442,862 | 3,691.09 | 391 | 7 | 39 | JP-29 |
| Niigata | 新潟県 | Niigata | Chūbu | Honshū | 2,475,724 | 12,582.37 | 197 | 9 | 30 | JP-15 |
| Ōita | 大分県 | Ōita | Kyūshū | Kyūshū | 1,221,128 | 5,804.24 | 210 | 3 | 18 | JP-44 |
| Okayama | 岡山県 | Okayama | Chūgoku | Honshū | 1,950,656 | 7,008.63 | 278 | 10 | 27 | JP-33 |
| Okinawa | 沖縄県 | Naha | Kyūshū | Ryūkyū Islands | 1,318,281 | 2,271.30 | 580 | 5 | 41 | JP-47 |
| Osaka | 大阪府 | Osaka | Kansai | Honshū | 8,804,806 | 1,893.18 | 4,652 | 5 | 43 | JP-27 |
| Saga | 佐賀県 | Saga | Kyūshū | Kyūshū | 876,664 | 2,439.23 | 359 | 6 | 20 | JP-41 |
| Saitama | 埼玉県 | Saitama | Kantō | Honshū | 6,938,004 | 3,767.09 | 1,827 | 8 | 63 | JP-11 |
| Shiga | 滋賀県 | Otsu | Kansai | Honshū | 1,342,811 | 4,017.36 | 334 | 3 | 19 | JP-25 |
| Shimane | 島根県 | Matsue | Chūgoku | Honshū | 761,499 | 6,707.32 | 114 | 5 | 19 | JP-32 |
| Shizuoka | 静岡県 | Shizuoka | Chūbu | Honshū | 3,767,427 | 7,328.61 | 484 | 5 | 35 | JP-22 |
| Tochigi | 栃木県 | Utsunomiya | Kantō | Honshū | 2,004,787 | 6,408.28 | 313 | 5 | 26 | JP-09 |
| Tokushima | 徳島県 | Tokushima | Shikoku | Shikoku | 823,997 | 4,145.26 | 199 | 8 | 24 | JP-36 |
| Tokyo | 東京都 | Shinjuku | Kantō | Honshū | 12,059,237 | 2,187.08 | 5,514 | 1 | 39 | JP-13 |
| Tottori | 鳥取県 | Tottori | Chūgoku | Honshū | 613,229 | 3,507.19 | 175 | 5 | 19 | JP-31 |
| Toyama | 富山県 | Toyama | Chūbu | Honshū | 1,120,843 | 4,247.22 | 264 | 2 | 15 | JP-16 |
| Wakayama | 和歌山県 | Wakayama | Kansai | Honshū | 1,069,839 | 4,725.55 | 226 | 6 | 30 | JP-30 |
| Yamagata | 山形県 | Yamagata | Tōhoku | Honshū | 1,244,040 | 9,323.34 | 133 | 8 | 35 | JP-06 |
| Yamaguchi | 山口県 | Yamaguchi | Chūgoku | Honshū | 1,528,107 | 6,110.76 | 250 | 4 | 19 | JP-35 |
| Yamanashi | 山梨県 | Kofu | Chūbu | Honshū | 888,170 | 4,465.37 | 199 | 5 | 27 | JP-19 |
Notes: ¹ as of 2000; ² km²; ³ per km²
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