Special wards of Tokyo

The special wards (特別区, tokubetsu-ku^?) are 23 municipalities that together make up the core and the most populous part of Tokyo, Japan. Together, they occupy the land that was the city of Tokyo before it was abolished in 1943. The special wards' structure was established under the Japanese Local Autonomy Law and is unique to Tokyo.

In Japanese, they are commonly known as the "twenty-three wards" (23区, nijūsan-ku^?). All wards refer to themselves as cities in English, even though the Japanese designation of tokubetsuku is unchanged.

It is merely a grouping of special wards, there is no associated single government body.

Differences from municipalities

Although special wards are autonomous from the Tokyo metropolitan government, they also function as a single urban entity in respect to certain public services, including water supply, sewage disposal, and fire services. These services are handled by the Tokyo metropolitan government, whereas cities would normally provide these services themselves. To finance the joint public services it provides to the twenty-three wards, the metropolitan government levies some of the taxes that would normally be levied by city governments, and also makes transfer payments to wards that cannot finance their own local administration.

Unlike other municipalities (including the municipalities of western Tokyo), special wards were initally not considered to be local public entities for purposes of the Constitution of Japan. This means that they had no constitutional right to pass their own legislation, or to hold direct elections for mayors and councilors. While these authorities were granted by statute during the US-led occupation and again from 1975, they could be unilaterally revoked by the Diet of Japan; similar measures against other municipalities would require a constitutional amendment. The denial of elected mayors to the special wards was reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in the 1963 decision Japan v. Kobayashi et al. (also known as Tokyo Ward Autonomy Case).

In 1998. the national Diet passed a revision of the local autonomy law (effective in the year 2000) that implemented the conclusions of the Final Report on the Tokyo Ward System Reform increasing their fiscal autonomy and established the wards as basic local public entities.

History

The word "special" distinguishes them from the wards (区, ku^?) of other major Japanese cities. Before 1943, the wards of Tokyo City were no different from the wards of Osaka or Kyoto. These original wards originally numbered 15 in 1889, and in 1932 came to expand to the current city area, reaching a number of 35 wards. On March 15, 1943 as part of wartime authoritarian tightening of controls^[1] Tokyo's local autonmy (elected council and mayor) under the Imperial municipal code was eliminated by the Tōjō cabinet and the Tokyo city government and (Home ministry appointed) prefectural government merged into a single (appointed) prefectural government; the wards were placed under the direct control of the prefecture.

35 wards of the former city were integrated into 22 on March 15, 1947 just before the legal definition of special wards was given by the Local Autonomy Law, enforced on May 3 the same year. The 23rd ward, Nerima, was formed on August 1, 1947 when Itabashi was split again. The postwar reorganization under the US-led occupation authorities democratized the prefectural administrations but did not include the reinstitution of Tokyo City. Seiichirō Yasui, a former Home Ministry bureaucrat and appointed governor, won the first Tokyo gubernatorial election against Daikichirō Tagawa, a former Christian Socialist member of the Imperial Diet, former vice mayor of Tokyo city and advocate of Tokyo city's local autonomy.

Since the 1970s, the special wards of Tokyo have exercised a considerably higher degree of autonomy than the wards in other cities (that unlike Tokyo retained their elected mayors and assemblies) but still less than other municipalities in the country, making them more like independent cities than districts. Each special ward has its own elected mayor (区長, kuchō^?) and assembly (区議会, kugikai^?). In 2000, the National Diet designated the special wards as local public entities (地方公共団体, chihō kōkyō dantai^?), giving them a legal status similar to cities.

The wards vary greatly in area (from 10 to 60 km²) and population (from less than 40,000 to 830,000), and some are expanding as artificial islands are built. Setagaya has the most people, while neighboring Ōta has the largest area.

The total population (census) of the twenty-three special wards was 8,483,140 as of October 1, 2005,^[2] about two-thirds of the population of Tokyo and a quarter of the population of the Greater Tokyo Area. The twenty-three wards have a population density of 13,800 per square kilometre (35,600 per square mile). As of August 2008, the population was 8,731,434 according to the Japan Statistical Agency.

List of special wards

Places

Many important neighborhoods are located in Tokyo's special wards:

Akasaka 

A district with a range of restaurants, clubs and hotels; many pedestrian alleys giving it a local neighbourhood feel. Next to Roppongi, Nagatachō, and Aoyama.

Akihabara 

A densely arranged shopping district for electronics and otaku goods.

Aoyama 

A neighborhood of Tokyo with parks, an enormous cemetery, expensive housing, trendy cafes and international restaurants. Includes the Omotesandō subway station.

Ginza and Yūrakuchō 

Major shopping and entertainment district with department stores, upscale shops selling brand-name goods, and movie theaters.

Harajuku 

Known for its role in Japanese street/teen fashion.

Ikebukuro 

The busiest interchange in north central Tokyo, featuring Sunshine City and various shopping destinations.

Jinbōchō 

Tokyo's center of used-book stores and publishing houses, and a popular antique and curio shopping area.

Marunouchi and Ōtemachi 

The main financial and business district of Tokyo has many headquarters of banks, trading companies and other major corporations. The area is seeing a major redevelopment with new buildings for shopping and entertainment constructed in front of Tokyo Station's Marunouchi side.

Nagatachō 

The political heart of Tokyo and the nation. It is the location of the Diet, government ministries, and party headquarters.

Odaiba 

A large, reclaimed, waterfront area that has become one of Tokyo's most popular shopping and entertainment districts.

Omotesandō 

Known for upscale shopping.

Roppongi 

Home to the rich Roppongi Hills area, an active night club scene, and a relatively large presence of Western tourists and expatriates.

Ryōgoku 

The heart of the sumo world. Home to the Ryōgoku Kokugikan and many heya.

Shibuya 

A long-time center of shopping, fashion, nightlife and youth culture.

Shinagawa 

In addition to the major hotels on the west side of Shinagawa Station, the former sleepy east side of the station has been redeveloped as a major center for business.

Shinbashi 

An area revitalized by being the gateway to Odaiba and the Shiodome Shiosite complex of high-rise buildings.

Shinjuku 

Location of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. The area is best known for Tokyo's early skyscrapers, erected in the 1970s. Major department stores, electronics stores and hotels can also be found here. On the east side of Shinjuku Station, Kabukichō is known for its many bars and nightclubs. Shinjuku Station moves an estimated three million passengers a day, making it the busiest in the world.

Ueno 

Ueno Station serves commuters to and from areas north of Tokyo. Besides department stores and shops in Ameyoko, Ueno boasts Ueno Park, Ueno Zoo and major national museums. In spring, Ueno Park and adjacent Shinobazu Pond are popular places to view cherry blossoms.

See also

• Capital of Japan
• List of Japanese cities by population
• Local Autonomy Law
• Wards of Japan
• Special cities of Japan (特例市, tokureishi^?)

References

External links

• Tokyo Metropolitan Government explanation of special wards (in English)
• Tokyo Metropolitan Government statistics (in Japanese)