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Subprefectures of Japan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Administrative divisions of Japan |
|---|
| Prefectural level |
| Prefectures (都道府県 todōfuken) |
| Subprefectural level |
| Subprefectures (支庁 shichō) Designated cities |
| Municipal level |
| Core cities (中核市 chūkaku-shi) Special cities Special wards (Tokyo) |
Certain prefectures of Japan are divided into subprefectures. The subprefecture is the jurisdiction surrounding a branch office (支庁 shichō?) of the prefectural government. Normally, the area of a subprefecture consists of a few to a dozen of cities, towns, and/or villages.
Subprefectures are formed to provide services of the prefectural government in geographically remote areas. They are usually not used in addresses.
Contents |
- Chiba was divided into five subprefectures until 2003, when the branch offices were renamed to citizens' centers (県民センター kenmin-senta?).
- Hokkaido, the largest prefecture in Japan, is divided into fourteen subprefectures. These were formed in 1897 to replace what were originally counties. The subprefectures did not include major cities, such as Sapporo and Hakodate, until 1922. See: Subprefectures in Hokkaido
- Hyogo was divided into ten subprefectures which are now known as citizen's bureaus (県民局 kenmin-kyoku?).
- Kagoshima has two subprefectures, located in Amami and Nishinoomote, which cover the islands between Kagoshima and Okinawa.
- Miyazaki contains a single subprefecture in Nishiusuki, a remote mountain district in the northwest corner of the prefecture.
- Nagasaki contains three subprefectures which govern the outlying islands of Tsushima, Iki and Goto.
- Tokyo contains four subprefectures, which provide administrative services to residents of certain outlying islands of Japan that are technically contained within the Tokyo metropolitan government. The four branch offices are located at Hachijō, Miyake, Ogasawara and Ōshima.
- Okinawa has two subprefectures, Miyako and Yaeyama, located on the islands of Miyakojima and Ishigaki respectively. These offices provide prefectural government services to the isolated archipelagos surrounding both islands.
- Shimane contains one subprefecture governing the Oki Islands. This is the closest Japanese government office to Dokdo, a small island group held by South Korea but claimed by Japan (which refers to the island as Takeshima).
- Yamagata is divided into four subprefectures, each of which is located in one of the four main urban areas of the prefecture (Yamagata, Shinjo, Yonezawa and Shonai).
In 1907, Japan formed Karafuto Prefecture to govern the island of Sakhalin. Karafuto was divided into four subprefectures: Toyohara (in present-day Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Maoka (in present-day Kholmsk), Esutoru (in present-day Uglegorsk) and Shikuka (in present-day Makarov).
A number of islands gained by Japan in the Treaty of Versailles were placed under the direction of a South Pacific Prefecture (南洋庁 Nan'yōchō?) from 1922 to 1945. This was divided into six subprefectures, on the islands of Saipan, Yap, Palau, Truk, Pohnpei and Jaluit. In November 1943, the six subprefectures were merged into "eastern," "western" and "northern" subprefectures which remained in place until Japan's surrender.