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■ ― Designated cities
■ ― Core cities
■ ― Special cities

A special city (特例市, Tokureishi) of Japan was a category of cities in Japan in operation until 2015. Each special city had a population of at least 200,000, and was delegated functions normally carried out by prefectural governments. Those functions were a subset of the functions that were delegated to core cities.

The category of special cities was established by the Local Autonomy Law, article 252 clause 26. They were designated by the Cabinet after a request by a city council and a prefectural assembly.

Because the level of autonomy delegated to special cities was similar to that for core cities, after consultation with local governments the category of special cities was abolished in the revision of the Local Autonomy Act enacted on April 1, 2015. Cities with a population of at least 200,000 may now apply to be directly promoted to core city status. Special cities that have not been promoted may still retain autonomy, and are called special cities for the enforcement period (施行時特例市, Shikōji Tokurei shi), but this is regarded as a temporary arrangement. [1]

The special cities were not the same as the special wards of Tokyo. They were also different from the special (designated) cities (特別市, tokubetsu-shi) that were legally established under the Local Autonomy Law between 1947 and 1956, in an arrangement that was never implemented. They would have been prefecture-independent cities (in an analogous way, special wards are city-independent wards). They were the legal successors to the 1922 "six major cities" (roku daitoshi; only five were left in 1947 as Tokyo City had been abolished in the war) and precursors to the 1956 designated major cities that have expanded autonomy, but not full independence from prefectures.[2]

List of special cities

Administrative divisions
of Japan
Prefectural
Prefectures
Sub-prefectural
Municipal
Sub-municipal

As of 2015, when the category was abolished, 23 cities had been designated special cities:

Name Japanese Flag Emblem Area (km2) Population (2012) Date of designation Region Prefecture Map
Atsugi 厚木市 93.83 224,181 2002-04-01 Kantō Kanagawa
Chigasaki 茅ヶ崎市 35.71 239,874 2003-04-01 Kantō Kanagawa
Fuji 富士市 244.95 245,015 2001-04-01 Chūbu Shizuoka
Hiratsuka 平塚市 67.88 260,061 2001-04-01 Kantō Kanagawa
Ibaraki 茨木市 76.52 276,474 2001-04-01 Kansai Osaka
Isesaki 伊勢崎市 139.44 207,253 2007-04-01 Kantō Gunma
Jōetsu 上越市 973.81 202,366 2007-04-01 Chūbu Niigata
Kakogawa 加古川市 138.51 268,175 2002-04-01 Kansai Hyōgo
Kasugai 春日井市 92.78 306,573 2002-04-01 Chūbu Aichi
Kasukabe 春日部市 66.00 236,976 2008-04-01 Kantō Saitama
Kishiwada 岸和田市 72.68 197,629 2002-04-01 Kansai Osaka
Kumagaya 熊谷市 159.82 201,814 2009-04-01 Kantō Saitama
Nagaoka 長岡市 891.06 281,101 2007-04-01 Chūbu Niigata
Numazu 沼津市 186.96 199,883 2000-04-01 Chūbu Shizuoka
Odawara 小田原市 113.79 194,672 2000-04-01 Kantō Kanagawa
Ōta 太田市 175.54 217,107 2007-04-01 Kantō Gunma
Saga 佐賀市 431.84 237,501 2014-04-01 Kyushu Saga
Sōka 草加市 27.46 244,851 2004-04-01 Kantō Saitama
Takarazuka 宝塚市 101.89 227,617 2003-04-01 Kansai Hyōgo
Tokorozawa 所沢市 72.11 344,194 2002-04-01 Kantō Saitama
Tsukuba つくば市 283.72 244,528 2007-04-01 Kantō Ibaraki
Yamato 大和市 27.09 230,357 2000-04-01 Kantō Kanagawa
Yokkaichi 四日市市 206.44 306,107 2000-04-01 Chūbu Mie

References

  1. ↑ 日本總務省 - 中核市・施行時特例市. soumo.go.jp.
  2. ↑ Satoru Ohsugi (2011): The Large City System of Japan Council of Local Authorities for International Relations and Institute for Comparative Studies in Local Governance, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. – Note: this paper translates tokurei-shi as "special case city" and uses "special city" for tokubetsu-shi
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