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Subprefectures of Hokkaido

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

Hokkaidō Prefecture has 14 branch offices called 支庁 (shichō) in Japanese, which is often translated in English as subprefectures. Normally, a subprefecture consists of a few to a dozen cities, towns, and/or villages.

For historical reasons, some older people in Hokkaidō use the subprefecture name suffixed by -kannai in their address.

History of shichō in Hokkaidō

1897 Nineteen shichō were placed under Hokkaido Agency (an agency of the national government): Sapporo, Hakodate, Kameda, Matsumae, Hiyama, Suttsu, Iwanai, Otaru, Sorachi, Kamikawa, Mashike, Souya, Abashiri, Muroran, Urakawa, Kushiro, Kasai, Nemuro, and Shana.
1899 Sapporo-ku, Hakodate-ku, and Otaru-ku were established as municipalities independent of shichō. Sapporo-shichō and Otaru-shichō were continued with remaining area, but Hakodate-shichō was dissolved. Previous Kameda-shichō was renamed Hokodate-shichō.
1903 Matsumae-shichō was merged with Hakodate-shichō. Shana-shichō was merged with Nemuro-shichō.
1910 Suttsu-shichō, Iwanai-shichō, and Otaru-shichō were merged to form Shiribeshi-shichō.
1914 Asahikawa-ku was established as a municipality independent of Kamikawa-shichō. Mashike-shichō was renamed as Rumoi-shichō.
1918 Muroran-ku was established as a municipality independent of Muroran-shichō.
1920 Kushiro-ku was established as a municipality independent of Kushiro-shichō.
1922 The six ku were restated as shi (cities). Sapporo-shichō was renamed Ishikari-shichō. Hakodate-shichō was renamed Oshima-shichō. Muroran-shichō was renamed Iburi-shichō.
1932 Urakawa-shichō was renamed Hidaka-shichō. Kasai-shichō was renamed Tokachi-shichō.
1947 Hokkaido Agency was abolished and Hokkaidō Prefecture was established. Hokkaidō Prefecture took over shichō.

Today, fourteen shichō effectively cover all of Hokkaidō. Technically, the shichō cover only towns and villages, although some commissioned business is conducted for cities.

List of subprefectures

Further information: Former Provinces of Hokkaidō
Map of subprefectures of Hokkaidō

Numbers are those of the map above.

No. Subprefecture Japanese Capital Largest city [1] Region Pop. [1] Area
(km²) 		Density
(/km²) [1] 		Municip. Distr.
11 Ohōtsuku オホーツク Abashiri Kitami East or North 324,719 10,690.55 30.37 19 4
7 Hidaka 日高 Urakawa Shinhidaka Central or South 81,403 4,811.96 16.92 7 6
5 Hiyama 檜山 Esashi Setana South 46,999 2,629.88 17.87 7 5
6 Iburi 胆振 Muroran Tomakomai Central or South 426,627 3,698.00 115.37 11 4
1 Ishikari 石狩 Sapporo Sapporo Central 2,310,001 3,539.86 652.57 8 1
8 Kamikawa 上川 Asahikawa Asahikawa North or Central 535,456 9,852.17 54.35 22 5
13 Kushiro 釧路 Kushiro Kushiro East 261,883 5,997.38 43.67 8 5
14 Nemuro 根室 Nemuro Nemuro East 84,035 3,406.23 24.67 5 3
4 Oshima 渡島 Hakodate Hakodate South 449,371 3,936.32 114.16 11 6
9 Rumoi 留萌 Rumoi Rumoi North 61,488 4,019.91 15.30 9 4
3 Shiribeshi 後志 Kutchan Otaru Central 250,065 4,305.82 58.08 20 9
2 Sorachi 空知 Iwamizawa Iwamizawa Central or North 365,563 6,558.22 55.74 25 4
10 Sōya 宗谷 Wakkanai Wakkanai North 75,665 4,050.76 18.68 9 5
12 Tokachi 十勝 Obihiro Obihiro East 354,147 10,831.24 32.70 19 7

Japan claims the southern part of Kuril Islands (Northern Territories), currently administered by Russia, belong to Nemuro Subprefecture. However, the table above excludes these islands' data.

Reorganization

The prefectural government of Hokkaidō planned to reorganize the current 14 subprefectures into 9 subprefectural bureaus. Five subprefectures, namely Hidaka, Hiyama, Ishikari, Nemuro, and Rumoi were subject to be cut down. The capital municipalities of these subprefectures opposed the plan, but on June 28 2008, the prefectural council passed the ordinance of the reorganization. [2] The change toke effect in April 2009.

However, it was impossible to make the reform on time. The Public Offices Election Act and the Election Law were not amended on April 1, 2009, but the amendment the Public Offices Election Act was passed in the prefectural assembly on March 31, 2009 and took effect from April in next year.

List of subprefectural bureaus

References

  1. ^ a b c As of March 2009.
  2. ^ Template:Ja icon 釧路支庁が道東総合振興局に、道の支庁改革条例成立 (Kushiro Subprefecture will be Dōtō General Development Bureau, the ordinance for the subprefetural reformation is passed), by Kushiro Shinbun, June 29 2008
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