Wards of Japan

Japanese cities subdivided into wards. Since this map was made the following additional cities have been divided into wards: Hamamatsu (between Nagoya and Shizuoka), Okayama (between Hiroshima and Kobe), Sapporo and Kumamoto (beyond map scope).

Administrative divisions of Japan Prefectural Prefectures Sub-prefectural Subprefectures Districts Municipal Designated cities Core cities Special cities Cities Special wards (Tokyo) Towns Villages Sub-municipal Wards

A ward (区, ku) is a subdivision of the cities of Japan that are large enough to have been designated by government ordinance.^[1] Wards are used to subdivide each city designated by government ordinance ("designated city"). The 23 special wards of Tokyo have a quasi-municipal status, and are not the same as other entities referred to as ku, although their predecessors were.

Wards are local entities directly controlled by the municipal government. They handle administrative functions such as koseki registration, health insurance, and property taxation. Many wards have affiliated residents' organizations for a number of tasks, although these do not have any legal authority.

List of wards

Special wards of Tokyo

For more information, see Special wards of Tokyo.

The special wards of Tokyo are not normal wards in the usual sense of the term, but instead an administrative unit governed similar to cities.

References

1. ↑ “Statistical Handbook of Japan 2008” by Statistics Bureau, Japan Chapter 17: Government System (Retrieved on July 4, 2009)