Japan's Evolving Nested Municipal Hierarchy: The Race for Local Power in the 2000s

Table 1

Tokyo’s 23 Ku, Japan’s Seirei Shitei Toshi (Government Ordinance Designated Cities)⁽¹⁾.

	City	Prefecture	Date incorporated	Date authorized	Population at authorization	Population April 1, 2010
	Tokyo 23 Ku^(T)	Tokyo-to	1889-Apr 1	1943-Jul 1	4,177,548	8,868,642
1	Yokohama	Kanagawa	1889-Apr 1	1956-Sep 1	1,143,687	3,698,623
2	Osaka	Osaka	1889-Apr 1	1956-Sep 1	2,547,316	2,652,333
3	Nagoya	Aichi	1889-Oct 1	1956-Sep 1	1,336,780	2,240,751
4	Kobe	Hyogo	1905-May 10	1956-Sep 1	979,305	1,556,491
5	Kyoto	Kyoto	1889-Apr 1	1956-Sep 1	1,204,084	1,425,955
6	Kita Kyushu^(M, K)	Fukuoka	1963-Feb 10	1963-Apr 1	986,401	989,723
7	Sapporo^(A)	Hokkaido	1922-Aug 1	1972-Apr 1	1,010,123	1,914,358
8	Fukuoka^(A)	Fukuoka	1905-May 26	1972-Apr 1	853,270	1,420,184
9	Kawasaki	Kanagawa	1924-Jul 1	1972-Apr 1	973,486	1,404,532
10	Hiroshima^(A)	Hiroshima	1905-Jun 3	1980-Apr 1	899,399	1,171,559
11	Sendai^(A)	Miyagi	1905-Jun 12	1989-Apr 1	857,335	1,020,319
12	Chiba	Chiba	1921-Jan 1	1992-Apr 1	829,455	955,022
13	Saitama^(M)	Saitama	2001-May 1	2003-Apr 1	1,023,937	1,226,487
14	Shizuoka^(M, C)	Shizuoka	1889-Apr 1	2005-Apr 1	469,695	726,060
15	Sakai^(A, C)	Osaka	1889-Apr 1	2006-Apr 1	792,018	849,547
16	Hamamatsu^(A, C)	Shizuoka	1911-Jul 1	2007-Apr 1	582,085	820,971
17	Niigata^(A, C)	Niigata	1889-Apr 1	2007-Apr 1	501,431	807,748
18	Okayama^(A, C)	Okayama	1889-Jun 1	2009-Apr 1	626,642	699,160
19	Sagamihara^(A, C)	Kanagawa	1954-Nov 20	2010-Apr 1	605,561	712,604
20	Kumamoto^(A, C)	Kumamoto	1889-Apr 1	2012-Apr 1	662,012	728,332

Sources: [61, 81].
⁽¹⁾Authorization populations were based upon the Japanese Census preceding their special designation. For example, the 1990 Census population was used for Chiba. However, to show the impacts of mergers or annexations on these cities, 2000 Census original populations were utilized as the authorization population for the six cities reaching this status after Saitama. Kumamoto’s authorization population represents its municipal estimate for April 1, 2010 (See the bolded numbers).
^(A)Established through the annexation of adjacent municipalities.
^(C)Formerly a Core City.
^(K)Kitakyushu surpassed one million inhabitants in the 1965 Census.
^(M)Established through the merger of two or more cities.
^(T)The 23 Tokubetsu-Ku of Tokyo do not comprise a Government Ordinance Designated City, but are generally discussed along with them. Its authorization population was based upon the 1947 Census.