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

Table 2

Progression of Japan’s Chukaku-shi (Core Cities), April 1, 1996-April 1, 2011⁽¹⁾.

Date authorized	City name (alphabetically listed)	Number authorized	Total
April 1, 1996	Gifu, Hamamatsu, Himeji, Kagoshima, Kanazawa, Kumamoto, Niigata, Okayama, Sakai, Shizuoka, Toyama, Utsunomiya	12	12
April 1, 1997		Akita, Koriyama, Nagasaki, Oita, Wakayama	5	17
April 1, 1998		Fukuyama, Kochi, Miyazaki, Toyota	4	21
April 1, 1999	Iwaki, Nagano, Toyohashi, Takamatsu	4	25
April 1, 2000	Asahikawa, Matsuyama	2	27
April 1, 2001	Yokosuka	1	28
April 1, 2002	Nara, Kurashiki	2	30
April 1, 2003	Funabashi^(w), Kawagoe^(d), Okazaki^(d), Sagamihara^(w), Takatsuki^(d); Shizuoka merges with Special Case City, Shimizu	5	35
April 1, 2005		Higashi Osaka^(w); Shizuoka becomes a Designated City	1	35
October 1, 2005			Hakodate^(a, t), Shimonoseki^(m, s)	2	37
April 1, 2006	Sakai becomes a Designated City		36
October 1, 2006	Aomori^(m)	1	37
April 1, 2007	Hamamatsu and Niigata become Designated Cities	0	35
April 1, 2008	Kashiwa^(a, w), Kurume^(a, t), Morioka^(a, s), Nishinomiya^(a, w)	4	39
April 1, 2009		Amagasaki^(a, t), Maebashi^(a, t), Otsu^(a, s); Okayama becomes a Designated City	3	41
April 1, 2010	Sagamihara becomes a Designated City		0	40
April 1, 2011	Takasaki^(a, s)	1	41
April 1, 2012	Kumamoto to become Designated City		40

Source: [87].
Notes: (1)The seven cities in italics have been promoted to Designated City.
^(a)Achieved the status by annexing adjacent municipalities.
^(b)Originally authorized after the elimination of the daytime/nighttime requirement.
^(m)Achieved the status by merging with adjacent municipalities. Shimonoseki and Aomori are listed as mergers by the MIC but were existing Special Case Cities which essentially annexed adjacent areas.
^(s)Formerly a Special Case City.
^(w)Qualified only after revisions were made to the 100 km² requirement.