Ceeties o Japan

A city (市, shi) is a local administrative unit in Japan. Ceeties is ranked on the same level as towns (町, machi) and villages (村, mura), wi the differ that they arnae a component o districts (郡, gun). Like their contemporary administrative units, thaey are defined by the Local Autonomy Law of 1947.

Ceety status

Airticle 8 o the Local Autonomy Law sets the follaein conditions for a municipality tae be designate as a ceety:

Population maun generally be 50,000 or greater (原則として人口5万人以上)
At least 60% o hoosehaulds maun be established in a central urban aurie (中心市街地の戸数が全戸数の6割以上)
At least 60% o hoosehaulds maun be employed in commerce, industry or ither urban occupations (商工業等の都市的業態に従事する世帯人口が全人口の6割以上)
Ony ither condìtions set bi prefectural ordinance must be satisfied (他に当該都道府県の条例で定める要件を満たしていること)

The designation is approved bi the prefectural govrenor an the Meenister for Internal Affairs.

A ceety can theoretically be demote tae a toun or veelage whan it fails tae meet ony o thir condìtions, but a siclik demotion hesnae happened tae date. The least populous ceety, Utashinai, Hokkaido, haes a population o sax thoosand, while a toun in the same prefectur, Otofuke, Hokkaido, haes nearly forty thoosand.

Unner the Act on Special Provisions concernin Merger o Municipalities (市町村の合併の特例等に関する法律, Act No. 59 o 2004), the staundart o 50,000 indwallers for the ceety status haes been eased tae 30,000 if a siclik population is gained as a result o a merger o touns an/or veelages, fur tae facilitate siclik mergers tae reduce admeenistrative costs. Mony municipalities gained ceety status unner this eased staundart. On the ither haund, the municipalities recently gained the ceety status purely as a eftercast o increase o population wioot expansion o aurie is leemitit tae thaim at is leetit in Leet o umwhile touns or veelages gained ceety status alone.

Classifications for lairge ceeties

The Cabinet o Japan can designate ceeties o at least 200,000 indwallers tae hae the status o special ceety, core ceety, or designatit ceety. Thir statuses expand the scope o admeenistrative authority delegatit frae the prefectural govrenment tae the ceety govrenment.

Status o Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan’s caipital, existit as a ceety til 1943, but is nou legally classified as a special type o prefectur cried a metropolis (都, to). The 23 special wairds o Tokyo, whilk constitute the core o the Tokyo metropolitan aurie, each hae an admeenistrative status analogous tae that o ceeties. Tokyo an aa haes several ither incorporatit ceeties, touns an veelages within its jurisdiction.

References

Freemit airtins

Directory of current Japanese city leaders and outline of system (2012)
"Japan's Evolving Nested Municipal Hierarchy: The Race for Local Power in the 2000s," Archived 2012-03-21 at the Wayback Machine by A.J. Jacobs at Urban Studies Research, Vol. 2011 (2011); doi:10.1155/2011/692764
[https://web.archive.org/web/20190917003255/http://www3.grips.ac.jp/~coslog/activity/01/04/file/Bunyabetsu-20_en.pdf Archived 2019-09-17 at the Wayback Machine "Large City System of Japan"; graphic shows Japanese city types at p. 1 [PDF 7 of 40]]