Administrative divisions
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Hokkaido Prefecture had 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. From April 2010, Hokkaido has 9 General Subprefectural Bureaus (総合振興局, sōgō-shinkō-kyoku, literally "Comprehensive Promotion Bureau") and 5 Subprefectural Bureaus (振興局, shinkō-kyoku, literally "Promotion Bureau")).

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

History

1897Nineteen 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.
1899Sapporo-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 Hakodate-shichō.
1903Matsumae-shichō was merged with Hakodate-shichō. Shana-shichō was merged with Nemuro-shichō.
1910Suttsu-shichō, Iwanai-shichō, and Otaru-shichō were merged to form Shiribeshi-shichō.
1914Asahikawa-ku was established as a municipality independent of Kamikawa-shichō. Mashike-shichō was renamed as Rumoi-shichō.
1918Muroran-ku was established as a municipality independent of Muroran-shichō.
1920Kushiro-ku was established as a municipality independent of Kushiro-shichō.
1922The 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.
1932Urakawa-shichō was renamed Hidaka-shichō. Kasai-shichō was renamed Tokachi-shichō.
1947Hokkaido Agency was abolished and Hokkaido Prefecture was established. Hokkaido Prefecture took over shichō.

List of subprefectures

Subprefecture Japanese Capital Largest municipality Pop.
(2009)		 Area
(km2)		 Municipalities
1 Sorachi 空知総合振興局 Iwamizawa Iwamizawa 338,485 5,791.19 10 cities14 towns
a ↳ Ishikari 石狩振興局 Sapporo Sapporo 2,324,878 3,539.86 6 cities1 town1 village
2 Shiribeshi 後志総合振興局 Kutchan Otaru 234,984 4,305.83 1 city13 towns6 villages
3 Iburi 胆振総合振興局 Muroran Tomakomai 419,115 3,698.00 4 cities7 towns
b ↳ Hidaka 日高振興局 Urakawa Shinhidaka 76,084 4,811.97 7 towns
4 Oshima 渡島総合振興局 Hakodate Hakodate 433,475 3,936.46 2 cities9 towns
c ↳ Hiyama 檜山振興局 Esashi Setana 43,210 2,629.94 7 towns
5 Kamikawa 上川総合振興局 Asahikawa Asahikawa 527,575 10,619.20 4 cities17 towns2 villages
d ↳ Rumoi 留萌振興局 Rumoi Rumoi 53,916 3,445.75 1 city6 towns1 village
6 Sōya 宗谷総合振興局 Wakkanai Wakkanai 71,423 4,625.09 1 city8 towns1 village
7 Okhotsk オホーツク総合振興局 Abashiri Kitami 309,487 10,690.62 3 cities14 towns1 village
8 Tokachi 十勝総合振興局 Obihiro Obihiro 353,291 10,831.24 1 city16 towns2 villages
9 Kushiro 釧路総合振興局 Kushiro Kushiro 252,571 5,997.38 1 city6 towns1 village
e ↳ Nemuro 根室振興局 Nemuro Nemuro 84,035 3,406.23 1 city4 towns
*
* Japan claims the southern part of Kuril Islands (Northern Territories), currently administered by Russia,
belong to Nemuro Subprefecture divided into six villages. However, the table above excludes these islands' data.

Reorganization

The prefectural government of Hokkaido 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.[1] The change should have taken 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 1, 2010.

List of subprefectural bureaus

References

  1. ↑ (in Japanese) 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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