Subprefectures in Hokkaidō

Administrative divisions of Japan
Prefectural level
Prefectures (都道府県 todōfuken)
Subprefectural level
Subprefectures (支庁 shichō) Districts (郡 gun)
Municipal level
Designated cities (政令指定都市 seirei-shitei-toshi) Core cities (中核市 chūkaku-shi) Special cities (特例市 tokurei-shi) Cities (市 shi) Special wards (Tokyo) (特別区 tokubetsu-ku) Towns (町 chō, machi) Villages (村 son, mura)
Sub-municipal level
Wards (区 ku)

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.

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

History of shichō in Hokkaido

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

Today, fourteen shichō effectively cover all of Hokkaido. Technically, the shichō cover only towns and villages, although some commissioned business is conducted for cities.

List of subprefectures

Further information: Former Provinces of Hokkaidō

Map of subprefectures of Hokkaidō

Numbers are those of the map above.

No.	Subprefecture	Japanese	Capital	Largest city	Region	Pop.	Area (km²)	Density (/km²)	Municip.	Distr.
11	Okhotsk	オホーツク	Abashiri	Kitami	East or North	324,719	10,690.55	30.37	19	4
7	Hidaka	日高	Urakawa	Shinhidaka	Central or South	81,403	4,811.96	16.92	7	6
5	Hiyama	檜山	Esashi	Setana	South	46,999	2,629.88	17.87	7	5
6	Iburi	胆振	Muroran	Tomakomai	Central or South	426,627	3,698.00	115.37	11	4
1	Ishikari	石狩	Sapporo	Sapporo	Central	2,310,001	3,539.86	652.57	8	1
8	Kamikawa	上川	Asahikawa	Asahikawa	North or Central	535,456	9,852.17	54.35	22	5
13	Kushiro	釧路	Kushiro	Kushiro	East	261,883	5,997.38	43.67	8	5
14	Nemuro	根室	Nemuro	Nemuro	East	84,035	3,406.23	24.67	5	3
4	Oshima	渡島	Hakodate	Hakodate	South	449,371	3,936.32	114.16	11	6
9	Rumoi	留萌	Rumoi	Rumoi	North	61,488	4,019.91	15.30	9	4
3	Shiribeshi	後志	Kutchan	Otaru	Central	250,065	4,305.82	58.08	20	9
2	Sorachi	空知	Iwamizawa	Iwamizawa	Central or North	365,563	6,558.22	55.74	25	4
10	Sōya	宗谷	Wakkanai	Wakkanai	North	75,665	4,050.76	18.68	9	5
12	Tokachi	十勝	Obihiro	Obihiro	East	354,147	10,831.24	32.70	19	7

Japan claims the southern part of Kuril Islands (Northern Territories), currently administered by Russia, belong to Nemuro Subprefecture. 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. 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

• Sorachi General Subprefectural Bureau (空知総合振興局), Iwamizawa, covering Ishikari and Sorachi areas. (Horokanai belongs to Kamikawa Subprefectural Bureau.)
  • Ishikari Subprefectural Bureau (石狩振興局), Sapporo, covering Ishikari area
• Shiribeshi General Subprefectural Bureau (後志総合振興局), Kutchan, covering Shiribeshi area
• Iburi General Subprefectural Bureau (胆振総合振興局), Muroran, covering Iburi and Hidaka areas
  • Hidaka Subprefectural Bureau (日高振興局), Urakawa, covering Hidaka area
• Oshima General Subprefectural Bureau (渡島総合振興局), Hakodate, covering Oshima and Hiyama areas
  • Hiyama Subprefectural Bureau (檜山振興局), Esashi, covering Hiyama area
• Kamikawa General Subprefectural Bureau (上川総合振興局), Asahikawa, covering Kamikawa and Rumoi areas
  • Rumoi Subprefectural Bureau (留萌振興局), Rumoi, covering Rumoi area. (Horonobe belongs to Soya Subprefectural Bureau.)
• Sōya General Subprefectural Bureau (宗谷総合振興局), Wakkanai, covering Sōya area
• Okhotsk General Subprefectural Bureau (オホーツク総合振興局), Abashiri, covering Abashiri area
• Tokachi General Subprefectural Bureau (十勝総合振興局), Obihiro, covering Tokachi area
• Kushiro General Subprefectural Bureau (釧路総合振興局), Kushiro, covering Kushiro and Nemuro areas
  • Nemuro Subprefectural Bureau (根室振興局), Nemuro, covering Nemuro area

External links

• Official websites of the subprefectural bureaus (Japanese)
• The map of the new development bureaus, from Pucchi Guide (Japanese)