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Avillage (村,mura, son)[a] is alocal administrative unit inJapan.[1]
It is a local public body along withprefecture (県,ken, or other equivalents),city (市,shi), andtown (町,chō, machi). Geographically, a village's extent is contained within a prefecture. Villages are larger than a local settlement; each is a subdivision of ruraldistrict (郡,gun), which are subdivided into towns and villages with no overlap and no uncovered area. As a result ofmergers and elevation to higher statuses, the number of villages in Japan is decreasing.
As of 2006, 13 prefectures no longer have any villages:Tochigi (since March 20, 2006),Fukui (since March 3, 2006),Ishikawa (since March 1, 2005),Shizuoka (since July 1, 2005),Hyōgo (since April 1, 1999),Mie (since November 1, 2005),Shiga (since January 1, 2005),Hiroshima (since November 5, 2004),Yamaguchi (since March 20, 2006),Ehime (since January 16, 2005),Kagawa (since April 1, 1999),Nagasaki (since October 1, 2005), andSaga (since March 20, 2006).
村 can have the reading ofmura orson, but with the exception ofTottori,Okayama,Hiroshima,Yamaguchi,Tokushima,Miyazaki andOkinawa, most prefectures use themura reading.
Atarashiki-mura (which is an autonomous village community) is not included in the list below because it is not a separate municipality.
The following is a list of disputed villages in the southernKuril Islands. The territories arede facto administered byRussia but are claimed by Japan as part ofNemuro Subprefecture, Hokkaido.
| Name | Japanese | Russian | Area (in km2) | Island |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rubetsu (Pioner) | 留別村 | Рубэцу | 1,442.82 | Etorofu (Iturup) |
| Ruyobetsu (Yuzhno-Kurilsk) | 留夜別村 | Ю́жно-Кури́льск | 960.27 | Kunashiri (Kunashir) |
| Shana (Kurilsk) | 紗那村 | Кури́льск | 973.3 | Etorofu (Iturup) |
| Shibetoro (Rudnaya) | 蘂取村 | 760.5 | Etorofu (Iturup) | |
| Shikotan | 色丹村 | Шикотан | 253.33 | Shikotan |
| Tomari (Golovnino) | 泊村 | Головнино | 538.56 | Kunashiri (Kunashir) |
