Special wards of Tokyo 東京特別区 | |
|---|---|
 Shinjuku, one of Tokyo's special wards | |
 Map of Tokyo with special wards in green | |
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| Country | Japan |
| Island | Honshu |
| Region | Kantō |
| Prefecture | Tokyo |
| Area | |
• Special wards | 627.51 km2 (242.28 sq mi) |
| Population (January 1, 2024) | |
• Special wards | 9,878,284 |
| • Density | 15,742/km2 (40,770/sq mi) |
| Administrative divisions of Japan |
|---|
| Prefectural |
| Prefectures |
| Sub-prefectural |
| Municipal |
| Sub-municipal |
The 23special wards (特別区,tokubetsu-ku) ofTokyo are a unique form ofmunicipality under Japan's 1947Local Autonomy Law. They are city-level wards: primary subdivisions of a prefecture with municipal autonomy. Together, they cover 627 km2 (242 sq mi) and, as of 2024, house roughly 9.8 million residents, yielding a density of about 15,742 people/km2 (40,770 people/mi2). Similar ward systems are legally possible in other prefectures, but none have been established.
Tokyo's 23 special wards unite with39 ordinary municipalities (cities,towns andvillages)[2] to their west to formTokyo Metropolitan Prefecture. Without the ordinary municipalities the special wards account for what was the coreTokyo City, before this was abolished in 1943 under theTōjō Cabinet. It was four years later, during theOccupation of Japan, that autonomy was restored to Tokyo City by means of the special wards, each being given a directly elected mayor and assembly like all other cities, towns and villages in Japan.
In Japanese the 23 are collectively also known as "Wards area of Tokyo Metropolis" (東京都区部,Tōkyō-to kubu), "former Tokyo City" (旧東京市,kyū-Tōkyō-shi), or less formally the23 wards (23区,nijūsan-ku) or just Tokyo (東京,Tōkyō) if the context makes obvious that this does not refer to the whole prefecture. Most of Tokyo's prominent infrastructures are located within the special wards. Today, all wards refer to themselves as acity in English, but the Japanese designation of special ward (tokubetsu-ku) remains unchanged. They are a group of 23 municipalities; there is no associated single government body separate from theTokyo Metropolitan Government, which governs all 62 municipalities of Tokyo, not just the special wards.
Analogues exist in historic and contemporary Chinese and Korean administration: "Special wards" are city-independent wards, analogously, "special cities/special cities"(teukbyeol-si/tokubetsu-shi) are province-/prefecture-independent cities and were intended to be introduced under SCAP in Japan, too; but in Japan, implementation was stalled, and in 1956 special cities were replaced in the Local Autonomy Law withdesignated major cities which gain additional autonomy, but remain part of prefectures. In everyday English, Tokyo as a whole is also referred to as a city even though it contains 62 cities, towns, villages and special wards. The closest English equivalents for the special wards would be theLondon boroughs orNew York City boroughs if Greater London and New York City had been abolished in the same way as Tokyo City, making the boroughs top-level divisions of England or New York state.
Although special wards are autonomous from the Tokyo metropolitan government, they also function as a single urban entity in respect to certain public services, including water supply, sewage disposal, and fire services. These services are handled by the Tokyo metropolitan government, whereas cities would normally provide these services themselves. This situation is very similar to Brazil'sFederal District and its35 administrative regions, but with local elections. To finance the joint public services it provides to the 23 wards, the metropolitan government levies some of the taxes that would normally be levied by city governments, and also makes transfer payments to wards that cannot finance their own local administration.[3]
Waste disposal is handled by each ward under direction of the metropolitan government. For example, plastics were generally handled as non-burnable waste until the metropolitan government announced a plan to halt burying of plastic waste by 2010; as a result, about half of the special wards now treat plastics as burnable waste, while the other half mandate recycling of either all or some plastics.[4]
Unlike othermunicipalities (including the municipalities ofwestern Tokyo), special wards were initially not considered to be local public entities for purposes of theConstitution of Japan. This means that they had no constitutional right to pass their own legislation, or to hold direct elections for mayors and councilors. While these authorities were granted by statute during the US-led occupation and again in 1975, they could be unilaterally revoked by theNational Diet; similar measures against other municipalities would require a constitutional amendment. The denial of elected mayors to the special wards was reaffirmed by theSupreme Court in the 1963 decisionJapan v. Kobayashi et al. (also known as Tokyo Ward Autonomy Case).[citation needed]
In 1998, the National Diet passed a revision of the Local Autonomy Law (effective in the year 2000) that implemented the conclusions of theFinal Report on the Tokyo Ward System Reform increasing their fiscal autonomy and established the wards as basic local public entities.[citation needed]
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The word "special" distinguishes them from the wards (区,ku) of other major Japanese cities. Before 1943, the wards ofTokyo City were no different from the wards ofOsaka orKyoto. These original wards numbered 15 in 1889. Large areas from five surrounding districts were merged into the city in 1932 and organized in 20 new wards, bringing the total to 35; the expanded city was also referred to as "Greater Tokyo" (大東京,Dai-Tōkyō). By this merger, together with smaller ones in 1920 and 1936, Tokyo City came to expand to the current city area.[citation needed]
On March 15, 1943, as part of wartime totalitarian tightening of controls, Tokyo's local autonomy (elected council and mayor) under the Imperial municipal code was eliminated by the Tōjō cabinet and the Tokyo city government and (Home ministry appointed) prefectural government merged into a single (appointed) prefectural government;[5] the wards were placed under the direct control of the prefecture.[citation needed]
The 35 wards of the former city were integrated into 22 on March 15, 1947, just before the legal definition of special wards was given by theLocal Autonomy Law, enforced on May 3 the same year. The 23rd ward, Nerima, was formed on August 1, 1947, when Itabashi was split again. The postwar reorganization under the US-led occupation authorities democratized the prefectural administrations but did not include the reinstitution of Tokyo City.Seiichirō Yasui, a former Home Ministry bureaucrat and appointed governor, won the first Tokyo gubernatorial election against Daikichirō Tagawa, a former Christian Socialist member of the Imperial Diet, former vice mayor of Tokyo city and advocate of Tokyo city's local autonomy.[citation needed]
Since the 1970s, the special wards of Tokyo have exercised a considerably higher degree of autonomy than the administrative wards of cities (that unlike Tokyo City retained their elected mayors and assemblies) but still less than other municipalities in Tokyo or the rest of the country, making them less independent than cities, towns or villages, but more independent than city subdivisions. Today, each special ward has its own elected mayor (区長,kuchō) and assembly (区議会,kugikai).
In 2000, theNational Diet designated the special wards as local public entities (地方公共団体,chihō kōkyō dantai), giving them a legal status similar to cities.
The wards vary greatly in area (from 10 to 60 km2) and population (from less than 40,000 to 830,000), and some are expanding asartificial islands are built.Setagaya has the most people, while neighboringŌta has the largest area.
The total population census of the 23 special wards had fallen under 8 million as the postwar economic boom moved people out to suburbs, and then rose as Japan's lengthy stagnation took its toll and property values drastically changed, making residential inner areas up to 10 times less costly than during peak values. Its population was 8,949,447 as of October 1, 2010,[6] about two-thirds of the population of Tokyo and a quarter of the population of theGreater Tokyo Area.
The Mori Memorial Foundation put forth a proposal in 1999 to consolidate the 23 wards into six larger cities for efficiency purposes, and an agreement was reached between the metropolitan and special ward governments in 2006 to consider realignment of the wards, but there has been minimal further movement to change the current special ward system.[4]
Special wards do not currently exist outside Tokyo; however, several Osaka area politicians, led by GovernorTōru Hashimoto, are backing anOsaka Metropolis plan under which the city of Osaka would be replaced by special wards, consolidating many government functions at the prefectural level and devolving other functions to more localized governments. Under a new 2012 law, – sometimes informally called "Osaka Metropolis plan law", but not specifically referring to Osaka – major cities and their surrounding municipalities in prefectures other than Tokyo may be replaced with special wards with similar functions if approved by the involved municipal and prefectural governments and ultimately the citizens of the dissolving municipalities in a referendum. Prerequisite is a population of at least 2 million in the dissolving municipalities; three cities (Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka) meet this requirement on their own, seven other major city areas can set up special wards if a designated city is joined by neighboring municipalities.[7] However, prefectures (道府県,-dō/-fu/-ken) where special wards are set up cannot style themselvesmetropolis (都,-to) as theLocal Autonomy Law only allows Tokyo with that status.[8] InOsaka, a2015 referendum to replace the city with five special wards was defeated narrowly.
| Level | Executive | Executive leadership | Legislature |
|---|---|---|---|
| State/nation (kuni,国) Unitary state, local autonomy anchored in the Constitution | Central/Japanese national government (chūō-/Nihonkoku-seifu,中央/日本国政府) | Cabinet/Prime Minister (naikaku/naikaku sōri-daijin,内閣/内閣総理大臣) indirectly elected by the Diet from the Diet | National Diet (Kokkai,国会) bicameral, both houses directly elected |
| Prefectures ("Metropolis, prefecture, prefectures and prefectures")[9] (to/dō/fu/ken,都道府県) 47 contiguous subdivisions of the nation | Prefectural/"Metropolitan" government (to-/dō-/fu-/kenchō,都道府県庁) local autonomy and delegated functions from national level | Prefectural/"Metropolitan" governor (to-/dō-/fu-/ken-chiji,都道府県知事) directly elected | Prefectural/"Metropolitan" assembly (to-/dō-/fu-/ken-gikai,都道府県議会) unicameral, directly elected |
| [Subprefectures] (various names) Sub-prefectural administrative divisions of some prefectures, contiguous in some prefectures, only partial for some areas in others in Tokyo: 4 subprefectures for remote islands | Branch office (shichō, 支庁 and other various names) (Subordinate branch offices of the prefectural government, delegated prefectural functions) | ||
| Municipalities (Cities,[special] wards/"cities",towns andvillages) (shi/[tokubetsu-]ku/chō [=machi]/son [=mura],市区町村) (as of 2016: 1,741) contiguous subdivisions of all 47 prefectures in Tokyo often named in the order:-ku/-shi/-chō/-son,区市町村 in Tokyo as of 2001: 62 municipalities (23 special wards, 26 cities, 5 towns, 8 villages) | Municipal government (city/ward/town/village hall) (shi-/ku-yakusho,市/区役所/machi-/mura-yakuba,町/村役場) local autonomy and delegated functions from national & prefectural level post-occupation–2000: only shi/chō/son with municipal autonomy rights, ku with delegated authority | Municipal (city/ward/town/village) mayor (shi-/ku-/chō-/sonchō,市区町村長) directly elected in Tokyo's special wards: indirectly elected 1952–1975 | Municipal (city/ward/town/village) assembly (shi-/ku-/chō-/son-gikai,市区町村議会) unicameral, directly elected |
| [Wards, sometimes unambiguously "administrative wards"] ([gyōsei-]ku, [行政]区) Contiguous sub-municipal administrative divisions ofdesignated major cities | Ward office (kuyakusho,区役所) (Subordinate branch offices of the city government, delegated municipal functions) | ||
| No. | Flag | Name | Kanji | Population (as of October 2020[update])[10] | Density (/km2) | Area (km2) | Major districts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  | Chiyoda | 千代田区 | 66,680 | 5,718 | 11.66 | Nagatachō,Kasumigaseki,Ōtemachi,Marunouchi,Akihabara,Yūrakuchō,Iidabashi,Kanda |
| 02 |  | Chūō | 中央区 | 169,179 | 16,569 | 10.21 | Nihonbashi, Kayabachō,Ginza,Tsukiji,Hatchōbori,Tsukishima |
| 03 |  | Minato | 港区 | 260,486 | 12,787 | 20.37 | Odaiba,Shinbashi,Hamamatsuchō,Mita,Toranomon,Azabu,Roppongi,Akasaka,Aoyama |
| 04 |  | Shinjuku | 新宿区 | 349,385 | 19,175 | 18.22 | Shinjuku,Takadanobaba,Ōkubo, Waseda,Kagurazaka,Ichigaya,Yotsuya |
| 05 |  | Bunkyō | 文京区 | 240,069 | 21,263 | 11.29 | Hongō,Yayoi, Hakusan |
| 06 |  | Taitō | 台東区 | 211,444 | 20,914 | 10.11 | Ueno,Asakusa |
| 07 |  | Sumida | 墨田区 | 272,085 | 19,759 | 13.77 | Kinshichō,Ryōgoku, Oshiage |
| 08 |  | Kōtō | 江東区 | 524,310 | 13,055 | 40.16 | Kameido, Ojima, Sunamachi, Tōyōchō,Kiba,Fukagawa,Toyosu,Ariake |
| 09 |  | Shinagawa | 品川区 | 422,488 | 18,497 | 22.84 | Shinagawa,Gotanda,Ōsaki, Hatanodai, Ōimachi,Tennōzu |
| 10 |  | Meguro | 目黒区 | 288,088 | 19,637 | 14.67 | Meguro,Nakameguro,Jiyugaoka,Komaba,Aobadai |
| 11 |  | OtaŌta | 大田区 | 748,081 | 12,332 | 60.66 | Ōmori,Kamata,Haneda,Den-en-chōfu |
| 12 |  | Setagaya | 世田谷区 | 943,664 | 16,256 | 58.05 | Shimokitazawa, Kinuta, Karasuyama, Tamagawa |
| 13 |  | Shibuya | 渋谷区 | 243,883 | 16,140 | 15.11 | Shibuya,Ebisu,Harajuku,Daikanyama,Hiroo |
| 14 |  | Nakano | 中野区 | 344,880 | 22,121 | 15.59 | Nakano |
| 15 |  | Suginami | 杉並区 | 591,108 | 17,354 | 34.06 | Kōenji,Asagaya,Ogikubo |
| 16 |  | Toshima | 豊島区 | 301,599 | 23,182 | 13.01 | Ikebukuro,Komagome, Senkawa,Sugamo |
| 17 |  | Kita | 北区 | 355,213 | 17,234 | 20.61 | Akabane, Ōji,Tabata |
| 18 |  | Arakawa | 荒川区 | 217,475 | 21,405 | 10.16 | Arakawa, Machiya,Nippori, Minamisenju |
| 19 |  | Itabashi | 板橋区 | 584,483 | 18,140 | 32.22 | Itabashi, Takashimadaira |
| 20 |  | Nerima | 練馬区 | 752,608 | 15,653 | 48.08 | Nerima,Ōizumi,Hikarigaoka |
| 21 |  | Adachi | 足立区 | 695,043 | 13,052 | 53.25 | Ayase,Kitasenju, Takenotsuka |
| 22 |  | Katsushika | 葛飾区 | 453,093 | 13,019 | 34.80 | Tateishi, Aoto, Kameari, Shibamata |
| 23 |  | Edogawa | 江戸川区 | 697,932 | 13,986 | 49.90 | Kasai, Koiwa |
| Overall | 9,733,276 | 15,724 | 618.8 | ||||
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Many important districts are located in Tokyo's special wards:
graphic shows special wards of Tokyo compared with other Japanese city types at p. 1 (PDF: 7 of 40)
