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Municipal flags of Japan

Index Page

image by Antonio Martins

General Information
Subdivisions
Wards in Japan

See also:

Municipal flags of Japan - Index Page
Municipal flags of Japan - Ordered by Prefecture
Japan
Japanese Subdivisions

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General Information

There are 47 prefectures and 1,741 municipalities available in Japan as of Nov 28th 2014.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 27 November 2014

In the early Modernism period, the "せいたいしょ (or 政体書)" (Romanized Sei taisho, English: Polity, although another form of scripture translates as "Statement of Facts") was proclaimed on June 11, 1868 and entered into force on June 17 during the period known as "The Meiji Restoration" (明治維新, Romanized Meiji Ishin[a]; also translated as the Meiji Reform[ation]) (Era), referred to at the time as the Honorable Restoration (御維新／御一新, Goi(s)shin)) which was a political event that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji and led to the westernisation of Japan. It was in effect until August 15, 1869. (Source, Source and Japanese Wikipedia)

In 1869, the year after the Meiji Restoration, the Daimyo was abolished in July 1869 together with the kuge and formed a new aristocracy, the kazoku. After the Boshin War and through the centralization of government through an Imperial Edict on August 29, 1871, the han were abolished, and Prefectures were established: the Edict reorganized the 261 surviving ex-feudal domains into three urban Prefectures (fu) and 302 (rural) Prefectures (ken), for a total of 305, with each Prefecture receiving the name of the city. In this year, around 200 daimyo returned their titles to the Emperor. Their military forces were also demobilized, with the daimyo and their samurai followers pensioned into retirement. The move to abolish the feudal domains effectively ended the daimyo era in Japan. This took place until January, 1872, in what is known as the "第1次府県統合" (English: First Prefectural integration). The number was then reduced through consolidation the following year via Daijô-kan (English: the Great Council of State) Decree of February 14, 1872 to three urban Prefectures and 72 (rural) Prefectures for a total of 75, as follows (source ): 1-7 "三大都市、開港地" (Engish: the (then) three major cities, open (sea)ports) (this evolved in time until 1922 when three cities (Kobe, Nagoya and Yokohama) are added to the previous "three major cities", which were Tōkyō, Osaka and Kioto) to become the "six major cities", in contrast to the five main metropolitan cities which are: Tōkyō, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Sapporo (sources and source ) 8-17 "関東地方" (English: Kanto (Kwantung) Region) 18-21 "近畿地方" (Englsih: Kinki Region) 22-31 "東海・甲信地方" (English: Tokai / Koshin Region) 32-42 "東北地方" (English: Tohoku Region) 43-49 "北陸地方" (English: Hokuriku Region) 50-53 "山陰地方" (English: Sanin Region) 54-59 "山陽地方" (English: Sanyo Region) 60-65 "和歌山・四国地方" (English: Wakayama / Shikoku Region) 66-75 "九州地方" (English: Kyushu Region)

Also, several were renamed withouth relocation of Prefectural office. The previous daimyo, which had received the city's name, was changed by the county's name. It is the basis for the punishable prefecture name theory, along with the example of not inheriting the prefecture name (former clan name) before the integration from the beginning of the First Prefecture Integration. In some cases where the circumstances of the name change have been clarified, the measures are based on the escalation from the Prefecture side to the Daijô-kan (English: the Great Council of State), who demands "renewal of human mind". Additionally, several were renamed with relocation of Prefectural office. Later on, during the Second Prefectural ingegration, changes continued to be enacted throughout the country, that led to the present three urban Prefectures and 44 (rural) Prefectures, for a total of 47, completed fully by 1888. This was effectively carried out through the financial collapse of the feudal-domain governments, hampering their capability for resistance. The New Three Local Laws encompassed a series of administrative reforms (including voting and tax reforms). These were a set of three main Laws and two complimentary (by laws):

1878 "County, ward, town and village organization Law" issued as Daijô-kan Decree No. 17 of July 22, 1878. It abolished the conventional "Big Ward and Small Ward System", comprised of Big Ward, County or District and Subdistrict, or Small Ward, or Small District (which was set up by the "Family Register Act of May 22, 1871" with additional dispositions enacted on June 10, 1872 and November 10, 1872 in which basically the family and local authorities were set up (composed of a head of a family and subhead, as well as elders, which were above the first, as civilian top authority); later on Big Ward, County or District and Subdistrict, or Small Ward, or Small District were reactivated as local governments; counties were established as administrative divisions and several districts were established in Tōkyō, Kyoto, and Osaka as part of Municipal exception "Law No. 12 of March 23, 1902" Prefectural Assembly Law" by Daijô-kan Decree No. 18 (other sources mention No. 17) of July 22, 1891. It was abolished by the "Local tax rules" by Daijô-kan Decree No. 19, which complemented earlier legal dispositions, such as the "Land tax reform Act of 1873".
By Law: "府県官職制" (English: Prefectural official office system) by Daijô-kan (English: the Great Council of State) Decree Decree No. 45 1880
By Law: "区町村会法" (English: Municipal Association Law) by Daijô-kan (English: the Great Council of State) Decree No. 18.

The "first" Municipal System in modern times (XIXth century) was enacted on April 1, 1899, based on the "Law No. 1 of April 25, 1888", regarded as the "First Part". This, together with the Town Village System, regarded as the "Second Part", layed the framework for all administrative divisions of the country. It superceeds the previous County, ward, town and village organization Law via the Great Council of State Decree No. 17 of July 22, 1878, which was part of the "New Three Local Laws". In October, 1898 the exception for the three cities was abolished, using the same standard as for all othe cities. On April 1, 1908 the first Districts were introduced in Nagoya. This is the first time that the "three-city system" is not set as the standard. This was complimented by the Law No. 68 of April 7, 1911 which dictates that Districts are autonomous (and hence, considered cities). In 1922 the "Six Great Cities Administrative Supervision Niseki Suru Law" is promulgated, establishing the "six major cities". Then, the "Tōkyō Metropolitan System Law No. 89 of 1943" promulgated on June 1, 1943 and entered into force on July 1, 1943 established the Tōkyō Metropolitan Government and abolished both the Tōkyō Prefecture and the Tōkyō City, which was superceded by the Local Autonomy Law No. 67 of May 3, 1947, after World War II, which came into effect when the 1947 Constitution of Japan was promulgated on May 3. Later on, the "Designated City (System)" issued on July 31, 1956, which came into effect since September 1, 1956 (reformed by Law No. 147 of 1956), the first which were the "five major cities" (Kioto, Osaka, Nagoya, Kobe and Yokohama) for big cities which was complimented by the "Ordinance-designated city", which comprises a total of (so far) 20 cities, as follows:

Then, the Law Concerning Special Exceptions to Municipal Mergers No. 6 of 1965 (expired on March 31, 2005) was enacted, A new reform seeking descentralization was again in place by a new law, "Law concerning the development of related laws to promote decentralization), sometimes refered to as "New Local Autonomy Law" issued as Law No. 87 of July 16, 1999 which came into effect on April 1, 2000. On August 30, 2001 the Municipal merger support plan is enacted, establishing the Municipal merger support headquarters), in order to relax the standards to allow cities, towns and townships to merge. Then the Law Concerning Special Exceptions to Municipal Mergers No. 59 of May 26, 2004 [was entacted]. On April 1, 2005 the Law Concerning Special Exceptions to Municipal Mergers, enters into force. Later on, the New Municipality merger support plan is enacted on August 31, 2005. Then on April 1, 2010, the Law Concerning Special Exceptions to Municipal Mergers enters into force.

As mentioned by Nozomi Kariyasu, on November 27, 2014, "there are 47 prefectures and 1,741 municipalities available in Japan as of Nov 28th 2014". Now, we can compliment that with the following: these 1,741Municipalities are made up of the following: - 792 Cities - 743 Towns - 183 Townships The above sums up to a total of 1,718 Municipalities (each category of the above considered autonomous, hence a city by itself). Adding the additional 23 Special Wards of Tōkyō, which are also considered cities within the "東京都 (大都市)" Tōkyō (Metropolis)" as it is officially designated, this brings the total to 1,741. The latest merger of cities, towns and townships occured on April 5, 2014, while the latest (and current) city system entered into force on October 1, 2018.

Previously in modern times (XXth century), the evolution has been the following:
As of March 31, 1999 - 568 Cities - 670 Towns - 1,994 Townships The above sums up to a total of 3,232 Municipalities
As of March 31, 2006 (1,411 less than in 1999) - 198 Cities - 777 Towns - 846 Townships The above sums up to a total of 1,821 Municipalities
As of March 31, 2010 (94 less than in 2006) - 184 Cities - 786 Towns - 757 Townships The above sums up to a total of 1,727 Municipalities
As of April 5, 2014 (9 less than in 2010) - 183 Cities - 790 Towns - 745 Townships The above sums up to a total of 1,718 Municipalities

As of October 1, 2018 (equal compared to 2014), only minor changes to the cities of Nakagawa and Fukuoka, both in the Fukuoka Prefecture.
Esteban Rivera, 22 July 2026

Even though the common names of both 関東地方 and 關東州 sound the same in Japanese, and are thus spelled the same in phonological renderings (Kantō or Kantoo or かんとう or even カントウ), and share an etymology (east of the pass/toll), the specific word "Kwantung" (using the Chinese postal romanization was never (to my knowledge) used for the region around Tokyo, but only for the territory at the tip of Liaodong Peninsula, ruled by Japan in 1905-1945.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 23 July 2026

Subdivisions

First level administration

The bureaucratic administration of Japan is divided into three basic levels: national, prefectural, and municipal. Below the national government there are 47 prefectures (including Tōkyō Metropolis), six of which (Hokkaidō, Kagoshima, Miyazaki, Tōkyō, Shimane and Yamagata), are further subdivided into Subprefectures to better service large geographical areas or remote islands. The Municipalities (Cities, Towns and Townships) are the lowest level of government; the twenty most-populated cities outside Tōkyō Metropolis are known as designated cities and are subdivided into wards. The district was initially called kōri and has ancient roots in Japan. Although the Nihon Shoki says they were established during the Taika Reforms, kōri was originally written 評. It was not until the Taihō Code that kōri came to be written as 郡 (imitating the Chinese division). Under the Taihō Code, the administrative unit of Province was above District, and the Township (Village) (里 or 郷 sato) was below. As far as Prefectural laws, these are outlined by Law No. 39 of 1918.

Existing Subprefectures

Hokkaidō, the largest Prefecture (by area), was divided into fourteen Subprefectures. These were formed in 1897. The Subprefectures did not include major cities, such as Sapporo and Hakodate, until 1922. In 2010 they were replaced by 9 General Subprefectural Bureaus and 5 Subprefectural Bureaus.
Kagoshima
Miyazaki
Tōkyō
Shimane
Yamagata

Historial Subprefectures

In addition, in 1907 Japan formed Karafuto (considered a colony) Prefecture to govern the island of Sakhalin. Karafuto was divided into four subprefectures: Toyohara (in present-day Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Maoka (in present-day Kholmsk), Esutoru (in present-day Uglegorsk) and Shikuka (in present-day Makarov). A number of islands gained by Japan in the Treaty of Versailles were placed under the direction of a South Pacific Prefecture (南洋庁, Nan'yōchō) from 1922 to 1945. This was divided into six subprefectures, on the islands of Saipan, Yap, Palau, Truk, Pohnpei and Jaluit. In November 1943, the six subprefectures were merged into "eastern," "western" and "northern" subprefectures, which remained in place until the Surrender of Japan in 1945. Taiwan during Japanese rule initially had its prefectures – ken (県), later termed shū (州) and chō (庁) – subdivided into shichō. Most of the later subprefectures were named gun (郡, also County, "District"). Some English texts translate "sub-prefecture" differently, using it instead for the chō of Taiwan, which were remote prefectures that were much less populated, once considered "sub-", or "lesser", prefectures, i.e., Hōko (the Pescadores), Karenkō (Hualien) and Taitō (Taitung). The offshore Hōko was home to the last two remaining subprefectures named shichō: Makō (馬公支廳) and Mōan (望安支廳). During the Japanese Empire expansion of the XXth century, additional territorial conquests known as "外地" (transliterated as gaichi) (English: Outter lands) were governed by a different set of rules. These set of rules applied to the following Colonies:

Taiwan under Japanese rule ( https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/ ) (1895-1945)
Karafuto (naichi after 1943) (1905-1949) ( https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/ )
Kantō-shū (Kwantung Leased Territory) (1905-1945) Nan'yōTaiwan
Korea under Japanese rule ( https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/ ) (1910-1945)

(Sources: Japanese Wikipedia and English Wikipedia)

Second level administration

The system for setting up municipalities is called "市町村制" (English: Municipal system) and it is made up of the city, town, village and Special Area. Here's a list worth mentioning: "List of former towns or villages gained city status alone in Japan".

Third level administration

In Japan, a district is composed of one or more rural municipalities (towns and villages) within a prefecture. Districts have no governing function, and are only used for geographic or statistical purposes such as mailing addresses. Cities are not part of districts. Historically, districts have at times functioned as an administrative unit. From 1878 to 1921 district governments were roughly equivalent to a U.S county, ranking below Prefecture and above Town or Village, on the same level as a City. District governments were entirely abolished by 1926 (The governing law, the district code (gunsei, 郡制, enacted in 1890 and revised in 1899 was abolished in 1921, but the district assemblies (gunkai, 郡会) existed until 1923, the district chiefs (gunchō, 郡長) and district offices (gun-yakusho, 郡役所) until 1926).
Esteban Rivera, 22 July 2026

Wards in Japan

Just for your information, the ward in Tokyo is a special status in Japan. It means only Tokyo Wards are considered the same status as the city municipality. So Tokyo wards are included in total 1741 Japanese municipalities.
On the other hands, wards in other prefecture capital city such as Sapporo, Nagoya are 2nd level administrative unit inside the city. Strictly speaking, Sapporo is a municipality but wards of Sapporo is not municipality in Japan. Unlike Tokyo wards, other wards don't have the local parliament to make a flag or emblem law. So they don't use the word of emblem but only the word of symbol mark. They have ward flags using the symbol mark.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 23 November 2014

For further reference: Wikipedia
Esteban Rivera, 22 July 2026