Special cities of Japan


A special city of Japan was a category of cities in Japan in operation until 2015. Each special city had a population of at least 200,000, and was delegated functions normally carried out by prefectural governments. Those functions were a subset of the functions that were delegated to [Core Cities of Japan|cities of Japan|core cities].
The category of special cities was established by the Local Autonomy Law, article 252 clause 26. They were designated by the Cabinet after a request by a city council and a prefectural assembly.
Because the level of autonomy delegated to special cities was similar to that for core cities, after consultation with local governments the category of special cities was abolished in the revision of the Local Autonomy Act enacted on April 1, 2015. Cities with a population of at least 200,000 may now apply to be directly promoted to core city status. Special cities that have not been promoted may still retain autonomy, and are called, but this is regarded as a temporary arrangement.
The special cities were not the same as the special wards of Tokyo. They were also different from the special (designated) cities that were legally established under the Local Autonomy Law between 1947 and 1956, in an arrangement that was never implemented. They would have been prefecture-independent cities. They were the legal successors to the 1922 "six major cities" and precursors to the 1956 designated major cities that have expanded autonomy, but not full independence from prefectures.

List of special cities

As of 2015, when the category was abolished, 23 cities had been designated special cities:
NameJapaneseFlagEmblemArea Population Date of designationRegionPrefectureMap
Atsugi厚木市93.83224,1812002-04-01KantōKanagawa
Chigasaki茅ヶ崎市35.71239,8742003-04-01KantōKanagawa
Fuji富士市244.95245,0152001-04-01ChūbuShizuoka
Hiratsuka平塚市67.88260,0612001-04-01KantōKanagawa
Ibaraki茨木市76.52276,4742001-04-01KansaiOsaka
Isesaki伊勢崎市139.44207,2532007-04-01KantōGunma
Jōetsu上越市973.81202,3662007-04-01ChūbuNiigata
Kakogawa加古川市138.51268,1752002-04-01KansaiHyōgo
Kasugai春日井市92.78306,5732002-04-01ChūbuAichi
Kasukabe春日部市66.00236,9762008-04-01KantōSaitama
Kishiwada岸和田市72.68197,6292002-04-01KansaiOsaka
Kumagaya熊谷市159.82201,8142009-04-01KantōSaitama
Nagaoka長岡市891.06281,1012007-04-01ChūbuNiigata
Numazu沼津市186.96199,8832000-04-01ChūbuShizuoka
Odawara小田原市113.79194,6722000-04-01KantōKanagawa
Ōta太田市175.54217,1072007-04-01KantōGunma
Saga佐賀市431.84237,5012014-04-01KyushuSaga
Sōka草加市27.46244,8512004-04-01KantōSaitama
Takarazuka宝塚市101.89227,6172003-04-01KansaiHyōgo
Tokorozawa所沢市72.11344,1942002-04-01KantōSaitama
Tsukubaつくば市283.72244,5282007-04-01KantōIbaraki
Yamato大和市27.09230,3572000-04-01KantōKanagawa
Yokkaichi四日市市206.44306,1072000-04-01ChūbuMie