Subprefecture of Japan are a Japanese form of self-government which focuses on local issues below the prefectural level. It acts as part of the greater administration of the state and as part of a self-government system.
History
They were given a definite form in 1878. The Meiji government established the sub-prefecture as an administrative unit. In 1888, the sub-prefecture as a form of self-government was officially as more general than civic corporations like cities, towns and villages. Certain prefectures of Japan are now, or once were, divided into subprefectures. The subprefecture is the jurisdiction surrounding a "branch office" of the prefectural government. Normally, the area of a subprefecture consists of a few to a dozen cities, towns, and/or villages. Subprefectures are formed to provide services of the prefectural government in geographically remote areas. They are usually not used in postal addresses.
Existing subprefectures
Hokkaidō, the largest prefecture by area in Japan, 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. See: Subprefectures in Hokkaidō
Hyōgo, another geographically large prefecture, was divided into ten subprefectures, but these are now known as citizen's bureaus.
Chiba was divided into five subprefectures until 2003, when the branch offices were renamed citizens' centers.
Nagasaki had three subprefectures that provide services to the outlying islands of Tsushima, Iki and Gotō. They were replaced by Regional Offices and then by District Offices.
In addition, in 1907 Japan formed Karafuto Prefecture to governthe island of Sakhalin. Karafuto was divided into four subprefectures: Toyohara, Maoka, Esutoru and Shikuka. A number of islands gained by Japan in the Treaty of Versailles were placed under the direction of a South Pacific Mandate 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 – , later termed and – subdivided into shichō. Most of the later subprefectures were named . 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, Karenkō and Taitō. The offshore Hōko was home to the last two remaining subprefectures named shichō: Makō and Mōan.
