A 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.
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 (特別市, tokubetsu-shi) 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 (in an analogous way, special wards are city-independent wards). They were the legal successors to the 1922 "six major cities" (roku daitoshi; only five were left in 1947 as Tokyo City had been abolished in the war) and precursors to the 1956 designated major cities that have expanded autonomy, but not full independence from prefectures.Satoru Ohsugi (2011): The Large City System of Japan Council of Local Authorities for International Relations and Institute for Comparative Studies in Local Governance, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. – Note: this paper translates tokurei-shi as "special case city" and uses "special city" for tokubetsu-shi
List of special cities
As of 2015, when the category was abolished, 23 cities had been designated special cities: Name JapaneseFlagEmblemArea (km2) Population (2012) Date of designation Region PrefectureMap Atsugi 93.83 224,181 2002-04-01 Kantō Kanagawa Chigasaki 35.71 239,874 2003-04-01 Kantō Kanagawa Fuji 244.95 245,015 2001-04-01 Chūbu Shizuoka Hiratsuka 67.88 260,061 2001-04-01 Kantō Kanagawa Ibaraki 76.52 276,474 2001-04-01 Kansai Osaka Isesaki 139.44 207,253 2007-04-01 Kantō Gunma Jōetsu 973.81 202,366 2007-04-01 Chūbu Niigata Kakogawa 138.51 268,175 2002-04-01 Kansai Hyōgo Kasugai 92.78 306,573 2002-04-01 Chūbu Aichi Kasukabe 66.00 236,976 2008-04-01 Kantō Saitama Kishiwada 72.68 197,629 2002-04-01 Kansai Osaka Kumagaya 159.82 201,814 2009-04-01 Kantō Saitama Nagaoka 891.06 281,101 2007-04-01 Chūbu Niigata Numazu 186.96 199,883 2000-04-01 Chūbu Shizuoka Odawara 113.79 194,672 2000-04-01 Kantō Kanagawa Ōta 175.54 217,107 2007-04-01 Kantō Gunma Saga 431.84 237,501 2014-04-01 Kyushu Saga Sōka 27.46 244,851 2004-04-01 Kantō Saitama Takarazuka 101.89 227,617 2003-04-01 Kansai Hyōgo Tokorozawa 72.11 344,194 2002-04-01 Kantō Saitama Tsukuba 283.72 244,528 2007-04-01 Kantō Ibaraki Yamato 27.09 230,357 2000-04-01 Kantō Kanagawa Yokkaichi 206.44 306,107 2000-04-01 Chūbu Mie
References
External links "Japan's Evolving Nested Municipal Hierarchy: The Race for Local Power in the 2000s," by A.J. Jacobs at Urban Studies Research, Vol. 2011 (2011); doi:10.1155/2011/692764 "Large City System of Japan"; graphic shows special cities compared with other Japanese city types at p. 1 [PDF 7 of 40] "Growth in Second Tier Cities - Urban Policy Lessons from Japan" briefing by CLAIR London on classes of Japanese cities (PDF)