Subprefectures of Hokkaido

Hokkaido Prefecture had 14 branch offices called 支庁しちょう (shichō) in Japanese, which is often translated in English as subprefectures. Normally, a subprefecture consists of a few to a dozen cities, towns, and/or villages. From April 2010, Hokkaido has 9 General Subprefectural Bureaus (総合そうごう振興しんこう局きょく, sōgō-shinkō-kyoku, literally "Comprehensive Promotion Bureau") and 5 Subprefectural Bureaus (振興しんこう局きょく, shinkō-kyoku, literally "Promotion Bureau")).

For historical reasons, some older people in Hokkaido use the subprefecture name suffixed by -kannai in their address.

History

1897	Nineteen shichō were placed under Hokkaido Agency (an agency of the national government): Sapporo, Hakodate, Kameda, Matsumae, Hiyama, Suttsu, Iwanai, Otaru, Sorachi, Kamikawa, Mashike, Souya, Abashiri, Muroran, Urakawa, Kushiro, Kasai, Nemuro, and Shana.
1899	Sapporo-ku, Hakodate-ku, and Otaru-ku were established as municipalities independent of shichō. Sapporo-shichō and Otaru-shichō were continued with remaining area, but Hakodate-shichō was dissolved. Previous Kameda-shichō was renamed Hakodate-shichō.
1903	Matsumae-shichō was merged with Hakodate-shichō. Shana-shichō was merged with Nemuro-shichō.
1910	Suttsu-shichō, Iwanai-shichō, and Otaru-shichō were merged to form Shiribeshi-shichō.
1914	Asahikawa-ku was established as a municipality independent of Kamikawa-shichō. Mashike-shichō was renamed as Rumoi-shichō.
1918	Muroran-ku was established as a municipality independent of Muroran-shichō.
1920	Kushiro-ku was established as a municipality independent of Kushiro-shichō.
1922	The six ku were restated as shi (cities). Sapporo-shichō was renamed Ishikari-shichō. Hakodate-shichō was renamed Oshima-shichō. Muroran-shichō was renamed Iburi-shichō.
1932	Urakawa-shichō was renamed Hidaka-shichō. Kasai-shichō was renamed Tokachi-shichō.
1947	Hokkaido Agency was abolished and Hokkaido Prefecture was established. Hokkaido Prefecture took over shichō.

List of subprefectures

Further information: Former Provinces of Hokkaido

See also: List of mergers in Hokkaido

1 a 2 3 b 4 c 5 d 6 7 8 9 e (disputed) (disputed)
Subprefecture		Japanese	Capital	Largest municipality	Pop. (2009)	Area (km2)	Pop. Density	Municipalities
								Cities	Towns	Villages
1	Sorachi	空知そらち総合そうごう振興しんこう局きょく	Iwamizawa	Iwamizawa	338,485	5,791.19	58.45	10	14	0
a	↳ Ishikari	石狩いしかり振興しんこう局きょく	Sapporo	Sapporo	2,324,878	3,539.86	656.77	6	1	1
2	Shiribeshi	後志しりべ総合そうごう振興しんこう局きょく	Kutchan	Otaru	234,984	4,305.83	54.57	1	13	6
3	Iburi	胆振いぶり総合そうごう振興しんこう局きょく	Muroran	Tomakomai	419,115	3,698.00	113.34	4	7	0
b	↳ Hidaka	日高ひだか振興しんこう局きょく	Urakawa	Shinhidaka	76,084	4,811.97	15.81	0	7	0
4	Oshima	渡島ととう総合そうごう振興しんこう局きょく	Hakodate	Hakodate	433,475	3,936.46	110.12	2	9	0
c	↳ Hiyama	檜山ひやま振興しんこう局きょく	Esashi	Setana	43,210	2,629.94	16.43	0	7	0
5	Kamikawa	上川かみかわ総合そうごう振興しんこう局きょく	Asahikawa	Asahikawa	527,575	10,619.20	49.68	4	17	2
d	↳ Rumoi	留萌るもい振興しんこう局きょく	Rumoi	Rumoi	53,916	3,445.75	15.65	1	6	1
6	Sōya	宗谷そうや総合そうごう振興しんこう局きょく	Wakkanai	Wakkanai	71,423	4,625.09	15.44	1	8	1
7	Okhotsk	オホーツク総合そうごう振興しんこう局きょく	Abashiri	Kitami	309,487	10,690.62	28.95	3	14	1
8	Tokachi	十勝とかち総合そうごう振興しんこう局きょく	Obihiro	Obihiro	353,291	10,831.24	32.62	1	16	2
9	Kushiro	釧路くしろ総合そうごう振興しんこう局きょく	Kushiro	Kushiro	252,571	5,997.38	42.11	1	6	1
e	↳ Nemuro	根室ねむろ振興しんこう局きょく	Nemuro	Nemuro	84,035	3,406.23	24.67	1	4	*
* Japan claims the southern part of Kuril Islands (Northern Territories), currently administered by Russia, belong to Nemuro Subprefecture divided into six villages. However, the table above excludes these islands' data.

Reorganization

The prefectural government of Hokkaido planned to reorganize the current 14 subprefectures into 9 subprefectural bureaus. Five subprefectures, namely Hidaka, Hiyama, Ishikari, Nemuro, and Rumoi were subject to be cut down. The capital municipalities of these subprefectures opposed the plan, but on June 28, 2008, the prefectural council passed the ordinance of the reorganization. The change should have taken effect in April 2009.

However, it was impossible to make the reform on time. The Public Offices Election Act and the Election Law were not amended on April 1, 2009, but the amendment the Public Offices Election Act was passed in the prefectural assembly on March 31, 2009 and took effect from April 1, 2010.

List of subprefectural bureaus

• Sorachi General Subprefectural Bureau (空知そらち総合そうごう振興しんこう局きょく), Iwamizawa, covering Ishikari and Sorachi areas. (Horokanai belongs to Kamikawa Subprefectural Bureau.)
  • Ishikari Subprefectural Bureau (石狩いしかり振興しんこう局きょく), Sapporo, covering Ishikari area
• Shiribeshi General Subprefectural Bureau (後志しりべ総合そうごう振興しんこう局きょく), Kutchan, covering Shiribeshi area
• Iburi General Subprefectural Bureau (胆振いぶり総合そうごう振興しんこう局きょく), Muroran, covering Iburi and Hidaka areas
  • Hidaka Subprefectural Bureau (日高ひだか振興しんこう局きょく), Urakawa, covering Hidaka area
• Oshima General Subprefectural Bureau (渡島ととう総合そうごう振興しんこう局きょく), Hakodate, covering Oshima and Hiyama areas
  • Hiyama Subprefectural Bureau (檜山ひやま振興しんこう局きょく), Esashi, covering Hiyama area
• Kamikawa General Subprefectural Bureau (上川かみかわ総合そうごう振興しんこう局きょく), Asahikawa, covering Kamikawa and Rumoi areas
  • Rumoi Subprefectural Bureau (留萌るもい振興しんこう局きょく), Rumoi, covering Rumoi area. (Horonobe belongs to Soya Subprefectural Bureau.)
• Sōya General Subprefectural Bureau (宗谷そうや総合そうごう振興しんこう局きょく), Wakkanai, covering Sōya area
• Okhotsk General Subprefectural Bureau (オホーツク総合そうごう振興しんこう局きょく), Abashiri, covering Abashiri area
• Tokachi General Subprefectural Bureau (十勝とかち総合そうごう振興しんこう局きょく), Obihiro, covering Tokachi area
• Kushiro General Subprefectural Bureau (釧路くしろ総合そうごう振興しんこう局きょく), Kushiro, covering Kushiro and Nemuro areas
  • Nemuro Subprefectural Bureau (根室ねむろ振興しんこう局きょく), Nemuro, covering Nemuro area

External links

• Official websites of the subprefectural bureaus (in Japanese)
• The map of the new development bureaus, from Pucchi Guide (in Japanese)