A is a subdivision of the cities of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

that are large enough to have been designated by government ordinance."Statistical Handbook of Japan 2008" by Statistics Bureau, Japan
Chapter 17: Government System (Retrieved on July 4, 2009) Wards are used to subdivide each

city designated by government ordinance A , also known as a or , is a Cities of Japan, Japanese city that has a population greater than 500,000 and has been designated as such by order of the Cabinet of Japan under Article 252, Section 19, of the Local Autonomy Law. Designated cit ...

("designated city"). The

23 special wards The of Tokyo are a special form of municipalities in Japan under the 1947 Local Autonomy Law. They are city-level wards: primary subdivisions of a prefecture with municipal autonomy largely comparable to other forms of municipalities. With a l ...

Tokyo Metropolis Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

have a

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

status, and are not the same as other entities referred to as ''ku'', although their predecessors were. Wards are

local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

entities directly controlled by the municipal government. They handle administrative functions such as ''

koseki A or family register is a Japanese family register, family registry. Japanese law requires all Japanese households to make notifications of their vital records (such as births, adoptions, deaths, marriages and divorces) to their local Municipa ...

'' registration,

health insurance Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among ma ...

, and property

taxation A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal person, legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to Pigouvian tax, regulate and reduce nega ...

. Many wards have affiliated residents' organizations for a number of tasks, although these do not have any legal authority.

List of wards

Special wards of Tokyo

The

special wards of Tokyo The of Tokyo are a special form of Municipalities of Japan, municipalities in Japan under the 1947 Local Autonomy Act, Local Autonomy Law. They are city-level wards: primary subdivisions of a prefecture with municipal autonomy largely comparabl ...

are not normal wards in the usual sense of the term, but instead are administrative units governed similarly to

cities A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

References

{{Authority control Subdivisions of Japan

List of wards

Special wards of Tokyo

See also

References