A is a class or category of
Japanese cities. It is a local
administrative division
Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...
created by the national government.
[Web-Japan.org]
"Local self-government", p. 3
retrieved 2012-11-28. Core cities are delegated many functions normally carried out by
prefectural governments, but not as many as
designated cities. To become a candidate for core city status, a
city
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 ...
must have a population greater than 300,000 and an area greater than 100 square kilometers, although special exceptions may be made by order of the cabinet for cities with populations under 300,000 but over 200,000. After the abolition of
special city status on April 1, 2015, any city with a population above 200,000 may apply for core city status.
Application for designation is made by a city with the approval of both the city and prefectural assemblies.
History
The term "core city" was created by the first clause of Article 252, Section 22 of the
Local Autonomy Law
The , passed by the House of Representatives and the House of Peers on March 28, 1947 and promulgated as Law No. 67 of 1947 on April 17,Ministry of Justice, Japanese Law Translation Database SystemLocal Autonomy Act/ref> is an Act of devolution t ...
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 ...
.
List of core cities
As of 1 April 2021, 62 cities have been designated core cities:
Former core cities
Scheduled to become a core city
Cities that meet the requirements but have not yet been nominated
The following cities have populations greater than 200,000 but have not yet been nominated. (Special cities and cities planning to apply for core city status are not shown.)
See also
*
Administrative division
Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...
*
Urban area
An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...
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);
"Large City System of Japan"—graphic shows core cities compared with other Japanese city types at p. 1 (PDF p. 7 of 40)
"Growth in Second Tier Cities - Urban Policy Lessons from Japan"€”briefing by
CLAIR London on classes of Japanese cities (PDF)
{{Metropolitan cities of Japan