special cities of japan 

Statements about this table:
shimonoseki have the most recent date of designation of any city with a date of 2002 - 04 - 01
shimizu be the only city to be merge with another on their date of reclassification
2009 - 04 - 01 have the highest number of city with their date of reclassification on that date with a total of 3
the only region with more than 1 special city with the hokkaido and chūbu region
the city with the earliest date of designation would be takasaki
toyonaka be the oldest date of designation of any city
morioka and shimizu be 2 city to happen to merge with another date of reclassification
none of the city happen to have a date of reclassification in 2009
name
japanese
date of designation
date of reclassification
region
prefecture
hakodate
函館
2000 - 11 - 01
2005 - 10 - 01 ( core city )
hokkaido
hokkaido
shimizu
清水
2001 - 04 - 01
2003 - 04 - 01 (merge into shizuoka )
chūbu
shizuoka
shimonoseki
下関
2002 - 04 - 01
2005 - 02 - 12 ( core city )
chūgoku
yamaguchi
morioka
盛岡
2000 - 11 - 01
2008 - 04 - 01 ( core city )
tōhoku
iwate
name
japanese
date of designation
date of reclassification
region
prefecture
kurume
久留米
2001 - 04 - 01
2008 - 04 - 01 ( core city )
kyushu
fukuoka
maebashi
前橋
2001 - 04 - 01
2009 - 04 - 01 ( core city )
kantō
gunma
ōtsu
大津
2001 - 04 - 01
2009 - 04 - 01 ( core city )
kansai
shiga
name
japanese
date of designation
date of reclassification
region
prefecture
amagasaki
尼崎
2001 - 04 - 01
2009 - 04 - 01 ( core city )
kansai
hyōgo
takasaki
高崎
2001 - 04 - 01
2011 - 04 - 01 ( core city )
kantō
gunma
toyonaka
豊中
2001 - 04 - 01
2012 - 04 - 01 ( core city )
kansai
osaka