Cities of Japan

Cities in Japan are one of the basic local entities of the nation.Web-Japan.org,  "Local self-government," p. 1. Retrieved 2012-12-19.

Japan's smallest sub-national jurisdictions are sometimes grouped together. The term shichoson combines suffixes which recognize the municipalities, including
 Jacobs, A.J.  "Japan's Evolving Nested Municipal Hierarchy: The Race for Local Power in the 2000s," Urban Studies Research, (2011);  doi:10.1155/2011/692764. Retrieved 2012-12-19. 



The small cities generally have populations of over 30,000.

There are three defined classes or categories of big cities. Web-Japan.org,  "Local self-government," p. 3. Retrieved 2012-12-19.  
 Designated cites, population over 500,000Jacobs,  Table 1. Retrieved 2012-12-19.
 Core cities, population over 300,000Jacobs,  Table 2. Retrieved 2012-12-19.
 Special cities, population over 200,000Jacobs,  Table 3. Retrieved 2012-12-19.

Each of the largest cities does many of the things normally done by prefectures. 

History
Japan's system of local governments date from 1947. Cities in Japan are local governments which are defined by the Local Autonomy Law.

Related pages

 Administrative division
 Urban area
 Municipalities in Japan

 References 

Other websites
 "Large City System of Japan"; graphic shows cities in context [PDF 7 of 40]