Special cities of Japan

, also known as Special Case cities, is a defined class or category of Japanese cities.  It is a local administrative division created by the national government.Web-Japan.org,  "Local self-government," p. 3; retrieved 2012-11-28.  All special cities have a population greater than 200,000.

History
The special or special case cities were created because of the Local Autonomy Law of Japan.The special cities are not the same as the special wards of Tokyo. Each city does many of the things normally done by prefectures.  

List
Special cities were recognized starting in 2000.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 2012-12-18. There are 40+ of these cities, including
This list is not finished; you can help Wikipedia by adding to it.
 Akashi, 2002Jacobs,  Table 3 ; retrieved 2012-12-18.
 Atsugi, 2002
 Chigasaki, 2003
 Fuji, 2001
 Fukui, 2000
 Hachinohe, 2001
 Hirakata, 2001
 Hiratsuka, 2001
 Ibaraki, 2001
 Ichinomiya, 2001
 Isesaki, 2007
 Jōetsu, 2007
 Kakogawa, 2002
 Kasugai, 2002
 Kasukabe, 2008
 Kawaguchi, 2001
 Kishiwada, 2002
 Kōfu, 2000
 Koshigaya, 2003
 Kumagaya, 2009
 Kure, 2000
 Matsue, 2012
 Matsumoto, 2000
 Mito, 2001
 Nagaoka, 2007
 Neyagawa, 2001
 Numazu, 2000
 Odawara, 2000
 Ōta, 2007
 Sasebo, 2001
 Sōka, 2004
 Suita, 2001
 Takarazuka, 2003
 Tokorozawa, 2002
 Tottori, 2005
 Toyonaka, 2001
 Tsukuba, 2007
 Yamagata, 2001
 Yamato, 2000
 Yao, 2001
 Yokkaichi, 2000

Related pages

 Administrative division
 Urban area
 Municipalities in Japan

References

Other websites
 ; graphic shows wards compared with other Japanese city types at p. 1 [PDF 7 of 40]