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{{Short description|Administrative divisions}}
{{Administrative divisions of Japan}}
{{nihongo|'''Subprefecture of Japan'''|支庁|shichō|}} are a [[Japan]]ese form of self-government which focuses on local issues below the prefectural level. It acts as part of the greater administration of the state and as part of a self-government system.<ref name="louisiana80">Imperial Japanese Commission to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. (1903). [https://books.google.com/books?id=tYguAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA80&dq= ''Japan in the beginning of the 20th century'', p. 80].</ref>

==History==
They were given a definite form in 1878 (''Meiji 11'').<ref name="louisiana81">Imperial Japanese Commission, [https://books.google.com/books?id=tYguAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA81&dq= p. 81].</ref>

The Meiji government established the {{nihongo|sub-prefecture|郡|-gun}} as an administrative unit.<ref name="louisiana80"/>

In 1888 (''Meiji 21''), the sub-prefecture as a form of self-government was officially [[wikt:recognized|recognized]] as more general than civic corporations like [[city|cities]], [[town]]s and [[village]]s.<ref name="louisiana81"/> 
 
Certain [[prefectures of Japan]] are now, or once were, divided into subprefectures. The subprefecture is the jurisdiction surrounding a "branch office" of the prefectural government. Normally, the area of a subprefecture consists of a few to a dozen cities, towns, and/or villages. Subprefectures are formed to provide services of the prefectural government in geographically remote areas. They are usually not used in postal addresses.

==Existing subprefectures==
*'''[[Hokkaidō]]''', the largest prefecture by area in Japan, was divided into fourteen subprefectures. These were formed in 1897. The subprefectures did not include major cities, such as [[Sapporo]] and [[Hakodate]], until 1922. In 2010 they were replaced by 9 General Subprefectural Bureaus and 5 Subprefectural Bureaus. ''See: [[Subprefectures in Hokkaidō]]''
*'''[[Kagoshima Prefecture|Kagoshima]]''' has two subprefectures, [[Ōshima Subprefecture (Kagoshima)|Ōshima]] and [[Kumage Subprefecture|Kumage]], located in [[Amami, Kagoshima|Amami]] and [[Nishinoomote, Kagoshima|Nishinoomote]] respectively. They cover the islands between Kagoshima and Okinawa.
*'''[[Miyazaki Prefecture|Miyazaki]]''' contains a single subprefecture, [[Nishiusuki District, Miyazaki|Nishiusuki]], a remote mountain district in the northwest corner of the prefecture.
*'''[[Tokyo]]''' contains four subprefectures that provide administrative services to residents of [[Tokyo Islands|outlying islands]] under the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The four branch offices are located at [[Hachijō Subprefecture|Hachijō]],<ref>Favro, S. (2010). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Kc5xrqAD9fYC&pg=PA195&dq= ''Island Sustainability,'' p. 195] citing Tokyo Metropolitan Government, ''Outline of Hachijo Subprefecture,'' 2009.</ref> [[Miyake Subprefecture|Miyake]],<ref>Favro, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Kc5xrqAD9fYC&pg=PA195&dq= p. 195] citing Tokyo Metropolitan Government, ''Outline of Miyake Subprefecture,'' 2009.</ref> [[Ogasawara Subprefecture|Ogasawara]]<ref>Yong Hong, Seoung. (2009). [https://books.google.com/books?id=mebBeRGmPAYC&pg=PA148&dq= ''Maritime Boundary Disputes, Settlement Processes, and the Law of the Sea,'' p. 148].</ref> and [[Ōshima Subprefecture (Tokyo)|Ōshima]].<ref>Favro, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Kc5xrqAD9fYC&pg=PA195&dq= p. 195] citing Tokyo Metropolitan Government, ''Outline of Oshima Subprefecture,'' 2009.</ref>
*'''[[Shimane Prefecture|Shimane]]''' contains one subprefecture governing the [[Oki Islands]]. This is the closest Japanese government office to [[Liancourt Rocks]], a small island group held by [[South Korea]] but claimed by [[Japan]].
*'''[[Yamagata Prefecture|Yamagata]]''' is divided into four subprefectures, each of which is located in one of the four main urban areas of the prefecture ([[Yamagata, Yamagata|Yamagata]], [[Shinjo, Yamagata|Shinjo]], [[Yonezawa, Yamagata|Yonezawa]] and [[Mikawa, Yamagata|Shonai plains]]).

==Historical subprefectures==
*'''[[Hyōgo Prefecture|Hyōgo]]''', another geographically large prefecture, was divided into ten subprefectures, but these are now known as {{nihongo|citizen's bureaus|県民局|kenmin-kyoku}}.
*'''[[Chiba Prefecture|Chiba]]''' was divided into five subprefectures until 2003, when the branch offices were renamed {{nihongo|citizens' centers|県民センター|kenmin-sentā}}.
*'''[[Nagasaki Prefecture|Nagasaki]]''' had three subprefectures that provide services to the outlying islands of [[Tsushima Subprefecture|Tsushima]], [[Iki Island|Iki]] and [[Gotō, Nagasaki|Gotō]]. They were replaced by Regional Offices and then by District Offices.
*'''[[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]]''' had two subprefectures, [[Miyako Subprefecture|Miyako]] and [[Yaeyama Subprefecture|Yaeyama]], located on the islands of [[Miyakojima]] and [[Ishigaki Island|Ishigaki]] respectively. These offices provided prefectural government services to the isolated archipelagos surrounding both islands. They were abolished in March 2009 and duties taken over by the governments of [[Miyakojima, Okinawa|Miyakojima City]], [[Miyako District, Okinawa|Miyako District]], [[Ishigaki, Okinawa|Ishigaki City]], and [[Yaeyama District, Okinawa|Yaeyama District]].

In addition, in 1907 Japan formed [[Karafuto Prefecture]] to govern the island of [[Sakhalin]]. Karafuto was divided into four subprefectures: Toyohara (in present-day [[Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk]]), Maoka (in present-day [[Kholmsk]]), Esutoru (in present-day [[Uglegorsk, Sakhalin Oblast|Uglegorsk]]) and Shikuka (in present-day [[Makarov, Russia|Makarov]]).

A number of islands gained by Japan in the [[Treaty of Versailles]] were placed under the direction of a {{nihongo|[[South Pacific Mandate|South Pacific Prefecture]]|南洋庁|Nan'yōchō}} from 1922 to 1945. This was divided into six subprefectures, on the islands of [[Saipan]], [[Yap]], [[Palau]], [[Chuuk Lagoon|Truk]], [[Pohnpei]] and [[Jaluit]]. In November 1943, the six subprefectures were merged into "eastern", "western" and "northern" subprefectures, which remained in place until the [[Surrender of Japan]] in 1945.

{{see also|Political divisions of Taiwan (1895–1945)}}
[[Taiwan during Japanese rule]] initially had its prefectures – {{nihongo| |県|ken}}, later termed {{nihongo| |州|shū}} and {{nihongo| |庁|chō}} – subdivided into ''{{Transliteration|ja|shichō}}''. Most of the later subprefectures were named {{nihongo| |郡|gun|also "districts"}}. 
Some English texts translate "sub-prefecture" differently, using it instead for the ''{{Transliteration|ja|chō}}'' of Taiwan, which were remote prefectures that were much less populated, once considered "sub-", or "lesser", prefectures, i.e., [[Hōko Prefecture|Hōko]] (the Pescadores), [[Karenkō Prefecture|Karenkō]] (Hualien) and [[Taitō Prefecture|Taitō]] (Taitung).<ref>Kratoska, Paul H. (2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=-zvDJV3s6tAC&pg=PA102&dq=  ''Asian Labor in the Wartime Japanese Empire,'' p. 102].</ref><ref>Morris, Andrew. (2010). [https://books.google.com/books?id=jqgWVRqAJ9QC&pg=PA17&dq=  ''Colonial Project, National Game: A History of Baseball in Taiwan,'' p. 17].</ref> The offshore Hōko was home to the last two remaining subprefectures named ''{{Transliteration|ja|shichō}}'': {{nihongo|Makō |馬公支廳}} and {{nihongo|Mōan|望安支廳}}.

==See also==
* [[Administrative division]]
* [[Urban area]]
*[[Subprefecture]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Articles on second-level administrative divisions of Asian countries}}

[[Category:Subprefectures of Japan| ]]
[[Category:Subdivisions of Japan]]
[[Category:Lists of subdivisions of Japan|Subprefectures]]
[[Category:Administrative divisions in Asia|Japan 2]]
[[Category:Second-level administrative divisions by country|Subprefectures, Japan]]
[[Category:Wikipedia requested maps in Japan]]