Subprefectures in Hokkaidō
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Hokkaidō Prefecture has 14 branch offices called 支庁 (shichō) in Japanese, which is often translated in English as subprefectures. Normally, a subprefecture consists of a few to a dozen cities, towns, and/or villages.
For historical reasons, some older people in Hokkaidō use the subprefecture name suffixed by -kannai in their address.
[edit] History of shichō in Hokkaidō
| 1897 | Nineteen shichō were placed under Hokkaido Agency (an agency of the national government): Sapporo, Hakodate, Kameda, Matsumae, Hiyama, Suttsu, Iwanai, Otaru, Sorachi, Kamikawa, Mashike, Souya, Abashiri, Muroran, Urakawa, Kushiro, Kasai, Nemuro, and Shana. |
| 1899 | Sapporo-ku, Hakodate-ku, and Otaru-ku were established as municipalities independent of shichō. Sapporo-shichō and Otaru-shichō were continued with remaining area, but Hakodate-shichō was dissolved. Previous Kameda-shichō was renamed Hokodate-shichō. |
| 1903 | Matsumae-shichō was merged with Hakodate-shichō. Shana-shichō was merged with Nemuro-shichō. |
| 1910 | Suttsu-shichō, Iwanai-shichō, and Otaru-shichō were merged to form Shiribeshi-shichō. |
| 1914 | Asahikawa-ku was established as a municipality independent of Kamikawa-shichō. Mashike-shichō was renamed as Rumoi-shichō. |
| 1918 | Muroran-ku was established as a municipality independent of Muroran-shichō. |
| 1920 | Kushiro-ku was established as a municipality independent of Kushiro-shichō. |
| 1922 | The six ku were restated as shi (cities). Sapporo-shichō was renamed Ishikari-shichō. Hakodate-shichō was renamed Oshima-shichō. Muroran-shichō was renamed Iburi-shichō. |
| 1932 | Urakawa-shichō was renamed Hidaka-shichō. Kasai-shichō was renamed Tokachi-shichō. |
| 1947 | Hokkaido Agency was abolished and Hokkaidō Prefecture was established. Hokkaidō Prefecture took over shichō. |
Today, fourteen shichō effectively cover all of Hokkaidō. Technically, the shichō cover only towns and villages, although some commissioned business is conducted for cities.
