Administrative divisions of Japan

The bureaucratic administration of Japan is divided into three basic levels: national, prefectural, and municipal.

Below the national government there are 47 prefectures, six of which are further subdivided into subprefectures to better service large geographical areas or remote islands.

Subprefectures (支庁, shichō) are a Japanese form of self-government which focuses on local issues below the prefectural level.

Cities are ranked on the same level as towns (町, machi) and villages (村, mura); the only difference is that they are not a component of districts (郡, gun).

It is a local public body along with prefecture (ken or other equivalents), city (shi), and village (mura).

It is a local public body along with prefecture (県, ken, or other equivalents), city (市, shi), and town (町, chō, sometimes machi).

The special wards (特別区, tokubetsu-ku) are 23 municipalities that together make up the core and the most populous part of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan.

The special wards' structure was established under the Japanese Local Autonomy Act and is unique to Tokyo Metropolis.

A ward (区, ku) is a subdivision of the cities of Japan that are large enough to have been designated by government ordinance.

Before the abolition of the han system, Japan was divided into provinces (国, kuni) then subdivided into districts (郡, gun) and then villages (里/郷, sato) at the bottom.