Special cities of Japan

Each special city had a population of at least 200,000, and was delegated functions[specify] normally carried out by prefectural governments.

The category of special cities was established by the Local Autonomy Law, article 252 clause 26.

They were designated by the Cabinet after a request by a city council and a prefectural assembly.

Special cities that have not been promoted may still retain autonomy, and are called special cities for the enforcement period (施行時特例市, Shikōji Tokurei shi), but this is regarded as a temporary arrangement.

They were also different from the special (designated) cities (特別市, tokubetsu-shi) that were legally established under the Local Autonomy Law between 1947 and 1956, in an arrangement that was never implemented.

Sapporo Hakodate, Hokkaidō Asahikawa, Hokkaidō Aomori Hachinohe Morioka, Iwate Sendai Akita Yamagata, Yamagata Fukushima, Fukushima Kōriyama, Fukushima Iwaki, Fukushima Mito, Ibaraki Tsukuba, Ibaraki Utsunomiya, Tochigi Maebashi, Gunma Takasaki, Gunma Isesaki, Gunma Ōta, Gunma Saitama, Saitama Kawagoe, Saitama Kumagaya, Saitama Kawaguchi, Saitama Tokorozawa, Saitama Kasukabe, Saitama Sōka Koshigaya, Saitama Chiba Funabashi, Chiba Kashiwa, Chiba Hachiōji, Tokyo Yokohama Kawasaki, Kanagawa Yokosuka, Kanagawa Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Odawara, Kanagawa Chigasaki, Kanagawa Sagamihara Atsugi, Kanagawa Yamato, Kanagawa Niigata Nagaoka, Niigata Jōetsu, Niigata Toyama, Toyama Kanazawa, Ishikawa Fukui Kōfu, Yamanashi Nagano, Nagano Matsumoto, Nagano Gifu Shizuoka, Shizuoka Hamamatsu Numazu, Shizuoka Fuji, Shizuoka Nagoya Toyohashi, Aichi Okazaki, Aichi Ichinomiya, Aichi Kasugai, Aichi Toyota, Aichi Yokkaichi, Mie Ōtsu, Shiga Kyoto Osaka Sakai, Osaka Kishiwada, Osaka Toyonaka, Osaka Suita Takatsuki, Osaka Hirakata, Osaka Ibaraki, Osaka Yao, Osaka Neyagawa, Osaka Higashiōsaka, Osaka Kobe Himeji, Hyōgo Amagasaki Akashi, Hyōgo Nishinomiya Kakogawa, Hyōgo Takarazuka, Hyōgo Nara, Nara Wakayama Tottori Matsue, Shimane Okayama Kurashiki, Okayama Hiroshima Kure, Hiroshima Fukuyama, Hiroshima Shimonoseki Takamatsu, Kagawa Matsuyama, Ehime Kōchi, Kōchi Kitakyushu Fukuoka Kurume, Fukuoka Saga Nagasaki Sasebo, Nagasaki Kumamoto Ōita Miyazaki Kagoshima Naha, Okinawa
(Circle click-able)
■ ― Designated cities
■ ― Core cities
■ ― Special cities