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Some Japanese prefectures have branch offices called 支庁 (shicho) in
Japanese, which can be translated in English as subprefectures.
Normally area of a subprefecture consists of a few to a dozen of cities,
towns, and/or villages.
As the subprefectures are mere agencies of the prefectures, many
peoples are unaware of them, except what of
Hokkaido and
Tokyo by historical reasons. Some elder peoples in
Hokkaido use the subprefecture name suffixed by -kannai in
their address. Some peoples use the subprefecture name suffixed by -shicho
for addressing towns and villages on islands of
Tokyo Prefecture.
History of shicho in
Hokkaido
In 1897, Nineteen shicho were placed under the 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.
In 1899, Sapporo-ku, Hakodate-ku, and Otaru-ku
were established as municipalities independent of shicho.
Sapporo-shicho and Otaru-shicho were continued with
remaining area, but Hakodate-shicho was vanished. Previous
Kameda-shicho was renamed as Hokodate-shicho.
In 1903, Matsumae-shicho was merged with Hakodate-shicho.
Shana-shicho was merged with Nemuro-shicho.
In 1910, Suttsu-shicho, Iwanai-shicho, and Otaru-shicho
were merged to form Shiribeshi-shicho.
In 1914, Asahikawa-ku was established as municipalities
independent of Kamikawa-shicho. Mashike-shicho was
renamed as Rumoi-shicho.
In 1918, Muroran-ku was established as municipalities
independent of Muroran-shicho.
In 1920, Kushiro-ku was established as municipalities
independent of Kushiro-shicho.
In 1922, six ku were restated as shi (cities).
Sapporo-shicho was renamed as Ishikari-shicho. Hakodate-shicho
was renamed as Oshima-shicho. Muroran-shicho was renamed
as Iburi-shicho.
In 1932, Urakawa-shicho was renamed as Hidaka-shicho.
Kasai-shicho was renamed as Tokachi-shicho.
In 1947, Hokkaido Agency was abolished and
Hokkaido Prefecture was established. Hokkaido Prefecture took over
shicho.
Today, fourteen shicho effectively cover whole Hokkaido area.
To be pedantic, the shicho cover only towns and villages, albeit
they do some commisioned business for cities.
History of islands shicho
Many other shicho are have their origins in tocho
(island offices), which were gradually arranged around 1900.
As of 1909, eight tocho had been formed: Ogasawara (Tokyo),
Hachijo (Tokyo), Oshima (Tokyo), Tsushima (Nagasaki), Oki (Shimane),
Oshima (Kagoshima), Miyako (Okinawa), and Yaeyama (Okinawa).
In 1926, all tocho were restated as shicho.
Shicho of today
All prefecture are allowed to hav shicho by their own
discretion, regardless of history and geography. List of curent shicho
is as below:
-
Hokkaido (wholly)
-
Abashiri
-
Hidaka
-
Hiyama
-
Iburi
-
Ishikari
-
Kamikawa
-
Kushiro
-
Nemuro
-
Oshima
-
Rumoi
-
Shiribeshi
-
Sorachi
-
Soya
-
Tokachi
-
Tokyo (isolated islands)
-
Hachijo
-
Miyake
-
Ogasawara
-
Oshima
-
Chiba (wholly)
-
Awa
-
Chiba
-
Chosei
-
Higashi-katsushika
-
Isumi
-
Kaiso
-
Katori
-
Kimitsu
-
Shimane (partially)
-
Miyazaki (partially)
-
Nagasaki (partially)
-
Kagoshima (partially)
-
Okinawa (partially)
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