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