City designated by government ordinance

City designated by government ordinance (政令指定都市), also known as a designated city (指定都市) or government ordinance city (政令市), is a defined class or category of Japanese cities. It is a local administrative division created by the national government. These cities all have a population over 500,000 people.

History
The designated cites or ordinance cities were created because of the Local Autonomy Law of Japan. Each city does many of the things normally done by prefectures.

List
Cities designated by government ordinance recognized starting in 1956. There are 20+ of these cities, including
 * This list is not finished; you can help Wikipedia by adding to it.


 * Chiba, 1992
 * Fukuoka, 1972
 * Hamamatsu, 2007
 * Hiroshima, 1980
 * Kawasaki, 1972
 * Kitakyushu, 1963
 * Kyoto
 * Kobe
 * Kumamoto, Kumamoto
 * Kyoto
 * Nagoya
 * Niigata
 * Okayama
 * Osaka
 * Sagamihara
 * Saitama
 * Sakai
 * Sapporo
 * Sendai
 * Shizuoka
 * Yokohama

Related pages

 * Administrative division
 * Urban area
 * Municipalities in Japan

Other websites

 * "Large City System of Japan"; graphic shows designated cities in context [PDF 7 of 40 ]