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A special city (特例市, Tokureishi) of Japan was a category of cities in Japan in operation until 2015. Each special city had a population of at least 200,000, and was delegated functions^[specify] normally carried out by prefectural governments. Those functions were a subset of the functions that were delegated to core cities.

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.

Because the level of autonomy delegated to special cities was similar to that for core cities, after consultation with local governments the category of special cities was abolished in the revision of the Local Autonomy Act enacted on April 1, 2015. Cities with a population of at least 200,000 may now apply to be directly promoted to core city status. 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. ^[1]

The special cities were not the same as the special wards of Tokyo. 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. They would have been prefecture-independent cities (in an analogous way, special wards are city-independent wards). They were the legal successors to the 1922 "six major cities" (roku daitoshi; only five were left in 1947 as Tokyo City had been abolished in the war) and precursors to the 1956 designated major cities that have expanded autonomy, but not full independence from prefectures.^[2]

List of special cities

As of 2015, when the category was abolished, 23 cities had been designated special cities:

Name	Japanese	Area (km²)	Population (2012)	Date of designation	Region	Prefecture
Atsugi	厚木市	93.83	224,181	2002-04-01	Kantō	Kanagawa
Chigasaki	茅ヶ崎市	35.71	239,874	2003-04-01	Kantō	Kanagawa
Fuji	富士市	244.95	245,015	2001-04-01	Chūbu	Shizuoka
Hiratsuka	平塚市	67.88	260,061	2001-04-01	Kantō	Kanagawa
Ibaraki	茨木市	76.52	276,474	2001-04-01	Kansai	Osaka
Isesaki	伊勢崎市	139.44	207,253	2007-04-01	Kantō	Gunma
Jōetsu	上越市	973.81	202,366	2007-04-01	Chūbu	Niigata
Kakogawa	加古川市	138.51	268,175	2002-04-01	Kansai	Hyōgo
Kasugai	春日井市	92.78	306,573	2002-04-01	Chūbu	Aichi
Kasukabe	春日部市	66.00	236,976	2008-04-01	Kantō	Saitama
Kishiwada	岸和田市	72.68	197,629	2002-04-01	Kansai	Osaka
Kumagaya	熊谷市	159.82	201,814	2009-04-01	Kantō	Saitama
Nagaoka	長岡市	891.06	281,101	2007-04-01	Chūbu	Niigata
Numazu	沼津市	186.96	199,883	2000-04-01	Chūbu	Shizuoka
Odawara	小田原市	113.79	194,672	2000-04-01	Kantō	Kanagawa
Ōta	太田市	175.54	217,107	2007-04-01	Kantō	Gunma
Saga	佐賀市	431.84	237,501	2014-04-01	Kyushu	Saga
Sōka	草加市	27.46	244,851	2004-04-01	Kantō	Saitama
Takarazuka	宝塚市	101.89	227,617	2003-04-01	Kansai	Hyōgo
Tokorozawa	所沢市	72.11	344,194	2002-04-01	Kantō	Saitama
Tsukuba	つくば市	283.72	244,528	2007-04-01	Kantō	Ibaraki
Yamato	大和市	27.09	230,357	2000-04-01	Kantō	Kanagawa
Yokkaichi	四日市市	206.44	306,107	2000-04-01	Chūbu	Mie

References

^ 日本總務省 - 中核市・施行時特例市. soumo.go.jp.
^ Satoru Ohsugi (2011): The Large City System of Japan Council of Local Authorities for International Relations and Institute for Comparative Studies in Local Governance, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. – Note: this paper translates tokurei-shi as "special case city" and uses "special city" for tokubetsu-shi