Hokkaido Prefecture had 14 branch offices called 支庁 (shichō) in Japanese, which is often translated in English as subprefectures. Normally, a subprefecture consists of a few to a dozen cities, towns, and/or villages. From April 2010, Hokkaido has nine General Subprefecture Bureaus (総合振興局, sōgō-shinkō-kyoku, literally "Comprehensive Promotion Bureau") and five Subprefecture Bureaus (振興局, shinkō-kyoku, literally "Promotion Bureau")).
For historical reasons, some older people in Hokkaido use the subprefecture name suffixed by -kannai in their address.
History
1897
Nineteen shichō 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 shichō. Sapporo-shichō and Otaru-shichō were continued with remaining area, but Hakodate-shichō was dissolved. Previous Kameda-shichō was renamed Hakodate-shichō.
1903
Matsumae-shichō was merged with Hakodate-shichō. Shana-shichō was merged with Nemuro-shichō.
1910
Suttsu-shichō, Iwanai-shichō, and Otaru-shichō were merged to form Shiribeshi-shichō.
1914
Asahikawa-ku was established as a municipality independent of Kamikawa-shichō. Mashike-shichō was renamed as Rumoi-shichō.
1918
Muroran-ku was established as a municipality independent of Muroran-shichō.
1920
Kushiro-ku was established as a municipality independent of Kushiro-shichō.
1922
The six ku were restated as shi (cities). Sapporo-shichō was renamed Ishikari-shichō. Hakodate-shichō was renamed Oshima-shichō. Muroran-shichō was renamed Iburi-shichō.
1932
Urakawa-shichō was renamed Hidaka-shichō. Kasai-shichō was renamed Tokachi-shichō.
1947
Hokkaido Agency was abolished and Hokkaido Prefecture was established. Hokkaido Prefecture took over shichō.
* Japan claims the southern part of Kuril Islands (Northern Territories), currently administered by Russia, belong to Nemuro Subprefecture divided into six villages. However, the table above excludes these islands' data.
Reorganisation
The prefectural government of Hokkaido planned to reorganise the current fourteen subprefectures into nine sub-prefectural bureaus. Five subprefectures, namely Hidaka, Hiyama, Ishikari, Nemuro, and Rumoi were subject to be cut down. The capital municipalities of these subprefectures opposed the plan, but on June 28, 2008, the prefectural council passed the ordinance of the reorganization.[1] The change should have taken effect in April 2009.
However, it was impossible to make the reform on time. The Public Offices Election Act and the Election Law were not amended on April 1, 2009, but the amendment the Public Offices Election Act was passed in the prefectural assembly on March 31, 2009, and took effect from April 1, 2010.
^(in Japanese)釧路支庁が道東総合振興局に、道の支庁改革条例成立 (Kushiro Subprefecture will be Dōtō General Development Bureau, the ordinance for the sub-prefectural reformation is passed), by Kushiro Shinbun, June 29, 2008
