Hokkaidō Prefecture has 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.

For historical reasons, some older people in Hokkaidō use the subprefecture name suffixed by -kannai in their address.

History of shichō in Hokkaidō

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 Hokodate-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 Hokkaidō Prefecture was established. Hokkaidō Prefecture took over shichō.
2009	The shichō will be reorganized into nine shinkōkyoku (development bureaus).

Today, fourteen shichō effectively cover all of Hokkaidō. Technically, the shichō cover only towns and villages, although some commissioned business is conducted for cities.

List of subprefectures

Those in blankets are subprefectural capitals. Numbers are those of the map shown here.

• Abashiri (Abashiri, No.11)
• Hidaka (Urakawa, No.7)
• Hiyama (Esashi, No.5)
• Iburi (Muroran, No.6)
• Ishikari (Sapporo, No.1)
• Kamikawa (Asahikawa, No.8)
• Kushiro (Kushiro, No.13)
• Nemuro (Nemuro, No.14)
• Oshima (Hakodate, No.4)
• Rumoi (Rumoi, No.9)
• Shiribeshi (Kutchan, No.3)
• Sorachi (Iwamizawa, No.2)
• Sōya (Wakkanai, No.10)
• Tokachi (Obihiro, No.12)

Future reorganization

The prefectural government of Hokkaidō plans to reorganize the current 14 subprefectures into 9 development bureaus. Five subprefectures, namely Hidaka, Hiyama, Ishikari, Nemuro, and Rumoi are subject to be cut down. The capital municipalities of these subprefectures oppose the plan. However, on June 28 2008, the prefectural council passed the ordinance of the reorganization. The change will take effect from April 2009.

List of development bureaus from 2009

The are equivalent to the current subprefectures, while the are the branch offices of them.

• Dōō General Development Bureau (道央総合振興局), Iwamizawa, covering Ishikari and Sorachi areas
• Ishikari Development Bureau (石狩振興局), Sapporo, covering Ishikari area
• Shiribeshi General Development Bureau (後志総合振興局), Kutchan, covering Shiribeshi area
• Nittan General Development Bureau (日胆総合振興局), Muroran, covering Iburi and Hidaka areas
• Hidaka Development Bureau (日高振興局), Urakawa, covering Hidaka area
• Dōnan General Development Bureau (道南総合振興局), Hakodate, covering Oshima and Hiyama areas
• Hiyama Development Bureau (檜山振興局), Esashi, covering Hiyama area
• Dōhoku General Development Bureau (道北総合振興局), Asahikawa, covering Kamikawa and Rumoi areas
• Rumoi Development Bureau (留萌振興局), Rumoi, covering Rumoi area
• Sōya General Development Bureau (宗谷総合振興局), Wakkanai, covering Sōya area
• Okhotsk General Development Bureau (オホーツク総合振興局), Abashiri, covering Abashiri area
• Tokachi General Development Bureau (十勝総合振興局), Obihiro, covering Tokachi area
• Dōtō General Development Bureau (道東総合振興局), Kushiro, covering Kushiro and Nemuro areas
• Nemuro Development Bureau (根室振興局), Nemuro, covering Nemuro area

References

External links

• Official websites of the subprefectures
• The map of the new development bureaus, from Pucchi Guide