Our Series on Administrative Divisions takes us to Japan, one of the most populous unitary countries in the World.
Japan is a highly centralized country, where the first level of administrative subdivisions is the prefecture. There are 47 prefectures in Japan, which date from the Meiji era, a time of great advancement in Japanese history, which officially started in 1868. Before that, local authorities were a mix of city and rural districts ruled by envoys of the Shogun (the de facto ruler of Japan, although nominally reporting to the emperor).
Each prefecture is headed by an elected governor, and has one elected assembly. Prefectures are divided into sub-prefectures, cities, towns and villages.
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Japan in 2022
