The map of Japan with cities shows all big and medium towns of Japan. This map of cities of Japan will allow you to easily find the city where you want to travel in Japan in Asia. The Japan cities map is downloadable in PDF, printable and free.

Article 8 of the Local Autonomy Law sets the following conditions for a municipality to be designated as a city as you can see in the map of Japan with cities: Population must generally be 50,000 or greater (原則として人口5万人以上), At least 60% of households must be established in a central urban area (中心市街地の戸数が全戸数の6割以上), At least 60% of households must be employed in commerce, industry or other urban occupations (商工業等の都市的業態に従事する世帯人口が全人口の6割以上). Any other conditions set by prefectural ordinance must be satisfied (他に当該都道府県の条例で定める要件を満たしていること).

The designation is approved by the prefectural governor and the Minister for Internal Affairs. A city can theoretically be demoted to a town or village when it fails to meet any of these conditions, but such a demotion has not happened to date. The least populous city as its shown in the map of Japan with cities, Utashinai, Hokkaido, has a population of six thousand, while a town in the same prefecture, Otofuke, Hokkaido, has nearly forty thousand.

Under the Act on Special Provisions concerning Merger of Municipalities (市町村の合併の特例等に関する法律?, Act No. 59 of 2004), the standard of 50,000 inhabitants for the city status has been eased to 30,000 if such population is gained as a result of a merger of towns and/or villages, in order to facilitate such mergers to reduce administrative costs as its mentioned in the map of Japan with cities. Many municipalities gained city status under this eased standard. On the other hand, the municipalities recently gained the city status purely as a result of increase of population without expansion of area are limited to those listed in List of former towns or villages gained city status alone.

The map of Japan with major cities shows all biggest and main towns of Japan. This map of major cities of Japan will allow you to easily find the big city where you want to travel in Japan in Asia. The Japan major cities map is downloadable in PDF, printable and free.

Mountainous areas account for more than 70% of Japan land, so major cities are concentrated in the plains that account for less than 30% of the land. Cities with a population exceeding one million as you can see in the map of Japan with major cities are Sapporo in Hokkaido; Sendai in the Tohoku region; Kawasaki, Saitama, Tokyo, and Yokohama in the Kanto region; Nagoya in the Chubu region; Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe in the Kinki region; Hiroshima in the Chugoku region; and Fukuoka in Kyushu. The capital city Tokyo, needless to say, is the hub of Japan. Other major cities fulfill roles as the political, economic, and cultural hubs of their respective regions.

A city designated by government ordinance (政令指定都市 seirei shitei toshi?), also known as a designated city (指定都市 shitei toshi?) or government ordinance city (政令市 seirei shi?), is a Japanese city that has a population greater than 500,000 as its shown in the map of Japan with major cities and has been designated as such by an order of the cabinet of Japan under Article 252, Section 19 of the Local Autonomy Law. A core city (中核市 Chūkakushi?) is a class of Japanese city created by the first clause of Article 252, Section 22 of the Local Autonomy Law of Japan. Core cities are delegated many functions normally carried out by prefectural governments, but not as many as designated cities (41 cities have been designated core cities). To become a candidate for core city status, a city must satisfy the following condition: A population greater than 300,000. Application for designation is made by a city with the approval of both the city and prefectural assemblies.

Special Cities (特例市 Tokureishi?) of Japan are cities with populations of at least 200,000 as its mentioned in the map of Japan with major cities, and are delegated a subset of the functions [40 cities have been designated as Special Cities] delegated to core cities. This category was established by the Local Autonomy Law, article 252 clause 26. They are designated by the Cabinet after a request by the city council and the prefectural assembly. The special cities are not the same as the special wards of Tokyo.

The capital of Japan map shows the main city of Japan. This capital map of Japan will allow you to easily plan your travel in the capital of the country Japan in Asia. The capital of Japan map is downloadable in PDF, printable and free.

Tokyo (東京 Tōkyō?, "Eastern Capital") [toːkʲoː], English /ˈtoʊki.oʊ/; officially Tokyo Metropolis (東京都 Tōkyō-to?), is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of the world. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family. Tokyo is in the Kantō region on the southeastern side of the main island Honshu and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands as you can see in the capital of Japan map. Tokyo Metropolis was formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture (東京府 Tōkyō-fu?) and the city of Tokyo (東京市 Tōkyō-shi?).

Tokyo was originally known as Edo, which means "estuary". Its name was changed to Tokyo (Tōkyō: tō (east) + kyō (capital)) when it became the imperial capital in 1868 as its mentioned in the capital of Japan map, in line with the East Asian tradition of including the word capital ('京') in the name of the capital city.

Tokyo became the de facto capital of Japan even while the emperor lived in Kyoto, the imperial capital. After about 263 years, the shogunate was overthrown under the banner of restoring imperial rule. In 1869, the 17-year-old Emperor Meiji moved to Edo. Tokyo was already the nation political and cultural center as its shown in the capital of Japan map, and the emperor residence made it a de facto imperial capital as well, with the former Edo Castle becoming the Imperial Palace. The city of Tokyo was established, and continued to be the capital until it was abolished as a municipality in 1943 and merged with the "Metropolitan Prefecture" of Tokyo.