A city designated by government ordinance(政令指定都市,seirei shitei toshi?) is a Japanese city that has a population greater than 500,000; has important economic and industrial functions; and is considered a "major city". The classification was created by the first clause of Article 252, Section 19 of the Local Autonomy Law. Designated cities are delegated many of the functions normally performed by prefectural governments. They can also be referred to as a designated city(指定都市,shitei toshi?) or government ordinance city(政令市,seirei shi?).
As of 2007, no cities that have been granted this status have later lost it.
List of designated cities
The list designated cities of Japan below is arranged by the date they were granted designation status.
Note: the exact day on which the office term of a given person expires is one day prior to the day when the person was elected. For example Fumio Ueda's office term will expire on June 7, 2011 since he was elected on June 8.
