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Hokkaidō Prefecture has 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 elder peoples in Hokkaidō use the subprefecture name suffixed by ''-kannai'' in their address.

Contents

History of ''shicho'' in Hokkaidō

List of subprefectures

History of ''shicho'' in Hokkaidō

1897	Nineteen ''shicho'' 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 ''shicho''. Sapporo-''shicho'' and Otaru-''shicho'' were continued with remaining area, but Hakodate-''shicho'' was dissolved. Previous Kameda-''shicho'' was renamed Hokodate-''shicho''.
1903	Matsumae-''shicho'' was merged with Hakodate-''shicho''. Shana-''shicho'' was merged with Nemuro-''shicho''.
1910	Suttsu-''shicho'', Iwanai-''shicho'', and Otaru-''shicho'' were merged to form Shiribeshi-''shicho''.
1914	Asahikawa-''ku'' was established as a municipality independent of Kamikawa-''shicho''. Mashike-''shicho'' was renamed as Rumoi-''shicho''.
1918	Muroran-''ku'' was established as a municipality independent of Muroran-''shicho''.
1920	Kushiro-''ku'' was established as a municipality independent of Kushiro-''shicho''.
1922	The six ''ku'' were restated as ''shi'' (cities). Sapporo-''shicho'' was renamed Ishikari-''shicho''. Hakodate-''shicho'' was renamed Oshima-''shicho''. Muroran-''shicho'' was renamed Iburi-''shicho''.
1932	Urakawa-''shicho'' was renamed Hidaka-''shicho''. Kasai-''shicho'' was renamed Tokachi-''shicho''.
1947	Hokkaido Agency was abolished and Hokkaidō Prefecture was established. Hokkaidō Prefecture took over ''shicho''.

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

List of subprefectures

★ Abashiri

★ Hidaka

★ Hiyama

★ Iburi

★ Ishikari

★ Kamikawa

★ Kushiro

★ Nemuro

★ Oshima

★ Rumoi

★ Shiribeshi

★ Sorachi

★ Soya

★ Tokachi