Districts of Japan

The district (郡; gun) was most recently used as an administrative unit in Japan between 1878 and 1921 and is roughly equivalent to the county of the United States. It was ranked at the level below prefecture and above city, town or village. The district was initially called kōri and has ancient roots in Japan. Although the Nihon Shoki claims they were established dring the Taika Reforms, kōri was originally written 評. It wasn't until the Taihō Penal and Civil Code that kōri came to be written 郡. Under the Taihō Penal and Civil Code, the administrative unit of province (国; kuni) was above district, and the village (里; sato or 郷; sato) was below. The concept of 郡 has remained in some form throughout Japanese history and is still used in the Japanese addressing system to identify the location of towns or villages. Cities belong directly to prefectures and are independent from districts, unlike cities in the US which belong to a county.

Related Topics:
1878 - 1921 - County - United States - Prefecture - City - Town - Village - Nihon Shoki - Taika Reforms - Japanese addressing system

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