OVERVIEW OF TOKYO

THE STRUCTURE OF THE TOKYO METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT (TMG)

TMG and the 23 Special Wards

Tokyo is a regional government encompassing 23 special wards, 26 cities, 5 towns and 8 villages, but it has certain characteristics that distinguish it from the other prefectures. In the ward area, the metropolitan government takes on part of the work usually assigned to the municipalities including waterworks, to keep their unity and cohesion as a single "city." A special administrative system therefore exists between the government and the special wards, which is not seen elsewhere in the country. The main characteristics of this system, called the special ward system, are as follows:

Management of Services

The metropolitan government manages services such as waterworks, sewerage, and fire fighting for the whole 23 special-ward area as a single body. In other parts of the country, under law, the provision of these services is the responsibility of the municipal governments of ordinary cities. In the case of Tokyo, these services are managed by the metropolitan government to ensure provision of uniform, efficient service across the whole of the densely-populated ward area.

Taxes

Since the metropolitan government takes on some of the administrative work which elsewhere in the country would be handled by the city authorities, it levies and collects municipal taxes which would be collected by the cities elsewhere. These taxes include the municipal inhabitant tax on corporations and the fixed assets tax.

TMG Financial Adjustment System for the Special Wards

Through this system, the metropolitan government makes financial adjustments both between itself and the special wards and among the special wards themselves. In the ward area, the government and the special wards are responsible for the administrative affairs usually covered by cities, and they share the tax revenue sources required for the costs incurred. The financial adjustment system is designed to ensure a balanced distribution of these financial resources. At present, a certain proportion of the tax revenue from the three metropolitan taxes (corporate inhabitant tax, fixed assets tax, and special land ownership tax) is allocated to the ward governments. The financial adjustment among the 23 special wards is also designed to redress imbalances in an individual ward's fiscal revenues due to uneven distribution of financial resources. When a ward's basic fiscal need exceeds its basic fiscal revenues, the difference is made up in the form of allocations from the metropolitan government.

Transfer of Jurisdiction

The special ward system has undergone a number of reforms to become what it is today. Through a reform undertaken in 1974, the 23 special wards were given the authority to elect their mayors by popular vote and handle affairs similar to other cities. However, since the wards continued to be viewed as internal organizations of Tokyo Metropolis, various issues arose. These included a lack of clarity in the allocation and sharing of roles and administrative responsibilities of the wards and the metropolitan government; interference with the autonomy of the wards; and the inability of the metropolitan government to implement thorough large city administration from a regional viewpoint.

In order to resolve these issues, the metropolitan government and the 23 special wards studied various ways to reform the system, and requested the national government to revise the related laws and regulations. As a result, it was decided that jurisdiction over administrative operations that touch closely on residents' lives, such as waste management, should be transferred as far as possible to the wards. New legislation passed on May 8, 1998 brought about a partial reform of the Local Autonomy Law. By increasing the independence and autonomy of the wards through the strengthening of their fiscal autonomy, this law established the wards as basic local public entities. The new ward system came into operation in the capital on April 1, 2000.