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The Largest Cities in Japan by Population

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As of 2020, Yokohama is the Japanese city with the largest population.

Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

The 20 largest cities are spread throughout the country, with large concentrations in the Tokyo and Osaka areas.

Where is Tokyo?

If we consider Tokyo to be a city, it would of course be the city with the largest population. However, Tokyo itself is considered to be a metropolis, and there are cities and wards within Tokyo:

Under Japanese law, Tokyo is designated as a to (都), translated as metropolis. Its administrative structure is similar to that of Japan’s other prefectures. The 23 special wards (特別区, tokubetsu-ku), which until 1943 constituted the city of Tokyo, are self-governing municipalities, each having a mayor, a council, and the status of a city. (Wikipedia)

Table

PrefectureCityPopulation
1KanagawaYokohama3,754,772
2OsakaOsaka2,730,420
3AichiNagoya2,301,639
4HokkaidoSapporo1,959,313
5FukuokaFukuoka1,554,229
6HyogoKobe1,533,588
7KanagawaKawasaki1,514,299
8KyotoKyoto1,409,702
9SaitamaSaitama1,314,145
10HiroshimaHiroshima1,195,775
11MiyagiSendai1,064,060
12ChibaChiba972,516
13FukuokaKitakyushu950,602
14TokyoSetagaya917,486
15OsakaSakai834,787
16ShizuokaHamamatsu802,527
17NiigataNiigata788,465
18TokyoNerima739,435
19TokyoOta734,493
20KumamotoKumamoto733,721

Software Used

R