Prefectural or Municipal Ordinance

A rule a local government makes for itself: a prefecture (都道府県), a city, town or village (市町村), or one of Tokyo's special wards (特別区) (Local Autonomy Act, Articles 1-3, 281 and 283). Its assembly (議会), whose members the residents elect, passes it (Articles 89 and 96, paragraph (1), item (i)), and its head — the governor or the mayor (Article 139) — promulgates it, that is, makes it public so that it can take effect (Article 16). The Constitution lets local governments make them within the limits of Acts (Constitution, Article 94), and one may not go against the national laws and regulations (法令), such as Acts, Cabinet Orders (政令) and Ministerial Orders (省令) (Local Autonomy Act, Article 14, paragraph (1)). Unless national laws and regulations provide otherwise, a local government can impose a duty or restrict a right only by one of these (Article 14, paragraph (2)), and it may write into one penalties for breaking it, within limits the Local Autonomy Act sets (Article 14, paragraph (3)). It is made for that local government's own affairs (Article 2, paragraph (2) and Article 14, paragraph (1)), so the same matter can be handled differently from one place to the next. It is a local rule, not a national one: an "ordinance" in the name of a national rule, such as an Ordinance for Enforcement of an Act, is usually a Ministerial Order (省令) or another national instrument.