special ward
特別区
A ward (区) of a metropolis (都) (Local Autonomy Act, Article 281, paragraph (1)). Today the only special wards are the 23 wards of Tokyo. A special ward is a basic local government in its own right: it does, in general, the work a city, town or village (市町村) does elsewhere, apart from what the metropolis does across all the wards as one (Article 281-2, paragraph (2)). Where a law or order gives a city (市) work to do, its provisions on that work also apply to a special ward, for the work the ward does (Article 281, paragraph (2), and Article 283, paragraph (2)); a Cabinet Order (政令) can make special rules where they cannot apply as they stand (Article 283, paragraph (3)).
Written by AI using Local Autonomy Act, Arts. 281, 281-2, 283 as a reference.