Editing Prefectures of Japan (section)

== Powers ==
{{main|Government of Japan#Local government}}
Japan is a [[unitary state]]. The central government delegates many functions (such as [[Education in Japan|education]] and the [[Law enforcement in Japan|police force]]) to the prefectures and [[Municipalities of Japan|municipalities]], but retains the overall right to control them. Although local government expenditure accounts for 70 percent of overall [[government expenditure]], the central government controls local budgets, [[tax rate]]s, and borrowing.<ref>Mochida, "Local Government Organization and Finance: Japan", in {{cite book |title=Local Governance in Industrial Countries |first=Anwar |last=Shah |year=2006 |publisher=World Bank |url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/WBI/WBIPROGRAMS/PSGLP/0,,contentMDK:21215193~pagePK:64156158~piPK:64152884~theSitePK:461606~isCURL:Y,00.html |access-date=2013-12-01 |archive-date=2014-01-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108175935/http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/WBI/WBIPROGRAMS/PSGLP/0,,contentMDK:21215193~pagePK:64156158~piPK:64152884~theSitePK:461606~isCURL:Y,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Prefectural government functions include the organization of the prefectural police force, the supervision of schools and the maintenance of prefectural schools (mainly high schools), prefectural hospitals, [[prefectural road]]s, the supervision of prefectural waterways and regional urban planning. Their responsibilities include tasks delegated to them by the national government such as maintaining most ordinary national roads (except in designated major cities), and prefectures coordinate and support their municipalities in their functions. De facto, prefectures as well as municipalities have often been less autonomous than the formal extent of the local autonomy law suggests, because of national funding and policies. Most of municipalities depend heavily on central government funding – a dependency recently further exacerbated in many regions by the declining population which hits rural areas harder and earlier (cities can offset it partly through migration from the countryside). In many policy areas, the basic framework is set tightly by national laws, and prefectures and municipalities are only autonomous within that framework.