Editing Prefectures of Japan (section)

===''Dō''===
[[Hokkaido|Hokkaidō]] is referred to as a {{Nihongo|''dō''|道||{{IPA|ja|doꜜː|}}}} or [[Circuit (administrative division)|circuit]]. This term was originally used to refer to Japanese regions consisting of several [[Provinces of Japan|provinces]] (e.g. the [[Tōkaidō (region)|Tōkaidō]] east-coast region, and [[Saikaido]] west-coast region). This was also a historical usage of the character in China. (In Korea, this historical usage is still used today and was kept during the [[Korea under Japanese rule|period of Japanese rule]].)

{{Nihongo|''Hokkai-dō''|北海道||{{IPA|ja|hokkaꜜidoː|}}}}, the only remaining ''dō'' today, was not one of the original seven ''dō'' (it was known as [[Ezo]] in the pre-modern era). Its current name is believed to originate from [[Matsuura Takeshirō|Matsuura Takeshiro]], an early Japanese explorer of the island. Since Hokkaidō did not fit into the existing ''dō'' classifications, a new ''dō'' was created to cover it.

The Meiji government originally classified Hokkaidō as a {{Nihongo|"Settlement Envoyship"|開拓使|kaitakushi}}, and later divided the island into three prefectures (Sapporo, Hakodate, and Nemuro). These were consolidated into a single {{Nihongo|Hokkaido Department|北海道庁|Hokkaido-chō}} in 1886, at prefectural level but organized more along the lines of a territory. In 1947, the department was dissolved, and Hokkaidō became a full-fledged prefecture. The ''-ken'' suffix was never added to its name, so the ''-dō'' suffix came to be understood to mean "prefecture".

When Hokkaidō was incorporated, transportation on the island was still underdeveloped, so the prefecture was split into several {{Nihongo|"subprefectures"|支庁 |shichō}} that could fulfill administrative duties of the prefectural government and keep tight control over the developing island. These subprefectures still exist today, although they have much less power than they possessed before and during World War II. They now exist primarily to handle paperwork and other bureaucratic functions.

"Hokkaidō Prefecture" is, technically speaking, a redundant term because ''dō'' itself indicates a prefecture, although it is occasionally used to differentiate the government from the island itself. The prefecture's government calls itself the "Hokkaidō Government" rather than the "Hokkaidō Prefectural Government".