A ward (区, ku^?) is a subdivision of the cities of Japan that are large enough to have been designated by government ordinance. Wards are used to subdivide each city designated by government ordinance ("designated city"). The 23 special wards of Tokyo have a quasi-municipal status, and are not the same as other entities referred to as ku, although their predecessors were.

Wards are local entities directly controlled by the municipal government. They handle administrative functions such as koseki registration, health insurance, and property taxation. Many wards have affiliated residents' organizations for a number of tasks, although these do not have any legal authority.

The special wards of Tokyo are not normal wards in the usual sense of the term, but instead an administrative unit governed similar to cities.

Japan ⁱ/dʒəˈpæn/ (Japanese: 日本 Nihon or Nippon; formally 日本国  Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku, literally the State of Japan) is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".

Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, together accounting for ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.

Archaeological research indicates that people lived in Japan as early as the Upper Paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other nations followed by long periods of isolation has characterized Japan's history. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War and World War I allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since adopting its revised constitution in 1947, Japan has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected parliament called the Diet.

Tyler Ray Ward (born March 12, 1989), is a singer/songwriter and producer known for his covers of hit songs by artists including Adele, Maroon 5, Justin Bieber, and Katy Perry. Tyler is also well known for his original songs such as Everything, The Hardest Thing, The Rescue, Paper Heart and Our Story's Told. Although Ward often sings and produces his own music, he also works with his backing band on many projects and on tour, members include his instrumental band whom he met during a small gig in 2007 along with rapper Eppic, singer/songwriter Alex G and rapper and brother Derek Ward... He has also worked and produced music for many people across Youtube including Boyce Avenue, Megan Nicole and Katy McAllister..

Tyler Ward is best known for his cover with fellow YouTubers, Megan Nicole and Eppic of Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie" which has had more than 17 million views as of July 1, 2012. His first video was a mix of the current top 40 songs of 2008 which has 600 thousand views to date. Since then, Ward has amassed over 900,000 subscribers and more than 250 million views on his channel.