Page "Prefectures of Japan" Paragraph 17

There are some differences in terminology between Tokyo and other prefectures: police and fire departments are called chō ( 庁 ) instead of honbu ( 本部 ), for instance.

However, the only functional difference between Tōkyō-to and other prefectures is that Tokyo administers wards as well as cities.

Today, since the special wards have almost the same degree of independence as Japanese cities, the difference in administration between Tokyo and other prefectures is fairly minor ( see 23 special wards for details ).