Japan: Hokkaido, Osaka, and Two Others Expected to Meet 'Secondary Capital' Criteria

Enforcement Ordinance Draft for Secondary Capital Designation Prepared on October 2

Of the local governments, both regional and municipal, hoping to be designated as a "secondary capital," four have been found to meet the newly established designation requirements in Japan.

Glico signboard located in Dotonbori, Osaka. Glico official website

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun and other sources on October 3, the Japanese government drafted an enforcement ordinance for secondary capital designation requirements the previous day. The enforcement ordinance is expected to be finalized during a Cabinet meeting later this month after gathering public input.

This move follows the passage of a bill to establish a secondary capital by the Japanese National Diet last July. The secondary capital law stipulates that designating local governments with a low likelihood of experiencing a disaster simultaneously with the Tokyo metropolitan area as secondary capitals will allow for alternative capital functions in emergencies and ease the concentration of resources in Tokyo.

According to the draft enforcement ordinance, a secondary capital must be capable of functioning as a capital without suffering disaster damage simultaneously with the Tokyo metropolitan area. For this reason, the candidate must not fall within either the emergency earthquake countermeasure zones directly beneath the capital or the volcanic disaster warning regions around Mount Fuji. In addition, more than half of the regional offices of central government agencies, such as Regional Legal Affairs Bureaus or Regional Finance Bureaus, must be present in the candidate area.

Furthermore, within the respective prefecture (regional government), there must be an ordinance-designated city (with a population of at least 500,000 and officially designated as a major city by the national government) accounting for at least 1.2% of Japan's population. The prefecture's total gross production must also account for at least 2.1% of Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Currently, among the local governments that have expressed their intention, four prefectures—Hokkaido, Aichi, Osaka, and Fukuoka—are expected to meet these requirements outlined in the enforcement ordinance.

To become a secondary capital, the local government must obtain approval from its local assembly and apply to the national government, which will review compliance with the designated criteria. If designated, the area can benefit from improvements to transportation infrastructure and deregulation measures.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.