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The story
Internal Affairs Minister Hisayuki Fujii said on an NHK program on September 20 that when it comes to designating a “secondary capital” to back up the capital’s functions, “we’re considering multiple cities,” pushing back on criticism from opposition parties and others that it’s “all about Osaka.” The secondary capital initiative is being studied from a disaster-prevention and crisis-management angle, with the government planning to set the designation criteria by cabinet order in late October 2026 and actual designation expected from autumn 2027 onward. On 5channel threads, the discussion heated up around frontrunner Osaka alongside cooperation proposals involving Fukuoka, Nagoya, and Hokkaido, mixed with historical arguments calling Kyoto the “true capital” and plenty of regional trash-talk.
Sun, Sep 20, 3:40 PM
Kyodo News
Internal Affairs Minister Hisayuki Fujii said on an NHK program on the 20th that regarding the designation of a “secondary capital” to back up the capital’s functions, he is “considering multiple [cities].” He also serves as the minister in charge of the secondary capital initiative. He denied criticism, mainly from opposition parties, that it’s “all about Osaka,” saying “that’s not the case.”
Source: topics.smt.docomo.ne.jp / Original article here
What people said
The idiots pushing physical infrastructure act like they're gonna build somewhere that can house all 40 million people in greater Tokyo.
Second Life would do just fine (referencing the old virtual-world platform).
There are plenty of replacements for you guys.
You actually think if the capital gets wiped out, everyone living there just moves to the secondary capital? lolololol
You nobodies are getting shipped off to all those vacant houses in northern Kanto or Tohoku you used to look down on.
It only needs to be big enough for the people running the government, lol.
Might as well just say it's already decided.
Nagoya, the economic hub, is the top candidate.
If they say that outright, it'll look like a backroom deal between the LDP and Ishin, so it's important to keep up appearances that it's still being decided.
But even if Osaka becomes the secondary capital, there's no need to concentrate everything there.
They could split functions off, like how the Agency for Cultural Affairs was relocated to Kyoto.
The bargain-bin reader models → the secondary capital
In this case, "top model" means a Halmek-style model (Halmek is a lifestyle magazine for older women, known for its older cover models).
Right now, the most famous Japanese city worldwide after Tokyo is Fukushima.
Before Fukushima got famous, it was Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Osaka ranks below all of those — unlike those three, it's not even in the textbooks.
Toyota, known the world over (i.e., Nagoya/Aichi's claim to fame).
Public interest is low.
People know about it, they just don't care.
It's clear a secondary capital is needed — badly enough that the debate is almost moot.
But the cost issue does need to be hashed out, and the pro-Tokyo vested-interest crowd is fighting it hard.
A lot of people would be in trouble if Tokyo's value took a hit.
Expo infrastructure development plan
They match.
The government aims to settle the designation criteria for the secondary capital by around late October 2026, with actual designation expected from autumn 2027 (Reiwa 9) onward.
・Upcoming schedule
Late October 2026
Cabinet order decision setting the designation criteria
Promulgation: November 2026
・Publication of basic thinking on the secondary capital concept
Around October 2027
・Compilation of basic policy (Cabinet decision)
Autumn 2027 onward
https://share.google/aimode/QqjeU74KbjpT080mm
Apparently "within one year" for the basic policy means this:
The deadline is a "maximum of one year," not "you get a year to do nothing."
❌ Misreading
"Nothing has to happen for a year"
"It's fine to make it a year from now"
"It can be shelved for a year"
✔ Correct meaning
Once enacted, the government "must begin work immediately and complete it within one year at the latest."
In other words:
– Enactment = obligation kicks in
– Within one year = the upper limit of the deadline
– Work starts right away
That's the structure, apparently.
Also, since it hasn't actually been enacted yet, these designation criteria and so on aren't official output of the promotion headquarters, so legally they're not valid.
A city that can't even properly pull off the Asian Games has no business being a secondary capital.
Move the capital back to Kyoto.
It's complete once the Emperor returns there.
Capital: Kyoto
Secondary capital: Osaka-to (Greater Osaka)
Tokyo → Edo Prefecture
Unfortunately, Kyoto's just the countryside, lol.
Aichi/Nagoya turned down Osaka Governor Yoshimura's request to team up (and is instead trying to strengthen ties with Tokyo's Governor Koike), leaving it isolated with no alliance with any other candidate city.
For something like this, you're better off pairing with another candidate city than going solo —
but Aichi's Governor Oyama doesn't seem to get that.
Realistically, do you think Aichi — stuck right between Tokyo and Osaka — would actually get picked?
Governor Yoshimura and Governor Suzuki have already signed an agreement in Sapporo.
They're working out a roadmap where, if the greater Tokyo area is wiped out, Osaka and Hokkaido cooperate and split roles to help rebuild Japan.
Fukuoka and Aichi need to come up with a plan that tops that.
Kyoto is the true capital.
Kyoto's broke anyway, so it doesn't even qualify.
The character "京" (kyo) means "the place where the Emperor resides."
But the Emperor hasn't lived in Kyoto since the Meiji era.
So Kyoto calling itself "kyo" is basically fraud.
Kyoto is watched over by more spirits of past emperors than anywhere else in Japan, so it's the true "kyo."
The imperial spirits enshrined in Tokyo are destined to eventually be reduced to ash by earthquakes and flooding, washing out into the polluted waters of Tokyo Bay.
🪙 Number of imperial mausoleums (per the Imperial Household Agency website)
◆Kyoto: 69
◆Nara: 31
◆Osaka: 16
・Emperor Chuai, Emperor Ojin, Emperor Nintoku
・Emperor Richu, Emperor Hanzei, Emperor Ingyo
・Emperor Yuryaku, Emperor Seinei, Emperor Ninken
・Emperor Keitai, Emperor Ankan, Emperor Bidatsu
・Emperor Yomei, Empress Suiko, Emperor Kotoku
・Emperor Go-Murakami
◆Tokyo: 4
・Emperor Taisho, Emperor Showa, the Emperor Emeritus (Heisei)
・Emperor Naruhito (Reiwa)
> the Emperor hasn't lived in Kyoto since the Meiji era
> so Kyoto calling itself "kyo" is fraud
Wherever the Emperor is (supposed to) reside, the Takamikura is kept —
the so-called imperial throne.
It's been sitting in Kyoto's Shishinden Hall this whole time.
Tokyo doesn't have one.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
The secondary capital initiative is a system for designating, in advance, a city that could take over part of the government’s functions if a major disaster ever knocked out the capital. The designation criteria are set to be decided by cabinet order in late October 2026, promulgated that November, with actual designation expected from autumn 2027 onward. In the thread, Osaka is widely seen as the frontrunner, though some argue the “it’s all about Osaka” impression stems from the LDP-Ishin relationship, with Fukuoka, Nagoya, and Hokkaido’s own ambitions further splitting opinion. One thing readers can easily get wrong is that the secondary capital isn’t a plan to relocate the capital’s functions wholesale — it also covers proposals to disperse just certain functions, similar to the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ move to Kyoto, a point that comes up in the thread’s replies as well. The historical claims that Kyoto is the “true capital,” backed by counts of imperial mausoleums, are less about policy and more a clash of regional pride.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (News Speed+) thread “Secondary capital designation to weigh multiple cities, Osaka “not a done deal”.”
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