Overview
- Parliament approved a law that allows the prime minister to designate a backup or “second” capital after a prefecture applies and meets requirements such as population and economic size.
- The measure cleared the Diet only after an extended session and last-minute concessions, with opposition parties saying the rules were written to favor the Osaka-based Japan Innovation Party.
- The votes also enacted a revised national referendum law and the decision to rename the House of Councillors the Senate, moves the ruling bloc says prepare for any future constitutional amendment vote.
- Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura has said he aims to hold a third Osaka metropolis referendum on the same day as the next gubernatorial election, a plan that opponents sought to block by banning concurrent local votes.
- The law could accelerate the push to reorganize Osaka into a Tokyo-style metropolis, change where key government functions sit in disasters, and prompt prefectures to submit applications that the prime minister will need to consider.