With the extended parliamentary session concluded after an agreement was reached on a bill to establish a second capital outside Tokyo, the race among local governments for that position is heating up.

In addition to Osaka, where ruling coalition partner Japan Innovation Party (JIP) is centered, the cities of Fukuoka, Sapporo and Nagoya, and the prefectural governors of Fukuoka, Aichi, Hokkaido and Hiroshima, have all indicated they would compete to win the designation of secondary capital if a natural disaster strikes Tokyo and renders it unable to function.

In Fukuoka Prefecture, Gov. Seitaro Hattori is working with the cities of Kitakyushu and Fukuoka to prepare a joint bid.