How would you answer the question「Where is the capital of Japan?」
Most people who have been to Japan as a tourist or on business, or who have some knowledge of Japan, will answer「Tokyo!」.
However, while that answer is not wrong, it is not entirely correct either. …What does it mean?
In fact, ‘Tokyo’ is not defined as the ‘capital of Japan’ in either law or text. In other words, Japan is a country without a clearly defined capital city. And interestingly, most people, even Japanese, do not know this fact.
In February 2018, a parliamentary question was asked,「How about a clear statement of the Tokyo capital city for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics?」 The answer of then Prime Minister Abe to this question was as follows.
「Although there is no law or regulation directly stipulating that the capital is Tokyo, we believe that it is widely accepted by society in general that Tokyo is the capital of Japan.」
Equivocal answer…(^_^;) And there was no mention of the reasons for the lack of clarity.
More than 150 years after the turbulent social transformation of the “Meiji era”, Tokyo remains the “de facto capital” of Japan…
Let’s take a break from the topic of Tokyo for a moment here.
The main purpose of this article is to let you know a little about Japan’s old geography.
INABANA.JP introduces Japanese history and folklore. Various “country names” appear in these stories. For example, 「大和国 / yamato-no-kuni」「山城国 / yamashiro-no-kuni」and 「武蔵国 / musashi-no-kuni」. (corresponding, respectively, to present-day Nara and Kyoto prefectures and to the vicinity of Saitama and Tokyo)（”-no-” is a preposition.）
These are the administrative divisions known as “ryousei-koku”, which were established approximately 1,300 years ago. 68 countries existed. The system was established by the Imperial Court at the time, although the whole of Japan was not yet under a single authority.
At the beginning of the 17th century, after the Edo shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the fiefdoms of the various princes were designated as「藩 / han」, which at one time numbered up to 300.
In 1868, when the samurai era ended and modernisation of Japan was achieved, the country underwent several changes before becoming the current “1 province, 1 capital, 2 metropolis and 43 prefectures”.
Japan’s administrative divisions were repeatedly subdivided and changed along the way. However, the general framework, the “ryousei-koku”, functioned for nearly 1,300 years, although its significance diminished.
The concept of a “ryousei-koku” is rarely used today, but it sometimes appears in the context of history and folklore, so it is useful to remember it to help understand the story.
Ieyasu Tokugawa（1543～1616）
As mentioned earlier, Tokugawa Ieyasu opened the shogunate in Edo (present-day Tokyo). Tokyo therefore continued to serve as the capital city in later periods. The total number of years was 410.
Despite this, even today, in the 21st century, Tokyo is not clearly defined as the capital, and the reasons for this have not been revealed… Why is that?
One reason, as per Abe’s answer, is that it is generally recognised, so there is no need to bother stipulating it, but this seems to be a reluctant answer.
It is my personal opinion that one of the reasons for avoiding Tokyo’s “capital city clarification” is the presence of “Kyoto”.
Kyoto has been the residence of the “emperor” for more than 1,000 years since the capital was founded in 794.
Until the Meiji period, when the emperor moved to the current Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Kyoto was the centre of Japan, no matter where the shogunate was located.
Kyoto means “capital”. In contrast, Tokyo means “capital of the east”. From the time the name Tokyo was coined, it was always the “capital of the east” as opposed to the “capital of the centre”.
The Imperial Palace, the current residence of the Emperor.
Kyoto is now no longer inhabited by the emperor and has become a historical tourist destination, but due to its history as the centre of Japan for a thousand years and the symbolism associated with the emperor, Tokyo may be reluctant to define its capital city…
Today I wrote about the history of Japanese geography and the “wonders of Tokyo”.
We hope you will find it useful in enjoying the historical stories of Japan.(^^)
