{"id":178802,"date":"2026-07-31T11:11:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T02:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=178802&#038;lang=en"},"modified":"2026-07-31T11:11:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T02:11:01","slug":"fukuoka-pursues-backup-capital-status","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/news\/fukuoka-pursues-backup-capital-status\/","title":{"rendered":"Fukuoka Pursues Backup Capital Status"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Fukuoka is preparing to seek designation as one of Japan\u2019s official backup capital cities following the passage of new legislation establishing a framework to support Tokyo during major disasters. The prefecture joins Osaka and Aichi in pursuing the status, which could bring regulatory incentives, business investment, and significant economic benefits. Analysts estimate the potential economic impact could reach the trillion-yen level through corporate relocation and expanded development. However, the bid has been overshadowed by allegations of money exchanges within the Fukuoka Prefectural Assembly. Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura questioned whether the prefecture could lead as a backup capital while governance concerns remain unresolved. Governor Seitaro Hattori said reforms would continue while Fukuoka advances its application. <strong>Source:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/kbc.co.jp\/news\/article.php?id=17870116&#038;ymd=2026-07-30\" target=\"_blank\">KBC News<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nikkei.com\/article\/DGXZQOJC255NT0V20C26A6000000\/\" target=\"_blank\">Nikkei<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fnn_fukuoka-for-second-capital_2026_WEB.jpeg?resize=1400%2C1050&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1400\" height=\"1050\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-178803\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fnn_fukuoka-for-second-capital_2026_WEB.jpeg?w=1400&amp;ssl=1 1400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fnn_fukuoka-for-second-capital_2026_WEB.jpeg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fnn_fukuoka-for-second-capital_2026_WEB.jpeg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fnn_fukuoka-for-second-capital_2026_WEB.jpeg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><br \/>\nPhoto: Fukuoka Now<\/p>\n<p>Get Fukuoka and Kyushu\u2019s top stories delivered to your inbox. The Now is Fukuoka Now\u2019s free biweekly newsletter featuring local news, events, culture, business, and community updates in English. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\">Subscribe to The Now<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Summaries based on public content, errors may occur during translation. Images credited independently. Send feedback using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/contact\/\">this <strong>form<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fukuoka is preparing to seek designation as one of Japan\u2019s official backup capital cities following the passage of new legislation establishing a framework to support&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30292,"featured_media":178803,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-178802","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-fukuoka-prefecture","news-category-politics","en-US"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/178802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178802"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}