Saitama Prefecture Cities Want to Host Disaster Agency; Idea Recalls Meiji-Era Statesman’s Plan to Move Capital to Honjo

By Masato Tokuhara / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

14:44 JST, September 9, 2025

SAITAMA — The city of Honjo and three nearby towns in Saitama Prefecture have jointly expressed interest in hosting the headquarters of a disaster preparedness and management agency the government intends to establish. If this comes to pass, it would mean moving some functions of the central government out of Tokyo.

In fact, a similar idea was actually floated once before, when a government official in the early Meiji era (1868-1912) created a plan to move the nation’s capital to Honjo. Now, about 150 years later, such a scheme might finally become reality.

In 1878, as debate raged within the new government about where the capital should be located, Tsunetami Sano, a Councilor of Senate, who is now known as the father of the Japanese Red Cross Society, drafted an opinion paper advocating for relocating the capital. In Sano’s view, Honjo should become Japan’s capital and could even surpass Tokyo as a major city “within two or three years.”

Sano was born in what is now Saga Prefecture, Kyushu region, in 1822. He was dispatched to the 1867 Paris Exposition, where he learned about the activities of the International Red Cross. After returning to Japan, he worked in the new government before he established an organization that became the predecessor of the Japanese Red Cross Society. He died aged 79 in 1902.

Sano’s paper pointed out several of Tokyo’s major shortcomings. For example, if foreign ships entered Tokyo Bay, the city would be vulnerable to naval bombardment. Tokyo also suffered from periodic outbreaks of disease and civil unrest.

Sano compared Tokyo to candidate sites in the interior, stretching from Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, to Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture. Sano concluded Honjo would be the ideal location for the capital because it had several advantages. It was situated on high ground, with a cool climate that kept its water clean, and the nearby Tone River could be used for transportation.

Security purposes

Sano detailed his vision for the new capital. It would be linked to Tokyo by a new railway that would follow the Nakasendo road. A new university would be established, and the city would be developed into a manufacturing base for industries that could tap the region’s abundant water resources.

Relocating the capital to Honjo, and thereby separating the nation’s political and economic centers, would also serve a security purpose. Sano, who was familiar with conditions in Europe and the United States, suggested in his opinion paper that Honjo and Tokyo could grow together just like Washington D.C. and New York had done.

However, Sano’s paper was not submitted to the Meiji government. In fact, its existence was largely forgotten until a researcher made a presentation on it in 1961. It remains unclear why Sano, who seems to have had no connections to Honjo, supported moving Japan’s capital there. His opinion paper also contained detailed accounts of the city’s geographical features and history.

Resistant to disasters

“Sano had amazing foresight,” said Honjo mayor Shinge Yoshida. “When talk about the new disaster agency started, his proposal on shifting the capital popped into my head.”

In July, Honjo and the three towns of Misato, Kamikawa and Kamisato jointly submitted a request to the Cabinet Office to be considered to host the new agency.

The advantages of Honjo that Sano cited still hold true today. The city’s urban area is located on a plateau that gives it a stable foundation. Observers believe an earthquake that struck directly beneath the Tokyo metropolitan area would not have much impact on Honjo. Because Honjo is higher than the surrounding area, it is also able to withstand flooding. Honjo also has convenient transport links, with a Shinkansen bullet train line and an expressway passing through the city. In the event of an emergency, these could also serve as supply routes.

“I’m confident that the Honjo region could handle all the functions required of the new disaster agency,” Yoshida said. “Relocating the capital to Honjo is the ardent wish of local lawmakers. I believe a chance to make that dream a reality is coming.”

Other municipalities in Saitama Prefecture are revving up their efforts to be selected as the venue for the new agency. In addition to the Honjo region, five other cities in the western part of the prefecture, including Tokorozawa, are throwing their hats in the ring, as are the city of Chichibu and four towns in the Chichibu region.