The capital of Japan, where the seat of the Government of Japan and home of the Emperor are located, is de facto. While this is generally not in dispute, the capital de jure is unclear. There is a dispute as to exactly when Tokyo became the capital. Some state that it occurred when Tokyo prefecture was established in 1868. Others state that it occurred when Edo Castle became Tokyo Castle that same year, and still others say that it occurred when Tokyo Castle became the Imperial Castle (now the Kokyo) in 1869. Historically speaking, while there was an imperial edict transferring the capital to Heian kyō, such a basis has never been provided for the transfer from Kyoto to Tokyo. So, today, there are some people who say that since the transfer to Heiankyo was valid, Kyoto is still the capital of Japan, while some say that Tokyo and Kyoto are both simultaneously capitals of Japan.
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After World War II, the new Constitution of Japan transferred the state's sovereignty from the Emperor to the people, as represented by the Diet of Japan. A broad consensus arose that the site of the Diet denoted the capital of Japan. This is the most concrete basis for legally recognizing Tokyo as the sole capital of Japan, since the Emperor has no governing power and all other state institutions are based in Tokyo. It falls short of an explicit statement that Tokyo is the capital.
While no laws have designated Tokyo as the Japanese capital, many laws have defined a "capital area" (首都圏 shutoken) that incorporates Tokyo. Article 2 of the Capital Area Consolidation Law (首都圏整備法) of 1956 states that "In this Act, the term 'capital area' shall denote a broad region comprising both the territory of Tokyo Metropolis as well as outlying regions designated by cabinet order." This clearly implies that the government has designated Tokyo as the capital of Japan, although (again) it is not explicitly stated, and the definition of the "capital area" is purposely restricted to the terms of that specific law.[1]
Other laws referring to this "capital area" include the Capital Expressway Public Corporation Law (首都高速道路公団法) and the Capital Area Greenbelt Preservation Law (首都圏近郊緑地保全法).[2]
This term for capital was never used to refer to Kyoto. Indeed, shuto came into use during the 1860s as a gloss of the English term "capital".
In 1941, the Ministry of Education published a book called "History of the Restoration", which is still used by modern scholars. This book referred to the "designation of Tokyo as capital" (東京奠都 Tōkyō-tento) without talking about "moving the capital to Tokyo" (東京遷都 Tōkyō-sento). A contemporary history textbook states that the Meiji government "moved the capital (shuto) from Kyoto to Tokyo" without using the sento term.[3]
Recently, there has been a movement to transfer the capital from Tokyo, with the Gifu-Aichi region, the Mie-Kio region and other regions submitting bids for it. Officially, the relocation is referred to as "capital functions relocation" instead of "capital relocation", or as "relocation of the Diet and other organizations".[4][5]
The names of corresponding imperial palaces are included in parentheses.