UK–Japan study tour reflections on Sendai recovery, decentralisation, and lessons for resilient regional city governance.
Tour group in front of the statue of Sendai City founder, samurai and daimyō Date Masamune
This article is reproduced by kind permission of Dan Peters following its initial publication in The MJ in February 2026.
During my visit to Japan last January, alongside a host of UK local government executives, Japan was in the middle of the campaign for the general election that had just been called.
With politics not generally considered to be polite conversation between strangers, mentions of the election were rare.
A senior government officer at Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIAC) – the equivalent of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – was more forthcoming than most.
The prime minister had previously been this officer’s ministerial superior when serving as internal affairs minister, and he described her as a “very decisive person”, adding, on the day she announced the snap poll amid predictions of victory: “That’s wonderful for us.”
The future of local government in Japan is currently a hot topic for the ministry.
“We think we need some other strong cities like Tokyo to drive the economy and provide resilience against natural disasters like earthquakes,” the government officer explained.
There is already a plan under deliberation by the ministry to give Osaka – a major metropolitan area in western Japan – extra powers.
The move comes after the Osaka Metropolis Plan – under which the city’s local government structure would have been replaced with a model similar to the one governing Tokyo – was recently rejected by a narrow 51% in a referendum. Remarkably, the referendum had a turnout of 59% – higher than the 56% who voted in the general election.
Now, the Japan Designated Cities Mayors Association has proposed a “special city plan” that would allow member cities to become completely independent of prefectures, Japan’s main regional level of government that is responsible for police, secondary schools and hospitals.
“The residents showed a very keen interest,” the government officer said.
“The prefecture is opposed to the special city plan. Whether we can reach a consensus or not I think it will be quite difficult.”
The UK’s history of local apathy and forcing things through without the inconvenience of referendums would probably have been lost in translation.
There is also a lot about Japan that would be alien to the UK, including a constitution that protects local government, a sector that is responsible for about 56% of all government expenditure and one that has access to the proceeds from 20 different taxes – including a local income tax, local VAT, local property tax, local car tax and even a bathing tax.
Indeed, local taxes make up 37% of Japan’s total tax take – much higher than France’s 20% or the UK’s 10–15%.
Many believe there is still not enough financial decentralisation in Japan, with the phrase “30% autonomy” used to express the financial weakness of local government.
Japanese local government is getting even more powers, with MIAC recently approving accommodation taxes designed to help the country cope with the 43 million foreign visitors it receives every year amid concerns about over-tourism, particularly in Tokyo and Kyoto.
Over-tourism is much less of a problem for the less well-known city of Sendai, which occupies a central spot in northern Japan and is just a 90-minute trip from Tokyo on the country’s high-speed bullet train.
The mayor of Sendai – a relatively rare female politician who used to be a TV presenter – wants to make it a much more global city, distinguished from the capital by its unique nature, history and events, including a jazz festival, winter illuminations and a marathon.
Sendai’s tourism strategy hopes to attract 6.8 million overnight visitors next year – up from about 4.8 million just four years ago – with efforts including the promotion of package tours, the renovation of a conference centre and engagement with airlines to secure new routes.
With Japan’s current political tensions affecting some international travel routes, Sendai will have to work even harder to hit its target of 700,000 foreign visitors by 2027.
The city is particularly targeting long-haul travellers from Europe and the US who tend to stay longer and therefore spend more money – while maintaining characteristic Japanese politeness.
As a senior city culture and tourism officer explains: “Instead of competing with other regional cities, we try to learn from them because we are facing very similar challenges being cities of very similar size.”
Known as the “city of trees”, Sendai’s coastal area was devastated by the impact of the 2011 magnitude nine earthquake – the largest ever recorded in Japan.
The resulting massive tsunami, which hit land 69 minutes after the earthquake, left more than 900 people dead, destroyed communities, made some people afraid of the sea or anything associated with it, and left behind debris equivalent to the amount of waste produced by the city over seven years.
A road that had been built on elevated ground was the only structure that prevented even greater destruction.
Speaking at the Tsunami Memorial Centre built by the city council, an elderly survivor said: “Somehow people thought that a tsunami won’t come. It was an abstract concept.
“It ripped apart my community. We had aftershocks for two years.
“I’m getting old, but I feel I have to tell everyone what I went through. Encouraging words from others have been my most valuable support.”
Some 15 years on, the city council still feels responsible for sharing its experience with other local authorities to help them prepare for future emergencies.
As for Sendai itself, the city has suffered from persistent talent outflow to Tokyo but in the wake of the disaster is now trying to position itself as a hub for research, start-ups and social entrepreneurship, with better affordability and liveability than the capital, where a large share of the national population is concentrated. Ministers and officials have talked about restoring vitality to the regions of Japan and rebalancing the population and economy away from Tokyo.
“Sendai, which is the largest city in northern Japan, could play a key role,” the government officer suggested.
Sendai now wants to build an “ecosystem that fosters and nurtures diverse kinds of entrepreneurs through support for the entrepreneurial spirit that has increased since the Great East Japan Earthquake”.
Already, a specialised research facility – often described as a giant microscope using light billions of times brighter than the sun to analyse materials – has been built, supporting academic and corporate research and development.
A senior city startup support officer said the earthquake and tsunami had “fundamentally” changed the region’s perspective on life and society.
He said the city wanted to support startups to reduce the trend of young people leaving for bigger cities like Tokyo, as well as encourage overseas startups into Sendai.
Specialised local authority staff provide detailed support for the visa application process – though their job was recently made harder when national requirements for foreign entrepreneurs were tightened.
Those who do make it through the visa system can be helped at a council-funded multicultural centre, which was opened to support the small but growing proportion of residents born abroad.
This proportion is increasing, sparking some cohesion tensions and debates in a recent election campaign, when immigration was a key issue – though less dominant than in the UK.
Over a Japanese set meal featuring a selection of small seasonal dishes at a traditional restaurant, the hosts listened quietly as they heard about immigration issues in Britain.
But with a declining and ageing population, the country may well have to move closer to UK immigration levels if it wants to raise its growth potential.
A dean at a major Tokyo university – Japan’s equivalent of a leading academic expert on local governance – said his country was interested in adopting aspects of the UK’s strategic authority model, including elected mayors, to boost economic growth.
“In school we learn that the United Kingdom is the motherland of local governance,” the government officer recalls.
On the other side of the desk, the UK delegation was, at times, green with envy hearing about the powers held by Japanese local government.
The two countries clearly have lots to learn from each other.
The population in Sendai’s wider region is expected to decline by 32% between 2020 and 2050 compared to a national rate of 17%.
Dan took part in JLGC London’s annual Japan Study Tour, a two-part programme hosted by JLGC’s Tokyo headquarters in partnership with a host local authority in Japan. Details of the application process are updated here each summer for the following year’s tour.
