FOCUS: Race for Japan's vaguely defined "2nd capital" puts fair selection in focus

TOKYO - Competition is intensifying among regional areas in Japan to become a "second capital," despite a new law lacking specifics on what it takes to back up Tokyo as an administrative hub, while scholars warn that political considerations could undermine a fair selection process.

The backup capital push is a key pillar of the ruling coalition agreement between Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party and the Osaka-based Japan Innovation Party, but the law enacted in a rush in the previous parliamentary session has drawn criticism that it only favors the western Japan city.