Pushing devolution has been one of the main policies of the Democratic Party of Japan, which grabbed power from the Liberal Democratic Party in September 2009. As part of the policy, a law was enacted and went into force to give legal footing to a forum in which the central government and local government leaders discuss important policy matters.
But it is unclear whether Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is serious about devolving more power and money to local governments from the central government.
He may be more concerned with attaining a friendly relationship with bureaucrats of the central government ministries and agencies in order to raise taxes — his main policy goal. He devoted only one short sentence to the theme of devolution in his policy speech: "Following the preceding administrations, I will push devolution-related reform."