ABSTRACT
For a number of years now, politicians in Japan have been discussing a relocation of the national capital away from Tokyo. Whether any such move will really resolve the problems caused by concentration at the centre is doubtful, and it is quite likely that if the politicians and bureaucrats ever pack their bags and prepare for a move, events will have rendered the relocation irrelevant. This will not be the first time, however, that the capital of Japan is moved from one place to another. On the contrary, Japan's capital has moved several times, as often, if not more so, than in any other country of comparable size. Having said that, there are only two cities whose historical weight and importance as capitals counts, Kyoto and Edo-Tokyo, and it is with these two cities, as well as the road that linked them, that this book is principally concerned.
