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INTEREST: Japanese Lawmakers Propose Tokyo Backup City


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Apollo-kun



Joined: 11 Feb 2010
Posts: 1213
Location: City 7, Macross 7
PostPosted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 9:31 pm Reply with quote
Life imitating art, anybody? Quite an interesting proposal; wonder how it'll pan out!
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antg17



Joined: 02 Nov 2011
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 9:38 pm Reply with quote
I think building this 2nd city is a great idea. It will definitely help for those natural disasters that have been happening around there. I guess something like this will help all the core businesses to continue functioning and ultimately force their economy to function normally. Especially anime and manga companies which is a very large source of income in japan.

I know i might say that because im a fan of anime, but i genuinely believe its a beneficial move on their part. But theirs always the question of whether or not this city will be able to withstand whatever nature throws at it.
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yamiangie



Joined: 03 Mar 2010
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 9:42 pm Reply with quote
Ok so the airport is on it's way out but is it really a good location for a back up capital?
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Melanchthon



Joined: 02 Oct 2010
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 9:45 pm Reply with quote
There was a similar ballot measure here in Colorado last year. Something about establishing a backup capital if Denver gets hit by a hurricane or something. I don't remember if it passed, but the idea was fundamentally retarded, so it probably did (yeah, democracy!). While Tokyo is a bit more dangerous (last I checked, Denver isn't built on a active fault line or at risk from Godzilla attacks), this is nothing more than a boondoggle that will make a handful of government contractors rich at the expense of the common man. So, business as usual.
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tuxedocat



Joined: 14 Dec 2009
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 10:14 pm Reply with quote
Melanchthon wrote:
There was a similar ballot measure here in Colorado last year. Something about establishing a backup capital if Denver gets hit by a hurricane or something. I don't remember if it passed, but the idea was fundamentally retarded, so it probably did (yeah, democracy!). While Tokyo is a bit more dangerous (last I checked, Denver isn't built on a active fault line or at risk from Godzilla attacks), this is nothing more than a boondoggle that will make a handful of government contractors rich at the expense of the common man. So, business as usual.


I don't think their government works like our Congress. LOL. At least, I hope its not that bad.

It could provide a lot of people with jobs, which might help Japan in the short term.

--but it would be better if the project was a back-up city for all Japan and not just Tokyo. What happened with the recent tsunami illustrated that there is need for some sort of emergency refuge for large groups of displaced people. The idea of having such a place available with a prebuilt infrastructure sounds like a good idea.

I highly doubt, that when the idea is all talked out, that it will be a back-up "Tokyo", however. Probably something much smaller scale, ----and hopefully with slightly larger apartments. Razz
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Charred Knight



Joined: 29 Sep 2008
Posts: 3085
PostPosted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 10:19 pm Reply with quote
Melanchthon wrote:
There was a similar ballot measure here in Colorado last year. Something about establishing a backup capital if Denver gets hit by a hurricane or something. I don't remember if it passed, but the idea was fundamentally retarded, so it probably did (yeah, democracy!). While Tokyo is a bit more dangerous (last I checked, Denver isn't built on a active fault line or at risk from Godzilla attacks), this is nothing more than a boondoggle that will make a handful of government contractors rich at the expense of the common man. So, business as usual.


They basically explained that they are going to create a resort town that will also have a buildings that can be used by the Capital which slightly makes more sense than the way anime does it where Tokyo is damaged by a disaster so they rename it Neo Tokyo (why they never use Shin Tokyo I will never understand).
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Surrender Artist



Joined: 01 May 2011
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 10:30 pm Reply with quote
This seems slightly crazy to me and my well-trained cynicism leads me to wonder whom the beneficiaries of this would be. The obvious answer is construction companies, who have a great deal of influence in Japan and a history of exerting that influence to encouage large numbers of dubiously worthwhile public works projects.

tuxedocat wrote:
Melanchthon wrote:
There was a similar ballot measure here in Colorado last year. Something about establishing a backup capital if Denver gets hit by a hurricane or something. I don't remember if it passed, but the idea was fundamentally retarded, so it probably did (yeah, democracy!). While Tokyo is a bit more dangerous (last I checked, Denver isn't built on a active fault line or at risk from Godzilla attacks), this is nothing more than a boondoggle that will make a handful of government contractors rich at the expense of the common man. So, business as usual.


I don't think their government works like our Congress. LOL. At least, I hope its not that bad.


I don't know how it is now after the whirlwind changes of Junichiro Koizumi and then the revolutionary victory of the Democratic Party of Japan, which broke half a century of the Liberal Democratic Party being the largest party in the Dieet, but for a long time post-war Japanese politics were arguably just as bad, but in a different way. I haven't read the research in a while, but my recollection is that because the Liberal Democrats had a monopoly on power for all but eleven months of the period from 1955-2009, deliberations in the Diet itself and even the cabinet were of limited relevance and most decisions were really made in the LDP policy committee. There have also traditionally been problems with the severe factionalization of the LDP, which is a byproduct of the now abandoned single non-transferable voting system and of the LDP's position attracting members as much out of desire for influence as ideology.
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MeggieMay



Joined: 08 Jun 2004
Posts: 607
PostPosted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 10:54 pm Reply with quote
Melanchthon wrote:
There was a similar ballot measure here in Colorado last year. Something about establishing a backup capital if Denver gets hit by a hurricane or something. I don't remember if it passed, but the idea was fundamentally retarded, so it probably did (yeah, democracy!).

While Tokyo is a bit more dangerous (last I checked, Denver isn't built on a active fault line or at risk from Godzilla attacks), this is nothing more than a boondoggle that will make a handful of government contractors rich at the expense of the common man. So, business as usual.



First, Denver Colorado does sit on fault lines and has earthquakes all the time some more info. It's also sitting on granite and a lot of other stable rock base and thus doesn't feel the affect of earthquakes as badly as Japan, California, or even the lands that the New Madrid fault sit on, so whether or not they need a back up capitol for Colorado for that is questionable. Now, Denver getting hit by a hurricane made me LOL - I'm pretty sure that wasn't the reason given. Denver getting wipes off the face of history when the Yellowstone caldera erupts is a given (though no back up capitol is going to fix that one Twisted Evil ) and could have been part of the idea but running a Google search showed that Denver was trying to talk people into becoming the second Washington D.C. if something happened there. That's also a lol moment but more because of the hubris of Colorado politicians than anything else Razz .

However, having a back up Capital isn't a bad idea. The U.S. supposedly has several, from what I gather, in undisclosed locations - though it's more like plans of what to do in case of a emergency than a real, physical capital. The idea here isn't a bad one but the article makes it sound like this is more of a combo plan/excuse to build a resort and use it as a back up "just in case" while hoping to get some extra money from the idea. Kind of like what Denver was trying only a bit more likely to happen (but just a bit Laughing )
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aereus



Joined: 08 Jun 2010
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 11:13 pm Reply with quote
Isn't this just more likely to end up like the business district they ALREADY built down along the waterfront that's mostly deserted?

They have a "World Trade Center" building, a large mall, and some other major business skyscrapers down near Cosmo Square. The entire place is almost a ghost town. It felt rather sad.
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Mikeski



Joined: 24 Sep 2009
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 11:40 pm Reply with quote
tuxedocat wrote:
--but it would be better if the project was a back-up city for all Japan and not just Tokyo. What happened with the recent tsunami illustrated that there is need for some sort of emergency refuge for large groups of displaced people. The idea of having such a place available with a prebuilt infrastructure sounds like a good idea.

I highly doubt, that when the idea is all talked out, that it will be a back-up "Tokyo", however. Probably something much smaller scale, ----and hopefully with slightly larger apartments. Razz
The article already says as much... it's not really a backup city, just a backup capitol for the politicians. It holds 50K people. Unless they're expecting the coming Godzilla attack to reduce the population of Tokyo by... quite a large percentage.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14886
PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 1:23 am Reply with quote
Apollo-kun wrote:
Life imitating art, anybody? Quite an interesting proposal; wonder how it'll pan out!


Probably not for a long long looooooong while. The Japanese Diet first has to from a committee to study making a panel to discuss the possibility of researching the feasibility of a budget that will fund the office of a probable conference of experts to think about what to do next. And then there's the second step............ You get the idea. Laughing



yamiangie wrote:
Ok so the airport is on it's way out but is it really a good location for a back up capital?


Yeah, the Osaka "International" Airport has been a boondoggle waste of public money.


Surrender Artist wrote:

tuxedocat wrote:

I don't think their government works like our Congress. LOL. At least, I hope its not that bad.


I don't know how it is now after the whirlwind changes of Junichiro Koizumi and then the revolutionary victory of the Democratic Party of Japan, which broke half a century of the Liberal Democratic Party being the largest party in the Dieet, but for a long time post-war Japanese politics were arguably just as bad, but in a different way.


Now, they change Prime Ministers every few months. Quick - name the Prime Minister of Japan right now! Laughing


MeggieMay wrote:

However, having a back up Capital isn't a bad idea. The U.S. supposedly has several, from what I gather, in undisclosed locations - though it's more like plans of what to do in case of a emergency than a real, physical capital.


There's already NORAD deep in the Rocky Mountains that could withstand a nuclear attack. Laughing
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Mushi-Man



Joined: 17 Nov 2008
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 2:06 am Reply with quote
This just made my day, I couldn't believe the headline when I saw it. I mean this is just an insane idea. The thought of building a whole new city with the soul purpose of being a "backup capital" is just crazy. I mean why couldn't you just select another already existing city to be a backup? I mean is Kyoto not good enough or something? But if this did happen, unlikely that it will, it would be amazing.
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aereus



Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 576
PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 2:24 am Reply with quote
Mushi-Man wrote:
This just made my day, I couldn't believe the headline when I saw it. I mean this is just an insane idea. The thought of building a whole new city with the soul purpose of being a "backup capital" is just crazy. I mean why couldn't you just select another already existing city to be a backup? I mean is Kyoto not good enough or something? But if this did happen, unlikely that it will, it would be amazing.


If you look at where the Itami airport is located, it's actually inside the Osaka metropolitan area. So it's not like they are going to be throwing up a new city in the middle of nowhere. It's more just a redevelopment plan for the large area currently occupied by the airport that includes facilities for the national gov't to use in emergencies.
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Errinundra
Moderator


Joined: 14 Jun 2008
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Location: Melbourne, Oz
PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 3:06 am Reply with quote
You know, the British had television cities retracting into the ground long before NGE. This intro clip from Stingray from 1964 shows it happening. It was a regular feature of the show. It's not as spectacular as NGE, of course, but, being done with model buildings, it's still cool.
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Nayu



Joined: 23 Dec 2010
Posts: 676
PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 3:35 am Reply with quote
Re: Denver

We're already the backup Capital in case DC gets wiped out, that's why we have that huge Federal Center. Denver's an awesome town that very few people know the full story about....

(Honestly, the history is out there. Really out there.)
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