Prime Minister Naoto Kan held a meeting with Chairpersons of Prefectural Assemblies at the Prime Minister's Office.

At the start of the meeting, the Prime Minister said in his address, "As far as the way the country is governed, I believe Japan had been characterized by the extremely decentralized system in which power was divided between the shogunate and the feudal domains up to the Meiji Era. That was forced to change to a centralized government during the Meiji Restoration, in order to defend Japan from invasion by the great powers, and such a trend continued.
But today, as the society has become increasingly mature, it is necessary to once again build the nation into one governed by regional and local sovereignty, and with this belief we have been working on the task today together with the people. In this sense, the prefectures, in particular the prefectural assemblies, will be playing an extremely significant role.
I would definitely like to continue hearing your opinions thoroughly, and together reshape our nation into one in which the people can truly have their will reflected in the politics."