Centralization and decentralization are a pair of opposite concepts，but they’re dependent on each other in the modernization of the countries，particularly in the modernization of late-developing countries. Centralization allows the central government to focus on modernization，while decentralization is the important institution guarantee of achieving automatic support of the citizens for policies of the country. In modern Japan through the brief competition between centralization and decentralization in the Meiji era，the law on local autonomy was established the same time as the enactment of the Constitution which to some degree achieved decentralization. The law was conservatively revised and became Japanese in the background of Japanese imperialism after the Russo-Japanese War. And at the climax of Taisho democracy，reforms of decentralization were introduced driven by Kensei Kai and Seiyou Kai. But ultimately as a result of the Great Depression，Japan became fascist. Centralization was strengthened again through implementation of local fiscal adjustment institution and reform of local institution. Decentralization and autonomy ended up failing. This paper works on the history of competition between and evolution of centralization and decentralization in modern Japan，claiming that the feature of mainly centralization，supplemented by decentralization ran through local institution of modern Japan. This is one of the important manifestations of modernization of Japan. It made great impact on the relationship between central and local post-war Japan.