Japan has 30,000 rivers, of which 113 are considered major. Japan also has half a million dams of various shapes, sizes and functions, and close to 3,000 of them were built for greater public purposes such as power generation, flood control and water supply.
Japan is the most dammed country in the world, which indirectly says a lot about its reliance on public works for economic stimulation. Nevertheless, the majority of Japanese citizens know very little about the politics and science of water control.
Last fall, when the newly empowered Democratic Party of Japan targeted the Yamba Dam project in Gunma Prefecture as a kind of test skirmish for its war on wasteful public works spending, the media focused on whether or not the DPJ was bullying the affected people, who have been struggling with the dam project for 57 years. Land minister Seiji Maehara said the government was scrapping the project and the people in the village of Naganohara protested loudly. The media sympathized, in particular television news shows, which characterized Maehara as being a cold government hit man.