A good deal of discussion on Japan's economic problems emphasizes the need to trim wasteful public works projects. Critics are quick to zero in on "hard" schemes such as bridges, highways, airports and dams that eat up huge chunks of tax money and are rarely used.

But just as serious a problem are "soft" schemes that local politicians use as pretexts for keeping the tax money, the concrete, and thus the votes from the construction industry, flowing in the first place. Many grandiose plans were dreamed up during the bubble years or presented as alternate plans for original ideas that didn't pan out. Prominent examples include the 2005 Expo near Nagoya (being held where the city originally had hoped to host the 1988 Olympics), and, perhaps most ambitious of all, Osaka's failed bid for the 2008 Olympics.

The idea for an Osaka Olympics dates back to about 1991. Original plans to turn Maishima, a man-made island in Osaka bay, into a new urban zone had fallen through because nobody wanted to live so far away from central Osaka. Wondering how to make the island pay, Osaka officials looked around and saw how Atlanta, which had won the 1996 Games and Nagano, which had won the 1998 Winter Games, were predicting how the money would flow in thanks to the magic of the Olympics.