Jumin tohyo and the Tokushima anti-dam movement in Japan: The people have spoken

Asian Survey

Volumn 40, Issue 4, 2000, Pages 551-570

  Jain, Purnendra ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DAM CONSTRUCTION; DECISION MAKING; LOCAL PARTICIPATION; POPULAR PROTEST;

JAPAN; SHIKOKU; TOKUSHIMA;

EID: 0033786129     PISSN: 00044687     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/3021182     Document Type: Article

References (43)

1. Only 1.64% of the votes were invalid. There were about 208,000 eligible voters in the city.
2. See Imai Hajime, Jumin tohyo (Referendums) (Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbunsha, 1997); and Shindo Muneyuki, ed., Jumin tohyo (Referendums) (Tokyo: Gyosei, 1999).
3. See Imai Hajime, Jumin tohyo (Referendums) (Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbunsha, 1997); and Shindo Muneyuki, ed., Jumin tohyo (Referendums) (Tokyo: Gyosei, 1999). and Shindo Muneyuki, ed., Jumin tohyo (Referendums) (Tokyo: Gyosei, 1999).
4. See David Butler and Austin Ranney, eds., Referendums: A Comparative Study of Practice and Theory (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1978), p. 5.
5. Jay-Poong Yoon, "Citizen Participation and Public Policy in Korea," in Future Challenges of Local Autonomy in Japan, Korea, and the United States, eds. Fukashi Horie and Masaru Nishio (Tokyo: National Institute for Research Advancement, 1997), pp. 99-100.
6. See Maija Setala, "Referendums in Western Europe - a Wave of Direct Democracy?" Scandinavian Political Studies 22:4 (1999), pp. 328-30.
7. Butler and Ranney, eds., Referendums, p. 226.
8. Under this provision, referendums were called in 1949 for the construction of the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima and at the time of the establishment of the Yokohama International Port Town Law (1950). See Uchida Mitsuru, ed., Gendai Nihon seiji kojiten (Dictionary of contemporary Japanese government and politics) (Tokyo: Buren Shuppan, 1999), p. 216.
9. Kurt Steiner, Local Government in Japan (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1965), p. 451.
10. The other three types include inspection of the management of an enterprise carried on by the locality; dissolution of the assembly; and the dismissal of an assembly member, local chief executive, or a range of other local officials. For a summary of various types of direct demands in Japan, see Takanobu Tsujiyama, "Local Self-Governance in Japan: The Realities of the Direct Demand System," NIRA Review: A Journal of Opinion and Public Policy Worldwide 7:2 (Spring 2000), pp. 26-30.
11. For the recall process and a major case study, see Purnendra Jain, "Green Politics and Citizen Power in Japan: The Zushi Movement," Asian Survey 31:6 (June 1991), pp. 559-75.
12. Tsujiyama points out that in the 45-year period between 1947 and 1992, the success rate for demands made to enact, amend, or abolish ordinances has been less than 10% as against very low rejection rates of the recall movements that hovered between 6% and 13%. See Tsujiyama, "Local Self-Governance," pp. 27-28.
13. For details, see Nakata Narishige, "Kobe-shi wa shimin no koe o kike" (Kobe city, listen to the voice of your residents), Sekai, February 1999, pp. 46-51.
14. Quoted in Purnendra Jain, Local Politics and Policy Making in Japan (New Delhi: Commonwealth Publishers, 1989), p. 217; for details on participatory administration, see especially pp. 214-22.
15. Also see inter alia, Kurt Steiner et al., eds., Political Opposition and Local Politics in Japan (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980).
16. Imai Hajime, "Jumin tohyo ima do natte iru ka" (Referendums and their present status), Sekai, January 1999, p. 127.
17. For the Okinawa case, see Robert D. Eldridge, "The 1996 Okinawa Referendum on U.S. Base Reductions," Asian Survey 37:10 (October 1997), pp. 879-904.
18. For the Nago referendum, see Chalmers Johnson, "The Heliport, Nago, and the End of the Ota Era," in Okinawa: Cold War Island, ed. Chalmers Johnson (Cardiff, Calif.: Japan Policy Research Institute, 1999), pp. 217-21.
19. Hajimu Takeda, "Dam Plan Now a Damned Plan," Asahi Evening News, October 14, 1999.
20. For a brief history of the Nagara River anti-dam movement, see Society Against the Nagara River Estuary Dam Construction, Save the Nagara (Osaka: Society Against the Nagara River Estuary Dam Construction, n.d.). The project went ahead despite the strong protest movement.
21. Author's interviews with movement leaders in Tokushima, May 15, 1999.
22. See Johnson, "The Heliport."
23. Imai Hajime, "Jumin tohyoha wa toitsu chihosen o do tatakatta ka: Shin shimin kakumei no taido" (How did the pro-referendum groups fight the unified local elections? The rise of a new citizen revolution), Sekai, July 1999, p. 141.
24. Imai, "Jumin tohyoha," p. 138.
25. In the mid-1980s, residents of Zushi city near Tokyo who opposed a housing project for U.S. navy personnel had recalled the mayor who supported the project. The new mayor opposed the project and favored a referendum, but the assembly rejected the mayor's proposal. Because a majority of the assembly members were in favor of the project, the movement could not achieve its objective and the project went ahead, although some modifications were introduced as a result of the citizens' movement. For details, see Jain, "Green Politics,"
26. and also Imai, Jumin tohyo, pp. 26-27.
27. In almost all local assembly elections (except in some large and medium-sized cities), candidates run on an at-large basis and each voter has a single entry ballot. Therefore, all candidates compete with each other. A balance of votes is needed so that no candidate obtains too many votes.
28. Tokushima shinbun online, April 26, 1999, on the World Wide Web at 〈http://www.topics.or.jp/daijyuzeki/news990426.html#1〉 [accessed May 20, 2000].
29. Ibid.
30. "Anti-Dam Forces Win Majority at Tokushima Municipal Vote," Daily Yomiuri, April 27, 1999.
31. "Shasetsu: Fukakaina Komeito no taio" (Editorial: Incomprehensible Komeito), Asahi shinbun, June 19, 1999.
32. See Takeda, "Dam Plan Now a Damned Plan."
33. Quoted in "Nakayama to Be Flexible on Yoshino Dam Project," Asahi Evening News, January 25, 2000.
34. "Editorial: Referendums Should Aid Representative System," Asahi Evening News, January 26, 2000.
35. Newly elected pro-referendum member of the Tokushima Assembly, author interview, Tokushima, May 15, 1999.
36. See Patrick McCully, Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and Politics of Large Dams (London and New Jersey: Zed Books, 1996), especially chap. 2, "Rivers No More: The Environmental Effects of Dams."
37. Even after the movement could not achieve its goal, concerned citizens and groups have remained involved in public education about the impact of large projects on the environment and lifestyles. For example, see the monthly publication, The Year 2001 Gifu, published by Gifu 2001-nen no kai.
38. Estimates vary but Japan's total debt is estimated to be around over $4 trillion, or about 90% of its annual GNP. The Obuchi administration spent around ¥40 trillion or $400 billion on stimulus packages.
39. "Editorial: Dam Referendum," Mainichi Daily News, January 25, 2000.
40. Quoted in Today's News 23, Tokyo Broadcasting System, February 16, 1999, English transcript on the World Wide Web at 〈http://cgi.tbs.co.jp/news23/taji/s90216-e.html〉 [accessed May 1, 2000].
41. "Yoshino Dam Referendum Could Establish Precedent," Daily Yomiuri, June 30, 1999.
42. Imai, "Jumin tohyoha wa toitsu."
43. Johnson, "The Heliport," p. 220.