Abstract
This chapter discusses the first Japanese case of dam removal policy. The Arase Dam in Kumamoto Prefecture was built for hydropower generation as a symbol of economic development in 1955. After its construction, local residents came to realize the damage caused by the dam, such as flood damage and eutrophication of the reservoir. In parallel with the anti-dam construction movement, at another site in the same river basin, the local village and fishermen began to ask the prefectural government to remove the Arase Dam when the permit for hydropower generation expired in 2003. Until the governor of the prefecture decided to remove the dam, there had been a series of complex interactions among different levels of government, local residents, fishery cooperatives, and downstream farmers, with political dynamics from changes of top leaders in elections. This chapter focuses on the contextual factors in interactive governance and stresses the importance of resistance strategy, which has been discussed in case studies of local commons in Japan, rather than collaborative governance discussed in many water governance studies.
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Notes
- 1.
Inoue (2004) also discusses that each stakeholder should have differentiated legitimacy according to their dependence on the targeted resource.
- 2.
- 3.
Among those newspapers, only Kumamoto Nichinichi Shinbun is the local newspaper published at Kumamoto; the others are the nationwide newspapers.
- 4.
It is made from concrete and is “called a gravity dam because gravity holds it down to the ground stopping the water in the reservoir pushing it over” (The British Dam Society 2010).
- 5.
Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun, May 25, 1951.
- 6.
Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun, February 11, 1951.
- 7.
Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun, December 23, 1954.
- 8.
This film is available at the following website (http://www.kagakueizo.org/create/other/5533/).
- 9.
Interview, March 6, 2016.
- 10.
Details of flood damage are described in detail in the interview report (Kumagawa ryuiki jyumin kikitorichosa hokokushu henshuiinkai 2008).
- 11.
- 12.
- 13.
Yomiuri Shimbun, June 16, 2001.
- 14.
Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun, July 16, 2002.
- 15.
Asahi Shimbun, August 11, 2002.
- 16.
Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun, September 27, 2002.
- 17.
Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun, October 18, 2002.
- 18.
Kumamoto prefectural assembly meeting minutes, December 10, 2002.
- 19.
Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun, October 30, 2002.
- 20.
Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun, November 4, 2002. Unfortunately, the amount of related tax revenue and subsidy remains unclear due to the limited available documents.
- 21.
Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun, July 3, 2008; May 5, 2009; March 7, 2010.
- 22.
Asahi Shimbun, June 7, 2008.
- 23.
Asahi Shimbun, July 1, 2008.
- 24.
Kumamoto Nichinichi Shinbun, November 25, 2009.
- 25.
Kumamoto Nichinichi Shinbun, December 15, 2009.
- 26.
Asahi Shinbun, September 14, 2009.
- 27.
Kumamoto Nichinichi Shinbun, October 15, 2009.
- 28.
Asahi Shinbun, January 15, 2010.
- 29.
Asahi Shinbun, February 3, 2010.
- 30.
Interview, February 2, 2015.
- 31.
Interview, March 5, 2016.
- 32.
Interview, September 24, 2015.
- 33.
Interview, September 24, 2015.
- 34.
The strategies they adopted were mainly political campaigning. There was no litigation concerning Arase Dam removal.
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Acknowledgment
Some fieldworks for this study were jointly conducted with the support of Gaku Mitsumata, Daisaku Shimada, and Kazuki Kagohashi. This study is partly supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP 16K16236.
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Appendix: Chronology of the Arase Dam construction and removal from the 1950s to 2010
Appendix: Chronology of the Arase Dam construction and removal from the 1950s to 2010
Date(s) | Event |
|---|---|
Phase 1: Dam as a symbol of “development” (1960s) | |
1950s | Electricity shortage at Kumamoto Prefecture |
Kuma River General Development Plan | |
1955 | Completion of the Arase Dam construction work |
Phase 2: Dam as a source of “nuisance” (1965–1980s) | |
1965 | Sever flood damage around the Arase Dam site and its reservoir |
Criticism by inhabitants for the failure of the dams’ flood control | |
Degradation of the reservoir’s water quality | |
Phase3: Dam removal stimulated by dam construction controversies (1990s–2007) | |
Late 1990 | Nationwide controversies over the Kawabegawa Dam construction |
2001 | Proposal for local referendum at Sakamoto Village on the Kawabegawa Dam construction and its rejection by village assembly |
2002 | Formation of “Arase Dam organization” by inhabitants and fishermen |
Several organizations and inhabitants jointly submitted the petition to remove dam and its acceptance by village assembly | |
LDP-K proposed the Arase Dam removal | |
Governor Shiotani expresses her decision to remove Arase Dam in 7 years | |
Phase 4: Change of local government attitudes and citizen protests (2008–2010) | |
April 2008 | Mr. Kabashima became the new governor of Kumamoto Prefecture |
June 2008 | Governor Kabashima announced his decision to cancel the Arase Dam’s removal |
Fierce opposition movements and lobbying against governor’s decision by inhabitants | |
November 2008 | Project team at the prefectural government reported the removal cost excess the status quo cost |
August 2009 | Candidate who advocate the dam removal was elected as new Yatsushiro City mayor |
Changes of national government from LDP to DPJ | |
January 2010 | DPJ government expressed its view that water license of Arase Dam cannot be renewed and will expire in the end of March 2010 |
February 2010 | Governor Kabashima applied new water license for maintaining Arase Dam |
LDP-K proposed cuts in the budgets for maintaining Arase Dam and their proposal was accepted in a unanimous at prefectural assembly | |
March 2010 | Governor Kabashima expressed his final decision to remove Arase Dam |
Phase 5: Dam removal and signs of watershed restoration (2010–) | |
April 2010 | The gate of Arase Dam was opened |
September 2012 | The removal work had started |
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Ohno, T. (2019). Contextual Factors Affecting the Modes of Interaction in Governance: The Case of Dam Removal in Japan. In: Otsuka, K. (eds) Interactive Approaches to Water Governance in Asia. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2399-7_3
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