Last week I sent a letter to the editor of the Daily Yomiuri, the paper we subscribe to here in Japan. The letter was published in the paper on July 9. The contents of the letter can be found below

Letter to the Editor

This past Golden Week my wife and I traveled by car from Kumamoto prefecture
to Nagano. We have lived in Kumamoto for 4 years and having hiked most of
the mountains in Kyushu were looking for something different. And we found
it in Nagano. Some Japanese people say you can't find daishizen in Japan but
they are mistaken. There is some grand "big" beauty in Nagano.

This week the conflict between Governor Tanaka and the Nagano Prefectural
Assembly blew up and Tanaka lost a vote of confidence forcing him into a
difficult spot. The conflict is over the stoppage of two dam projects.

As usual anyone who appears to be getting in the way of the ultra connected
Japanese construction cartel is in for a rough time. The Nagano opposition
are bringing forth charges of not being informed, are complaining about the
way the decision to stop the projects was arrived at, and are saying that
the people are not being protected from possible floods. These excuses
completely miss the point. As Alex Kerr clearly demonstrated in his book
"Dogs and Demons" Japan just doesn't need more dams.

I hope people soon realized this so the next time I make it to Nagano there
is still some of that daishizen left.

Dan Sybenga