Yoshino River

The Yoshino River is a river on the island of Shikoku, Japan. It is long and has a watershed of. It is the second longest river in Shikoku, and is the only river whose watershed spreads over the four prefectures of the island.

Controversies

The river was the subject of controversy in January 2000 when around half of eligible local residents showed up to the polls and overwhelmingly voted against a proposed dam construction across the river, with 102,759 registering a "no" vote and only 9,367 giving a "yes" vote. This was considered unusual in a country where pork barrel public works projects were common and often welcomed by locals in provincial areas. Ironically, one author has argued that because of earlier local reforms which required a 50% turnout rate for referendums to pass through, pro-dam lobbyists likely urged "yes" supporters to not turn out to vote in the hopes that the total turnout would be less than 50% and thus invalidate the inevitable "no" vote. The entire episode led to a heated struggle between opposed locals and pro-dam lobbyists over the project. Reconstruction of the Yoshino Daiju Dam near its mouth provoked much controversy among environmentalists.