Word: nagano
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...appears to be a whole different ball game in the provinces. The re-election on Sept. 1 of Yasuo Tanaka as governor of Nagano prefecture is a sign that, at long last, Japanese democracy is coming of age. Citizens are tired of pork-barrel construction projects and politics as usual. So they are handing power to leaders who seem genuinely committed to doing things differently...
...Shiro Asano of Miyagi prefecture broke a taboo in December 2000 when he allowed public access to police records as a means to make government more transparent. Governor Masayasu Kitagawa of Mie prefecture unilaterally canceled a major nuclear power plant, a project as dear to Tokyo's planners as Nagano's dams. And in Tokushima, Governor Tadashi Ota won re-election in April 2002 by promising to stop construction of a giant sluice dam on the Yoshino River. In a recent referendum, 90% of Tokushima city voters opposed the dam. Nor is the trouble found only in outlying prefectures. Governor...
...Ominously for mainstream parties, most of these leaders are fierce independents. "It may be rude to say it," observes Kitagawa, "but in the case of Chiba's Akiko Domoto, Nagano's Yasuo Tanaka, and myself as well, 'weirdos' became governor." Asano and Domoto both refused all party endorsements, yet won handily. Staying unattached and "weird" means freedom from the smoky backroom culture that is smothering Koizumi. Governor Asano wrote to candidate Domoto, "Please don't think of nonaffiliation as a means to gain advantage in the election. It's not a means; it's a policy...
...colder months, Nagano prefecture--site of the 1998 Winter Olympics--offers the delightful contrast of piping-hot springs amid snow. Two hours west of Tokyo lie the vast Lake Suwa and the onsen town of Kamisuwa. At Saginoyu saginoyu.com) a historic inn, some of the grandest rooms offer private rotenburo, round cedar tubs overlooking the lake. But don't miss the communal onsen on the ground floor, where the rotenburo are shielded by tile roofs from which icicles hang in winter. In spring, cherry blossoms provide a pink feast for fatigued bathers' eyes...
Four years is a long time to wait for four minutes on Olympic ice, and this was a hard defeat for the 21-year-old Californian, who won silver at Nagano in 1992. Her disappointment and surprise at finding herself with bronze this time was as deep as Hughes' ecstatic shock at having defeated her idol. Puffy-eyed from crying when she skated out to receive her medal, Kwan will now wrestle with the burden of dealing with an Olympic victory that has slipped from her hands not once but twice. "I just wanted to come home with the gold...