His position required Maehara to confront the vested local government and public works interest groups for on-going or planned pork-barrel public works projects, including some notoriously wasteful and unnecessary dams.

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Under the premiership of Junichiro Koizumi, Japan has slashed local-government remittances and spending on the kinds of public works that used to bring money to the countryside.

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They hold not only positions traditionally linked to the military -- like the defense secretary -- but also run departments such as public works, transportation and local government.

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