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Ceremony held to mark start of train from relocated station

MAEBASHI, Japan - A ceremony is held on Oct. 1, 2014, to mark the start of a train run from the relocated Kawarayu Onsen Station on East Japan Railway Co.'s Agatsuma Line in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan. The original station will be submerged due to the controversial Yamba Dam construction project.

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Ceremony held to open bridge over Yamba Dam in eastern Japan

MAEBASHI, Japan - A ribbon-cutting ceremony is held on Oct. 1, 2014, to open a bridge built over Yamba Dam in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan, after decades of controversy over the advisability of dam construction.

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People wait to buy admission tickets for relocated station

MAEBASHI, Japan - People wait in line to buy commemorative admission tickets for the relocated Kawarayu Onsen Station on East Japan Railway Co.'s Agatsuma Line in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan, on Oct. 1, 2014. The original station will be submerged due to the controversial Yamba Dam construction project.

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Festival participants in Gunma Pref. splash hot water at one another

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Male participants in a festival in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, dressed in traditional Japanese men's undergarments called "fundoshi," splash hot water at one another on the morning of Jan. 20, 2014.

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Hot water festival

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Some 60 near-naked men, ranging from teenagers to those in their 50s, splash each other with hot water while cheering in the predawn cold during a "hot water festival" at a hot spring resort in the town of Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, on Jan. 20, 2014. The festival, intended to bring prosperity to the local community, is said to have its origins in a legend that a dried-up hot spring started to discharge hot water again after local residents dedicated a chicken to it some 400 years ago.

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Hot water festival

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Near-naked men cheer and splash hot water over each other in a "hot water festival" held in the pre-dawn chill at a hot spring resort in the town of Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, on Jan. 20, 2014. The festival reaches a climax when four chickens burst forth from balls hanging overhead. The festival, intended to bring prosperity to the local community, is said to have its origins in a legend that a dried-up hot spring started to discharge hot water again after local residents dedicated a chicken to it some 400 years ago.

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Hot water festival

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Some 60 near-naked men, ranging from teenagers to those in their 50s, splash each other with hot water while cheering in the predawn cold during a "hot water festival" at a hot spring resort in the town of Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, on Jan. 20, 2014. The festival, intended to bring prosperity to the local community, is said to have its origins in a legend that a dried-up hot spring started to discharge hot water again after local residents dedicated a chicken to it some 400 years ago.

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Festival participants in Gunma Pref. try to warm themselves up

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Participants in a hot water-splashing festival in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, try to warm themselves up by putting their hands near a bonfire on the morning of Jan. 20, 2014. According to the traditional calendar based on 24 seasonal divisions per year, the day is said to be the coldest winter day.

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Land minister Ohata visits contentious dam project site

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Akihiro Ohata (3rd from L) receives explanations about a dam construction project in the town of Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, on Feb. 13, 2011. Yamba Dam, located north of Tokyo, has been decades in the making, but the Democratic Party of Japan-led government may call off the project as it has been at the center of its drive to scrap dozens of public works projects considered wasteful.

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Hot water festival

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Some 60 almost naked young men splash each other with hot water while cheering in the predawn hours in a ''hot water festival'' at a hot spring resort in the town of Naganohara, Japan, on Jan. 20, 2011. The festival, intended to wish for the prosperity of the local community, is said to originate in the legend that a dried-up hot spring started to discharge hot water again after local residents dedicated a chicken some 400 years ago. The area would be submerged if the controversial Yamba Dam project goes ahead.

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Yukake Festival takes place in Kawarayu Hot Springs

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Men wearing traditional Japanese loincloths splash each other with warm water at the Kawarayu hot spring district in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, on Jan. 20, 2010, during the annual Yukake Festival. Some 60 men took part in the ritual as they prayed for the prosperity of the region. The resort district had been scheduled to be submerged due to the construction of a dam, known as the Yamba Dam, until the Democratic Party of Japan decided to abort the project.

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6 Kanto region governors visit contentious Yamba Dam site

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Six governors from the Kanto region -- (from L to R) Tomikazu Fukuda of Tochigi Prefecture, Masaru Hashimoto of Ibaraki Prefecture, Kensaku Morita of Chiba Prefecture, Shintaro Ishihara of Tokyo, Masaaki Osawa of Gunma Prefecture and Kiyoshi Ueda of Saitama Prefecture -- are briefed by a land ministry official on the Yamba Dam project in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, on Oct. 19, 2009, as they visit the planned construction site.

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Woman picks flowers on field left untrimmed during relocation

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Takeko Takeuchi, 62, gathers flowers in an unattended field in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, on Sept. 20, 2009. The field would have been submerged had the Yamba Dam been constructed as planned. She says she was too busy to take care of the field, moving to a relocation site before the new administration of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama pledged to cancel the costly dam project.

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Wild serows cross slope made from Yamba Dam-related reclaimed land

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Two wild Japanese serows cross a slope made from reclaimed land on the Agatsuma River in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, on Sept. 19, 2009. The land was developed as part of the Yamba Dam construction project, which the new administration of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has decided to cancel to cut wasteful public works spending.

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Man harvests rice in field as Yamba Dam project gets canceled

NAGANOHARA, Japan - An 81-year-old man places harvested golden ears of rice in the sun in a field in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, on Sept. 21, 2009. The field would have been submerged had the Yamba Dam been constructed as planned. The new administration of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has decided to cancel the costly dam project in Gunma Prefecture.

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Man stares at pillar of old home vacated for aborted dam project

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Goichiro Takeuchi, 64, stares at a pillar of a roughly 90-year-old home in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, on Sept. 20, 2009. He and his wife vacated the house in anticipation of the Yamba Dam construction. They moved to a relocation site before the new administration of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama pledged to cancel the costly dam project in Gunma Prefecture.

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Bridge construction suspended as dam project gets canceled

NAGANOHARA, Japan - This Sept. 20, 2009 photo shows a bridge under construction for a road to cross a lake that would have been completed had the Yamba Dam been constructed as planned in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture. The new administration of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has decided to cancel the costly dam project in Gunma Prefecture.

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Scenery near planned Yamba Dam site

NAGANOHARA, Japan - This Sept. 24, 2009, photo shows an area on the Agatsuma River in Gunma Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, that would have been submerged if the new administration led by Democratic Party of Japan President Yukio Hatoyama had not decided to cancel the nearby Yamba Dam project. Two piers show the height of a bridge for a diverted road that would have run higher than the current road. Land minister Seiji Maehara told members of the local community that he intends to continue building roads linked to the aborted dam project even after it is scrapped.

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Land minister Maehara visits Yamba Dam site

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Land minister Seiji Maehara (C) visits one of the relocation sites for residents affected by the aborted Yamba Dam project in the town of Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo on Sept. 23, 2009. His recent announcement that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's government is canceling the 57-year-old project to build a dam in the area has drawn strong opposition from local people.

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Maehara visits Yamba Dam site

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Land minister Seiji Maehara (R) visits the construction site for the Yamba Dam in the town of Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo on Sept. 23, 2009. A recent announcement by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's government that it is canceling the 57-year-old project to build a dam in the area has drawn strong opposition by local people.

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Tokyo Olympic torch relay

Drone photo shows the Tokyo Olympic torch relay being held on Yamba Ohashi bridge in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan, on March 31, 2021.

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Men splash hot spring water at traditional Japanese festival

Men in red or white loincloths splash hot spring water at one another during a traditional "Yukake" festival at the Kawarayu hot spring resort in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan, on Jan 20, 2015. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Tokyo Olympic torch relay

Drone photo shows the Tokyo Olympic torch relay being held on Yamba Ohashi bridge in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan, on March 31, 2021.

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Tokyo Olympic torch relay

Drone photo shows the Tokyo Olympic torch relay being held on Yamba Ohashi bridge in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan, on March 31, 2021.

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Land minister Maehara visits Yamba Dam site

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Land minister Seiji Maehara (C) visits one of the relocation sites for residents affected by the aborted Yamba Dam project in the town of Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo on Sept. 23, 2009. His recent announcement that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's government is canceling the 57-year-old project to build a dam in the area has drawn strong opposition from local people. (Kyodo)

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Scenery near planned Yamba Dam site

NAGANOHARA, Japan - This Sept. 24, 2009, photo shows an area on the Agatsuma River in Gunma Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, that would have been submerged if the new administration led by Democratic Party of Japan President Yukio Hatoyama had not decided to cancel the nearby Yamba Dam project. Two piers show the height of a bridge for a diverted road that would have run higher than the current road. Land minister Seiji Maehara told members of the local community that he intends to continue building roads linked to the aborted dam project even after it is scrapped. (Kyodo)

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Scenery near planned Yamba Dam site

NAGANOHARA, Japan - This Sept. 24, 2009, photo shows an area on the Agatsuma River in Gunma Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, that would have been submerged if the new administration led by Democratic Party of Japan President Yukio Hatoyama had not decided to cancel the nearby Yamba Dam project. Two piers show the height of a bridge for a diverted road that would have run higher than the current road. Land minister Seiji Maehara told members of the local community that he intends to continue building roads linked to the aborted dam project even after it is scrapped. (Kyodo)

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Land minister Maehara visits Yamba Dam site

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Land minister Seiji Maehara (C) visits one of the relocation sites for residents affected by the aborted Yamba Dam project in the town of Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo on Sept. 23, 2009. His recent announcement that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's government is canceling the 57-year-old project to build a dam in the area has drawn strong opposition from local people. (Kyodo)

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Bridge construction suspended as dam project gets canceled

NAGANOHARA, Japan - This Sept. 20, 2009 photo shows a bridge under construction for a road to cross a lake that would have been completed had the Yamba Dam been constructed as planned in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture. The new administration of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has decided to cancel the costly dam project in Gunma Prefecture. (Kyodo)

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Woman picks flowers on field left untrimmed during relocation

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Takeko Takeuchi, 62, gathers flowers in an unattended field in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, on Sept. 20, 2009. The field would have been submerged had the Yamba Dam been constructed as planned. She says she was too busy to take care of the field, moving to a relocation site before the new administration of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama pledged to cancel the costly dam project. (Kyodo)

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Wild serows cross slope made from Yamba Dam-related reclaimed lan

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Two wild Japanese serows cross a slope made from reclaimed land on the Agatsuma River in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, on Sept. 19, 2009. The land was developed as part of the Yamba Dam construction project, which the new administration of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has decided to cancel to cut wasteful public works spending. (Kyodo)

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Man stares at pillar of old home vacated for aborted dam project

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Goichiro Takeuchi, 64, stares at a pillar of a roughly 90-year-old home in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, on Sept. 20, 2009. He and his wife vacated the house in anticipation of the Yamba Dam construction. They moved to a relocation site before the new administration of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama pledged to cancel the costly dam project in Gunma Prefecture. (Kyodo)

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Man harvests rice in field as Yamba Dam project gets canceled

NAGANOHARA, Japan - An 81-year-old man places harvested golden ears of rice in the sun in a field in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, on Sept. 21, 2009. The field would have been submerged had the Yamba Dam been constructed as planned. The new administration of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has decided to cancel the costly dam project in Gunma Prefecture. (Kyodo)

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Land minister Ohata visits contentious dam project site

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Akihiro Ohata (3rd from L) receives explanations about a dam construction project in the town of Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, on Feb. 13, 2011. Yamba Dam, located north of Tokyo, has been decades in the making, but the Democratic Party of Japan-led government may call off the project as it has been at the center of its drive to scrap dozens of public works projects considered wasteful. (Kyodo)

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Ceremony held to open bridge over Yamba Dam in eastern Japan

MAEBASHI, Japan - A ribbon-cutting ceremony is held on Oct. 1, 2014, to open a bridge built over Yamba Dam in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan, after decades of controversy over the advisability of dam construction. (Kyodo)

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Ceremony held to mark start of train from relocated station

MAEBASHI, Japan - A ceremony is held on Oct. 1, 2014, to mark the start of a train run from the relocated Kawarayu Onsen Station on East Japan Railway Co.'s Agatsuma Line in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan. The original station will be submerged due to the controversial Yamba Dam construction project. (Kyodo)

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People wait to buy admission tickets for relocated station

MAEBASHI, Japan - People wait in line to buy commemorative admission tickets for the relocated Kawarayu Onsen Station on East Japan Railway Co.'s Agatsuma Line in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan, on Oct. 1, 2014. The original station will be submerged due to the controversial Yamba Dam construction project. (Kyodo)

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Hot water festival

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Some 60 almost naked young men splash each other with hot water while cheering in the predawn hours in a ''hot water festival'' at a hot spring resort in the town of Naganohara, Japan, on Jan. 20, 2011. The festival, intended to wish for the prosperity of the local community, is said to originate in the legend that a dried-up hot spring started to discharge hot water again after local residents dedicated a chicken some 400 years ago. The area would be submerged if the controversial Yamba Dam project goes ahead. (Kyodo)

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Yukake Festival takes place in Kawarayu Hot Springs

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Men wearing traditional Japanese loincloths splash each other with warm water at the Kawarayu hot spring district in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, on Jan. 20, 2010, during the annual Yukake Festival. Some 60 men took part in the ritual as they prayed for the prosperity of the region. The resort district had been scheduled to be submerged due to the construction of a dam, known as the Yamba Dam, until the Democratic Party of Japan decided to abort the project. (Kyodo)

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Yamba Dam in Japan

Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on June 12, 2019, shows the nearly completed Yamba Dam in Naganohara in Gunma Prefecture. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Yamba Dam in Japan

Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on June 12, 2019, shows the nearly completed Yamba Dam in Naganohara in Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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6 Kanto region governors visit contentious Yamba Dam site

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Six governors from the Kanto region -- (from L to R) Tomikazu Fukuda of Tochigi Prefecture, Masaru Hashimoto of Ibaraki Prefecture, Kensaku Morita of Chiba Prefecture, Shintaro Ishihara of Tokyo, Masaaki Osawa of Gunma Prefecture and Kiyoshi Ueda of Saitama Prefecture -- are briefed by a land ministry official on the Yamba Dam project in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, on Oct. 19, 2009, as they visit the planned construction site. (Kyodo)

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Maehara visits Yamba Dam site

NAGANOHARA, Japan - Land minister Seiji Maehara (R) visits the construction site for the Yamba Dam in the town of Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo on Sept. 23, 2009. A recent announcement by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's government that it is canceling the 57-year-old project to build a dam in the area has drawn strong opposition by local people. (Kyodo)