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.

FORBES: If It's Tuesday, It Must Be A New Japanese Prime

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.

ECONOMIST: It's an old folks' home out there

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.

CNN: Olive-Drab Bureaucrats

They have borrowed not only for their own direct purposes to build public works and housing but also for enterprises known as local-government financing vehicles, whose businesses often have a low rate of return.

WSJ: Philip Bowring: China Needs a 1997-Style Crisis