In the country's highly centralized system of government, the mandarins who run the powerful ministries have enormous influence over local spending. From their offices in central Tokyo, they control a flow of state funds that can mean life or death to towns as far as than 1,000 km away. This power of the purse gives these bureaucrats a free hand to impose mind-numbing uniformity on much of the country. The often-cited story of the town that couldn't move a bus stop without Tokyo's permission is only the most famous example of the central government's long reach. The system has begun to unravel during Japan's decade-long economic slump.
Many localities are broke.
The national government, burdened with the biggest debt load among the advanced industrialized countries, can't dish out cash the way it did in the good old days of turbocharged growth. As a result, Hiramatsu and other reformers are challenging the system, demanding greater authority to raise money and more say over how it's doled out. Facing local pressure to spend more efficiently, these leaders are canvasing independent opinions on public-works projects and encouraging greater scrutiny of how money is spent. The governors complain most about their limited powers to tax and spend. About two-thirds of the money prefectures raise in taxes goes to the central government.