Six governors from the Kanto region visited the Yamba Dam construction site in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, on Oct. 19 to demand that the national government cancel plans to scrap the controversial, decades-in-the-making project.

The governors of Tokyo, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama and Chiba issued a joint statement calling on the Democratic Party of Japan to build the dam.

It is the first time the six governors of prefectures shouldering part of the project's cost have jointly visited the site, which dates to the 1950s, according to the Gunma Prefectural Government.

The visit, which came at the initiative of Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, was a show of solidarity to continue the project, for which work on the dam itself has yet to be started.

"Disasters triggered by abnormal weather occur frequently. It is absolutely necessary to construct the dam for the purposes of water and flood control," Ishihara said as he met with Naganohara Mayor Kinya Takayama.