The use of riverside areas to attract tourists is on the rise nationwide, following deregulation in recent years allowing the private sector to use the public land to open restaurants or hold events.
"I used to think of public authorities as an enemy," said Tadashi Iwamoto, 42, head of riverside consulting company Mizubesoken.
Speaking at a national conference on canals held in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, in mid-November, Iwamoto said local governments used to decline all of his proposals to revitalize riverside areas because the law restricted them to use by public entities.