For decades, the building of Narita Airport divided the national government and the farmers of Sanrizuka. In November 1991, the government, the airport authority, Chiba Prefecture and the opposition league met together for the first time. The meeting, the Narita Airport Problem Symposium, was hosted by a group of scholars, the Sumiya research group.
The symposium and a later round table ended in the group’s findings, the Sumiya shoken. In January 1995, after a report to the cabinet, the government issued a letter that again expressed its regret.