Ecological Modernisation and Japan

Ecological Modernization and Japan

In the 1990s, Japan gradually began to turn green and started to experiment with more participatory forms of environmental governance. Ecological Modernization and Japan explores this transformation and looks at Japan as a case for ecological modernization while contextualizing the discussion within its unique history and recent discussions about globalization and sustainability. It makes a significant contribution to the ecological modernization debate by unpacking the Japanese environmental experience. Leading scholars in the field from Japan, the USA and the UK examine existing pressures on, and changes to, domestic environmental management structures. In addition, the book explores tensions that have emerged in relation to, and discourses that surround, the contemporary form of environmental governance in Japan. This implies the need for Japan to respond to global policy initiatives in the postJohannesburg Summit era while, at the same time, incorporating concerns about the importance of promoting new indigenous approaches to policy-making that are based more firmly on the cultural characteristics of the Japanese. Brendan Barrett is an Academic Programme Officer at the United Nations University, Japan. He is the co-author of Environmental Policy and Impact Assessment in Japan (1991) and co-editor of Human Development and the Environment (2001).

Ecological Modernization and Japan Edited by Brendan F.D.Barrett

LONDON AND NEW YORK

First published 2005 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 2005 Brendan F.D.Barrett All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-203-02331-5 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-415-35166-9 (Print Edition)

To my wonderful wife and children Chizu, Erin and Rian

Contents

List of figures

vii

List of tables

viii

List of contributors

ix

Preface

xi

Acknowledgments List of abbreviations

xiii xv

PART 1 Background

1

1

Ecological modernization and Japan BRENDAN F.D. BARRETT AND DANA R. FISHER

3

2

Environmental discourses in a developmental state BRENDAN F.D. BARRETT

13

PART 2 Policies, actors and institutions

25

3

Building a national environmental regime BRENDAN F.D. BARRETT

27

4

Foundations of local environmental governance BRENDAN F.D. BARRETT AND MIKOTO USUI

49

5

The transformation of social movements and civil society JEFFREY BROADBENT AND BRENDAN F.D. BARRETT

67

6

Environmental values and ecological modernization BRENDAN F.D. BARRETT

89

PART 3 Issues and responses 7

Transformation of the development process BRENDAN F.D. BARRETT

109 111

vi

8

Ecologically modern industrialization BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND ANDREA REVELL

129

9

Japan in the greenhouse—the challenge of addressing rising emissions MIRANDA A.SCHREURS

149

Conclusions BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT

167

Bibliography

181

Index

211

10

Figures

2.1 Internalization of environmental constraints 5.1 Increase in post-materialist values in Japan, 1981–1997 6.1 Typology of environmental knowledge orientations 6.2 Willingness to accept tax increases for environmental protection purposes 6.3 Willingness to accept price increases for environmental protection purposes 6.4 Economy versus environment 6.5 Japanese views on science, nature and the environment (ISSP 1992) 6.6 Comparison of the environmental values from the ISSP and GOES 6.7 Analysis of NIES data using Cohen’s environmental knowledge orientations 6.8 Environmental knowledge orientations of youth in Asia-Pacific 7.1 Procedures for the Aichi Expo 2005 EIA 8.1 Changes in eco-efficiencies for final energy consumption, CO2 emissions and domestic waste 8.2 Eco-efficiency rates for other air pollutants 9.1 Per capita carbon dioxide emissions in the five EM states from the consumption and flaring of fossil fuels, 1980–2000

17 84 92 96 96 98 99 99 101 105 124 133 134 159

Tables

2.1 3.1 3.2 4.1 4.2 5.1 6.1 6.2

Evolution of environmental related discourses in Japan Comparison of OECD reviews of Japan’s environmental performance Major environmental legislation, 1990–2003 Main features of cooperative management regimes Environmental planning experience in four localities Chronological comparison of environmental movements in Japan International surveys on environmental attitudes in Japan Percentage correct on knowledge of environmental science items among various groups in Japan 6.3 Distribution of Japanese public attitudes on items related to the NEP 6.4 Regression analysis of value and behaviour—Japan and the Netherlands 6.5 Comparison of ISSP 2000 results for ecologically modern states 7.1 Chronology of the enactment and implementation of the EIA Law, 1994–1999 10.1 Ecological footprints for ecologically modern countries

16 32 32 51 58 71 93 94 95 102 103 119 171

Contributors

Brendan F.D.Barrett is an Academic Programme Officer at the United Nations University, Japan. He is the co-author of Environmental Policy and Impact Assessment in Japan (Routledge 1991) and co-editor of Human Development and the Environment (UNU Press 2001). He has written extensively on Japanese approaches to impact assessment, integrated environmental management, Local Agenda 21 and decentralization. He received a B.Sc. in Town and Country Planning from Heriot-Watt University (1983) and his Ph.D. from Oxford Brookes University (1997). Jeffrey Broadbent received his B.A. in Religious Studies—Buddhism from the University of California at Berkeley (1974), an MA in Regional Studies—Japan from Harvard University (1975) and the Ph.D. in Sociology also from Harvard University (1982). He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, University of Minnesota. The main theme of his research has been the effects of social networks on environmental and labour politics and protest movements in Japan. His book Environmental Politics in Japan: Networks of Power and Protest (Cambridge 1998) won two awards. Dana R.Fisher is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Columbia University. Her research falls at the nexus of political and environmental sociology. She has written a number of articles on the theory of ecological modernization. Presently, she is working on projects that explore the ways that civil society participates in political processes on the local, national and international levels. She is the author of National Governance and the Global Climate Change Regime (Rowman & Littiefield Publishers 2004). She holds an A.B. from Princeton University, and a Master’s in Science and Ph.D. from the Department of Sociology at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Andrea Revell is a Researcher at the Small Business Research Centre, Kingston University, London. She has an M.Sc. in environmental management and an industry background in qualitative market research. Recent works include an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded qualitative study exploring processes of ecological modernization amongst small and medium-sized firms in

x CONTRIBUTORS

the UK, and a similar study of ecological modernization within the Japanese small firm sector. Miranda A.Schreurs is Associate Professor in the Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan (1996). Schreurs is author of Environmental Politics in Japan, Germany, and the United States (Cambridge University Press 2002) and co-editor of Ecological Security in Northeast Asia (Yonsei University Press 1998) and of The Internationalization of Environmental Protection (Cambridge University Press 1997). She currently has a volume, co-edited with In-taek Hyun, under review that is tentatively entitled The Environmental Dimension of Asian Security: Conflict and Cooperation in Energy, Resources, and Pollution. Mikoto Usui has taught at a number of Japanese universities including the Graduate School of Management and Public Policy Studies at the Tsukuba University, the Graduate School of Media and Governance at Keio University and the Graduate School of International Business and Cultural Studies, Shukutoku University. His areas of specialization include international development, international negotiation and international political economy. He has extensive experience working in the international agencies including UNIDO, the OECD and Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, New York.

Preface

At the end of the 1980s, when Riki Therivel and I were working on our book on environmental policy and impact assessment in Japan, we were concerned that hegemony of interests groups favouring economic development and the powerlessness of those favouring environmental protection would continue to undermine measures to integrate meaningfully environmental policies into the administrative planning process in Japan. Those were the days when we would regularly come across newspaper articles and academic papers describing Japan as an environmental renegade in relation to the destruction of tropical rainforests and the exploitation of endangered species. Japan’s bubble economy was close to bursting point and new major infrastructure projects, golf courses and resorts were springing up across the nation. Everything changed in the 1990s and we have seen a marked shift in the direction of Japanese environmental policy with new legislation and administrative reforms. Consequently, the traditional Japanese approaches to environmental management have been both challenged and transfigured in response to internal pressures (e.g. public concern over complex pollution issues such as dioxin and environmental hormones) and trans-national demands (e.g. the need to respond to global climate change). This on-going process of change has been protracted and contentious; dramatic in some areas while dormant and contested in others. Nevertheless, significant improvements in some aspects of the nation’s environmental performance have attracted international attention and have led leading academics to categorize Japan as a member of a group of five ecologically modernized societies which also includes Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Commenting on the case of Japan, various researchers mention that the country stands out largely due to the energy efficiency of its economy. Others consider that Japan has made significant improvements in recent years and suggest that it offers a different path for the developing world based on the adoption of environmental technologies as well as sophisticated control pollution and energy efficiency measures. However, some commentators are less convinced and argue, for instance, that Japan has witnessed only a relatively minor decoupling of economic output and environmental impact, with gains in environmental efficiency being offset by an expansion of output. Here we can clearly distinguish two conflicting interpretations of Japan’s environmental performance. In this volume, we will use ecological modernization as an analytical tool to examine recent efforts in Japan to better integrate environmental

xii PREFACE

and economic concerns. This theory, which has been the source of significant dispute within the environmental social sciences about the relationship between modernization and environmental quality, focuses on the feasibility of attaining environmental improvements through the transformation of production and consumption patterns. Put simply, ecological modernization looks at how contemporary societies deal with environmental issues by concentrating on reforms of social practices and institutional changes. In recent years, many countries around the world have been analysed for their level of ecological modernization and leading social thinkers have discussed the relevance of this theoretical approach. Ironically, although Japan has been described as one of the best examples of an ecologically modernized society, to date, no comprehensive studies have focused on the applicability of the theory of ecological modernization to Japanese experience. As such, this volume makes a significant contribution to the ecological modernization debate by unpacking the Japanese environmental experience. In particular, the volume tests the explanatory power of this theory of the societyenvironment relationships in the context of the recent evolution of Japanese environmental management at the national and local level. It examines existing pressures on, and changes to, domestic environmental administrative structures. In addition, the volume explores tensions that have emerged in relation to, and discourses that surround, the contemporary form of environmental governance in Japan. This implies the need for Japan to respond to global policy initiatives in the post Johannesburg Summit era while at the same time incorporating concerns about the importance of promoting new home-grown approaches to policy-making more firmly based on the distinct cultural, geographic and environmental characteristics.

Acknowledgments

As with any major endeavour, this book would not have been possible without the support and guidance of many good friends and colleagues. In particular, I would like to thank Dana Fisher and Sombo Yamamura. Without their inspiration I would never have started working on this book. I would like to express my gratitude to Jeffrey Broadbent, Dana Fisher, Andrea Revell, Miranda Schreurs and Mikoto Usui for their contributions and deep insights on both ecological modernization and on the Japanese approach to the environmental management. I also appreciate the supportive comments received on some of the draft chapters by John Dryzek, Arthur Mol, Andrew Gouldson, Awais Piracha, Grant Boyle, Eric Williams and Yasuhiko Hotta. Sections of Chapter 1 are adapted from D.R.Fisher and W.R.Freudenburg (2001) ‘Ecological Modernization and Its Critics’, Society and Natural Resources, Vol. 14, No. 8:701–709. Permission was granted by Taylor & Francis to reproduce this material. Chapter 4 is partially based on an article by B.F.D.Barrett and M.Usui (2002) ‘Local Agenda 21 in Japan: Transforming Local Environmental Governance’, in Local Environment, Vol. 7, No. 1:46–67. The journal’s web site is http:// www.tandf.co.uk/journals. Again, I thank Taylor & Francis for giving permission to reproduce part of this paper. Chapter 5 extensively develops the ideas presented by Jeffrey Broadbent and first published in U.Desai (2002) Environmental Politics and Policy in Industrialized Countries from Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. I would like to thank MIT Press for kindly providing permission to utilize this material. Chapter 6 draws on a paper by B.F.D.Barrett, A.Kuroda and K. Miyamoto (2002) ‘Ecological Modernisation, Environmental Knowledge and Societal Change: Attitudes and Behaviour of Young People in Japan’, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, Vol. 11, No. 3:237–261. Permission to reproduce parts of this article was provided by Professor John Lidstone, co-editor of the IRGEE. I would also like to thank Professor Harutoshi Funbashi of Hosei University, Japan for kindly providing permission to rework Figure 2.1, Professor Wilhelm Vosse for the data in 6.5 and the Ministry of the Environment of Japan for granting permission to use Figures 8.1 and 8.2. I am thankful for the invaluable advice, assistance and guidance offered by Katsunori Suzuki and Yuko Doi of the Ministry of Environment, Setsuo Iuchi of the Ministry for Economy, Trade and Industry, Kiyohiko Hayashi, Motonari Umakoshi

xiv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

and Yasunari Shigemoto of the Aichi Expo Association, Ms Midori Aoyagi-Usui (National Institute for Environmental Studies), Hiroshi Ohta (Aoyama Gakuin University) and Fumikazu Yoshida (Hokkaido University), Atsushi Kuroda (Iwate Prefectural Government), Kaoru Miyamoto (Intellectual Property Bank), Changki Kwon (Institute for Global Environmental Strategies), Michie Kishigami (ICLEI Japan), Seiko Yamazaki (Dentsu Institute), Michael Danaher (Central Queensland University) and Hisayoshi Mitsuda (Bukkyo University). Work on this book has been supported by the United Nations University and I would like to thank Professor A.H.Zakri, Director of the Institute of Advanced Studies, who allowed me to initiate the project and Rector Hans van Ginkel who supported my work, gave me valuable insights and provided me the opportunity to bring the manuscript to completion. Last but not least, I would like to express my thanks to Sian Mills at Frank Cass for commissioning the manuscript and especially to Stephanie Rogers, editor of Asian Studies at Routledge, who took over the role at a late stage and who did a brilliant job in providing help, guidance and support.

Abbreviations

BIE CCEPC CEC CMR CO CO2 COD COLGEI COP CRG DIVS DP EBL EBP EIA EIS EM EMS EU FCCC FEO GDP GEF GEOS HC ICLEI ISO

Bureau International des Expositions Central Council for Environmental Pollution Control Central Environment Council cooperative management regime carbon monoxide carbon dioxide chemical oxygen demand Coalition of Local Governments for Environmental Initiatives Conference of the Parties (signatories to the FCCC) Comprehensive Research Group on Environmental Impact Assessment Dentsu International Values Survey Democratic Party of Japan Environment Basic Law Environment Basic Plan Environmental Impact Assessment Environmental Impact Statement ecological modernization environmental management systems European Union Framework Convention on Climate Change Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) gross domestic product Global Environment Forum Global Environment Survey hydrocarbons International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives International Organization for Standardization

xvi ABBREVIATIONS

ISSP JBIC JCP JEA JEC

JICA JSP LA21 LDP LOE MAFF METI MHW MITI MLIT MoC MoE MoF MoFA MoT NACS-J NCC NEP NET NGO NHK NIES NK NMVOCs NOx NPO ODA OECD OPEC

International Social Survey Programme Japan Bank for International Cooperation Japan Communist Party Japan Environment Agency Japan Environmental Corporation (successor to PCSC; in April 2004, JEC was reorganized and divided between a number of new agencies including the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency of Japan (ERCA) and the Japan Environmental Safety Corporation (JESCO)) Japan International Cooperation Agency Japan Socialist Party Local Agenda 21 Liberal Democratic Party litres of oil equivalent Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (formerly MITI) Ministry of Health and Welfare Ministry of International Trade and Industry (now METI) Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry of Construction Ministry of the Environment Ministry of Finance Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Transport Nature Conservation Society of Japan Nature Conservation Council new environmental paradigm Network Movement non-government organization Nippon Hyoso Kyoka—Japan Broadcasting Corporation National Institute for Environmental Studies New Komeito (Clean Government Party) non-methane volatile organic compounds nitrogen oxide not for profit organization Official Development Assistance Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries

ABBREVIATIONS xvii

PCA PCB PCSC POS PP PPP RPS SD SEA SOx TOE ToP UNCED UNU US WBCSD WSSD WVS

Pollution Control Agreement polychlorinated biphenyl Pollution Control Service Corporation political opportunities structure Pollution Prevention polluter pays principle renewable portfolio standards sustainable development Strategic Environmental Assessment sulphur oxide tons of oil equivalent treadmill of production United Nations Conference on Environment and Development United Nations University United States World Business Council for Sustainable Development World Summit on Sustainable Development World Values Survey

xviii

Part 1 Background

2

1 Ecological modernization and Japan1 Brendan F.D.Barrett and Dana R.Fisher

There is some empirical evidence that such developmental states [as Japan] with strong links with society are not only able to pursue a successful industrialization path or transform traditional industrialization patterns to fulfill the requirements of reflexive modernization…they also have a good basis for effectively and rather quickly reforming industrialization patterns into more environmentally sound directions. (Mol 2001b: 132) Ecological modernization has come to be known as one of the most promising ways to explain the potential for a societal shift to a less wasteful form of interaction between humans and the natural environment (but see Blüdhorn 2000; Pellow et al 2000). The theory, which has brought about significant, and at times heated, debate within the social sciences (and particularly within the environmental sociology and political science communities), deals with the practicability of attaining environmental improvements through transformation of production and consumption patterns. Although the theory has recently been applied to all types of nation-states (e.g. Mol and Sonnenfeld 2000; Mol 2001b), it has been mostly used when examining transformations in society—environment relationships in industrial democracies (Weale 1992; Hajer 1995; Mol 1995; Dryzek 1997; Young 2000). As part of these transformations, many scholars have highlighted the role played by the emergence of new, diverse coalitions and the way that they work to assure the political viability of environmental protection measures (e.g. Hajer 1995; Cohen 1997). This volume builds on existing research undertaken in Europe and elsewhere by looking deeply at the level and extent of ecological modernization in Japan. There are a number of reasons why Japan represents an interesting case study. First, it is important to recall that Japan is the first industrialized democracy in the non-Western world (Ishida and Krauss 1999), with a post-industrial economy (Martin and Stronach 1992). Second, it is the world’s second largest economy and constitutes one of the world’s most affluent and sophisticated consumer and industrial markets (IMF 2003). Third, Japan’s history of post-war economic growth and the associated ‘pollution debacle’ has been well documented (Broadbent 1998, 2002a) and its impact on the global environment is considered to be enormous (Schreurs 2002). In

4 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND DANA R.FISHER

the past, moreover, Japan has also been described as a pioneer with regard to the development of innovative environmental policy measures, particularly in the 1970s (Jänicke 2000), as an ecological front-runner (Mol and Sonnenfeld 2000) and environmental leader (Schreurs 2002).2 Further, the recent improvements in Japan’s overall environmental performance are beginning to receive some attention outside of the country (see OECD 2002; Scruggs 2003) and this volume builds upon these generally positive appraisals using ecological modernization as the main analytical framework. The pages that follow are broken down into three sections. First, the literature on the theory of ecological modernization is discussed. Next, we briefly review those works that have connected the theory to Japan in order to contextualize our project within the relevant literature. Finally, we outline the contents of the study that follows. The theory of ecological modernization Ecological modernization was presented in the German language by Joseph Huber (1985, 1991). With the publication of a modified version of the theory in English by Spaargaren and Mol in 1992, it has been embraced by a number of scholars—most of them environmental sociologists and/or political scientists—around the world (see e.g. Simonis 1989; Spaargaren and Mol 1992; Weale 1992; Mol and Spaargaren 1993; Hajer 1995; Mol 1995; Christoff 1996; Jänicke et al 1996; Dryzek 1997; Gouldson and Murphy 1997; Mol 1997; Spaargaren 1997; Giddens 1998; Mol 1999; Blüdhorn 2000; Buttel 2000a, 2000b; Cohen 2000; Leroy and van Tatenhove 2000; Mol 2000a, 2000b; Mol and Sonnenfeld 2000; Mol and Spaargaren 2000; Pellow et al 2000; Spaargaren 2000a; Spaargaren 2000a; Spaargaren and van Vliet 2000; Young 2000; Fisher and Freudenburg 2001; Mol 2001b; Fisher 2002; Dryzek et al 2003; Eckersley 2004). To date, however, the theory has been interpreted in many conflicting ways. The discussion in this chapter, accordingly, focuses on the work that has attempted to clarify key issues, much of which has been written by the most prolific supporters of the theory itself: Arthur Mol and Gert Spaargaren. In its original form, the theory of ecological modernization presents a complex interpretation of post-industrial society (for a detailed description, see Mol 1997). More specifically, there are two main components of ecological modernization that distinguish it from most past work on society-environment relationships. First, the theory explicitly describes environmental improvements as being economically feasible; indeed, entrepreneurial agents and economic/market dynamics are seen as playing leading roles in bringing about needed ecological changes. Second, in the context of the expectation for continued economic development, ecological modernization depicts the emergence of coalitions of political actors promoting the political feasibility of environmental protection. Within ecological modernization theory, these two components are associated with the growing independence (or loosening of the restraints) of the ecological sphere from the political and economic spheres in state and industrial policy-making (Spaargaren and Mol 1992; Mol 1995, 2001b).

ECOLOGICAL MODERNIZATION IN JAPAN 5

A relatively comprehensive summary of ecological modernization by Mol and Spaargaren (2000) identifies three key stages in the development of the theory. During the first stage, which they see as roughly covering the decade of the 1980s, ecological modernization emphasized technological innovations in industrial production, particularly in the form of market actors and dynamics that overlooked human agency. During the second stage, extending roughly between the late 1980s and the mid–1990s, ecological modernization moved away from technology toward a focus on the institutional and cultural dynamics of industrial production of advanced industrialized nations, on the national or comparative level. During the third and most recent stage, since the mid-1990s, Mol and Spaargaren state that recent research ‘is characterized by innovations in three fields: studies on industrial production are complemented by attention paid to ecological transformations related to consumption processes; an increasing emphasis on national studies in non-OECD countries (new industrializing countries, less developed countries, and the transitional economies in Central and Eastern Europe) in addition to OECD countries; and growing attention paid to the global dynamics of ecological modernization’ (2000:2). Within this discussion on the evolution of the theory, the authors point out that ecological modernization has branched off into both a theory of social continuity and transformation as well as a political programme for change.3 Mol himself notes the existence of analytical/descriptive and normative/prescriptive conceptions of ecological modernization (1997:140; for a fuller discussion, see Fisher and Freudenburg 2001); in his own words, the first conception has to do with ‘characterizing and analysing the way contemporary industrial societies (are trying to) cope with environmental crisis’ while the second is a question of ‘feasibility and desirability of such a normative course or project for environmental reform’. Changes in the performance of what has come to be known as the ‘environmental state’ or ‘green state’ (for a full discussion, see Frank et al. 2000a, 2000b; Mol and Buttel 2002; Dryzek et al 2003; Eckersley 2004; Fisher and Freudenburg 2004) have been seen as going together logically with increasing engagement with economic actors and new roles emerging for civil society actors, such as nongovernmental organizations. The potential for improved ecological outcomes, in short, is also seen as being dependent on changes in the institutional structure of society (see e.g. Mol 2000a). This point is underscored by studies that recognize the linkage between ecological modernization and political modernization (Spaargaren 1997; Leroy and van Tatenhove 2000; Mol 2000b). In the words of Spaargaren, ‘the central feature of the ecological modernization approach as a theory of political modernization is its focus on new forms of political intervention’ (1997:15). Consistent with some other theories of post-industrialized states (for a discussion on links to other social theories, see Seippel 2000), ecological modernization separates social actors into four main sectors: science, industry, civil society and the state. The theory says that modern science and technology emerge as central institutions for ecological reform. In addition, the state is seen as altering its traditionally central role, being transformed to a more decentralized and advisory position. In addition, civil society—sometimes in the form of social movements—is seen as shifting from the role of critically commenting on political issues to that of

6 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND DANA R.FISHER

being important participants in ecological transformations (Mol 2000a). In essence, ecological modernization sees these sets of political actors and the interrelationships between them—not market forces and economic determinants—as shaping political outcomes in the case of environmental regulations (for a full discussion, see Fisher 2004). Despite the complexity of the theory, the lynchpin of the argument involves technological innovation, which is seen as playing a predominantly beneficial role. Unlike theorists, including those promoting the Treadmill of Production perspective,4 who see technological development as being generally problematic and who in some cases highlight a potential need to stop capitalism and/or the process of industrialization to deal with ecological crises in the developed world (see e.g. Catton 1980; Schnaiberg 1980; O’Connor 1991; Foster 1992; Schnaiberg and Gould 1994), many of the proponents of ecological modernization argue that environmental problems can best be solved through further advancement of technology and industrialization. Buttel summarizes the main themes as follows: Ecological modernization theorists are basically of the view that as much as environmental problems in the past have been caused by an industrially driven process of expanded production and consumption, the solution to environmental problems cannot be found in radical movements that seek to restore the lower levels of output and consumption that prevailed years ago, or in centralized command-and-control regulation. Rather, in the ecological modernization perspective, the solution to environmental problems caused by industrialization requires more industrialization—or ‘superindustrialization’— albeit industrial development of a far different sort than that which prevailed during most of the twentieth century. (Buttel 2001:18) The ecological modernists’ reliance on technology offers a potential point of engagement with the works of other social theorists, such as Habermas (1970), who has focused on technology’s role in post-industrial societies. Reactions to the theory have been complex, ranging from the supportive to the critical, although many reactions lie between the two extremes. Perhaps the most negative reactions have come from scholars who believe that ecological modernization, or what some call ‘sustainable capitalism’ (O’Connor 1994), is not possible or simply a prescription for business as usual (Blowers 1997:853). In essence, these researchers see any theory proposing such an outcome as being bound to fail (see e.g. O’Connor 1994; Cohen 1997; Pellow et al. 2000). Although many of these critiques are rooted in a neo-Marxist perspective, others are not. A notable example involves Anthony Giddens (1998), who argues that ‘ecological modernization skirts some of the main challenges ecological problems pose for social democratic thought’ (p. 58), and that, as a result, the theory is ‘too good to be true’ (p. 57; see also Leroy and van Tatenhove 2000). Other authors provide more nuanced criticisms. Several, for example, have concluded that the work is similar to Beck’s (1987) Risk Society (for a full

ECOLOGICAL MODERNIZATION IN JAPAN 7

discussion, see Mol and Spaargaren 1993; Cohen 1996; Mol 1996; Blowers 1997; Spaargaren 2000b). Most notions of the Risk Society, and thus Beck’s notion of reflexive modernization, resemble many of the works of established environmental socio logical theorists in envisioning a worrisome future, while ecological modernization points to more optimistic expectations. In the words of Mol and Spaargaren, the ecological modernization perspective ‘is a programme belonging to the “simple modernization” phase, making unproblematic use of science and technology in controlling environmental problems’ (1993:454). Mol and Spaargaren (1993) state that their work on ecological modernization is a response to the Risk Society, and Mol (1996) highlights differences and similarities, and then brings both under the heading of reflexive modernization. Buttel has provided a broader criticism, arguing that the theory of ecological modernization ‘lacks an identifiable set of postulates’ (2000a; see also Buttel 2000b), and indicating that the work could be improved if it were rooted in broader theories of the state, such as Evans’s ‘embedded autonomy’ (1995), or Jänicke’s ‘state failure’ (1990). In addition to the critical reactions to ecological modernization, however, there have been a number of positive responses, praising ecological modernization both as a prescription and as a theory. Positive commentary on the prescriptive aspects of the theory has come from authors such as Christoff (1996), O’Neill (1998) and Rinkevicius (2000a). In O’Neill’s own words, ecological modernization offers an innovative method for ‘understanding national environmental policy as embedded in changing international context’ (O’Neill 1998:2), particularly given that ecological modernization sees environmental protection not as a burden on the economy, but as ‘a precondition for future sustainable growth’ (Weale, as cited in O’Neill 1998:14). Some theorists, such as Hajer, are equivocal with respect to the theory and argue that ecological modernization ‘recognizes the environmental crisis as evidence of a fundamental omission in the workings of the institutions of modern society’ (1995:3). Moreover, Eckersley looks at the conditions and virtues of ecological modernization as a ‘new competitive strategy’ for aspiring green states responding to the pressures of economic globalization (Eckersley 2004:70). Within this context, much of the recent empirical research on ecological modernization consists of case studies in which the theory provides a degree of fit for the cases (Frijns et al 2000; Gille 2000; Jokinen 2000; Sonnenfeld 2000; see also Mol 1999). Japan as a case of ecological modernization Within the literature, Japan has been referenced as the first non-Western, industrialized democracy to exhibit features of ecological modernization (see e.g. Jänicke et al 1996; Dryzek 1997; Gouldson and Murphy 1997; Andersen and Massa 2000; Christoff 2000; Gille 2000; Gouldson 2000; Mol and Sonnenfeld 2000; Fisher and Freudenburg 2001; Mol 2001b) but, to date, it has not been rigorously studied (but see Revell 2003; Hotta 2004). It is also a very interesting case study from the perspective of Japan’s significant influence on emerging patterns of environmental governance in the newly industrializing economies in Asia (Ren 2000; Mol 2001b: 134–135). Japan’s response to its air pollution problems in the 1970s is decribed as a

8 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND DANA R.FISHER

‘paradigmatic’ example of ecological modernization (Hajer 1996:249). Moreover, Dryzek (1997) identifies five ecologically modernized societies—Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. In his own words, Japan stands out in the environmental stakes in large part due to the energy-efficiency of its economy’ (p. 139). Generally, when commenting on ecological modernization and Japan, observers (e.g. Gouldson and Murphy 1997:76; Mol 2001b: 133) refer to empirical studies that indicate structural changes in the Japanese economy and related improvements in environmental performance (see Jänicke et al. 1989, 1996). As mentioned previously, Japan is described as an ‘ecological front-runner’ nation mainly due to its efforts to delink material consumption patterns from economic growth (Mol and Sonnenfeld 2000:12).5 There have been various positive assessments highlighting Japan’s industrial energy savings in the 1970s and 1980s and the pioneering role it played with the adoption of catalytic devices for cars, as well as denitrification and desulphurization technologies for major factories and energy facilities (Tsuru and Weidner 1989; Jänicke et al 1996; Dryzek 1997; Ren 2000). For instance, between 1971 and 1995, Japan achieved the largest improvement in energy intensity (measured in terms of tons of oil equivalent per one thousand 1990 US$ GDP) among industrialized countries and experienced a decoupling of economic growth from CO2 emissions over the same period (emissions increased by only 1.8 per cent per annum compared to a growth of the GDP of 3.6 per cent) (Cruz et al. 2002). This positive assessment is reinforced by the most recent environmental performance review for Japan undertaken by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) which notes the significant advancements in recent years with the enactment of a stream of progressive environmental legislation in the 1990s, in tandem with a highly effective mix of policy instruments (OECD 2002). Other commentators, however, argue that Japan has witnessed only a relatively minor decoupling of economic output and environmental impact, with gains in environmental efficiency being offset by an expansion of output (Gouldson and Murphy 1997; Jänicke et al 1997). Further, there have been a number of studies criticizing Japan’s overall environmental performance and indicating that it came close to committing ‘ecological hara-kiri’ in the late 1960s and early 1970s (Tsuru and Weidner 1989; Barrett and Therivel 1991; Ui 1992; Broadbent 1998; Tsuru 1999; Revell 2003) and it has been argued that improvements in the domestic environment can be attributed to transfer of the dirtier elements of its manufacturing industry overseas (Ui 1989c; McDowell 1990; Dryzek 1997; Taylor 1999; Mol 2001b). Japan’s has been described as an environmental laggard (Schreurs 1994), as a reactive state and a foot-dragger on global environmental issues (Clark 2001) and as an environmental renegade, particularly in relation to the loss of tropical rainforests and the exploitation of endangered species (Dauvergne 1997; Hall 2001; Wong 2001). Kerr (2001) criticizes Japan’s environmental track record and claims the Japanese ‘systemic addiction to construction’ (Japan spends nearly 8 per cent of GDP on construction alone, compared to 2 per cent in the US), combined with the absence of an environmental impact assessment law before 1997 (see Chapter 7), has resulted in prolific development destroying much of the nation’s natural habitat and

ECOLOGICAL MODERNIZATION IN JAPAN 9

threatened wildlife species.6 Water and marine pollution, coastal degradation, habitat destruction and biodiversity loss are amongst some of the more serious domestic environmental problems that Japan now faces (OECD 2002). Furthermore, Dryzek states that Japanese environmental policy is made with a ‘minimum of fuss and a maximum of consensus’ which implies that policy-making is dominated by government officials and business executives, described as ‘corporatism without labour’ (Dryzek 1997:141). In this volume, we acknowledge these two contrasting perspectives and argue that in part they help explain why it is difficult to determine whether Japan really is an ecologically modern state (Dryzek 1997; Mol 2001b; Revell 2003). Looking at the Japanese experience, therefore, provides an excellent opportunity to explore further the explanatory powers of ecological modernization as a theory of societyenvironment relationships in the post-industrial world outside of Europe and to examine the factors influencing the accuracy/inaccuracy of the theory’s predictions. In this volume, we will focus on institutional reforms and changes in social practices in Japan from the 1990s onwards. It is our contention that Japan is experiencing a new phase of modernization in terms of its environmental governance system (reminiscent of the third phase of ecological modernization outlined by Mol and Spaargaren 2000), which has been taking place since 1997, coincidental with Japan’s hosting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change third Conference of the Parties.7 In the 1990s, also described as the lost decade because of the long-term economic recession (Kingston 2001), there was a significant increase in civil society activity in Japan (see Yamamoto 1999; Vosse 2000; Barrett and Usui 2002; Hirata 2002; Schwartz and Pharr 2003) and this increase has been given further impetus with the passage of the 1998 Non-Profit Organization Law (see Hirata 2002; Tsujinaka 2003; on deficiencies with law, see Vosse 2000). As we will show in this volume, environmental legislative activity for waste, new energy and environmental impact assessment also increased significantly at around this period and further enhancement of the national environmental regime was marked by the establishment of the Ministry of the Environment in January 2001. Furthermore, there has been an upsurge in business involvement in on-site environmental management such as ISO 14000 and the emergence of new forms of policy dialogue at both the national and local levels. Outline of this volume This volume, accordingly, moves forward to test empirically the claims about the applicability of ecological modernization for Japan, as well as the general feasibility of the theory itself. As a first step in this study, Chapter 2 provides background for this volume with a brief history of Japan’s environmental crisis. The next four chapters look at the roles of policies, actors and institutions. Chapter 3 outlines the institutional changes in the Japanese government and the recent attempts to reformulate the national environmental regime. After looking at the environmental activity within the national state, Chapter 4 presents the foundations of local environmental governance focusing on various locally based environmental projects.

10 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND DANA R.FISHER

Chapters 5 and 6 present two different sides of civil society in Japan by looking at the issues of social movements and the environment, and public environmental knowledge/values respectively. The last section of the volume provides three case studies. With Chapter 7, we return to the role of the Japanese state by looking at the transformation of the development process. Chapter 8 looks at the role of industrialization in Japan in relation to ecological modernization, focusing on waste management, energy and the role of small and medium-sized enterprises. Chapter 9, in contrast, looks at Japan in comparison with other countries by presenting its role in the emerging international climate change regime as well as the development of a domestic climate change regime to meet the commitments of the Kyoto Protocol. In the concluding chapter, we present a brief comparison of experience in the five leading ecologically modernized countries—Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Of these five, Japan has received the least attention in the academic literature and we specifically address the question of whether Japan really is an ecologically modern society. Notes 1 Sections of this chapter are adapted from Fisher, D.R. and Freudenburg, W.R. (2001) Ecological Modernization and Its Critics: Assessing the Past and Looking toward the Future, Society and Natural Resources 14, 8:701–709. 2 In the early 1990s Japanese industry accounted for around US$30 billion of the global market of environmental technologies and services (Schreurs 2002). 3 This point is reinforced by Young (2000) who argues that ecological modernization represents a new paradigm for social scientists analysing the changing nature of environmental politics and functions as a prescriptive way to refer to programmes of environmental and economic policies. 4 The treadmill of production is characterized by (1) economic expansion—viewed as the core of viable social, economic and environmental policy, (2) increasing consumption—the main role of the state is to guarantee a cycle of production and consumption, (3) solving problems by speeding up the treadmill—the underlying assumption is that economic growth will reduce social and ecological problems and (4) economic expansion via large firms—the view that large firms are the driver of the economy, with all of the above supported by (5) an alliance between capital, labour and government (Schnaiberg et al. 2002). The differences between and the commonalities of ToP and ecological modernization have been widely discussed (Mol 2001b; Fisher 2002; Schnaiberg et al 2002). Mol summarizes the situation as follows: ‘Most Treadmill of Production studies report a major gap between the quite advanced and detailed theoretical analysis of the immanently destructive character of the treadmill of global capitalist production and the suggestions made for concrete trajectories toward social change’ (2001b: 204). Dryzek et al. 2003 provides a slightly different explanation and argues that there are two roads for the development of ecological modernization, that attract different types of environmentalists. Mainstream groups ‘seek the connection of environmental concerns only to the economic imperative of the state’ whereas more radical groups

ECOLOGICAL MODERNIZATION IN JAPAN 11

‘raise questions of legitimation’ and ‘highlight issues of risk and promote the more participatory aspects of modernisation’. 5 Mol and Sonnenfeld qualify their statement by arguing that Japan should be considered as a front-runner only in terms of the policies that ‘transform existing trends of increasing resource consumption and emissions’ rather than in absolute terms of minimal environmental additions or withdrawals per capita. 6 For instance, Japan lays about 30 times as much concrete per square foot as does the United States, with 60 per cent of the Japanese coastline now covered in concrete and 110 out of 113 major rivers dammed (Kerr 2001). 7 Schwartz (2003:14) describes the 1990s as a watershed for Japanese civil society and cites the finding from Yamamoto (1999) regarding the increase in newspaper articles in the three leading Japanese newspapers on NGOs and NPOs from 178 in 1990 to 2,868 in 1997.

12

2 Environmental discourses in a developmental state Brendan F.D.Barrett

Having escaped the bonds of the traditional, undeveloped economy, and unlocked the secrets of growth, the question remains of how to channel that growth so that human needs are met…The problem is profoundly political but at the same time it is a moral and philosophical issue. While it confronts Japan in its most acute form, it is a problem of modern industrial civilization as a whole, and the Japanese failure, or success, in coping with it has huge significance. It is at the root of the problem of establishing social control over the forces of production. (McCormack 2001:25) Japan has been described as the archetypal developmental and construction state (doken kokka) ensnared in endless cycles of public-debt financing for massive infrastructure projects impacting on the environment and social life across the archipelago (Johnson 1995; Woodall 1996; Pollack 1997; Kerr 2001; McCormack 2001). It is characterized as an advanced capitalist, industrialized democracy caught in what appears to be a perpetual and contested choice between economic growth and environmental conservation (Broadbent 1998; Tsuru 1999). In the 1960s and 1970s, Japan was certainly notorious around the world for its pollution crisis (also described as pollution debacle) with names of pollution related diseases like Minamata and itai itai ingrained on the psyche of generations of Japanese (Ui 1972; Huddle and Reich 1975; McKean 1981; Iijima 1984; Torigoe 1989a; Tsuru and Weidner 1989; Ishimure 1990; Mishima 1992; Ui 1992; Broadbent 1998; Kada 1999; Tsuru 1999; George 2001; Keibo 2001; Broadbent 2002a). In the late 1980s, however, critics began to talk about a development crisis throughout Japan that also stretched across national boundaries impacting on the broader environment, but particularly in AsiaPacific (Barrett and Therivel 1991; Dauvergne 1997; Taylor 1999; Hall 2001; Wong 2001). Perhaps to do justice we may now need to present a more nuanced interpretation of Japanese society—environment relationships in the context of recent positive reviews of the nation’s environmental performance, which describe the Japanese as innovators with respect to the creation of new institutions, policies, instruments and technologies in the environmental field and depict Japan as an important ecologically modern state outside of Europe (Dryzek 1997; Mol 2001b; OECD 2002; Revell

14 ENVIRONMENTAL DISCOURSES

2003; Scruggs 2003; Imura 2004). In this chapter we will briefly review the major post-war developments as covered in the literature (Barrett and Therivel 1991; Funabashi 1992; Hoshino 1992; Iijima 1995; Mitsuda 1997; Broadbent 1998; Tsuru 1999; Broadbent 2002a; Ishii 2002). We will look at some of the main environmental discourses that have come to the fore from the late 1990s onwards, which lay the groundwork for the discussions presented in subsequent chapters and point toward an emerging view of a more environmentally benign, Japanese sustainable society. A framework to understand Japanese environmental politics In the analysis presented in this book, ecological modernization is applied as a metatheory or grand narrative. However, where applicable and advantageous we will also use various sub-theories such as political opportunities structure (POS) or cooperative management regimes (CMR) to explore Japanese thinking on, and institutional responses to, contemporary society—environmental interactions (Seippel 2001). Discourses in environmental politics in a given country can be analysed from three perspectives, each offering partial explanations (Schreurs 2002: 22–23). The first perspective explains differences in environmental politics as being culturally specific based on a range of traditional norms, values and beliefs (including religious beliefs). This perspective adopts a cultural framing that refers to the Japanese affinity to nature (e.g. seasonal poetry, bonsai, temple gardens), also described as eco-nationalism with strong links to nihonjinron—the notion of Japanese identity (see Kalland 1995; Asquith and Kalland 1997; Morris-Suzuki 1998; Befu 2001; Thomas 2001). The second perspective explains the influences on political discourses in terms of the acuteness of pollution and the geographic conditions and natural resource endowments where Japan is portrayed as densely populated, highly polluted and dependent on resources from overseas (see Barrett and Therivel 1991; Iijima 1992; Ui 1992; Tsuru 1999; Wong 2001). The third perspective, political opportunities structures (POS), requires that we look into the way that Japanese institutional structures constrain or promote political mobilization (see Chapter 3), as well as prevailing strategies and alliance structures (Kriesi et al. 1995; van der Heijden 1998; Seippel 2001; Broadbent 2002a; Schreurs 2002). Here there is a clear distinction between the openness of the political system to new demands and the capacity of the political system to implement resulting decisions (Dryzek et al. 2003). This in turn influences the strategies adopted by different social movements (confrontational or cooperative) and their likely impact on the outcome (see Chapter 5; also see McKean 1981; Iijima 1992; Vosse 2000; Broadbent 2002a; Reimann 2003). Through POS, it is essential to recognize, especially with regard to Japan, the importance of informal relationships as explanatory factors for political mobilization and the distinction between the exclusive (repressive, confrontational and polarizing) and integrative (facilitative, cooperative and assimilative) strategies of political actors as they combine with the formal state structures (Kriesi et al 1995; van der Heijden 1998; Vosse 2000; George 2001; Seippel 2001; Broadbent 2002a; Danaher 2003; Pekkanen 2003). Moreover, acknowledgment of the changing configurations

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 15

of power are central to the POS perspective and help to identify the degree to which more open, participatory policy practices are occurring, whether shifts in ruling alignments are happening, as well as whether new influential alliances are emerging within Japan and trans-nationally (Kriesi et al. 1995; Broadbent 2002b; Schreurs 2002; Dryzek et al. 2003; Reimann 2003). Transitions in the main environmental discourses There is a rich English literature on environmental politics in Japan and this has worked to mould our conceptualization of the Japanese environmentalism (for example, see McKean 1981; Tsuru and Weidner 1989; Barrett and Therivel 1991; Ui 1992; Broadbent 1998; Tsuru 1999; Schreurs 2002). From a POS perspective, the works collectively embrace the notion of a closed political system in Japan with informal and formal polity structures incapable of responding to demands from outside the ruling triad (politicians, bureaucrats and industry). The result was a complex state of affairs (not unique to Japan) characterized by conflict in the 1960s (Ui 1992) and finally dramatic change/accommodation in the 1970s (Broadbent 1998; Tsuru 1999), following the ‘crisis and compromise’ pattern (Calder 1988). Table 2.1 presents the post-war evolution of environmental issues in Japan and incorporates different periods of socio-economic development, institutional reform and policy change (based on Iijima 1979; Broadbent 1998; Funabashi 2001; Ishii 2002). Also included are selected environmental events as well as key theoretical perspectives from leading Japanese social scientists (Torigoe 1989b; Mitsuda 1991; Funabashi 1992; Hoshino 1992; Iijima 1992; Ui 1992; Iijima 1993; Hasegawa 1995; Hasegawa 1996; Mitsuda 1997; Torigoe 1997; Torigoe 1999; Funabashi 2001). The divisions between stages are imprecise and the antecedents for each stage stretch across boundaries deep into the history of Japanese modernization (Totman 1989; Morris-Suzuki 1991; Tsuru 1999). For instance, Totman (1989) explains how the first ecological crisis in Japan took place in the pre-industrial period as a result of excessive logging, and Tsuru (1999) provides insights on pollution problems during early industrialization in the late nineteenth century. Most commentators (Japanese and otherwise) seem to suggest the existence of four or more main stages of interaction between the economy and environment in Japan since the 1950s which relate reasonably closely to Funabashi’s theory of environmental control systems (Funabashi 2001). This theory essentially suggests that the internalization of environmental constraints takes place in four stages beginning with a situation where the environmental and economic spheres are completely separate and shifting to the condition where there is closer integration between the two (stages 2 and 4 are shown in Figure 2.1). The first stage shares many characteristics with the treadmill of production model of laissez-faire economic growth (see Schnaiberg 1980; Schnaiberg and Gould 1994). In the initial post-war period, the pro-growth elite coalition effectively supported the creation of a Japanese-style treadmill of production, wherein greater productivity was the paramount objective, regardless of its social need or impact. In Japan’s Asian-style capitalism, also described as communitarian elite corporatism,

16 ENVIRONMENTAL DISCOURSES

Table 2.1 Evolution of environmental related discourses in Japan

the state essentially, through major government ministries like the Ministry for International Trade and Industry (now the Ministry for Economy, Trade and Industry—METI), played a large role in organizing the economy with military-like efficiency to bring about rapid expansion1 (Okimoto 1989; Sakakibara 1993; Broadbent 1998). Accordingly, the Japanese state did not so much impose rules upon industry as partner with them. When environmental conflicts occurred,

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 17

Figure 2.1 Internalization of environmental constraints (source: Funabashi (2001), partly modified).

government ministries tended to function as reasonable brokers or bridge keepers between opposing social and political blocs (Broadbent 2000). The lack of an effective countervailing bloc arising from a continuously vital civil society, coupled with the highly centralized quality of state authority, set the stage for Japan’s past environmental tragedies (McKean 1981). As a result, the widespread and long-held perception of Japan is that of a nation that has suffered a high social intensity of pollution (Huddle and Reich 1975; Ui 1992; Broadbent 1998; Tsuru 1999). During the initial period of development and growth (roughly from the 1950s to the late 1960s) there was only limited government environmental regulation, mainly from local governments such as Tokyo or Osaka (Barrett 1994). Some national environmental legislation was implemented (Water Quality Conservation Law and Factory Effluents Control Law in 1958) but proved ineffective (Barrett and Therivel 1991). Japanese cities grew rapidly, and some seemingly intractable problems came to the fore including high population densities, land shortages, lack of green spaces and lack of public facilities (Shapira et al 1994). An extensive range of serious cases of pollution poisoning occurred including air pollution in most large cities and arsenic poisoning (Morinaga Milk), organic mercury poisoning (Minamata), quinoform poisoning and cadmium poisoning (itai itai disease) (Funabashi 1992; Iijima 1992; Tsuru 1999). The interactions between locally affected communities and the ruling triad tended to be characterized by social exclusion and repression of the

18 ENVIRONMENTAL DISCOURSES

victims (McKean 1981; Ui 1992; Broadbent 1998; Kada 1999), perhaps best understood by the following quote: Over the ages it has come to be a well-accepted principle that in any dispute there are only two positions, the oppressed and the oppressor. As to environmental pollution, there are only the polluters, whose orientation is to ignore the problem, and the victims whose concern is to understand all factors surrounding it. (Ui 1992:6) Japan then entered the second stage described by Funabashi as the ‘imposition of constraints’ with some similarities to Beck’s ‘reflexive modernization’ (as discussed in Chapter 1). This stage, spanning the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, was characterized by widespread environmental disruption from air pollution, noise from new bullet-trains and airport developments. At the same time, we witnessed an explosion of environmental protest/anti-development groups and the initiation of lawsuits against developers as the situation escalated to crisis proportions (Gresser et al. 1981; McKean 1981; Funabashi et al 1985; Barrett and Therivel 1991; Broadbent 1998; Tsuru 1999; Broadbent 2002a). The environmental administration in Japan during this stage has generally been viewed as reactive (Barrett and Therivel 1991; Wong 2001). When the Japanese government did act, the ministries, business leadership and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) negotiated ways to reduce the worst pollution and developed soft control measures to weaken protest movements and opposition political parties, which at the same time worked to fend off long-term sources of challenge to the ruling triad and reduced the scope for the emergence of an autonomous civil society (Barrett and Therivel 1991; Broadbent 1998). The government repeatedly wrote new laws vaguely, without teeth, so as to avoid empowering ordinary citizens to challenge projects and decide issues (Upham 1987; Broadbent 1998). Rather than prevention—assessing and rejecting potentially damaging projects—environmental policies were characterized by post-pollution, elite-controlled technical and administrative solutions to threats to human health. Less visible, creeping forms of pollution, such as toxic waste, soil contamination or groundwater pollution, did not call forth immediate public outcry, so the government ignored them (Yoshida 2002). Similarly, policy measures tended to largely ignore environmental amenities—protection from noise, vibration, crowding and the lack of greenery, and preservation of other species. Nevertheless, we find again progressive local governments responded quickly and initiated new innovative forms of environmental regulation. Furthermore, increased public pressure at the national level resulted in the passage of 14 environmental laws in the so-called 1970 ‘Pollution Diet’ (Gresser et al 1981; Barrett and Therivel 1991; Broadbent 1998). Subsequently, in 1971, the Environment Agency was established. In stage three, from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, at about the same time as ecological modernization was emerging in Europe, the environmental modernizers in Japan suffered a series of major setbacks.2 At this point, following the first oil shock in 1973, the energy crisis overtook the pollution crisis as a national concern. In this

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 19

period, Japan experienced economic restructuring induced by high inflation and public sector monetary control. Some environmental regulations were weakened (e.g. NO2 emission standards) and legislative efforts were undermined including the passage of a law on environmental impact assessment (Barrett and Therivel 1991; Tsuru 1999). The Japanese approach to environmental management, during this stage, included a strong physical project orientation with an emphasis on new pollution control technologies, the creation of greater convenience in relation to transport, access to services and amenities, land readjustment in urban areas and land reclamation at the urban waterfront. Key policy instruments included the development of a comprehensive system of emission and environmental quality standards covering air, water quality, noise and odour; establishment of area-wide environmental pollution control programmes in locations with severe pollution problems; emphasis on compensation for environmental damage and detrimental effects on communities and human health; conservation of the natural environment through a system of area designations and efforts to increase the extent of green spaces in urban areas; a wide range of administrative measures to deal with effluent from industrial premises including guidance provision and the establishment of pollution control agreements; use of financial and fiscal incentives to encourage private sector environmental expenditure; and widespread environmental monitoring and public information systems (Tsuru and Weidner 1989; Barrett and Therivel 1991). Impact of recent modernization on Japan—the fourth stage The environmental discourses in the late 1980s in Japan were increasingly influenced by international concerns including global warming, whaling, tropical deforestation and acid deposition in Asia (Dauvergne 1997; Wong 2001; Danaher 2002b; Schreurs 2002). From around 1987–1988, the ruling elite placed growing emphasis on Japan’s leadership role in the use of environmental technology as a potential contribution to the conservation efforts of the international community (Schreurs 1996a; Tsuru 1999). In response to international criticism, there was a noticeable ‘greening’ of leading politicians (including former Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita), impacting on national policies and resulting in major increases in Japan’s donations to overseas environmental programmes and increased participation in international efforts to address global climate change.3 For instance, a Council of Ministers for Global Environmental Conservation was established in 1989 and included 19 ministers (out of a total of 21) and was concerned with furthering the development of Japan’s global environmental policies. From 1991 onwards, with the collapse of the bubble economy, Japan experienced falling land prices, major problems for financial institutions, an ever-deepening economic recession and fairly dramatic political change (Kingston 2001). Moreover, following the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, we can note significant efforts by the Japanese administration to respond to the question of sustainable development and to reduce the environmental burden of society as embodied in the 1994 Environment Basic Plan (Imura 1994). Schreurs’s (1996a) review of Japanese environmental policy

20 ENVIRONMENTAL DISCOURSES

highlights how changing discursive practices were evident within the Japanese polity during this period largely as a result of top-down, elite-driven, reactive policy initiatives rather than from grassroots pressure. More specifically, some segments of the ruling triad in Japan began to clearly see the environment as an opportunity and not a burden. Essentially, these changes reflect Funabashi’s theory on the internalization of environmental constraints (Figure 2.1). This dynamic period of change was also characterized by the opening up of policy structures and the emergence of new coalitions around national and global environmental issues. It is argued that: The government, out of concerns for its foreign relations, chose in the early 1990s to pursue global environmental matters. An unintended consequence of this decision was that the state placed pressure upon itself to undo the institutional barriers that it had created to the formation of a vibrant civil society. (Schreurs 2002:258) Schreurs (2002) acknowledges that there is another interpretation that sees Japan’s global stance as that of ‘symbolic politics’ and there is considerable cynicism surrounding recent institutional changes, claiming they are neither extensive nor deep. Taylor (1999) concurs with the view that Japan has in recent years made a concerted effort to recast itself as an environmental leader but argues that such an image is mainly rhetorical since Japan continues to have serious domestic environmental problems (including waste disposal, water and marine pollution, coastal degradation, habitat destruction and biodiversity loss) and plays a dominant role in causing international ones. Crump (1996) remains sceptical of Japanese politicians, bureaucrats and corporations whose ‘tears for the environment have always been of the kind crocodiles are reputed to weep’. So we find ourselves with two scenarios: one which paints Japan moving toward a pattern of pluralistic environmental politics and another which says nothing has really changed in terms of the political opportunity structures but rather we are witnessing measures that are merely cosmetic. In his mid-1990s review of environmental politics in Japan, John Crump argued that the environmental political scene looked like: an incomprehensible tangle of politicians and bureaucrats, regular institutions and ad-hoc groups, companies and consumers, citizens (shimin) and activists, all pulling in different directions and all holding widely varying views of what an ‘ecological society’ might look like. In this, Japan may be no different from other countries. (Crump 1996:115) This complex composition of environmental constituencies and their interaction makes analysis of the overarching contemporary environmental discourses somewhat difficult, especially in the period of dramatic societal change as found in 1990s

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 21

Japan. Clearly many significant environmental measures were introduced in this period and increased emphasis was placed on network/partnership styles of environmental governance in Japan bringing together government, citizens, NGOs and business (Broadbent 2002a: 334). This may, in turn, be indicative of new political opportunity structures with fewer barriers to civil society participation. Nevertheless, while remarking on the shift to more pluralist styles of policy-making, the danger of co-option is seen as a tangible threat to the activities of Japanese NGOs by both Broadbent (2002a: 334) and Crump (1996). We will discuss these changes further in Chapters 3, 4 and 5. In the latter instance, we will make specific reference to emergence of public concern about toxic substances (dioxins, PCBs and environmental hormones) and in Chapters 7 and 8 we will look at specific issues including waste management as well as citizen referendums resulting in the cancellation of projects. There are two other influential changes that need to be taken into consideration here. First, we should note the 1997 adoption of EIA legislation in Japan (see Chapter 7). This is a major achievement in a country which has faced a long-term and bitterly contested battle over the development process and repeated failures in legislating for EIA (for a fuller discussion, see Barrett and Therivel 1991; Tsuru 1999:150–157). When evaluating the impact of this legislation, we need to take into consideration a complex interplay of factors including the general public’s dissatisfaction with the misuse of funds for major infrastructure projects, concerns regarding the continued degradation of the natural environment and the need to move toward a human-nature interaction that is harmonious rather than destructive, as signified by new strategies to protect Japan’s biodiversity (as discussed in Chapter 3). The second relates to Japan’s hosting of the third Conference of Parties to the Climate Change Convention in 1997. The period prior to, and just after, the Kyoto negotiations was marked by significant changes in civil society activity and also in the relationships between different arms of government. This success at Kyoto was taken forward in the 1998 Law for the Promotion of Measures to Prevent Global Warming (see Chapter 9). Quite clearly, despite the economic difficulties facing Japan, the environment remained an issue of key concern in the 1990s and this may have been an important factor explaining the upgrading of the Environment Agency to ministerial status in January 2001 (see Chapter 3). Reflections on Japanese environmentalism Perhaps owing to Japan’s tragic experience with pollution related diseases there is a strong anthropocentric ideology underpinning Japanese environmentalism (Huddle and Reich 1975; Ui 1992; Mervio 2000). The assumptions about relationships between people and nature in this ideological framework suggest that humans are higher than all else and nature is seen as a brute force (i.e. humans as victims of earthquakes, flooding, storms). It is rather close to the Promethean worldview (Dryzek 1997) under which the dominant entities recognized are markets, prices, energy, technology and people. All actors and agents are seen as motivated by material self-interest. Furthermore, this ideology may in part explain the proclivity

22 ENVIRONMENTAL DISCOURSES

amongst the Japanese elite to favour grand-scale nature remaking schemes (McCormack 2001; Broadbent 2002a). This Promethean worldview, however, has been undermined somewhat in Japan by fears about nuclear power safety, dioxin and endocrine disrupters (Kingston 2001; Broadbent 2002a). This characterization, however, which is similar to the ToP perspective, may be too simplistic and is not supported by surveys of environmental values in the general population (see Chapter 6). As such when we discuss the evolution of environmentalism in Japan we may need to take a broader range of historical and, more recently, international influences into consideration. First, when discussing environmentalism in Japan, a number of commentators refer to the influences of preindustrial values systems and particularly those associated with the environmentally sustainable society found in Edo Japan in the Tokugawa Period (Totman 1989; Asquith and Kalland 1997; Ishikawa 2000). In many respects, this viewpoint has similarities with Green Romanticism in Europe and North America which tends to talk in terms of global limits, small-scale, communitarian practices, inner nature, unnatural practices and innovation (Dryzek 1997). It is the language of Deep Ecology, eco-feminism, green lifestyles (slow, small and simple), eco communalism and New Age eco-theology. In Japan, this form of environmentalism is increasingly in evidence linked to left politics and feminism (Danaher 2003) but also connected with the emergence of the new slow life movement and the recent tendency to idealize rural traditions as uncontaminated from Western, industrial or capitalist influences (Mervio 2000; Thomas 2001). Nowhere is this better illustrated than with the emergence of the Satoyama movement, which potentially represents a form of cultural indoctrination whereby Japan’s rural landscapes are given elevated stature and deemed suitable for preservation (Takeuchi et al. 2002). Through Satoyama, special value is placed on natural environmental objects (commodified nature) that fall within a specific set of cultural aesthetic boundaries associated with the notion of Japanese identity (Mervio 2000; Thomas 2001). Second, commentators describe how the forces of modernization altered Japanese perspectives on nature and the environment (Thomas 2001), with some viewing the dominant forms of environmentalism as stemming from those directly affected by environmental problems, including pre-war pollution incidents at copper mines in Ashio and Besshi and re-emerging in the post-war incidents in places like Minamata, Yokkaichi and Niigata (Iijima 1992; Tsuru 1999). The term used in Japanese to describe these pollution incidents is kougai (public nuisance), in line with the anthropocentric focus mentioned above. It was only in the 1970s that a shift occurred and the broader term kankyoo (environment) was adopted (Tsuru 1999:124–125) making way for the broader consideration of amenity issues such as landscape (Horikawa 2001). Third, in the 1980s and 1990s, we also witness new forms of environmentalism in Japan associated with the emergence of a politically mobilized, new middle class with post-materialistic values (see Chapters 5 and 6 of this volume; Inglehart 1982, 1990, 1997). However, this has not translated, as yet, into genuine green political mobilization independent of traditional societal cleavages as found elsewhere in the appearance of Green parties (Vosse 2000; Schreurs 2002). As we

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 23

will show in Chapter 6, there has been a gradual increase in pro-environmental values in the 1990s, perhaps influenced by the notions of sustainable development espoused at the Rio Earth Summit and we can conclude that this trend is implicit in the development of Japan as an ecologically modernized society (Cohen 2000). The discourse patterns have also begun to shift with new terms being used more extensively, such as environmental load, zero emissions, environmentally sound material cycle, recirculatory society and new energy (wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, waste to energy). The existence of these divergent ideological perspectives implies a significant substantive deepening in the environmental discourse in Japan in recent years, associated with the materialization of more pluralistic policy processes from around 1997, with the impact of long-term economic decline, societal change and institutional reform, as well as with the gradual influence of globalization on values in Japan’s citizenry, and the need to respond to the increasingly complex nature of environmental problems. Conclusions In discussing the contemporary forms of environmentalism in Japan, we have looked briefly at the historical influences and cultural explanations of the Japanese relationship to nature, the impact of major pollution problems and the resulting very strong anthropocentric focus of many of the environmental measures, as well as the emergence of new value systems (post-materialist). Japanese experience of overcoming the pollution debacle illustrates the potential for others to follow the same path that initially placed emphasis on efficiency and economy over the environment but that was then transformed as environmental concerns were integrated into the economic sphere. Our review of the post-war environmental discourses within the framework of the changing political opportunity structures is a prelude to the more in-depth analysis in the following chapters that will explore the conflux of institutions and interests at the national and local levels (Chapters 3 and 4), political actors (Chapter 5), values systems (Chapter 6) and eco-material conditions (Chapters 7, 8 and 9) that have brought about transformations in the patterns of environmental politics and policies witnessed in the 1990s and early twenty-first century. A central conclusion from this chapter is that the surfacing of vibrant and diverse environmental discourses in Japan may in a large part be associated with new political opportunity structures that are comparatively more open to civil society participation (see Chapter 5), supported by a shift toward the use of proactive environmental policy measures (e.g. EIA as discussed in Chapter 7) and the development of new measures to deal with complex environmental issues like waste and energy (Chapter 8). Notes 1 Through loans, subsidies and sponsored research the government extends support to industry, which in turn is viewed as a national treasure, producing the lifeblood of the nation.

24 ENVIRONMENTAL DISCOURSES

2 Hidefumi Imura (1997) stated that Japan was initially a pioneer with respect to the development of new innovative environmental policy tools. However, he expressed concern that in the 1980s the alliance of ‘environmental modernizers’ was weakened by the dual impacts of low energy and raw material prices during the bubble economy. 3 This is in stark contrast to the position Japan took before 1988, where there was minimal involvement with international environmental action.

Part 2 Policies, actors and institutions

26

3 Building a national environmental regime Brendan F.D.Barrett

The ecological modernization theory has identified two options for strategies to overcome the deficiencies of the traditional bureaucratic state in environmental policymaking…First, a transformation of state environmental policy is necessary: from curative and reactive to preventative, from exclusive to participatory, from centralized to decentralized wherever possible…The second, related, option includes a transfer of responsibilities, incentives and tasks from the state to the market. (Mol 1995:46–47) The core scholarship on ecological modernization deals with changes in institutions and social practices, rather than on physical improvements in the environment or in the patterns of natural resource consumption (Mol and Sonnenfeld 2000). One central transformation is that of the role of the nation-state. Some commentators describe a process of political modernization (reinventing government) taking place in a number of states which has resulted in the emergence of more consensual governance styles, characterized by a shift away from national top-down commandand-control environmental regulation with many functions (regulatory, managerial, corporate and mediating) relocated from state to non-state actors (Jänicke and Weidner 1995; Mol and Buttel 2002:3). This migration of powers, by default or by design, is compounded by the impact of emergent supranational institutions (with the European Commission being the best example) and the forces of globalization working to undermine the role of the nation-state in environmental reform (Mol and Sonnenfeld 2000:7; Mol 2001b). The environmental state came under pressure in many industrialized countries in the 1980s, driven by a clear ideological bent in favour of deregulation and privatization (Mol and Buttel 2002: 3), in part explaining why the development of environmental legislation and regulation in Japan practically stalled in the 1980s, with only four new laws. This situation was reversed in the 1990s as more progressive modes of environmental governance were pursued across the globe, and in Japan we witness a resurgence of environmental legislative activity with 18 new laws in the period 1990 to 1999 (OECD 2002:56–57).

28 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT

Within the framework of ecological modernization, the state is viewed as working with, rather than directing, these new modes of governance in order to steer society towards a more sustainable future while at the same time adopting new instruments such as market incentives that push target groups toward eco-efficient practices (Revell 2003). The state has shifted from the role of protector of common interests or, perhaps more pointedly, the economic imperative, to become the facilitator between different interests (Dryzek et al 2003:164; Schaede and Grimes 2003:7). These changes have been linked to the spread of sub-politics whereby pressure builds within different segments of society to tackle environmental problems outside of the framework of political parties and bureaucracies, which are themselves embroiled in a legitimation crisis (Beck 1992). The 1990s legitimation crisis within the Japanese developmental state has been extensively documented elsewhere (Kingston 2001; Hirata 2002:82–96; Neary 2002:119–121) and we will return to this topic in Chapter 5, but it is important to highlight that increasing public distrust of politicians, bureaucrats and corporations during this period, combined with values shifts in society (Chapter 6), may have been crucial is creating the preconditions for an opening up of Japanese governance. The resulting shift in approach in Japan to environmental governance created some new opportunities for active inclusion of environmentalists within some policy-making forums (Chapters 4 and 5). This is a positive step forward1 and the literature suggests, which we reinforce in this volume, that Japan’s policymakers have ‘broadly adopted an ecological modernization position’ (Murphy 2000:3). The reasoning behind this general perception is threefold. First, the administration has for decades adopted the widespread use of agreements with industry to pursue environmental best practice (Sugiyama and Imura 1999). Second, environmental management in Japan, in the post-war period, has effectively functioned as a cooperative environmental management regime (Meadowcroft 1999) shared by central and local government (OECD 1994) and now expanding to include broader civil society participation (as will be discussed in Chapter 4). Third, since modernization began during the Meiji Restoration the underlying approach has depended upon cooperative partnership between industry and government in policy formation (Wallace 1995). Government agencies and industry have sought to maintain good relationships and open dialogues on environmental policy issues.2 Environmental objectives can therefore be achieved at lowest cost (compared to other countries) via flexible processes of recommendation by government and voluntary action by industry, which in turn encourages innovation. In this chapter, we will use the term environmental regime to refer to the system or style of national government that has been put in place to deal with environmental externalities found in Japan. We will include within this definition the legislative, regulatory and policy responses, as well as the approach to enforcement and compliance and we will describe some of the key changes from 1990 onwards. The national environmental regime should be understood as the system for control and management of these externalities, which over time turns into the established or institutionalized way of doing things. Regimes serve various functions including organizing issue areas, development of approaches to deal with uncertainty, reducing

BUILDING A NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL REGIME 29

transaction costs, facilitating inter-group negotiations and supporting collective enforcement (Wong 2001). A regime is essentially a social institution shaped by norms, rules, knowledge and values supported by networks and communities (epistemic groups). From the late 1980s onwards, the environmental regime in Japan has increasingly linked into an trans-national system of environmental governance (Tsuru 1999:193–223; Wong 2001; Hotta 2004) and can only bring about change on the ground through active participation of the local government (see Chapter 4). We will begin our discussion with an examination of findings of the OECD 1994 and 2002 environmental performance reviews to provide context for an evaluation of strengths and weaknesses of contemporary policy and institutions. We will then move on to examine the changing role of the Ministry of the Environment, before discussing the activities of other bodies within government. Coping with environmental change in Japan Japan has one of the most comprehensive and effective environmental monitoring systems in the world. The development of the system began in the early 1970s and involves a network of monitoring facilities throughout the country operated by national and local government. The information collected is presented in an annual state of the environment report referred to as the White Paper on the Environment and published by the Ministry of the Environment. A brief review of these materials reveals a number of important issues concerning the quality of the environment in Japan:3 • Considerable progress has been made with respect to key air pollutants (SOx and CO) compared to the levels encountered in the 1960s and 1970s.4 However, control of nitrogen dioxide and suspended particulate matter levels in urban areas has proven more difficult and environmental standards are not always being met in these areas. Hence in 2001, the Automobile NOx Law was amended to try to tackle this problem. • Japan’s carbon dioxide emissions are below the OECD average. However, the absolute CO2 emissions are still high (emission rates for 2000 reached an all-time high of 2.55 metric tons per capita).5 • Trans-boundary pollution from neighbouring countries is a growing concern with acid rain levels now similar to those found in Europe. Although research is still on-going, it is predicted that negative environmental impacts from acid rain will become apparent in Japan in the near future. • There is nearly 100 per cent compliance with respect to the control of heavy metals and toxic substance concentrations in water bodies.6 However, the control of organic pollutants has proven more difficult (i.e. nearly 80 per cent compliance in 2000) with eutrophication occurring in inland water areas and bays (Tokyo, Ise and the Seto Inland Sea) around Japan. • Development activity around the inland and coastal waters poses a threat to the natural environment in these areas. Roughly 30 per cent of the lakeshores and 56 per cent of the marine coastline have been developed or altered.

30 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT

• The main methods of waste disposal in Japan are landfill and incineration. While recycling rates for some materials are high, further efforts are required in order to reduce waste generation. Alternatives to incineration need to be explored especially in the context of growing concerns about dioxin emissions from inadequate incinerator facilities. Regulation of hazardous industrial waste is another area that needs to be improved. • There is growing public concern about the potential impact of endocrine disrupting chemicals (environmental hormones) and an urgent need for more scientific research.7 About 50,000 types of chemical are currently produced and circulating in Japan of varying toxicities (including carcinogens). A pollutant release and transfer register was introduced in 2002 to try to cope with this problem. • Although 67 per cent of Japan is forested, natural vegetation cover accounts for only 18 per cent of the country (mainly in Hokkaido) and is continuing to decline. Moreover, the most recent version of the Red Data Book shows that 7 per cent of mammals, 8 per cent of birds, 22 per cent of amphibians and 11 per cent of freshwater/brackish water fish are threatened with extinction. In order to respond to this problem, the Government of Japan issued a new National Strategy for Biological Diversity Conservation in March 2002. OECD’s evaluation The OECD’s environmental performance reviews are noted for their objectivity. They are excellent benchmarking documents and the conclusions they draw are very useful indicators of the future improvements that may be necessary in order to reach internationally acceptable levels of performance (OECD 1994, 2002). A comparison of the findings of the 1994 and 2002 OECD recommendations for Japan is presented in Table 3.1. Its achievements in decoupling the levels of economic activity and energy use from air pollution emissions, and willingness to recognize the increasing importance of international environmental cooperation in recent years were congratulated in the 1994 OECD review. The same report, however, was critical in a number of areas but particularly with respect to nature conservation, which was described as being ‘at a cross-roads as regards its potential to either achieve significant gains…or to experience irreversible losses of natural resources’. The 1994 OECD’s recommendations focused on the need for greater integration of environmental and other policy areas, the adoption of ecosystem management and pollution prevention rather than mere control, the use of eco nomic instruments, and the setting of targets for nature conservation. The Japanese government responded to these comments within the Environment Basic Plan of December 1994 which included proposals for a mandatory environmental assessment system, more widespread use of economic instruments and the development of systematic measures to conserve outstanding natural features. A key theme found in both OECD reviews is the importance of policy integration. The 2002 report has three chapters dealing with this topic and argues that Japan has achieved a major decoupling of environmental deterioration from economic growth

BUILDING A NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL REGIME 31

during the last two decades in terms of SOx, NOx, fertilizers and pesticides. However, in other areas, performance has been less positive, particularly with regard to CO2 trends, energy use and traffic. Concerns are also expressed on weak links between environmental and physical planning as well as on the general failure to systematically apply Strategic Environmental Assessment to policies, plans and programmes. The report is critical of the limited use of market-based instruments such as fees, charges, taxes, tradeable permits and deposit refund programmes. Moreover, the expert reviewers argue that two major problems yet to be tackled in a comprehensive manner are the granting of financial assistance to some producers/ consumers and the sectoral subsidies that undermine both environmental effectiveness and economic efficiencies. Both reviews have been instrumental in stimulating changes in the Japanese approach to environmental governance and have been matched by internal pressures for change. See Table 3.2 for a list of laws passed in the period 1990 to 2003.

From Japan Environment Agency to Ministry of the Environment Most commentaries on national environmental policy-making tend to remark on the relative status, successes and weaknesses of the former Japan Environment Agency (upgraded to the Ministry of the Environment in January 2001) in relation to other major development oriented ministries (Huddle and Reich 1975; Gresser et al. 1981; Barrett and Therivel 1991; Wong 2001). The Japan Environment Agency was mandated to promote policies for pollution control, nature conservation and other environmental issues. It was noticeably smaller than most other ministries both in financial and human resource terms.8 The OECD estimated that the Agency’s 900 or so staff represented about 0.1 per cent of all government employees (OECD 1994), growing to 1,230 after reorganization or 0.2 per cent (OECD 2002). It is very easy to fall into the false assumption that the Japan Environment Agency was the focal point of Japan’s environmental management system throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In reality, the Agency was severely constrained by the fact the policy proposals it made were closely vetted by other ministries and implemented by local government. Rather, it may have been more appropriate to consider the Agency as a coordinating and information collection/dissemination body. During the first two decades of existence, the Agency struggled to influence national policy-making dominated by the pro-development ministries (Van Wolferen 1989; Barrett and Therivel 1991). In the late 1990s, perhaps supported by increased public awareness of pressing global environmental problems, the status of the Japan Environment Agency was greatly enhanced. Moreover, as explained in Chapter 2, key political leaders and the environmental administration effectively utilized the need to respond to global problems as a means to further development of national environmental policy approaches. Following the reform, the MoE became exclusively responsible for five areas. These are: government-wide environmental policy (a coordinating function); environment basic planning at the national level and regional pollution control programming; waste measures (including hazardous waste import/export regulation);

32 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT

Table 3.1 Comparison of OECD reviews of Japan’s environmental performance

BUILDING A NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL REGIME 33

pollution regulation and monitoring; and conservation of nature and biodiversity. The only functions transferred to the MoE were those related to waste, previously with the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Therefore from functional, budgetary and manpower perspectives, the gains for the Ministry were marginal. Moreover, some officials lamented at the loss of agency status and the benefits that accrued from being part of the Prime Minister’s Office (Wong 2001:54). The main direct benefits are that ministerial status puts the MoE on equal footing with some of its strongest competitors within the government system such as the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). This enhancement in status has been furthered by the growing political recognition of the MoE’s importance.9 Supported by increased concerns in many quarters with regards to the global and domestic environment, buoyed and challenged by criticisms and compliments from overseas and from the OECD in particular, the Ministry made progress in a number of issue-based areas.10 Further, a large part in the success of the environmental administration in the 1990s was the fact that negotiating capabilities of the environmental officials seemed to reach a greater level of sophistication as the upper echelons became dominated by personnel who had worked their way up through the

34 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT

Table 3.2 Major environmental legislation, 1990–2003

BUILDING A NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL REGIME 35

ranks (see Yong 2001:54 for a discussion on how the JEA was colonized by other ministries when it was first established). The recent successes also reflect the efforts made by the environmental administration in Japan to create more extensive links within different layers of society. To begin with, the MoE is supported in its work by a number of research entities and advisory councils. These include the National Institute for Environmental Studies, which was designated as an independent administrative entity (semiprivatized) under reform programmes, providing it with some distance from the MoE but at the same time functioning as a think tank addressing concerns relevant to a broader constituency. Other affiliated institutions are far more specialized but have played equally important functions in helping the MoE to interact with Japanese society and these include the National Institute for Minamata Disease, the National Environmental Training Institute, the Japan Environment Corporation (providing funds and technical support to local governments and corporations for projects such as the construction of zero-emissions industrial areas and industrial waste treatment facilities) and the Pollution Related Health Damage Compensation and Prevention Association. The MoE also sees great importance in establishing links with the NGO community as a means to win hearts and minds, especially when seeking to influence national debates on key issues (Wong 2001:56). In 1996, for instance, the Global Environmental Information Centre (also referred to as the Global Environment Partnership Plaza, linked to the nearby Environment Partnership Office) was established at the United Nations University in Tokyo as a venue to promote information dissemination and exchange between the NGO community and corporations, and a network of local information centres throughout Japan and internationally. In order to improve access to research on global environmental issues, bearing in mind the key role that good information can play in winning policy debates, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies was established in 1998. Other very issue-specific centres have also be created recently including a new Biodiversity Centre of Japan, established in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1998 (three years after the completion of the National Biodiversity Strategy for Japan) and the Japan Centre for Climate Change Actions, established in 1999, pursuant to the Law Concerning the Promotion of the Measures to Cope with Global Warming. All of the above represent part of an approach to institutional innovation, resource capture and capacity building, as well as a response to global obligations. Each initiative reflects the fact that the MoE cannot respond to new demands by increasing its internal staffing and these entities bring with them former MoE staff but also attract representatives from environmental NGOs, local government and business. They have a powerful networking and intermediary function between the MoE and the rest of Japanese society. This approach may be indicative of the overall national bureaucracy’s attitude to the reform programmes throughout the 1990s designed to bring about smaller, efficient, transparent and more effective democratically controlled government (Neary 2002:123). Changes have also affected the role of various advisory councils (shingikai) around the MoE. Traditionally since the 1970s, there have been two advisory committees

36 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT

associated with the national environmental administration—the Central Council for Environmental Pollution Control (CCEPC) and the Nature Conservation Council (NCC). The Director-General of the Agency was required to consult with these bodies when developing basic policies. This system was reformed in January 1994 when the Central Environment Council (CEC) was established in accordance with the 1993 Environment Basic Act but also in an attempt to create greater transparency around the environmental policy-making process (OECD 1994). Members of the Council are appointed by the Prime Minister and include academics and other knowledgeable persons. The Council deals with requests from the Prime Minister, other cabinet ministers and the Director-General of the MoE on topics related to environmental sustainability. According to Ren (2000:83), the CEC works through a system of subcommittees and provides a venue for policy consultations and negotiations, with some of its meetings open to the public, and with extensive public hearings taking place on the policy proposals that emerge. This level of transparency is uncommon within the shingikai system, even for the other advisory councils of the MoE. One of the biggest problems for the MoE is that, owing to its limited resources and size, its presence outside of Tokyo is nominal compared to other ministries with strong regional representation such as METI. Only the Nature Conservation Bureau has regional offices (11 in total) and these are located in national parks. Hence, the MoE relies extensively on support from ministry-affiliated entities, supervised NGOs and the local government. They all have different functions, but the latter is by far the most significant with respect to the actual implementation of environmental policy (as will be discussed in Chapter 4). There are around 87,000 personnel in prefectural and municipal government working in environmental management, with 84 per cent engaged in waste management, 10 per cent in pollution control and 6 per cent in nature conservation (OECD 2002: 55). This fact alone explains why the MoE was keen to retain control of local government activities and opposed the decentralization reforms in the 1990s (Barrett 2000). Environmental powers throughout government The national environmental regime in Japan is dispersed throughout several jealously guarded ministerial jurisdictions over water supply, industrial waste management, recycling, forestry, fisheries conservation, agrochemical control, energy conservation, environmental technology development, supervision of commercial nuclear plants, traffic pollution control, aircraft noise pollution control, urban planning, development of public works including sewerage, urban parks, roads and dams, river preservation and flood control (Barrett and Therivel 1991; Wong 2001; OECD 2002). The list is extensive and clearly the responsible ministries exert considerable influence over the direction of Japan’s environmental policy and have significant resources at their disposal to achieve their goals. The main ministries with environment related responsibilities are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT).

BUILDING A NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL REGIME 37

These ministries dwarf the MoE11 which is restricted to an advisory role with respect to the control of chemicals, industrial waste control and recycling, factory location control, radioactive substances monitoring, climate change and other global environmental issues, as well as the conservation of forests, rivers, lakes and coastal areas (Wong 2001:54). It is important to recognize that within many of these ministries considerable emphasis is placed on pro-environmental policies.12 The former Ministry of Construction (now MLIT), for instance, underwent something of a transformation in the late 1990s introducing new measures to try to improve the quality of the environment through its town planning functions. The consensus view of many commentators on Japan, however, is that the policy-making process still appears to be dominated by a pro-development agenda (Kerr 2001; Kingston 2001; McCormack 2001). Within the overall expenditure of the national environmental regime, the MoE spends around 9 per cent of the total budget. In 2003, this amounted to Yen 262 billion (or US$2.4 billion) from a national environmental budget of around Yen 2.7 trillion (US$25.8 billion). This represents a major increase for the MoE, effectively tripling the budget compared to that of the Japan Environment Agency in 1999 (roughly Yen 86 billion) and is mainly accounted for by the funds allocated for the subsidy system for waste incineration under the MoE’s new responsibilities. In comparison, MLIT in 2003 had a total budget of around Yen 6.7 trillion (US$63 billion), which included an environmental component of Yen 1.3 trillion (US$12.7 billion). METI’s 2003 environmental budget of Yen 320 billion exceeds the total budget of the MoE (MoE 2003c); this is mainly due to the transfer of responsibilities from the previous Science and Technology Agency. Inter-ministerial conflict is commonplace and some ministries fared better than others in the administrative reorganization. For instance, METI benefited significantly from the incorporation of parts of the Economic Planning and Science and Technology agencies (Elder 2003). The Ministry has long been recognized as a guiding force behind Japan’s industrial and high-technology policies (Okimoto 1989; Nester 1991; Sigurdson and Anderson 1991) but it has been argued that in the 1990s the Ministry was losing its relevance (Zinsmeister 1993). However, the situation appeared to turn around in the late 1990s, as the Ministry began to shift emphasis to promote broader economic reforms that in turn require greater cooperation with other ministries (Elder 2003:161). The Ministry has always viewed environmental issues as energy issues (Wong 2001:58). However from the late 1990s onwards, METI began to target key environmental areas for industrial promotion including eco-materials, low-pollution (zero emissions) manufacturing, recycling, eco-friendly urban construction materials, building ventilation systems, new transportation systems, refuse derived fuels, clean energy vehicles and solar power. Elder (2003) presents four political reasons for METI’s focus on these environment related industries, which include the desire to appear progressive and green, the possibility of obtaining additional funding for research and industrial promotion, the possibility that such funds would be viewed by observers outside Japan as part of environmental policy (heading off possible trade frictions) and the possibility that the mandated recycling programmes would develop into a WTO-legal non-tariff barrier. For instance, the July 2003 interim report from

38 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT

the METI Industrial Structure Council dealing with climate change states: ‘Japan needs to demonstrate its diplomatic strategy in the field of global environmental issues as a platform for creation a new national and diplomatic image of Japan’ (METI 2003:68). Energy is a sector where METI exerts considerable oversight, packaged as part of Japan’s response to climate change and linked to the pursuit of new and renewable energy sources (see Chapter 8). Within its organizational structure, METI maintains the Industrial Science, Technology Policy and Environment Bureau. It also includes a number of agencies with key environmental functions including the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency and the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency. Furthermore, the Ministry maintains a network of regional bureaus that function as its ‘eyes and ears’. Through a process of continuity and change, which includes internal reorganization and refocusing of the policy direction, METI has been able to reassert its authority over a very significant slice of national environmental policy-making and is disseminating messages to wider society that reflect many of the tenets of ecological modernization. This is linked to the reliance on key environmental advisory councils/committees, many of which include the same members as the MOE’s Central Environment Council, including Professor Akio Morishima, the head of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies. This sharing of a rather small group (perhaps in the hundreds) of influential thinkers in Japan who are operating at the national level to shape environmental policy implies that significant new areas of inter-ministerial collaboration are developing but as yet through rather narrow discourse coalitions. These collaborative efforts gained further impetus through the strengthening of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Office in the recent round of administrative reform (Neary 2002). In instances where a policy action concerns two or more ministries, the Cabinet Office takes a coordinating role (OECD 1994:42). MLIT is another government body with very significant powers related to the actual implementation of environmental conservation measures. As a mega-ministry (bringing together the previous ministries for construction and transportation) MLIT addresses a wide range of environmental issues including nature and ecosystem conservation/rehabilitation, marine pollution, airport noise, management of the impacts of road and other construction projects, and recycling of construction byproducts, as well as the development and management of environmentally friendly housing and infrastructure. MLIT is a member of the family of government bodies responsible for the promotion of the recirculatory society (junkangatta shakai) and is mainly dealing with the recycling of construction wastes (which represent 20 per cent of all industrial waste) and car recycling. The Ministry is also implementing numerous measures related to global warming including efforts to reduce the CO2 generated from the transportation sector by 13 million tons in 2010 (i.e. from a predicted 81 million to 68 million—the 1995 level). This would involve the promotion of low emission vehicles, a modal shift and road improvements to increase traffic speeds. Measures are also proposed to reduce the emissions from the residential/commercial sector by 27 million tons in 2010. With respect to ecological modernization, MLIT has on occasion introduced strict regulations that work to

BUILDING A NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL REGIME 39

promote innovation and industrial transformation. For instance, by amending the exhaust emission standards for cars, trucks and buses in September 2003 (which will go into effect in 2005), MLIT has introduced the most stringent regulations in the world. The new standards drastically lower exhaust emission limits. For cars, both nitrogen oxide (NOx) and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions limits are reduced by 55 per cent from previous levels, while, for heavyweight vehicles such as trucks and buses, particulate matter limits are reduced by 85 per cent, NOx by 40 per cent and HC emissions by 80 per cent.13 This kind of stringent regulation is important in that it offers first mover advantages to domestic producers (Cohen 1997). MLIT retains control of most of the national planning functions as well as land use and transportation issues in the urban areas and as such it would be impossible for the MoE to attain many of its goals without MLIT collaboration. As the main body responsible for the development of Japan’s infrastructure, the Ministry has been at the centre of concerns related to the excessive expenditure on public works projects. In an attempt to revitalize the economy, national expenditure of public works peaked twice in the 1990s at Yen 15.2 trillion (US$141 billion) in 1993 and at Yen 14.9 trillion in 1998. In between these peaks, public investments on infrastructure fell to Yen 10.5 trillion in 1996 and then to Yen 9.4 trillion in 2001. In its defence, MLIT’s basic argument is that public works expenditure is not the main cause for the current fiscal deficit in Japan and that the impact of social security increases and declining tax revenues need also to be taken into consideration (MLIT 2002).14 The on-going debate on public works expenditure in Japan continues to place pressure on MLIT to reconsider the basic approach to development and perhaps is indicative of a search for a more sustainable model (see Chapter 7). Overseas manifestation of Japanese environmental policy Over the past decade, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has played a key role, working alongside other government bodies, in presenting Japan’s environmental activities in a positive light to the international community, which some commentators read as an attempt to utilize a national commitment to international environmental protection as a diplomatic instrument of power (Wong 2001:60). A unique and important situation arose in the late 1980s when external demands for global environmental action were matched with the support from domestic actors (politicians, civil society, business leaders) associated with the desire to attain some form of global environmental leadership (as mentioned in Chapter 2). Nevertheless, some commentators state that there is a propensity for Japan to pay ‘lip service to international concerns by joining international conventions and other arrangements that require a departure from past domestic practices, then simply failing to implement newly enacted national laws or to propagandize the new regime’ (Feinerman and Fujikura 1998:253). It is argued that Japan tends to adopt an industrial policy regulatory approach that works well for tackling the implementation of some international treaty goals such as ozone protection but performs poorly in areas such as CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) or with respect

40 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT

to the compliance conditions of the London Convention on Ocean Dumping. Perhaps reflecting upon the changes taking place in Japan in the late 1990s, international environmental lawyers remark that: Japan is facing the need to change traditional regulatory approaches. Japan may resort to a more active use of law and legal means to implement international and national environmental policy objectives more effectively, calling for more citizen participation and greater involvement of local government. (Feinerman and Fujikura 1998:290) MoFA has played a key role in helping to project an image of Japan realigning its regulatory approach to one better designed to tackle national and global environmental problems. Two main measures have been implemented for this purpose. The first is through the application of Official Development Assistance (ODA) and the second relates to the skilful negotiation of Japan’s position in several multilateral environmental agreements. The 2002 White Paper on ODA issued by MoFA presents an overview of some of the main issues and the response measures from Japan (MoFA 2003). The first point to note is that, almost in an identical pattern to general domestic public expenditure on major infrastructure projects, Japan’s ODA peaked twice in the 1990s. The first time was in 1995 when it reached US$14.4 billion, well above any other major industrialized country. The second time was in 1999 when it climbed to US$15.3 billion. In the intervening periods the ODA declined to nearer US$9 billion, and in 2001 the United States’ ODA overtook that of Japan for the first time since 1990. These fluctuations may be indicative of a general degree of uncertainty on the future direction of Japanese ODA and reflect growing concerns for more strategically targeted, participatory, transparent, efficient and visible aid (Hirata 2002). From a strategic perspective, Japan is focusing on supporting economic growth in Asia in order to reduce poverty and increase human security, in line with the Millennium Development Goals. Within this framework, Japan announced the Environmental Conservation Initiative for Sustainable Development in August 2002 and the Clean Water for People Initiative at the WSSD in September 2002. Greater efforts are being made to increase collaboration between ODA related ministries and transparency through the Council of Overseas Economic Cooperation Related Ministers, as well as to increase the autonomy of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) through reforms from October 2003 onwards. Furthermore, efforts have been made to more fully involve civil society in the ODA process and to build new modes of NGO-MoFA cooperation (Hirata 2002). Specific examples include the launch of regular NGO-MoFA consultations in 2002 and the creation of a Council on Comprehensive ODA Strategy in June of that year with participation from NGOs, academics and business representatives. Another important reform includes the April 2002 announcement from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) of new guidelines for the confirmation of environmental and social considerations of international financial operations and overseas economic

BUILDING A NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL REGIME 41

cooperation.15 The guidelines require that the project implementing agency should solicit stakeholders’ participation in the project from the planning stage onwards. A checklist has been developed by JBIC that includes social considerations pertaining to resettlement, indigenous people and gender. Furthermore, the provisions for information disclosure have been strengthened and JBIC is now required to make public such items as the category classification of the project prior to loan approval. Taken together, these innovations represent an initial and concerted effort to modernize Japan’s ODA programmes. They are a reaction to considerable problems encountered with ODA in the past including the case of pesticide aid to Cambodia, as well as examples of mishandled dam construction projects such as the Narmada Dam (India) as highlighted by Hirata (2002:102–113) and Kotopanjang Dam (Indonesia) (Japan Times, 14 August 2003). The changes in policy are indicative of a higher degree of reflexivity in Japan with respect to overseas aid whereby NGOs (in Japan and overseas) and politicians have been able (or willing to try) to influence governmental decisions on major development projects in order to protect the environment. The second area where MoFA has played a key role has been in support of other government ministries, mainly the MoE, in multilateral environmental negotiations, particularly those related to climate change. Moreover, Japan’s participation in the WSSD was at the highest level, with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi supported by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi and the Minister of the Environment Hiroshi Ohki. The ‘Koizumi Initiative’ launched at the Summit included measures on trade, energy, agriculture, ODA, Africa, climate change, forestry, biological diversity and water. Some of these measures had been around for a while (the Aichi Expo for example) while others were new and could prove very significant (the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development from 2005 to 2015). Furthermore, 2002 was a busy year for Japan’s diplomatic arm with the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol in June, and also ratification of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. Following on from this, Japan also ratified the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in November 2003 and at the Tenth Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee expressed an interest in ratifying the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade. All of the above are indicative of the Japanese government taking a more proactive stance in international negotiations. We will return to this topic with specific reference to climate change in Chapter 9. The greening of Japanese politics The 1990s was a period of political turbulence in Japan which was characterized by the fragmentation of parties and factions as well as the emergence of new opposition parties, coalition governments and junior politicians ( seisaku shinjinrui ) with policy expertise willing to challenge the bureaucrats (Neary 2002; Shiozaki 2002). In 1993, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost its majority in Parliament and has since had

42 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT

to rely on its alliance with the New Komeito (NK) in order to pass legislation. The Democratic Party (DPJ) has emerged as the main opposition party winning 177 seats in the November 2003 Lower House Election compared with the LDP’s 237 seats. Most of this growth, however, was at the expense of the other opposition parties—the Japan Communist Party (JCP) and the Socialist Party of Japan. The DPJ contrasts sharply with the LDP: It is has a centre-left platform: ‘popular sovereignty’, ‘respect for fundamental human rights and pacifism,’ free market principles should ‘permeate economic life,’ but individuals should be guaranteed social security and safety, while government should become more transparent and less centralized. (Neary 2002:104) While the LDP in the past has relied on its conservative stance promoting stability and pork barrel politics, the DPJ is strongly opposed to the over-reliance on major public works and favours radical restructuring of the public sector (Sasaki 2002). Moreover, the LDP maintains strong ties with the bureaucracy while the DPJ emphasizes its strong anti-bureaucratic stance (Sasaki 2002). The DPJ is much clearer on its environmental policy stance than the LDP, supporting the possible incorporation of environmental rights in the constitution, the enactment of a basic law on global environmental preservation, and further engagement of Japan in environment related diplomacy. Both parties seek to appeal to the ‘free floating’ voters through catch-all politics while maintaining their support base (rural, older voters and the construction sector for the LDP and urban, young and public sector unions for the DPJ). Consequently, some commentators believe that there has been something of a blurring of their appeal with the LDP being criticized as standing for nothing and the DPJ standing for everything (Kent Weaver 2002). Efforts by the politicians to exert greater control over the bureaucracy, rather that merely rubber-stamping legislation, also increased in the 1990s. The younger parliamentarians seem more willing to take the policy initiative, although their participation in the policy process is still somewhat limited and ad hoc, with the best documented example being the passage of legislation in 1998 for revitalization of the financial system, where junior LDP politicians amended proposals originally drawn up by the Ministry of Finance (Curtis 2002; Shiozaki 2002). The other development highlighted by some politicians in Japan is the use of private member bills (accounting for around 10 per cent of legislative activity), and some recent examples, such as the 2001 bill on stock-market reform, illustrate how it is possible for individual Diet members to develop legislation in areas normally covered by government sponsored bills (Nemoto 2002). While acknowledging the significance of all of these changes and the reforms in the 1990s, some argue that: At the turn of the century, the political world looks little changed. The LDP is still in power, the government is spending vast sums on public works and a

BUILDING A NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL REGIME 43

geriatric elite seems more concerned about propping up a sclerotic system than in achieving meaningful reform. (Kingston 2001:35) This ‘value persistence’ is an underlying factor influencing the behaviour of Japanese political parties, regardless of their ideological hue (Peng-Er 1999). As a consequence, unlike in many European countries, it has proven almost impossible in Japan to establish a national Green party. Vosse (2000:274–282) explains that for many years setting up a political party never seemed like a viable option for the environmental movement in Japan mainly for structural reasons (high costs associated with election campaigns, lack of leadership in the green movement, etc.). Others provide some additional insights as to why a Green party did not emerge, arguing that the electoral system based on multi-member constituencies employing a single transferable vote favours candidates with a high level of recognition and does not foster ideological debate amongst parties (Schreurs 2002:25). New parties, when they do emerge, are merely off-shoots from existing parties and are not formed in response to ideological concerns. It may also be possible that the creation of a Green party is not considered a worthwhile endeavour by social movements who recognize the general lack of trust within Japanese society for the established parties and elected politicians and the general frustration at the lack of party alternation, due to perennial LDP rule (Broadbent 2002a). For instance, a 1998 survey by the Asahi Shimbun revealed that 75 per cent of respondents consider most politicians to be dishonest (compares with 30 per cent in the United States) (Yoshida 2002). Only when domestic or international pressures threaten electoral or economic loss to the pro-growth coalition (LDP, economic bureaucracies and big business) does the government make major changes in environmental policy. For instance, control of the powerful House of Representatives (Shugiin) by the opposition parties allowed Japan Environment Agency proposals to shape the 1993 Environment Basic Law (Broadbent 2002a). While lacking a national Green party, there has been some progress in the greening of politics at the local level from the 1980s onwards through the Network Movement (NET), formed in 1987 and supported by the Seikatsu Club, an association of 22 consumer cooperatives active in 15 prefectures of Japan, with 250,000 members, most of whom are women (Peng-Er 1999). The Seikatsu Club is extensively involved in environment related activities including recent campaigns against genetically modified foods and environmental hormones.16 The club uses NET as a means to participate in and reform local politics and as of 2001 there are 141 NET representatives in local assemblies, up from 123 in 1996 (36 in different local governments in Kanagawa Prefecture alone). According to Peng-Er, NET displays many of the characteristics of the European Green parties such as egalitarian organization, female leadership, emphasis on green issues, clean politics and the adoption of policies reflecting NET’s constituency rather than vote maximizing potential (Peng-Er 1999:122). While recognizing that NET has many limitations it is argued that the party has made a considerable contribution through: ‘The enhancement of women’s participation in politics, offering a Green option to

44 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT

voters, the injection of New Politics issues in policy formulation, and the formation of Red-Green ruling coalitions in local government’ (Peng-Er 1999:155). The party has enlivened local politics by increasing choice and competition for votes in the metropolitan areas and through the introduction of new issues to the political agenda such as Local Agenda 21, recycling, water safety and the use of environmentally friendly products (see Chapter 4). From 1998 onwards there has been another Green movement at the local level in Japan under the name Niji to Midori (Rainbow and Green Party).17 With around 130 representatives in local government assemblies, the party promotes a predominately green agenda focusing on locally relevant environmental policies, control of public works programmes, gender equality, social welfare, education and safety. Niji to Midori is somewhat different to NET in that it has close links with the Environmental Political Party Green Assembly (Kankyosento Midori no Kaigi) which began in 2002 and has one nationally elected politician—Atsuo Nakamura—and describes itself as a preparatory step towards the creation of a Green party.18 It is really too early to judge whether these recent developments mark a significant new phase in Japanese environmental politics and the emergence of a Green party along German lines. However, it is important to recall that in the 1980s, in around only three to four years, the German Green Party jumped from 1.5 per cent to 5.6 per cent of the federal vote and from 1.4 per cent to 7 per cent of the local council seats (Schreurs 2002:86–87). Conclusions The most recent round of administrative reforms reflects not only the current difficult economic circumstances in Japan but bundled into these reforms has been a search for a new environmental management regime which has been given a number of labels including the ‘environmental protection style society’ (kankyo hozengata shakai) and the recirculatory society (junkangatta shakai) promoting the need for systemic thinking that goes beyond traditional policy responses. Recognizing that Japan may currently be in the transition to a more decentralized and participatory approach to environmental governance, it is nevertheless difficult to shift away from the dominant view in the literature portraying Japanese policy-making as elitist and closed, where policies are made by a centralized, strongly bureaucratic system with little space for pluralist influences (Johnson 1995; McCormack 1998; WooCummings 1999). In McCormack’s critique of the Japanese economic miracle he maintains that: bureaucratic autonomy and privilege, and the exclusion of democratic principles, may have been part of the formula of successful growth in the early post-war decades, but vested bureaucratic interest now constitutes a major blockage to the sorts of fundamental reform of which 21st Century Japan stands in need. (McCormack 1998:41)

BUILDING A NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL REGIME 45

This viewpoint appears to be well understood in Japan and hence the recent efforts to bring about change. The main concern, however, is whether or not these changes are more than superficial. Some commentators claim for instance that new structures (such as the creation of the Central Environmental Council) are designed to solicit broad input but end up retaining strong governmental control and function as instruments of bureaucratic manipulation (Whittaker 1997). Others contend that the environmental policy networks are relatively closed because of ministerial control of participant selection and the tendency to exclude individuals and NGOs that might criticize government actions (Schreurs 1996a). In the past, these practices of social exclusion have worked to reduce the effectiveness of NGOs and to limit public access to environmental information (OECD 1994). Nevertheless, in this chapter we have identified some evidence that the developmental state model in Japan is being transformed and is beginning to overcome the limitations of the communitarian elite corporatist model, where policy-making occurs within a triumvirate of corporate elites, politicians and bureaucrats (Broadbent 1998; Shiozaki 2002). We will examine this issue further in Chapter 5, when we will look at the growing role of Japanese civil society in shaping policy debates on key issues. We will explore environmental policy networks and examine whether or not they are becoming more open and participatory, with measures to increase transparency and foster the consensual support of stakeholders, outside of the traditional elitist core of business, politicians and bureaucrats. Notes 1 It also potentially undermines the possibility of maintaining a critical public sphere so important for strong ecological modernization (Dryzek et al. 2003:166). 2 The MoE encourages industrial participation via the ‘technical hearing system’ where relevant technical information from industry can be heard prior to legislation, thus enabling regulators to set appropriate targets. State-industry relationships can be described as highly cooperative, with some environmental regulation only enacted after careful consideration of industry’s capacity to meet those standards via trial and error voluntary initiatives. 3 Summarized from the Japan Environment Agency (1998) Quality of the Environment in Japan, Tokyo: Government of Japan. 4 Regulation of air pollution at the national level began with the passage of the 1967 Basic Law for Environmental Pollution Control. Under this Act, standards were set for five air pollutants: sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (GO), suspended particulate matter (SPM) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The Air Pollution Control Law of 1968 set emission standards for designated sources. These standards have been constantly revised and are now some of the strictest in the world. Attainment of these standards was aided by Japan’s excellent monitoring system. This system was put in place by the Air Pollution Control Law of 1974 resulting in the establishment of an Area-Wide Total Pollutant Load Control System. 5 On 2 October 1998, the National Diet enacted the Law for the Promotion of Measures to Cope with Global Warming. The Act clarifies the role of all relevant

46 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT

6

7

8

9

10 11 12

13 14

15

social actors, such as national government, local authorities, the private sector and citizens in achieving the quantitative emission reduction target of greenhouse gases (GHGs) as set out in the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Japan has two environmental quality standards for water both established in 1970. The first is designed to ensure the protection of human health by controlling the concentrations of heavy metals and toxic substances. The second protects the quality of the ‘living environment’ and deals specifically with the concentrations of organic pollutants. In 1998, the Japan Environment Agency launched a Strategic Programme on Environmental Endocrine Disrupters (SPEED) to provide the basis for international cooperation on this issue and to promote measures designed to increase relevant scientific knowledge and data, as well as disseminate that information to the public. For instance, in 1994, the Agency had a budget of Yen 67 billion and approximately 970 staff at the JEA, 275 at the National Environmental Research Institute and 27 at the National Institute for Minamata Disease Research. In the same year, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW) had 58,000 staff, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) had 23,000, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) 9,000 and the Ministry of Transport (MoT) 19,000. The designation would have been more difficult without the direct support of the former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, who is also a senior adviser of Global Environmental Action (GEA). This not for profit organization brings together three former prime ministers, politicians and senior business officials and is supported by most of the major government ministries. GEA was formerly constituted in 1995 and grew out of the International Eminent Persons’ Meeting set up by another former prime minister, Noboru Takeshita, in 1991. In addition to organizing major international conferences every two years, GEA functions as a forum for political debate on environmental topics in Japan, a connection point between different ministries and an indicator of the currency that environmental sustainability now has within some political groupings in Japan. For example, with the development of the National Strategy of Japan on Biological Diversity, formulated in 1995. In 2001, the MLIT employed around 68,000 civil servants, MAFF 42,000, METI 12,000 and MoFA 5,000. MITI (now METI) for example, has an environmental section with approximately 180 staff and an affiliated Environmental Resource Technology Integrated Research Centre with 290 staff. See Japan for Sustainability web site—http://www.japanfs.org—item posted 22 Oct. 2003. At the same time, MLIT argues that overall social security expenditure in Japan climbed throughout the 1990s from Yen 11.5 trillion in 1990 to Yen 17.6 trillion in 2001. Information on the guidelines which came into affect in October 2003 is accessible via the JBIC web site—http://www.jbic.go.jp/english/environ/guide/finance/ index.php.

BUILDING A NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL REGIME 47

16 See the following web site for more details—http://www.seikatsuclub.coop/english/ top.html. 17 For information see the following web site—http://www.nijitomidori.org/ (in Japanese only). 18 For information see the following web site—http://www.midorinokaigi.org/ (in Japanese only).

48

4 Foundations of local environmental governance Brendan F.D.Barrett and Mikoto Usui

The role of local governments in environmental policy has been important in enacting innovative policy and in pushing the central authorities to change. Many national elements of current environmental policy were first implemented by local government—and that process continues today. (Reich 1983b: 200) Ecological modernization places considerable emphasis on the need for a strong state and highlights the significant role that national sustainability strategies and institutions play in environmental conservation (Mol and Buttel 2002; Dryzek et al. 2003). Limited attention, however, has been paid by ecological modernization scholars to the various manifestations of local level experimentation and innovation in the environmental field. Nevertheless, some commentators argue that changes at both the macro-economic and micro-economic level have the potential to make significant improvements in environmental performance and that it is at the ‘regional or local level’ that detailed design of an integrated package of environmental policies is more likely to be achieved (Gouldson and Roberts 2000:7). One of the main strengths of ecological modernization relates to the way in which it has been used to analyse various discourses surrounding the relationships between industrialism and the environment (Hajer 1995). Discourse analysis has also been applied at the local level in Norway within the context of Local Agenda 21 (LA21) (Lindseth 2001a, 2001b). Lindseth argues that discourse coalitions gather around certain arguments and the confrontations that take place assist in clarifying our understanding of how change/innovation takes place. According to Lindseth (2001a), LA21 is part of a common international regime that opens up debate within communities and contributes in translating global problems into local action. Hence, in this chapter, we will look at Japanese LA21 experience in order to explore the emergence of various local discourse coalitions and make links to ecological modernization. Similar studies undertaken in Europe argue that the spread of Local Agenda 21 is an important innovative environmental policy tool that fits well into the ecological modernization framework (Joas and Gronholm 2001). This chapter evaluates recent advances in local environmental policy-making and presents the findings of surveys undertaken by the MoE, the ICLEI Asia

50 LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE

Pacific Secretariat (ICLEI-Japan), the Global Environment Forum (GEF) and the Coalition of Local Governments for Environmental Initiatives (COLGEI).1 We elucidate five key objectives2 tacitly underpinning local environmental governance and which serve as a description of the internationally envisioned ideal-type of participatory local environmental governance. These five objectives include the promotion of (a) flexible, open decision-making structures allowing for pluralistic inputs; (b) coalition discourses/stakeholder dialogues; (c) consensual knowledge base building for local environmental management; (d) comprehensive framing of the sustainability agenda; and (e) joint implementation through multi-sectoral partnerships. Policy formulation by both central and local government in Japan has conventionally relied heavily upon the use of advisory councils, composed of government-picked experts, generally meeting behind closed doors and legitimizing bureaucratically sponsored decisions (Nakano 1997). Although there has been a marked increase in the number of environment NGOs since around 1997, as we will argue in Chapter 5, few of them have managed to effectively penetrate the inner circle of governmental policy-making. Accordingly, the distinctive manner of the Japanese response to the requirements set out from both the Rio and Johannesburg Summits may offer interesting insights on the potential for environmentally based transformations at the local level. Theoretical framework According to Meadowcroft (1999), in recent years there have been some indications of the emergence of a pattern of interactive decision-making underpinning successful environmental management efforts. This has involved multi-sectoral participation in defining and implementing solutions to specific environmental issues. Meadowcroft uses the terms cooperative management regimes (CMR) or collaborative environmental management to describe this phenomenon. He argues that changes have taken place that support the shift towards CMR formation including increased social attention devoted to environmental issues, growth in the range of organizations incorporating an environmental perspective in their workings, and the increasing internationalization of environmental policy approaches designed to integrate environmental and economic decision-making. Meadowcroft contends that ecological modernization functions as a key conceptual schema helping us to make sense of the innovations in governmental approaches to environmental management. Bearing this point in mind, we will apply the CMR theoretical framework to the analysis of the effectiveness of local environmental management efforts in Japan and to look at the recent shift toward the use of stakeholder dialogues such as LA21. CMR is a very useful analytical tool since it focuses on the integrity of the process of institutional innovation. The key features are summarized in Table 4.1. Such regimes are not envisioned as replacements for traditional government, but as a flexible mechanism that can be grafted on to existing policy-making such as laws, regulations and sanctions, taxes, prices and markets. This model of environmental governance has contemporary resonance (at least for industrialized countries) in the context of the recognized complexity and interconnectedness of environmental

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND MIKOTO USUI 51

Table 4.1 Main features of cooperative management regimes

problems and the hollowing out of the state. Some of the key characteristics that link CMR to ecological modernization include the emphasis on pluralism and consensus building, horizontal policy integration, knowledge consensualization, multiple issue focus, networking and joint implementation by the stakeholders. So we can see that CMR talks the language of reform and innovation—matters very much at the heart of ecological modernization. Meadowcroft does offer words of caution when analysing changing patterns of environmental policy and indicates that care must be taken to differentiate practical outcomes from expressed intentions and in clarifying where new initiatives have not replaced old, established ways of doing things but have been merely incorporated as layered new concerns. This chapter continues with a brief discussion of the emergence of local environmental policies in Japan before exploring the recent trends in the formation of local environmental management regimes. Historical perspective system3

The local government in Japan dates from the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and was conceived as a means of unifying and penetrating society with public administration (Steiner 1965; Abe et al. 1994). There is a general lack of English material on the role of local government in environmental management in Japan. The most relevant publications include Gresser et al. (1981); McKean (1981); Samuels (1983); Reed (1986); Imura (1989); Jain (1989); Mori (1993); Barrett (1994, 1995) and Barrett and Usui (2002). Reed (1986), for instance, focused on pollution control, housing and welfare policy-making in three prefectures (Saga, Chiba and Saitama) in the 1976–1977 period. Samuels (1983) examined the politics of regional policy in Japan, and Jain (1989) shows how progressive local authorities in the 1970s and 1980s used pollution issues to gain political leverage. Local authority pollution control in the post-war era has been described as one outstanding exception to the central government’s domination of local government (Gresser et al. 1981;

52 LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE

Reed 1986; Jain 1989). Dramatic changes in the late 1950s forced local governments to shift from merely obediently following national targets for economic growth and industrial expansion to focus on pollution concerns. This came as a result of the severe environmental strains associated with exceptionally rapid urbanization and industrialization. These strains shaped local attitudes towards pollution, encouraged citizen protest and helped to radicalize many local governments (Gresser et al 1981; McKean 1981). In terms of environmental policy, local governments in Japan led central government in the 1960s and 1970s (Jain 1989). Interestingly, from 1969 onwards, the demand for more effective pollution control became identified with the issue of local autonomy. The trend towards the decentralization of pollution control accelerated to the point where by 1975 all 47 prefectures had passed some form of pollution control ordinance (Gresser et al 1981). Local authorities, in this period, were very innovative with regard to environmental policy-making and examples include the establishment of pollution control agreements from 1964 onwards based on the model developed by Yokohama Municipal Government (Mori 1993) and the enactment of a compensation system for pollution related health victims based on the work of Yokkaichi Municipal Government in 1965 (Reich 1983b). The majority of these local initiatives were subsequently adopted by the national administration and by the early 1970s Japan possessed one of the most complete statutory frameworks for environmental policy in the world (Reich 1983a). In the early 1970s, the need to look beyond mere pollution control to the wider issues affecting the environment was recognized and regional environmental management systems were introduced.4 These systems brought together a whole range of tools including environmental monitoring and information procedures, environmental assessment and pollution control (Barrett 1994, 1995). Another area where local authorities led national government was with respect to mandatory EIA through the enactment of local ordinances (see Chapter 7).5 Moreover, local authorities have played a fundamentally important role in fostering greater public participation in policy-making. Some, such as Kanagawa Prefecture, made efforts to increase public access to information through the enactment of freedom of information ordinances from the early 1980s (Reich 1983a). Local authorities in Japan have direct control over a wide range of environmental management responsibilities and in the past have put considerable pressure on business to conform to voluntary agreements by withholding permits or economic incentives (OECD 1994). Many policymakers and industrialists viewed local government as driving environmental policy through the imposition of tough voluntary standards and they had a reputation for listening to industry and taking technical considerations into account, which promoted a flexible, participatory approach to standard setting (Wallace 1995). Local authorities have been given the role of implementers of national government policy through delegated and assigned functions.6 In this context, numerous policy instruments have been developed to enable them to respond to environmental problems. For instance, there is a long tradition of environmental planning and, from 1973 to 1991 (i.e. one year before the Rio Earth Summit), a total of 34 environmental management plans were prepared at the prefecture level. These

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND MIKOTO USUI 53

plans involved the collation and analysis of data on a wide range of environmental issues and included predictions of future pollution trends. Specialist external expert committees were normally set up to oversee plan preparation and representatives of the main divisions and subdivisions within local government organized their work through internal steering committees.7 One major weakness with these plans was the failure to deal effectively with qualitative environmental issues such as scenic value, amenity, heritage and nature conservation. These qualitative issues are not easily covered by environmental standards. In order to overcome these limitations, and to obtain a broader understanding of the state of the environment, some Japanese local authorities began experimenting with public opinion surveys.8 Hence, it is evident that Japan already had a comprehensive system of local environmental planning prior to the arrival of Local Agenda 21 which contrasts significantly with the lack of such systems in, for instance, many European nations. If we look at the other ecologically modern nations, we can note that prior to 1992 only the local authorities in the Netherlands were well placed to respond to the introduction of LA21. Both Norway and Germany got off to a relatively slow start and for Sweden this was a new challenge that nevertheless fostered a dynamic response with basically all 289 local authorities adopting LA21 by 1996 (Lafferty and Eckerberg 1998). As a point of information, the second international survey of LA21 undertaken by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives revealed 54 per cent of Norwegian, 16 per cent of all Dutch and over 12 per cent of German local authorities had begun working on LA21 (ICLEI 2002). Progress with LA21 in Japan The implementation of LA21 in Japan begins in December 1993 when the national government and ICLEI-Japan established an LA21 Steering Committee, composed of academics, local government officials and representatives from various economic sectors. Their initial report published in June 1994 explained possible options that local authorities might wish to consider when developing LA21 (Japan Environment Agency 1994a). The report, however, failed to expatiate on the entire range of alternatives available for community participation. Rather, emphasis was placed on informal hearings, ad hoc gatherings, written submissions from the public and occasional questionnaire surveys. This stance was adopted apparently on the grounds that public opinion should be reflected in policies but not given too critical a weight in the decision-taking. When reviewing experience in other countries, many of the committee members tended to align themselves with the view that citizens are not particularly interested in participation but prefer to act as passive recipients of information. This view is reminiscent of the information deficit model which generally assumes that citizens when better informed about the environmental consequences of their actions will adopt more environmentally benign options over those that are environmentally destructive (Burgess et al. 1998).9 It is interesting to note that the LA21 Steering Committee’s second report of June 1995 encouraged local authorities to establish forums and working groups to ensure

54 LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE

wider public representation in LA21 (Global Environment Forum 1995). Some local authorities moved quickly to prepare their own LA21 strategies. These included Kanagawa Prefecture with its report entitled Agenda 21 Kanagawa published in February 1993, Hiroshima Prefecture with Econet 21 Hiroshima published in August of the same year and the Aichi Agenda 21 published by Aichi Prefecture in December 1994. In subsequent years, the national administration has annually monitored local authority progress with the development of LA21 and Environment Basic Plans (EBP): two parallel forms of environmental planning in Japan. The 1994 Environment Basic Plan (EBP) at the national level required that local government take responsibility for the formulation of their own action plans concordant with specific locally determined needs and priorities (Japan Environment Agency 1994b; Utsunomiya 1999). Data from the 1997 survey showed that 38 prefectures and 11 designated cities had prepared such plans (Global Environment Forum 1999). This represents 83 per cent of all upper-tier local authorities. Two years later, the 1999 survey results revealed an increase in activity with 45 prefectures and 71 designated cities and larger municipal authorities having prepared either an LA21 or EBP. Data available for May 2000 indicates a total of 45 prefectures, 12 designated cities and 125 municipalities have produced either LA2110 or EBP. This latter figure for municipalities increased to 184 by February 2002 (MoE 2002b) and then to 318 in March 2003 (MoE 2003a). Information on the development of LA21 in the lower-tier municipalities (671 cities, 23 special wards in Tokyo, 1,990 towns and 568 villages) is more limited. A survey undertaken by the COLGEI in 1998 covering 1,394 municipalities revealed that 175 (12.6 per cent) had actually prepared an LA21 and/or EBP (COLGEI 1999). Taking the above data into consideration, it is possible to conservatively conclude that around 13 per cent of all Japanese local authorities had produced an LA21 or EBP by May 1999. It is likely that this proportion could increase to a maximum of 30 per cent in the future, bearing in mind the severe resource and expertise limitations that most of the smaller local authorities face in Japan. For instance, the average local authority population size in Japan is very small at around 38,000 and few are in a position to orchestrate the type of cross-departmental coordination that LA21 requires. Barriers to participatory local environmental management Since 1992, Japanese local authorities have made slow but steady progress in the adoption of more deliberative forms of local environmental policy-making. This has been achieved in the face of significant institutional, political and societal barriers, including major government reform, shifts in demographic structures (emergence of an aging society—see Kingston 2001), on-going economic recession, as well as new demands stemming from the impact of information technology. While in the 1970s local government led the national administration in the development of environmental legislation, in more recent years national interference in local environmental affairs has been very significant (Broadbent 1998; Tsuru 1999). This may reflect the increasingly complex and interconnected nature of sustainable development issues

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND MIKOTO USUI 55

confronting local authorities, requiring national guidance and coordination. At the same time, this situation has been compounded by the growing frustration in many sectors of society with established regulatory mechanisms. This led the national politicians and the administration to the search for new models (e.g. national government restructuring and decentralization reforms) and created an interesting and challenging milieu for the realization of more participatory forms of local environmental governance. For instance, Japanese local governments recently entered a period of institutional innovation set off by the 1995 Decentralization Promotion Act that includes provisions for the transfer of authority from central to local government and from prefectures to municipalities but also with significant implications for local environmental regulation in the longer term (Isobe 1999). However, as yet this has not impacted on the actual structuring of environmental responsibilities within and between local governments. Moreover, there is considerable overlap in relation to the environmental control functions between, and within, the two tiers of local government.11 Radical reform and innovation at the local government level has not proven possible to date but may form part of the next round of institutional change. One of the biggest issues for local environmental officials in the 1990s was how to balance the competing approaches specified under LA21 and EBP (Japan Environment Agency 1994a; Global Environment Forum 1995; Takahashi 2000a). EBP is a nationally driven, environment-focused, mandatory initiative calling on local authorities to develop environmental management plans in consultation with local stakeholders (Utsunomiya 1999). LA21, on the other hand, is an internationally driven initiative, with a multiple issue-based approach focused on sustainability. It is voluntary and promotes participatory/partnership forms of public engagement in local policy formulation (Global Environment Forum 1999). Official guidance on how to differentiate between these two initiatives has been limited (Kitamura 1997). Generally, the national government and ICLEI-Japan contend that LA21 and EBP are the same (Japan Environment Agency 1994a; ICLEI—Japan 2001). However, if properly implemented, LA21 ought to represent a significant departure from the traditional model of Japanese local environmental governance. In contrast, the EBP is firmly based on conventional practices with advisory councils, strong business involvement, and the reliance on public opinion surveys rather than public participation. The dilemma for many local authorities is such that: if they want to conform to national programmes they should develop an EBP; but if they want to be innovative, they should develop an LA21. In many cases, local authorities have done both, designating the EBP as an administrative plan and LA21 as a community or a globally inspired local action plan. This generates concerns about duplication, wasted effort and loss of credibility (Takahashi 2000b). Nevertheless, the advent of both LA21 and EBP has impacted on the previously compartmentalized and closed approach to policy formulation in Japan.12 Most of the early attempts to promote deliberative models, however, tended to remain rather firmly within the existing bureaucratic framework with administrators taking the lead in the process. In many instances, this initially resulted in local bureaucrats simply renaming an existing environmental management plan as an LA21 or an existing

56 LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE

advisory group as an Environmental Forum. It was only in the late 1990s that new models of local deliberative environmental governance became apparent. Four early adopters of this approach include the cases of EBP development in the cities of Iida, Shiki and Hino, and of LA21 implementation in Toyonaka. In each case significant emphasis was placed on public-private partnerships, with local community actors, on occasion, directing the process. The first example, Iida City in Nagano Prefecture, has a population of just over 100,000 and began developing its most recent environmental plan in 1992 in a participatory manner through the involvement of environmental investigators recruited from the local community and in collaboration with local environmental NGOs. The plan was completed in 1996 and contains a set of numerical targets. The plan’s performance is assessed every five years. Iida City has been very effective in establishing other major environmental initiatives and was designated as an Eco-Town area by METI in July 1997 and three years later, in April 2000, established an EcoIndustrial Park designed to promote recycling activities. The second example, Shiki City (with a population of 64,000) is located in Saitama Prefecture, roughly 25 kilometres from Tokyo. Shiki City has experienced a local NPO-led environmental planning process in which citizens play a central role with emphasis on building a permanent mechanism, called Eco-Community Forum, to facilitate local environmental and welfare activities. The forum was composed of 26 citizens from different parts of the city acting in parallel with the officers’ group responsible for coordinating activities within the local authority. In the third example, Hino City (population of 170,000 and located in Tokyo), the successful interface between the municipal government’s EBP and the citizen sponsored Green Master Plan represents a break from the tendency of Japanese local authorities to hold stakeholder dialogues post facto and generally behind closed doors, only to legitimate officially sponsored decisions and pacify critics within the community. In the case of Hino City, 109 citizens were recruited for one year by the Public Relations Department to participate in a working group composed of five subcommittees on air, water, greenery, recycling and the living environment. This innovative leap forward in the promotion of more inclusive forms of civic engagement is largely attributable to personal enthusiasm and resilient leadership on the part of particular city officials charged with the task. Nevertheless, it seems to have set an important precedent for other local authorities and has brought about some significant results. For instance, in October 2000, Hino City implemented a set of waste control measures (called the ‘Waste Revolution’) in collaboration with citizens that resulted in a waste reduction of approximately 48 per cent over two years, and a tripling of resource recovery.13 With respect to the fourth case, Toyonaka City (located in Osaka Prefecture and with a population of 400,000) may be considered as by far the most ‘successful’ LA21 development process in Japan tackling an ambitious range of local environmental issues as shown in Table 4.2. The Toyonaka Citizens Environment Forum was launched in May 1996 and given responsibility to develop an LA21 for the locality. A total of 150 groups were represented in the Forum including industrial associations, the local chamber of commerce, research institutes, welfare groups and women’s associations. Subsequently, in September

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND MIKOTO USUI 57

1997, four working groups were established, composed of 30 members, and held meetings once each month. In addition, working group members were actively involved in various campaigns to promote environmental action such as ‘Stop Engine Idling’. The Toyonaka Agenda 21 was published in March 1999, at the same time as the municipal EBP, setting a new course for the development of genuine community engagement in Japan. Evaluation of recent innovative practices Prior to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, ICLEI—Japan undertook a survey of 181 local authorities in January 2001 (ICLEI—Japan 2001). A total of 129 local authorities (i.e. 72 per cent) returned completed questionnaires. The questions asked are set out in the global survey of local authorities and can be viewed on the ICLEI web site (http://www.iclei.org). In evaluating the significance of social innovations designed to create new forms of participatory environmental governance in Japan, it may be worth while recalling that a frame-work for such local systems was expounded in Chapter 28 of Agenda 21. This has been further elaborated in subsequent years (Agyeman and Evans 1994; Selman 1996; Buckingham-Hatfield and Percy 1999) and was clearly set out in the main criteria used in the ICLEI 2001 survey to evaluate LA21 performance (ICLEI—Japan 2001). Using the above as a basis, we have identified a set of five objectives that comply with an ideal-type description of LA21 processes. The focus of the evaluation is essentially on the integrity of the process of institutional innovation being triggered by LA21 and not the outcome (which should be uniquely local). Indeed, a more challenging issue would be whether this process, in its current design, is delivering results in terms of local environmental improvements. Interestingly, studies referring to experience elsewhere point to the lack of success of LA21 in this respect (Selman 1998; Blake 1999) and we recognize the need for similar research to be undertaken in Japan. Let us now proceed with an evaluation of the performance with LA21 in the context of five objectives:

Table 4.2 Environmental planning experience in four localities

58 LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND MIKOTO USUI 59

60 LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND MIKOTO USUI 61

• Promoting pluralistic approaches: Essentially this can be understood as the democratization of policy-making which is tied into the themes of subsidiarity, decentralization, partnership, citizen participation and empowerment (Agyeman and Evans 1994). LA21 can thus be seen as a means to democratize the predominately bureaucratic systems of environmental management. However, the focus of this objective is not on the matter of ideology but specifically on the diversity of stakeholders allowed to provide inputs into local policy processes. It is clear from the ICLEI—Japan survey that Japanese local authorities have made limited inroads in this area and so far the groups in society that are traditionally poorly represented (youth, women, unemployed, etc.), remain so despite the increasing emphasis placed on the issues of social inclusion in LA21s (mirrored by experience in the UK—see Young 1998). For instance, although 12 per cent of the responding local authorities indicate that local women’s groups are formal partners in the LA21 process, only 2 per cent indicate that women’s issues are priorities for action. In designing participatory mechanisms or stakeholder dialogues to support pluralistic inputs into the policy process, care needs to be exercised by the local authority in order not to fall into the trap of establishing just another bureaucratic device. In Japan and elsewhere local authorities pursuing deliberative environmental policy approaches need to balance the maintenance of some form of ‘structured informality’ in order to keep relationships with partners loose and unrestricting (Reinicke and Deng 2000), while at the same time ensuring long-term involvement and commitment. Creating and sustaining these participatory forums and dialogues is proving to be tremendously time-consuming and demanding. • Discourse coalitions: The reported successes with LA21 development in Japan and elsewhere relate largely to the phase of listening to and learning from local citizens and business groups in the planning process (Macnaghten et al. 1995; Buckingham-Hatfield and Percy 1999; Takahashi 2000b). Wider experience in Japan highlights the initial difficulties faced by local authorities in effectively engaging their communities (even at the planning phase, let alone the subsequent phases of implementation and monitoring). Although 79 per cent of respondents to the ICLEI-Japan survey indicate that there is multi-stakeholder engagement in the visioning process and 63 per cent indicate that there is consultation with community partners in the creation of a shared vision, there is a significant drop to 40 per cent for those indicating that monitoring and reporting procedures are in place to allow participants to be held accountable. Moreover, only 4 per cent of the respondents state that the local stakeholder group is responsible for the environmental policy process and manages the budget while another 34 per cent answered that no formal group exists. The majority (51 per cent) indicates that a stakeholder group provides input to the process and most (66 per cent) made it clear that the local authority manages almost all aspects of the deliberations. Nevertheless, these results may be indicative of a modest opening up of the previously closed policy formulation practices. There are also some signs that LA21 has proved successful in promoting greater integration within local authorities (although not between local authorities): 21 per cent indicate that a

62 LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE

process is in place to integrate LA21 into the entire municipal system and 38 per cent state that LA21 helps to improve inter-departmental cooperation. However, in response to the question on the activities under way in relation to various LA21 issues, only 4 per cent indicate tourism related activities, 5 per cent economic development, 7 per cent culture and 8 per cent health. It may well be that local environmental officials recognize the need for a more integrated approach and yet remain devoid of authority to influence the practice in upstream industries and social activities that fall under the jurisdiction of other departments. Supporting this view, 32 per cent of the respondents answered that insufficient inter-departmental cooperation is a major impediment to the execution of LA21. Shared knowledge base: The generation and consensualization of a local knowledge base for environmental management is a central component in the pursuit of long-term local sustainability (Grove-White 1996; Fischer 2000). However, experience in Japan illustrates the persistence of participation methods that allow only a narrow flow of information between the local authority and community, rather than widespread engagement, deliberation and negotiation. Over 50 per cent of all respondents indicated that questionnaire surveys were the most common method of participation followed by public meetings (29 per cent). Participatory workshops have been used by a number of local authorities (21 per cent) but their links to the policy process are unclear.14 Interestingly, when asked about major constraints to LA21 development, lack of community interest is seen as the most significant (39 per cent of all respondents). Equally significant is the lack of funds. Other constraints such as lack of information, lack of expertise and insufficient community consensus are only viewed as significant by around 16 to 18 per cent of respondents. In part the lack of community interest may reflect the persistence of a clear and as yet unbridgeable perception gap between local government officials and the public. LA21 experience in Japan reveals that local government officials working with expert scientific advisers and specialists often tend to dominate stakeholder dialogues. It is evident that effective community engagement will not occur in Japan without considerably more effort to develop deliberative models of policy formulation which place emphasis on the role of the expert in facilitating the discourse between community and local authority (Fischer 2000). Local scientific expertise needs to be combined with more deliberative forms of communication rather than occasional public explanatory meetings and issuance of information brochures (Burgess et al. 1998). In essence, this implies a gradual transition to more extensive forms of community engagement through the adoption of measures to circumvent existing weaknesses in the Japanese advocacy model (e.g. asking tough questions about who sets the agenda and how consensus is reached) including the development of, and support for, local policy oriented epistemic communities (Haas 1989, 1990; Fischer 2000).15 • Comprehensiveness: Both the results from the ICLEI-Japan survey and the findings from the case studies presented above imply that LA21 in Japan is having a modest, yet positive, impact on the evolution of flexible organizational arrangements and networks to further social learning about sustainable

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND MIKOTO USUI 63

development. This is a particularly significant and very recent (in the past two to three years) advancement in Japan. The membership of grassroots NGOs, at present, is small and unstable, but they are growing and spreading across local authority boundaries and becoming more closely involved in many of the innovative LA21 exercises. However, despite the significant contribution made by these NGOs, the sustainability agenda in Japan, while evolving, remains significantly narrower than that found elsewhere, with areas such as poverty alleviation, women and youth issues, unemployment, safety, culture and recreation excluded. As could be expected, 71 per cent of the respondents to the ICLEI-Japan survey indicate that LA21 focuses on ‘environmental protection with consideration of economic and social concerns’. Only 13 per cent felt that it had something to do with ‘equity and justice’, a mere 19 per cent considered ‘ecological limits’ to be an important facet and only 37 per cent considered ‘transparency’ (i.e. all information related to the process is easily available to the public) as a formal component. • Joint implementation: This places emphasis on issue management and the need for commitment to problem-solving action. In this context, LA21s can be conceived, not just as talking shops for interest articulation, but from a more proactive perspective as a means to engage the community in assessing information, promoting solutions and implementing them. Unfortunately, data on the actual implementation of problem-specific tasks agreed upon through the LA21 process is still very sparse in Japan. While respondents to the ICLEI-Japan survey tended to highlight the impact of LA21 implementation with respect to waste reduction, energy conservation, greenhouse gas reduction and citizen environmental awareness, there are few examples where concrete resources have been pledged for LA21 implementation by the industrial and social sectors. Most success stories about the consultation and negotiation phases leave a certain degree of apprehension regarding the availability of an effective framework for future review of the original agreements (Nakaguchi 1999; Takahashi 2000b). Conclusions The empirical evidence suggests recent significant changes in structures and local policy processes in a very limited number of smaller local authorities in Japan. First, the examples presented confirm that local environmental deliberations have been utilized as a conduit for civic engagement that complements, rather than distracts from, the traditional processes as found with the use of Environment Basic Plans. Experience in locations such as Iida, Hino, Shiki and Toyonaka has taken local communities a step closer toward democratic engagement in effective environmental governance. Second, new environmental policy practices have contributed to greater inter-departmental cooperation (although this remains a major constraint in many local authorities) and have created new modes of policy dialogues through a variety of discourse coalitions such as local forums or working groups. Third, a very small number of local authorities have begun to relinquish control over the environmental

64 LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE

agenda to other stakeholders in the locality, which in turn may have profound long-term implications for the future of Japanese local environmental governance. Nevertheless, the ICLEI-Japan survey results also highlight widespread and significant problems such as a narrowly focused environmental agenda, the prevalence of local authorities retaining control over the process and budget, the lack of inter-departmental cooperation, limited experimentation with different forms of community engagement and the difficulty of ensuring commitment to action from other local stakeholders. There is, it appears, much confusion in Japan surrounding conceptual groundwork for sustainable development at the local level. In commenting on the findings of the ICLEI-Japan survey, Takahiro Nakaguchi, Director of COLGEI, explained the difficulty faced by many respondents in completing the questionnaire due to lack of understanding of the questions and terminology used, such as ecological limits, equity, participatory assessment and so on. For many local officials, the main objective is to develop an ‘environmental management plan’ in a consultative manner (something they are very good at)—not a process to create a vision of a sustainable future requiring long-term and intimate community engagement. Most Local Agenda 21s prepared to date in Japan are still in the initial phase of development. Their quality has not been comprehensively assessed and most local authorities have yet to evaluate the changes in practical performance in the context of their initial strategy. Lacking concrete information on the implementation impacts, it is difficult to evaluate the true significance of the changes in local environmental policy in other than procedural terms. Indeed, in the longer term, it may well be that new processes prove to be no better than the traditional approaches to environmental management in terms of delivering solutions to pressing local and global environmental problems. In Japan, the initial impression, after examining the functions of local authorities in the area of environmental management, is that they actually function as local environment agencies. However, upon closer examination certain clear weaknesses become apparent, the most noticeable of which are the constraints imposed by the national administration and the pro-development lobby. In particular, the vulnerability of Japan’s approach to nature conservation has been exposed (OECD 1994). The environmental activities of Japan’s local government appear relatively well coordinated. However, the degree to which the Local Agenda 21 process will continue to make in-roads into the relatively stable local environmental management bureaucratic practices is also unclear. Notes 1 At the time of writing, ICLEI-Japan enjoys membership from some 46 Japanese local authorities. The Coalition of Local Governments for Environmental Initiatives (COLGEI) is an informal nation-wide network that provides opportunities for exchange of experience on LA21 and related environmental initiatives particularly among lower-tier local autonomies. Although COLGEI’s membership has not yet exceeded 50 local authorities, participation at the annual

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND MIKOTO USUI 65

2

3

4

5 6

three-day Local Government Environment Conference often includes over 1,000 local officials. These objectives happen to be largely (though not entirely) comparable to James Meadowcroft’s conceptual delineation of ‘cooperative management regimes’ (Meadowcroft 1999). There are a few other analytical frameworks of possible relevance for evaluating LA21 related activities, such as the information deficit model (Burgess et al. 1998), the policy epistemic model (Fischer 2000) or the civic/ deliberative model (Owens 2000), but these would seem more useful when addressing the issues of engagement in case-specific analyses than when the focus is on the integrity of the process of institutional innovation. Japan has a two-tier system of local government composed of municipalities (of which there were 3,229 as of April 2000) and 47 prefectures and 12 designated cities (population over 0.5 million and powers equivalent to those of the prefectures). The second tier is made up of smaller cities, towns and villages. The organization of the first tier is generally uniform, with two exceptions: (1) the prefecture and municipalities in Tokyo are combined into a single organization and administered under special provisions; and (2) Tokyo contains special wards (ku) which are described as a third level of government. In general, with the exception of the designated cities, prefectures are superior to the municipalities, and all communications between central government and the municipalities must pass through the prefectures. The prefectures deal with region-wide issues and ensure the coordination of activities across municipalities. With the exception of Tokyo, all prefectures have identical functions. There is, however, considerable variation amongst the municipalities. It is important to recall that in Japan the concept of environmental management was introduced through the 1973 White Paper on the Environment. Moreover, much of the early strategic thinking behind Japan’s efforts to develop local and regional environmental management was undertaken by the Central Council for Environmental Pollution Control. In 1972, the Council published an interim report that called for programmes to (a) realize the environmentally sound utilization of land, (b) re-evaluate the current relationship between environmental management and development in existing programmes, and (c) examine ways to secure environmental control in an integrated way. Subsequently in September 1973, Osaka Prefectural Government published Japan’s first local environmental management plan, which in line with CCEPC recommendations sought to develop an integrated pollution control policy. A number of local authorities beginning with Kawasaki Municipal Government in 1976 passed their own local EIA ordinances (Barrett and Therivel 1991). The environmental administration has been delegated to local government with respect to environmental sanitation, pollution control and preservation of cultural property. However, the enforcement of measures in relation to mining, electricity (including nuclear power and radioactivity), gas, transport and water resources remains under centralized control. Regulation of air and water pollution in Japan remains in local authority control primarily at the prefecture and designated city level. The municipal authorities have control over noise, vibration and offensive odours.

66 LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE

7 Nagoya City, for example, set up an external committee composed of 26 delegates drawn from anti-pollution specialists, professional groups (lawyers, doctors, academics, etc.) and registered voters (selected by lottery). 8 Tokyo Metropolitan Government surveyed the opinion of 3,664 people in 1991 asking their views on the cleanness of local air and water, urban amenity and their interaction with the natural environment. 9 The information deficit model, however, has been challenged as too simplistic in the international literature on local sustainability (Macnaghten et al. 1995; Burgess et al. 1998; Blake 1999; Owens 2000). Rather, it is argued that public deliberation is essential in framing environmental problems (Smith 2003). Government’s role is to support meaningful action in the community, although it appears that few have faith in the ability of local government to achieve this (Macnaghten and Jacobs 1997; Burgess et al. 1998; Selman 1998; Blake 1999). Consequently, there are increasing calls for a new civic deliberation model that is designed to avoid the pitfalls of older forms of public participation and takes account of the important influence of cultural rules and social networks (Selman and Parker 1997; Smith et al 1999; Owens 2000; Takahashi 2000a). 10 Thirty-five of them specifically mention LA21 in the title. 11 In the 1970s and 1980s, many local authorities set up new divisions to handle environment related issues. As a result, a rather complex picture exists at the local level in Japan whereby around 30 per cent of all local authorities have wellestablished and resourced environmental management systems, while the remaining 70 per cent rely almost completely on the upper-tier prefectural authorities (Nakaguchi et al 1999). In Osaka Prefecture, for instance, located in central Japan, mutually unconnected LA21 strategies have been developed by Osaka City in March 1995, by Osaka Prefectural Government in June 1996 and subsequently by Toyonaka City in March 1999. 12 Similar problems associated with the introduction of participatory policy formulation initiatives are cited in studies of experience in other countries (Macnaghten and Jacobs 1997; Marvin and Guy 1997; Lafferty and Eckerberg 1998). 13 Waste reduction performance data can be found at this web site—http:// www.city.hino.tokyo.jp/info/gomi/27.htm (in Japanese only). 14 The results of questionnaire surveys can be incorporated directly into an environmental plan, usually in a technical annex. However, it is more difficult to highlight the outcomes from participatory workshops and their influence on the policy outcomes. 15 This term is most commonly applied to international negotiations and refers to groups of individuals engaged in policy innovation through issue framing, interest redefinition and standard setting in conjunction with agenda-specific forums.

5 The transformation of social movements and civil society Jeffrey Broadbent and Brendan F.D.Barrett

Whereas environmental NGOs and even Green Parties have been central players in environmental policy formation in the West, in Japan large environmental NGOs failed to become institutionalized… (Schreurs 1996a: 1) In this chapter we define civil society as being constituted by autonomous associations formed voluntarily by citizens to further common social interests (Putnam 1993). Using this definition as a guide we explore whether Japanese society is becoming more pluralistic and diverse. We look at the extent to which Japanese civil society is actually built upon self-directed forms of association, in the original theoretical sense, or whether the term community organizational sector remains a more accurate description. What do we mean by this? Simply that in the past Japanese community organizations were part of an inclusive social corporatism controlled by elites. However, over the past three decades we consider that this situation has been gradually changing with environmental movements playing an important role in this transformation. Hence, we will analyse this shift: its pattern, process and extent, and the implications for Japan’s ecological modernization. Our basic argument is that societal changes and emerging social needs, matched by shifting popular values and structural changes in the political system, have provided additional leverage for the growth of a diverse range of groups in Japanese society (Curtis 2002:8; Furukawa and Menju 2003). The developmental, corporatist and activist Japanese state is slowly being transformed, some would use the term ‘crumbling’, and seeking a more equitable affiliation with a wider range of civil society representatives. Advisory councils (shingikai) to the government, for instance, formerly the preserve of representatives from business or conservative academia, are starting to include more people from a variety of citizens’ associations (Hirata 2002: 1). Moreover, a recent network analysis of NGO participation in Japanese environmental decision-making finds that some domestic Japanese environmental NGOs are attaining fuller participation, even though the government still tends to exclude international NGOs such as Greenpeace or WWF (Broadbent and Devitt 2001). These tendencies imply that the very nature of the associations in the civil sector is changing and the main point of contention may be over the degree of transformation rather than the direction.

68 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND CIVIL SOCIETY

In the past, most traditional village or neighbourhood organizations had close ‘Vertical’ ties to political patrons who steered them in conservative directions. Even environmental protest movements during the 1960s and 1970s, to be successful, had to gain support from local notables while at the same time putting themselves at risk from ‘co-option’ (Broadbent 2003). Now, however, new forms of association, growing from ordinary citizens voluntarily drawn together by their mutual interests, are starting to arise. In contrast to the older-style community organizations, these new ones are composed of individuals who are willing to develop personal ties and trustbased relationships with strangers (i.e. persons outside their immediate social circle). Such individual networks are foreign to traditional Japan’s commitment-forming, group-based structures (Schwartz 2003:7). This social transformation has supporters within the ruling elite who see the potential to politically and socially reinvigorate Japan as being fundamentally linked to the existence of an energetic civil society (Schwartz 2003:14). Consequently, there has been a gradual reduction in the communication barriers between the traditional elites (bureaucrats, politicians and business leaders) and civil society. The former increasingly see NGOs as providers of resources, expertise and alternative perspectives regarding possible development paths (Hirata 2002; Schreurs 2002: 258). In this chapter, we will explore the degree to which a more active civil society is emerging in Japan, with special focus on the contribution of environmental organizations, and examine the kinds of institutional changes and causal factors that have made this possible. The focus of our analysis will be the degree to which Japanese civil society is moving toward fulfilling the theoretical definition noted above. In other words, we will be considering the basic question, how voluntary and autonomous are Japan’s community organizations becoming, and why? Transformation of environmental movements and civil society Although Japan has a long-established tradition of civic engagement, traceable back to the feudal era, Japanese civil society has struggled to assert the levels of influence found by its counterparts in Europe and North America (Katoh 2002; Garon 2003). The imposition of more democratic institutions and social class structures after the Second World War strengthened the potential for civil (as distinct from strictly student, political or economic) society in Japan. Its growth, however, has followed a distinctly indigenous path—an explosion and decline of locally based groups in the 1960s and 1970s, a slow growth of voluntary associations until the 1990s, and then a more rapid expansion. In Chapter 2 we discussed the evolution of environmental issues in Japan. In many respects, the fortunes of the environmental movements have followed a similar trajectory. Local anti-pollution groups (jumin undo) and citizen groups (shimin undo) were very effective at the time of the pollution crisis in the 1950s and 1960s (McKean 1981; Vosse 2000; Hirata 2002).1 A wave of local environmental protests swept Japan, peaking in the early 1970s when membership numbered as many as 6 million (Schreurs 1994). This wave of protest galvanized widespread media and public support. Individual environmental protest groups exerted political pressure by employing a variety of techniques: the blockade and

JEFFREY BROADBENT AND BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 69

rejection of government sponsored industrial projects, successful electoral support for opposition candidates, litigation, media campaigns, lobbying of local government and mobilizing opposition party politicians to raise criticisms in the Diet. In response, as it became ever more difficult to push through industrial projects and faced with possible electoral loss, the national growth coalition, led by the LDP, decided to compromise (Broadbent 1998:98–112). In a historic change, the 1970 Pollution Diet enacted a range of important environmental legislation2 (Barrett and Therivel 1991; Hirata 2002:16). Unfortunately, while the grievance-based environmental protest movements had a lasting effect upon government pollution control policy, they generally did not survive as organizations or mature into a more stable form; they mostly dissolved by the 1980s (Vosse 2000:187; Schreurs 2002:71). Several factors contributed to the environmental movements’ pattern of rapid growth and rapid decline. The very success of their campaign, evidenced by dramatically decreasing air and water pollution, took away the sting of immediacy for many local issues. The 1973 ‘Oil Shock’ (rapid oil price rise) put the country into recession, turning people’s attention to economic issues. At the same time, the growth coalition staged a quiet campaign to weaken protest movements. The conservative elites wanted to prevent the institutionalization of movements into permanent legitimate fixtures of the political landscape (Schreurs 1996a; Broadbent 1998). This campaign played out through a number of factors on a number of levels. Through its national patron-client machine, LDP politicians activated their local representatives to cajole, bribe and wheedle their neighbours not to join, or to desist from, environmental groups. At the same time, traditional constraints continued: bureaucrats refused to give out information on their plans or about environmental conditions, hampering the movements’ efforts to resist. The bureaucracies also continued their refusal to grant tax-exempt status or the right to incorporate to movements, further hampering them.3 In place of citizen-initiative groups, the government set up ‘third sector groups’ (GONGOs—government organized NGOs), sponsored by corporations and led by retired ministers. These ersatz NGOs filled the space of ‘civil society’, giving the illusion of strong grassroots influence when in reality it did not exist. As a result the most effective social movements tended to be those pursuing community benefits, with the best example, as mentioned in Chapter 3, being the Cooperative Association (Seikatsu Club). With the growth of the urban middle class, the consumer movements have been very active on the local political front and have constantly struggled to get political representation for consumer interests, to inform citizens of their consumer rights and to raise awareness of environmental issues (Peng-Er 1999; Maclachlan 2003). Only in the past decade have Japan’s new social movements and NGOs begun to vigorously pursue issues of a more general benefit for society, such as the reduction of global warming. In this, they signify a transformation and internationalization of Japan’s community organizational sector toward the Western theoretical definitions of civil society and the public sphere. Fieldwork in Japan supports this generalization. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Broadbent conducted fieldwork research (in small-town and medium-city Oita prefecture) on a number of the NIMBY-style movements (Broadbent 1998). These

70 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND CIVIL SOCIETY

movements were concerned with the removal of industrial pollution related threats from their immediate neighborhoods. More recently, in autumn 2002, Broadbent conducted fieldwork research on environmental movements in urban Sendai and found that they were concerned primarily with global warming and other global pollution problems. These two types of movements, from the 1970s and from the early 2000s, seem typical of the most active movements in their respective historical eras. As Table 5.1 shows, these two types of movements differ in many significant ways, not all attributable simply to their rural-urban locations. Table 5.1 uses analytical categories derived from social movement theory to present the ‘ideal-type’ summary of some important qualities of each type of movement.4 These two ‘idealtype’ models reveal great differences in goals, membership, ideologies (or values), organization, tactics, strategies, the types of obstacles and the societal circumstances they draw upon, operate within and seek to change. What factors have been significant in bringing about these changes? One possible explanation could be the emergence of new risks in the 1990s that affected all Japanese rather than individual communities. For instance, in the mid-1990s public concern about toxic chemicals swelled and reached crisis proportions. Dioxin, PCBs and other toxins were identified as ‘environmental hormones’ (kankyo horumon, endocrine disrupters) (Japan Times 1998; Yomiuri 1998; Yoshida and Iguchi 1998).5 Scientists attributed increasing rates of human foetal deformity, cancer and skin disease, as well as fish deformities, to these sources (Hasegawa 1998; Kawana 1998; Nagayama 1998:76; Ueda 1998:76; Risaikuru, n.d.). Fish caught near Japan exhibited extremely high dioxin concentrations (Nagayama 1998:65). Between 1967 and 1987, skin allergy diseases (atopii) attributable to toxic pollution increased sevenfold (Nagayama 1998:23). The smoke from 1,854 local refuse incinerators, the most in any country in the world, was identified as one reason for the spread of dioxin in surrounding communities (Asahi Newspaper, 22 May 1997; Nagayama 1998: 124–130; Ueda 1998:43–50). Moreover, accidents at several nuclear plants intensified public fears about the safety of these facilities. These included the leakage of two to three tons of liquid sodium coolant from the Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor in Fukui Prefecture in December 1995 and the explosion at a PNC Bituminization Demonstration Facility at the Tokai Works in March 1997 (Sawai 1998; IEA 1999). These conditions, worsened by government inaction, set off a new wave of environmental protest (Kajiyama 1995; Asahi Newspaper, 7 and 13 July 1997). Between 1990 and 1997, 717 distinct groups conducted 944 protests against nuclear and toxic pollution (Taguchi 1998:242). Furthermore, in addition to protests, irate citizens sought to employ plebiscites as a tool to influence local political decisions on environmentally hazardous projects. In August 1996, the village of Maki in Niigata Prefecture, using Japan’s first binding local referendum, rejected a nuclear plant. Roughly 88 per cent of the voters turned out for the referendum, and nearly 61 per cent voted against construction of a reactor by Tohoku Electric Power Company, with 39 per cent in favour (Takubo 1997). Although strictly speaking the results of referendums are not binding and under most circumstances local

JEFFREY BROADBENT AND BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 71

Table 5.1 Chronological comparison of environmental movements in Japan

72 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND CIVIL SOCIETY

governments do not have power to reject government sponsored projects such as nuclear power plants, referendums are effective as a means of demonstrating public concern. In the Maki case, the municipal government owned the site of the reactor and could refuse to sell. Aware of this, citizen groups convinced the mayor to allow the referendum and to follow its decision. One year later, in June 1997, the first local referendum on the question of whether or not to construct an industrial waste disposal facility was held in the town of Mitake, Gifu Prefecture. The referendum result showed that those against greatly exceeded those in favour (80 per cent to 19 per cent). Another referendum in November the same year led to the rejection of an industrial waste facility in the city of Kobayashi, Miyazaki Prefecture. This was followed by referendums in February, June and August 1998 in the town of Yoshinaga, Okayama Prefecture, the city of Shiroishi, Miyazaki Prefecture and the town of Unakami, Chiba Prefecture, respectively. In all these cases, the opposition votes exceeded 90 per cent. The government reacted to this wave of protest and referendums with new laws and standards for waste disposal, including marine disposal (see Chapter 8). In 1997, the Upper House, ruled by an opposition party coalition, finally passed a weakened version of the long-sought EIA law (see Chapter 7). The implementation of this law

JEFFREY BROADBENT AND BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 73

may in part explain the success of environmental protest groups opposed to the Aichi Expo 2005, and the reclamation of Fujimae Tidal Flats (Nagoya) and of the Sanbanze Tidal Flats (Chiba). However, it is important to recognize that in the 1990s environmental groups lost far more disputes than they won. Wilhelm Vosse, in his detailed study of environmental movements in contemporary Japan, estimates that in the 1990s there were between 50 and 100 single-issue protest movements in Japan including the Nagara River Dam, reclamation projects in Isahaya Bay and Shinji Lake, second runways at the Narita and Kansai Airports, new airports in Kobe and Okinawa and numerous landfill projects such as that found in Hinode-machi (Tokyo) (Vosse 2000:76). In exploring the environmental protests at the Nagara Dam and in Hinode-machi, Vosse shows how the movements in both cases failed to stop the developments. He argues, though, that the endurance and strength of the Anti-Nagara Dam movement may have proved inspirational for other movements including those that succeeded in blocking the dam on the Yoshino River (Vosse 2000:110). When commenting on experience in Hinode-machi, Vosse states that it is a classic example of Japanese protest movements that make use of: a broad variety of social, political, and legal means in order to achieve their objective, but finally lost their battle because certain decisions…had been made by government offices long before the residents were aware of it, and involved large amounts of financial incentives for the locality. (Vosse 2000:150) In examining the activities of the Nature Conservation Society of Japan (NACSJ), one of the biggest environmental groups in Japan, Vosse argues that it has had some success in recent years in convincing government bodies to reconsider policies (on biodiversity) but as yet had failed to meet its full potential and continues to pursue rather modest goals and objectives (Vosse 2000:150). NACS-J is an example of a nationally organized NGO and it has recently sought to increase its effectiveness by working in coalition with other groups. A good example is the attempt to promote legislation to coordinate government nature conservation policy, currently spread across ten laws. NACS-J was part of the large coalition of NGOs that entered into negotiations with the House of Representatives Legislative Bureau on a draft bill on this topic in 2003 (Japan Times, 4 May 2003). NACS-J has also been very active with respect to its opposition to construction of wind farms in the national parks (such as Muroo-Akame-Aoyama National Park in Mie Prefecture). Following NACS-J lobbying, the MoE temporarily postponed its decision to ease regulations on the construction of wind farms in national parks (Japan Times, 30 April 2003).6 At the end of the 1980s and in the very early 1990s, it was possible to argue that— contrary to what might have been expected of a state designated by some as ecologically modern—social movements in Japan were very much on the periphery of institutional power, under-funded, under-supported and disenfranchised (Danaher 2002a; Revell 2003). Today, in the early years of the twenty-first century, social movements, even genuinely voluntary ones, are slowly moving toward a more legitimate status within the political process akin to their counterparts in North

74 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND CIVIL SOCIETY

America and Europe. As such, they are starting to constitute a more theoretically justified form of civil society. Theoretical perspectives The patterns of change in Japan’s civil society can be explained with reference to four distinct but perhaps complementary theoretical perspectives—the traditional culturalist view in a modern, more dynamic version, and the more recent institutional statism, social pluralism and social hegemony views. Each of these perspectives implies the existence of a unique transformative dynamic, as well as different sets of barriers, opportunities and growth patterns in relation to Japan’s community organizational sector. To these, we can also add an important environmental dimension, which brings into view causal factors beyond those strictly within society and culture. Environmental theories posit that environmental changes per se, such as increases in the level of environmental damage or risk, may spur reflexive actions in society. Both ecological modernization and risk society perspectives anticipate that environmental damage and risk will heighten the degree of social concern, bringing about a general societal response. However, conflict oriented environmental theories assume that entrenched business and political interests would resist this response, leaving problems unsolved (Schnaiberg and Gould 1994). In the absence of an adequate governmental response, citizens may try to organize themselves and undertake activities designed to raise awareness of and promote actions to tackle environmental concerns. A combination of these social, cultural and environmental theoretical perspectives provides us with good guidance in looking for key factors that explain changes in Japan’s civil society, including its social movements, public sphere, and public attitudes toward the environment. The qualities of Japanese culture have long been debated (Lebra 1976; Befu 2001). As the result of centuries of state conditioning, some culturalists argue, the Japanese hesitate to articulate personal interests. Japanese culture emphasizes conformity and obedience to authority; these values make it difficult for social movements to recruit members from the general public or to obtain the finances needed to exist for a sustained period of time (Mitsuda 1997; Kerr 2001). These cultural traits may in part explain how local communities can become highly concerned about environmental issues and act accordingly, but, once having solved the problem, then deactivate. By this logic, the environmental movements of the 1960s and 1970s remained NIMBY (not in my back yard) and loco-centric (Funabashi 1992). Cultural qualities also affect how a population ‘frames’ a given issue, both in terms of its degree of concern and in determining the need for personal action. As the above indicates, traditional Japanese culture would seem to run counter to the idea of individual efficacy. The theory of cultural politics, however, approaches culture as mutable, as subject to change through conflict, debate and dialogue. In this case, culture is not ‘essentialist’, but still at any given time can hamper or support some emerging new social pattern, such as an active civil society. Culture becomes an element in the dynamic.

JEFFREY BROADBENT AND BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 75

The institutional statist view (Schwartz 2003) looks at how a strong interventionist state creates a strict regulatory environment with respect to civil society and how segments of a socially penetrative public administration (say for instance individual ministries like the MoE or METI) mobilize certain public interest organizations to compensate for their weak jurisdictional powers (see Chapter 3). This view implies that a withdrawal of state intervention should precede and stimulate growth in the number of genuinely autonomous community associations. The social pluralist perspective, on the other hand, sees a host of more genuinely citizen-based associations emerging within the public sector in the 1990s. The new NGOs and their activities, this view argues, represent evidence of social modernization. This implies that the ‘number of interest groups, voluntary citizen groups, and other citizeninitiated social actors is thought to be directly proportional to a society’s level of modernity, industrialization and affluence’ (Tsujinaka 2003:84). This view argues directly that the growth of autonomous citizen associations will be proportional to the society’s level of industrialization and affluence, irrespective of state attempts at intervention. The social hegemony view (Broadbent 1998, 2003), in contrast, while recognizing good points in the preceding views, argues that, at least until recently, most Japanese community organizations have not been autonomous associations in the sense used by the Western definition of civil society. Rather, Japanese community organizations have been embedded within external and internal vertical social relationships preventing their emergence as associations in the original sense. The social hegemony view derives from earlier work by ethnographers of Japan (Nakane 1970; Murakami 1984) as well as more recent ethnographic fieldwork (Broadbent 1998; Broadbent and Shinohara 2003). From this perspective it is argued that Japanese communities tend to be dominated by vertical clientelistic ties to conservative patrons. Analogously, Japanese organizations are dominated by senior members. Hence, though association-like organizations may exist in the Japanese community, they only rarely function as associations in the Western sense. In the Western ideal, the term association comes from the verb ‘associate’, meaning that individuals come together around common interests and decide group governance through frank, egalitarian discussion and debate. Japanese community-based organizations and decision-making processes are generally much more concerned with the avoidance of inter-personal rancour and rather seek ‘harmony’ by intuiting and following the will of the senior member. Thus, Japanese organizations and communities are not the breeding-grounds of individualistic democracy implied by social theory. The social hegemony view implies that the emergence of civil society in the Western sense of autonomous associations will depend most directly upon the transformation of community social patterns away from the dominance of vertical relationships. Growth in the sheer number of community organizations, the main indicator of the social pluralist view, may not correlate directly with this emergence. Neither will the withdrawal of state intervention, or conversely the passage of more supportive legislation, directly support this emergence. One potentially influential change, however, considering national factors, is the recent decline of the LDP patron-client machine that has the potential to reduce the flow of

76 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND CIVIL SOCIETY

resources (money, jobs and projects) into communities which in the past has supported the conservative vertical social relationships. At the same time, changes in the local social structures, such as the growth of an educated prosperous middle class randomly brought together in new urban neighbourhoods, may also reduce the power of these traditional vertical relationships. Another potentially influential factor from an environmental perspective is the emergence of a risk society in Japan in the 1990s. The concept of a risk society implies public sensitivity to potential environmental dangers associated with high levels of industrialization, including those from distant sources (Beck 1994:5). Environmental risk causes a popular loss of certitude in the benefits of unrestricted industrial modernization, reduces public trust in the official experts/administrators and calls for greater opening up to the decision-making and policy-making processes (Beck 1994:29). Multiple, less controllable, potential risks pervade contemporary high-technology societies like Japan, including nuclear power, global warming and toxic pollution of groundwater. In what Beck calls ‘reflexive modernization’, these risks require that old political habits be questioned and call for new kinds of citizen response, not only concerned with immediate local pollution but also more proactive about ‘distant’ sources of risk. Application of risk society theory would suggest that a new type of popular social movement in Japan, different from the old NIMBY style of the 1960s, would appear in the 1990s. A new political landscape for civil society In 1989, opposition parties won unprecedented control of the Upper House of the Diet. Then in 1993, shattering the LDP’s almost 50-year rule, a coalition of opposition parties won control of the powerful Lower House. This electoral loss marked the end of LDP dominance in Japan and shocked the whole ruling triad (the LDP, economic ministries and big business), as it challenged their institutionalized control of the state. Once in power, the opposition party coalition started important new environmental and civil initiatives. In November 1993, the opposition party ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa passed a revised Basic Environmental Law. This was given further substance by the passage of the 1994 Basic Environmental Plan, which called for a ‘network’ style of environmental governance, based on the joint efforts of government, citizens, NGOs and business.7 These political victories set in train a diverse array of liberalizing trends throughout the society, including an upsurge of voluntary associations and activities (Takeuchi 1998; Schwartz and Pharr 2003). In 1994, the LDP regained control of the Lower House, but at an odd price—a coalition government with its old enemy, the Japan Socialist Party. To cement the coalition, the LDP gave the prime minister’s position to the leader of the Japan Socialist Party, Tomiichi Murayama (1994–1996), but retained most of the rest of the cabinet positions. What brought about this political earthquake? The end of the Cold War around 1990 reshaped the international arena and sent shock waves through Japanese domestic politics. In the same period Japan, having reached the intoxicating peak of its drive for prosperity, suddenly suffered the collapse of this ‘bubble’ economy.

JEFFREY BROADBENT AND BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 77

Then followed over a decade of economic stagnation, financial crisis, corporate bankruptcies and growing unemployment (Kingston 2001; Maswood et al. 2003). The result was an opening up of political space for the emergence of new nonsocialist opposition parties, a host of which multiplied in the political arena. Meanwhile, the government proved unable to make the ‘structural’ reforms demanded by Western economists—for instance by letting banks owning huge bad debts go bankrupt. Such a move would have undercut the very foundations of the Japanese economic system of mutual dependency (Kingston 2001). Instead, the LDP (actually influential factions within it), in conjunction with some powerful ministries and construction companies, embarked upon a massive programme of deficit spending in hopes of stimulating the economy. Much of this spending went into the construction of huge public works projects, such as new roads, harbours, dams and tunnels. Other monies went to subsidize the construction of new hotels and office buildings. In this way, after a few years, the Japanese government acquired the highest levels of national deficit (relative to GNP) among the OECD nations. If invested productively, this debt may have been justifiable. Unfortunately, many of these projects, being contracted at exorbitant rates due to a corrupt bidding system, and in any case mainly intended to keep companies and workers employed for the short term, had only marginal public utility (see Chapter 7 for further discussion). In the mid-1990s, a number of factors converged to spur further popular opposition to the dominant triad. As the economic recession continued so the fortunes of the LDP continued to diminish (Katz 2001; Kingston 2001). In addition, faced with the onslaught of new public projects of dubious worth, citizens began to increasingly voice concerns about why it was necessary for their natural surroundings to be sacrificed at such a rate (see Chapter 7). Then in 1995, a huge earthquake levelled large sections of Kobe, one of Japan’s major cities, killing thousands of people and rendering tens of thousands homeless. The government failed to deliver the needed help in a timely manner, fumbling its rescue response for the victims. Instead, the earthquake victims had to rely on the services of the many volunteers who poured in to help. This stark contrast in aid greatly strengthened popular support for and legitimacy of non-governmental, non-profit volunteer organizations (Yamaoka 1998; Yamauchi 1998; Bestor 1999). Moreover, from the mid-1990s on, the results of the ‘ticking time bomb’ of buried and seeping toxic waste, inadequately covered in the 1970s pollution reforms, began to show up publicly. Public anxiety about toxic waste, including radioactive waste, continued to grow, and the government’s response did not inspire public confidence (Broadbent 2002a: 331; Danaher 2002a). In response, as mentioned above, Japan witnessed a new surge of protest movements and civil society activism in the 1990s. The national government, even if dominated by an LDP-led coalition, felt a new sense of vulnerability (due to the LDP’s loss of power in 1993). So, the government responded with major policy initiatives, some of which favoured the growth of civil society. These included the decision to host the 1997 Kyoto Conference on global warming, the 1998 Special Non-profit Activities Law or NPO Law (Pekkanen 2000) and the 2001 Information Disclosure Law, working to increase the political effectiveness of the nongovernmental sector (Danaher 2002a; Hirata 2002:1; Maclachlan 2003: 230–231;

78 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND CIVIL SOCIETY

Schwartz and Pharr 2003; Tsujinaka 2003:84). The NPO law, while not measurably improving NGOs’ opportunity for tax-exempt status (Deguchi 1998), allowed them to incorporate with reduced bureaucratic oversight. In this way, the NPO law weakened the barriers facing civil society in Japan. With these new favourable conditions, the few existing small special-issue-based environmental groups started to expand and others appeared. These included groups such as the Nature Conservation Society of Japan (NACS-J), the Wild Bird Society of Japan (WBSJ) and WWF Japan, supported by a few thousand members and led by dedicated environmentalists. These groups successfully kept up a ferment of concern and critique, particularly with regard to major development projects (Danaher 2002a). In the 1990s, they and many of the internationally oriented NGOs achieved a number of significant environmental victories8 and were also successful in raising public awareness of several serious risk-based environmental problems. As a result, these NGOs have slowly attained greater legitimacy in Japan and built stronger communication links with government and business-based environmental organizations. They have also become more effective at campaigning on issues of concern through the use of the media and by bringing in academic expertise (Vosse 2000). The interplay of institutions, culture and hegemonic relationships The recent transformative processes in Japanese civil society deserve careful consideration. From one perspective, Pharr (2003:320–321) argues that certain features have characterized the post-war development of civil society in Japan. These include the fact that producer groups tend to dominate, that the sphere outside of the state and market is very narrow (but growing) and that consumer and labour groups are weaker in Japan than those found in other industrialized countries. In addition, political advocacy groups are under-represented and the media establishment works with the political core (the ruling triad) vis-à-vis the political periphery (everyone else). While grassroots social movements have been prominent in many areas including the environment, few have advanced to become professional public interest groups and the number of international NGOs is surprisingly small. Above all, the symbiotic relationship between an activist state and civil society has worked to mould (but not suppress) virtually all activities of the generally passive NGO community (Pekkanen 2003). While agreeing with Pharr’s analysis, we would like to highlight a number of points worthy of further consideration. First, the institutional statist view assumes that to a large extent the basic political power resides within the ministerial bureaucracies. However, if we examine the significant changes in policy orientation that occurred in the brief 1993 interregnum when the LDP was totally out of power, we could conclude that such changes may not have been possible otherwise. Hence from the converse perspective this may be indicative of the fact that the interests of the ruling political party (when in power) may be the key determinant of much of the policy output of the bureaucracy. Second, Pharr’s claim that the media always work

JEFFREY BROADBENT AND BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 79

with the political core against the social periphery may need to be more naunced. This characterization may arise from an exclusive focus on the press clubs. Certainly, major Japanese newspapers do little investigative reporting on governmental problems. However, research has shown that, concerning social issues such as pollution, the media often send reporters directly to the people and the events (Kabashima and Broadbent 1986). In these cases, the media do not simply parrot the government line. To the contrary, the media may act as a mouthpiece and amplifier for genuine citizen concerns, even in opposition to the interests of the political core. As a result, as demonstrated later in this chapter, the media have sometimes been a crucial resource for the success of protest movements in Japan. The impediments to movement institutionalization are not entirely of the aforementioned structural or institutional statist variety. In some accounts, culture and hegemonic social relations also play important roles. The culturalist view, described above, argues that the internalized values of the Japanese tend to make them refrain from movement activism and, if they do mobilize, to focus on local problems. This loco-centrism and pragmatism result in ordinary people distrusting organizations that claim to serve abstract or idealistic causes, whether domestic or international.9 The social hegemony view, however, places the motivational onus for this loco-centrism less on culture (as internalized motivations) and more on hegemonic vertical social relations (Broadbent 2003). In his fieldwork, Broadbent found oppositional consciousness aplenty among ordinary village folk. Indeed, villagers carried alternative sub-cultures harking back to and romanticizing farmers’ protests during the Meiji or earlier times. The research showed that people’s participation in protest movements was restrained by the negative sanctions imposed upon them through their personal networks, from relatives or friends themselves influenced by or tied to the conservative political machine. This finding casts doubt on the preceding culturalist argument—that internalized values determine behaviour and in the Japanese case strongly inhibit criticism and protest. Plenty of criticism of the government exists around the dinner table (kotatsu). It just has trouble manifesting itself within the public sphere as a new collective identity. The vertical social networks in Japanese communities organize around kinship hierarchies that tend to conform to and convey sanctions from the conservative patron—client political machine. This hierarchy is so powerful in villages, and even in traditional urban neighbourhoods, that it controls much of the public discussion and activity. Faced with disapproval and sanction, people with contrary ideas tend to shut up or only talk with a few friends or immediate family. These vertical networks continue to ‘gnaw away’ (nashikuzushi) at any movement that manages to mobilize, eventually bringing many of them down (Broadbent 1998). To use Japanese terms, this social hegemony has produced an attitude of ‘giving up’ (as the Japanese call it, akirame or shikataganai). Akirame indicates that, despite wanting to change things, one has no realistic option but to give up—except perhaps in times of extreme crisis or widespread protest. Since akirame also includes the (frustrated) desire to change things, it indicates that oppositional ‘embers’ still smoulder in many hearts. Thus the potential for resistance, and hence for genuine citizen-based voluntary associations, remains quite strong, able to burst into flame should vertical hegemonic ties weaken

80 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND CIVIL SOCIETY

and grievances intensify. Social hegemony, then, indicates a transformational dynamic, including identity issues, quite different from those suggested by social pluralism, culturalism or institutional statism. The dynamic of social hegemony, coupled with institutional statist and culturalist factors, has produced until recently a ‘truncated’ civil society and public sphere in Japan—giving citizens relatively little opportunity to express the discontent in their hearts publicly, and through public discourse to fashion new collective identities and purposes in the public arena. However, the rise of an urban, well-educated and prosperous middle class has gradually, in a turnabout, begun to ‘gnaw away’ at the popular support base for vertically dominated community organizations and power hierarchies, such as the dominant LDP and its patronage machine. This social change has made it easier for genuine voluntary associations to emerge. As the institutional statism view predicts, the decline of formal barriers has helped the growth and establishment of movements into NGOs. But even without that, by the 1990s, the growth of the urban middle class and its rejection of the traditional machine provided conducive social conditions for the formation of many new types of movements and NGOs. The new movements are receiving ever more professional talent and scientific backing, which strengthens their hand. They have been fairly successful and have worked to sensitize public opinion on various issues (including the anti-nuclear movement), to increase the scope of government policy-making and to offer alternatives to decision-makers (Kanazawa 1996). Their activities have also begun to attract more sustained support from both the media and academia, particular in areas related to global environmental conservation. Media and academics in the growth of civil society Japan has some of the highest newspaper daily circulation rates in the world at around 8–10 million (World Media Handbook 1995; Wong 2001). As mentioned above, a dominant view of journalists in Japan is that they are closely tied into the interest of the ruling triad and that few are concerned with environmental problems (Barrett and Therivel 1991). This situation is compounded by structural problems in the industry related to the role of the press clubs and also advertising. With respect to the former, these clubs have privileged access to government information sources and do not wish to jeopardize this situation by writing critically about environmental issues where the government is involved. On the latter, the big corporations extensively use the media for advertising. Hence, the environmental coverage in the media tends to be self-censoring to avoid controversial issues that could negatively impact on advertising revenues (Hoffman 1996). Bearing in mind these structural constraints, it is important to recognize that, with respect to the coverage of environmental issues, the media have played a decisive role in raising public awareness. In the 1970s: it seemed that every day the national press trumpeted new pollution incidents, protest movements, and court suits. The media generated a collective

JEFFREY BROADBENT AND BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 81

awareness of the problem throughout the nation. It helped local groups know that they were not alone in their concerns. (Broadbent 1998:162) For instance, the average space devoted to environmental issues in newspapers grew from 0.4 per cent in 1960 to 2.8 per cent in 1972. News coverage on television quadrupled between 1960 and 1970 (Barrett and Therivel 1991). This comprehensive media coverage of environmental issues had the effect of shifting public opinion from one of resistance to the recognition of the dangers of pollution to a situation where it became acceptable to overtly protest. In the 1980s, domestic pollution issues per se seemed to attract less media attention but from 1988–1989 onwards there was increasing coverage of global environmental issues in most major magazines and newspapers. Data from 1984 to 1998 on articles on environmental movements shows a climax in 1992, at the time of UNCED, when there was something like 30 to 40 articles a month. Similar patterns occurred with respect to reporting on general and global environmental issues. For instance, in the Nikkei newspaper alone there were 1,539 articles on the environment and 1,321 on global environmental issues in 1992, compared with 112 and 21 for the same topics respectively in 1988 (Wong 2001: 78). There was then a fall in coverage in the period 1993–1996, followed by renewed media attention focusing on dioxin issues related to waste incinerators and pollution related lawsuits (Vosse 2000:236–237). Increased media coverage continued and a 1998 survey by the Prime Minister’s Office on Global Environmental Issues and Lifestyles revealed that nearly 90 per cent of respondents obtained information on environmental issues from the television, 75 per cent from the newspapers, 14.6 per cent from the radio and 24.3 per cent from books.10 It is clear that the media are playing an important role in increasing awareness and changing public attitudes in relation to the environment. The Japanese academic community is, and could be more, influential in shaping public attitudes on the environment. Academics undertake scientific research on environmental issues and participate in the policy-making process at all levels through advisory councils (a privilege not permitted to most environmental groups until recently). Nevertheless, up through the 1980s, on the whole they were: bound by a network of loyalties and obligations. Controversial fields of research are frowned upon, so they often remain conformist. Many academics are funded by and have links with industry or government research institutes. As a consequence, independence of thought and inquiry are limited. (Barrett and Therivel 1991:3) Furthermore, it has been argued that Japanese academics have no real or independent position in national or international environmental policy-making, with many preferring to live in the proverbial ivory tower (Wong 2001:74). These factors limit the potentially effective role that academia could play in Japan in popularizing environmental issues and their solutions. There have been many exceptions,

82 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND CIVIL SOCIETY

however. Foremost among them in the environmental field stands Professor Jun Ui. While a professor of engineering at the University of Tokyo from 1970 to 1986, Professor Ui hosted his famous monthly ‘Free Forum’ (Jishu Koza). The Forum allowed academics, government officals, movement activists, foreign specialists and many others to present reports on environmental problems and politics in Japan. During this period, other academics played less-visible supporting roles, sometimes as technical experts for local governments or environmental movements (Broadbent 1998). During the 1990s, academic involvement continued and probably increased. The Japan Land and Water Academy, the Japan Ichthyology Association and the Japan Ecological Society, for instance, challenged the MoC with respect to the Nagara Dam (Vosse 2000:99). Academics joined and became advisers for the new environmental NGOs. Also, at international level academics such as Kazuo Sumi from Niigata University and Yoshinori Murai of Sofia University have sought to challenge the Japanese government in relation to major overseas aid projects (Hirata 2002:104). The growing legitimacy of NGOs from the late 1990s increased the likelihood of academic and professional involvement as members and advocates, as evidence in this chapter indicates. All of the above suggest that the total configuration of factors affecting civil society has changed significantly over the past decade. Ecological modernization as cultural politics in Japan Environmental movements and NGOs, to be effective, need to transform not only government policies, but also the environmental ‘common sense’ or field of discourse of a society. Transforming common sense requires, in essence, powerful cultural change, sometimes affecting deep values. That is a form of cultural politics—the clash between coalitions supporting different values and visions about issues such as the environment (Hajer 1995; Rinkevicius 2000b). Through the emergence of new ideas and dialogues, often carried by social movements and NGOs, a transformation occurs. As movements turn into NGOs, and conflicts turn into negotiations, tensions go down and inter-coalition learning can occur. In this way, society can learn new collective goals through less conflictual means (Rinkevicius 2000b: 174). Ecological modernization, if we extend it by the application of neo-institutional theory (DiMaggio and Powell 1991), suggests that discursive changes in how people frame the concept of the environment can be an important causal factor in itself. As a new common sense frame emerges, that is, as protecting the environment becomes more taken for granted, environmental protection can often proceed ‘behind the scenes’, within corporate boardrooms and government bureaucracies, without overt protests or public clashes of interests. While in democratic societies we often think of environmental politics as the ‘hard ball’ clash of clearly opposed interests, cultural politics can involve these more subtle processes as well. Often, in the process of cultural politics, leaders and activists struggle over the definition of issues and the setting of agendas long before they reach widespread public awareness. In the Japanese case, the transformation of general environmental

JEFFREY BROADBENT AND BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 83

consciousness, preferences and habits in the 1990s is indicative of a new phase of cultural politics. Up until the 1990s, the general strategy of the ruling triad was to satisfy the public with growing material prosperity while minimizing their active concern about political issues at home and abroad. Local political campaigns by the LDP, for instance, involved mainly going around greeting (aisatsu) local people, reminding them of local benefits brought by the politician, but not taking any stands on national political issues (Thayer 1969; Broadbent 1998). Despite the many barriers to an active and consequential public sphere, however, new framings of problems do sweep through the media and gradually transform public attitudes. For instance, the common conceptualization of ecological problems in Japan has shifted from a focus on ‘public harm’ (kogai) to the ‘environment’ (kankyo), a much wider, systemic perspective (see Chapter 2). Analysis of keywords used in the Asahi Newspaper, for instance, reveals increasing mention of terms such as ‘sustainability’ (Broadbent and Shinohara 2003). Government policy statements, such as the new Environment Basic Law of 1993, also increasingly use such words as ‘sustainability’ when presenting major policy goals. Ecological modernization theory holds that over time the emergence of ideologies and new discourses within public and political arenas will place increasing emphasis on environmental concerns (Hajer 1995; Dryzek 1997). In support of this, some studies have revealed a growing environmental ethic amongst the Japanese public, with the focus of concern shifting from mainly local environmental issues to national and global ones (see Chapter 6). Mitsuda (1997) describes the Japanese public as having high levels of concern about and responsibility towards the local environment. Dunlap et al.’s 1992 Gallup poll found that, while 64 per cent of the Japanese public were highly aware of local environmental problems, their concern for global environmental issues was the lowest amongst developed nations. Only 44 per cent saw global environmental problems as serious (compared with 57 per cent in the US and 64 per cent in the UK) (Dunlap et al. 1992). Mitsuda concludes that: ‘the Japanese environmental attitude is very different from that of citizens in other advanced societies’ (Mitsuda 1997:450). However, more recent polls show a shift toward greater national and global concern in the Japanese public (Chapter 6). These changes fit well with the theory of post-materialism (Inglehart 1997) which argues that, as societies become more prosperous and middle-class, their citizens will place more emphasis on ‘non-material’ values such as generalized environmental preservation. In the World Values Survey conducted by Inglehart, post-materalism is correlated with respondent preferences for environmentalism and participatory politics, as compared to economic growth and state leadership. Figure 5.1 shows that the Japanese public have gradually become more post-material in their value orientations (Broadbent and Shinohara 2003). This change in underlying attitudes mirrors the emergence of a stronger civil society in Japan. The findings in Figure 5.1 are corroborated by other surveys, depicting a steady drop in support for ‘material prosperity’ (mono no yutakasa) and rise to predominance in preference for ‘spiritual prosperity’ (kokoro no yutakasa)—a parallel indicator of post-materialism.11 In addition, Imura (1997) claims that, particularly in the last decade, industry has also changed its discursive practices toward ‘corporate citizenship’ and

84 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND CIVIL SOCIETY

Figure 5.1 Increase in post-materialist values in Japan 1981–1997 (source: World Values Survey).

environmental responsibility.12 These trends interact with the intensifying concerns over environmental risks to shape the contemporary environmental discourse. To be maximally politically effective, of course, these broad new preferences have to become political priorities and produce votes for environmental politicians. As mentioned in Chapter 3, this is not happening as yet at the national level.13 However, a new wave of electing environmentally friendly governors has begun, including Governor Yasuo Tanaka of Nagano Prefecture, Governor Akiko Domoto in Chiba Prefecture and Governor Hiroya Masuda in Iwate Prefecture (see Chapter 4). Conclusions From the 1960s onwards, environmentalism in Japan has been characterized by the environmental movement’s mistrust of and constant antagonistic interaction with Japan’s dominant ruling triad and its local branches, as well as the associated dominant social values and structures. Over time, these relationships, and indeed the entire society, have been in gradual transformation. At key stages, such as in 1970, the wave of environmental protest movements proved to be a crucial stimulus to the enactment of innovative environmental legislation. In contrast, throughout the 1980s, no strong national civil society emerged around environmental issues. Coupled with ‘communitarian elite corporatism’ at the top, this societal structure worked to limit the range of government environmental policies. However, in the past decade, the ruling triad’s strategy of resolving crises through compromises, while rigorously excluding citizen involvement, appears less effective. The reasons are threefold. First, as we

JEFFREY BROADBENT AND BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 85

have argued, environmental problems and environmental discourses in advanced industrial societies like Japan are becoming increasingly complex. Second, solutions to complex problems increasingly require strong citizen involvement which links to people being capable of organizing (NPO and NGO boom) and being properly informed (freedom of information). Third, long-term economic recession has impacted on the previously tightly knit institutional patterns (undermining the legitimacy of the ruling triad) and created space for civil society with positive implications for participatory environmental governance and Japan’s democracy in general. In the 1990s, public concern moved from the typical NIMBY ‘villagism’ of the 1960s and 1970s to urban-based cosmopolitan and more professional movements voicing strong concerns about the global environment and how Japan can help. In both cases, movements carry and amplify the presence of new ideas and values into broader society. In response to this recent activism, the government and business have gradually become more accommodating (compared to the 1970s)—sometimes supporting and funding the activities of Japanese NGOs—and we begin to notice informal and formal networks emerging between environmentalists, business, academia and government. These patterns of environment related change are part of a bigger process in Japan, that of internationalization and globalization of the entire society. In this process, influenced by the insistent cries of movements and NGOs about sustainability, even Japanese national and local governments and businesses seem to be moving toward somewhat more positive practices concerning their ecological responsibilities. The analysis presented in this chapter has shown that each of the theoretical perspectives on the growth of civil society in Japan—on the societal side, institutional statism, social pluralism and social hegemony, on the environmental side, ecological modernization, risk society and conflict theory—provide only partial explanations. The institutional statist helps to explain how political openings were possible for civil society associated with the LDP’s loss of power and with the 1990s challenges to the legitimacy of the bureaucratic elite. The social pluralism perspective offers interesting insights on the emergence of new values in Japan but the links between industrialization/prosperity and the emergence of strong civil society is somewhat tenuous in the Japanese context (i.e. the lag between the commencement of industrialization and the emergence of new values is difficult to explain). The social hegemony view that civil society is blossoming in the cities among the educated and professional new middle classes is also very illuminating and implies that the traditional hegemonic patterns are breaking down, providing new opportunities for social activism. The risk society thesis offers insights on the influence of public protest against toxic and radioactive pollutants and, beyond that, a new concern about the global environment. Finally, the ecological modernization view on the spread of a new ecological common sense through all classes and sectors is also rather persuasive. All of the above represent important pointers towards the need for more research and detailed investigation on the factors influencing the recent development of Japanese civil society.

86 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND CIVIL SOCIETY

Let us end here with a very important question. Are the social movements and environmental groups less marginalized now vis-à-vis the policy-making processes than they were in the past? Vosse (2000:187) argues that most protest movements remain ‘virtually excluded from the political decision-making process and from the government and administrative internal information flow’. Other researchers support this contention: Government mechanisms still do not allow environmental NGOs to play a genuine partnership role in achieving sustainable development and environmental protection responsibly, effectively and fully. Specifically, NGOs have very limited input into decision-making and policy-making and feel that there is little meaningful dialogue between NGOs and government, at the national level. (Danaher 2002:159) A number of reasons for this political alienation have been presented including the lack of trust of citizen action on the part of the elite in Japanese society (elitist superiority matched by citizens’ lack of efficacy), deficiencies on the part of the environmental movements in formulating policy proposals, the movements’ tendencies to be too moderate and conservative, their lack of professionalism, and psychological and attitudinal barriers that work against citizens becoming active and environmentalists becoming political (Vosse 2000:294–298). On the other hand, it is possible to argue as we have in this chapter that the 1990s was a watershed in the development of civil society in Japan and that the levels of dialogue between government, political parties and citizen groups on some issues have been unprecedented (Schwartz 2003:14). Even though the Japanese state remains activist and developmentalist, the new levels of permeability in the boundaries between state and civil society create opportunities for potential partnership in areas such as the environment. Notes 1 There tend to be five main types of environmental protest groups—pollution victims, pressure groups (e.g. neighbourhood associations, housewives associations, labour unions), conservation groups (wildlife protection, cultural preservation), pollution export protest groups and ad hoc militant groups (compensation seeking or antidevelopment) (Iijima 1995). For insights on the links between feminism and environmentalism see Danaher (2003). 2 The new environmental policies of the 1970s had some important positive effects that have lasted to the present day (e.g. tough environmental quality standards). 3 Those that managed to gain non-profit status often had to accept a ministerial retiree on to the board of directors (amakudari—descent from heaven). 4 The concept of ideal type is used here in the technical sociological sense, as developed by Max Weber (Kalberg 1994). The ideal type classifies the main tendencies of a set of observed actual social phenomena, but any single case within

JEFFREY BROADBENT AND BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 87

5

6

7

8

9

10 11 12

13

the actual set can differ in some particulars. In this sense, the ideal type is a fuzzy category. A 1998 survey by the Japan Environment Agency found 11 suspected endocrine disrupters in varying levels at 122 of 130 sites. Endocrine disrupters can impair sexual development and immune functions, and cause malignant tumours. They include chemicals used in detergents, resins and plastics. Nonylphenol, found in 76 per cent of the sites, is used in detergents and polystyrene plastic and inhibits testicle growth in fish. The survey also found bisphenol at 68 per cent of sites and iethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), which causes cancer in lab animals and is used to soften plastics, at 55 per cent of the sites (Japan Times 1998). The MoE advisory panel decided on 15 December 2003 to support the installation of wind power plants in national and quasi-national parks, but only when their impact on landscape and the ecosystem is minimal and the public benefits are particularly significant. This a very interesting example of an environment versus environment trade-off, indicative of how sophisticated the environmental discourse has become in Japan. The plan built on earlier forms of Japanese business-government cooperation with the incorporation of greater civic participation. Industrial sector associations had always negotiated the technical provisions of new regulations, including pollution control, for their own industry. The rising levels of education and awareness among Japanese citizens made such cooperation more likely to be effective than in less developed countries. Stopping Mitsubishi’s plans to build a salt plant in a Mexican bay used by grey whales as a nursery; getting the Japanese government to withdraw its support for World Bank funding for the Narmada Dam in India (Broadbent 2002a) and preventing pesticide aid to Cambodia (Hirata 2002). A study of environmental attitudes by Gallup affiliates in 24 countries found that Japanese respondents had low levels of desire to participate in environmental movements, with less than 5 per cent of the population belonging to environmental groups (compared with 11 per cent in the US and 10 per cent in the UK) (Dunlap et al 1992). The survey was undertaken in November 1998 and covered 3,000 people over the age of 20. Survey by Sorifu, reported in Asahi Shimbun 31, Aug. 2002, available at the web page: http://www8.cao.go.jp/survey/h 14/h 14-life/images/zu30.gif. He does cite one study, however, that suggests economic growth and environmental protection are not always viewed as potentially harmonious. A survey of 2,754 companies conducted by the Japan Development Bank in 1992 reported that 64 per cent claim the costs of environmental protection have a large (negative) effect on corporate earnings, while only 20 per cent perceive no cost burdens due to the opportunities for growth in environmental markets. This suggests that, at the beginning of the 1990s, there may have been a counterpositioning of economic and environmental interests within the business community, even if environmental protection is recognized as a necessary expense. There is no national Green party, as in Germany, that gives a consistent political voice to environmental concerns. Even pro-environment national politicians within the LDP, such as Representative Takashi Kosugi, have been known to lose their seats.

88

6 Environmental values and ecological modernization Brendan F.D.Barrett

The mainstream conception of nature in Japan underwent three radical shifts during the century…moving from the universal, hierarchical concept of the Togukawa period, through to social Darwinian ideas of competitive struggle and inevitable progress, to a celebration of a uniquely harmonious, natural nationhood. To put it another way, that conception metamorphosed from nature as place to nature as time to nature as Japanese consciousness itself. (Thomas 2001: x) According to Cohen (2000), researchers involved in examining national pre-paredness for ecological modernization tend to focus on institutional or economic factors, with less attention paid to cultural and knowledge-based potentialities. Yet all environmental action (international, national and local) depends critically upon an underlying knowledge system coupled with strong pro-environmental values exhibited by the citizenry. In this chapter, we apply a typology developed by Cohen (2000) that identifies four environmental knowledge/value orientations (rationalecologism, Prometheanism, Arcadianism and ecocidal mysticism) to the mosaic of contemporary environmental values in Japan drawn from the results of ten international surveys undertaken between 1992 and 2000, perhaps one of the most progressive periods of Japanese environmental policy development. We will attempt to correlate levels of ecological consciousness with the existence of an ecological modernization project in Japan. We will show how recent surveys of environmental knowledge and attitudes tend to indicate that the majority of Japanese exhibit strong ecological consciousness, although their knowledge of the causes and form of environmental problems appears paradoxical. Interpretation of various survey results using a bi-axial dimensional scale indicates that the environmental knowledge orientation in Japan is clustered in a utopian, rustic categorization that is characterized by strong ecological consciousness integrated with numinous-aesthetic knowledge, combined with general pessimism about the role of science and technology in solving environmental problems. This orientation appears to conform to the viewpoint of Midori Aoyagi-Usui who describes Japanese environmental values as falling within a traditional/altruistic category of environmentalism (Aoyagi-Usui et al. 1999).

90 ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES

Conceptual framework The conceptual framework applied in this chapter is based upon literature related to the new environmental paradigm (NEP) and Inglehart’s post-materialism thesis (Inglehart 1977, 1990). The notion of NEP, emerging as a replacement to the contemporary ruling paradigm (human exceptionalism), was first proposed by Pirages and Ehrlich (1974). This was further developed by Dunlap and Van Liere (1978) and Milbraith (1984), who describe the dominant social paradigm as involving belief in progress, technology, materialism, development and separation of humans from nature. NEP, on the other hand, recognizes that humans are part of nature, and that there are limits to physical growth and development. Similarly in 1976, O’Riordan presented two ideological perspectives on environmentalism that differ not only in their attitudes to nature but also in the morality that underlies their actions (O’Riordan 1976). First, there is the ecocentric perspective preaching responsibility for the environment, showing concern for values and ends, calling for low impact technology (but is not anti-technological) and searching for stability through the application of ecological principles (diversity and homeostasis) and natural laws. Second, the technocentric perspective concentrates on technology, shows faith in rationality and efficiency, and stresses the role of professionalism and expertise. The technocentric perspective assumes that people are able to understand and control events for their own purposes. This assurance extends to the exercise of science to ‘manage’ nature and the application of theories and models to manipulate and predict changes in value systems and behaviour. Technocentrism focuses on the utilization of management principles, since its optimism about the continued improvement of the human condition allows it to be rather less troubled about the evaluative significance of its achievements. Technocentrism can be seen as an extension of the ‘dominant social paradigm’ and ecocentrism as a reaction to it or more precisely part of NEP. This essential dichotomy has since proven to be very influential in shaping the early environmental discourses and interpretations of the interactions between the societal and natural systems. Recent reviews of NEP show that it has played a key role in promoting the incorporation of ecological perspectives into a range of social theories (Dunlap 2002; Dunlap et al. 2000). Other researchers have explored the relationship between environmental and other values. Of particular note is the work by Paul Stern of the National Research Council and his colleagues who derive four categories of environmental values defined as biospheric-altruistic, egoistic, openness to change and traditional (conservation) which they find to be significantly correlated with NEP (Stern et al 1993, 1995). Within these frameworks, various survey techniques have been developed and applied to measure the relative extent of the environmental transformation of society (mainly in modern industrialized countries). In the United States, the most refined version of these survey techniques has been applied when carrying out detailed analysis of beliefs associated with NEP (Olsen et al. 1992; Dunlap et al. 2000). Similar comparative studies have been undertaken on public knowledge and environmental politics in Japan and the United States (Pierce et al. 1989). However, the recent work by Cohen (2000) from the ecological modernization perspective challenges the above-mentioned dichotomy by embedding (rather than polarizing)

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 91

optimism about science, technology and expertise within ecological consciousness. Cohen’s work is interesting because it provides both latitudinal and longitudinal scales along which to measure environmental knowledge variations. First, he argues that people do not assimilate environmental data in a dispassionate manner but instead are guided by their emotions, values and philosophies about life that can be understood as their ‘ecological consciousness’. Levels of ecological consciousness can vary from weak to strong depending upon the respondents’ willingness to make trade-offs in order to protect the environment, their intellectual emphasis, loyalties, affections and outcomes. Strong ecologically conscious individuals are very keen to preserve the integrity of ecosystems and give precedence to lifestyles consistent with responsible environmental stewardship. Second, ecological information is unavoidably ambiguous and people absorb it in different ways depending upon the specific interpretative filter they use to differentiate the consequential from the inconsequential—what can be understood as their ‘epistemological commitment’. While acknowledging that there are virtually limitless knowledge systems that act as environmental information filters, Cohen identifies two broad categories. These are rational-scientific and the numinous-aesthetic, representing a long-standing dichotomy that has shaped human thought since the seventeenth-century scientific revolution. Using these two axial dimensions, a new fourfold typology of environmental knowledge orientations can be developed as shown in Figure 6.1. This typology should not be accepted uncritically. Indeed, any typology brings with it inherent problems on where to draw the boundaries and when explaining how categories blend into each other. Quite clearly, individual typologies are usually an eclectic mix of different ideas (see Pepper 1996). Nevertheless, bearing these limitations in mind, we can understand Cohen’s work as an attempt to open new ground on the comparative analysis of ecological modernization within the context of a set of cultural and knowledge-based criteria. Cohen goes on to apply these typologies to an assessment of the national character of the Netherlands in relation to environmental knowledge. Utilizing a set of questions from the Eurobarometer survey, he examines public perceptions in the Netherlands on the importance of environmental protection, the beneficiaries of science and technology and the relative deference to scientific expertise. Based on this preliminary analysis he concludes that the Dutch display the following characteristics: • robust confidence in the ability of science and technology to ameliorate environmental concerns; • resolute respect for science, tempered by reflexivity on the limits of rational expertise; • long-standing cultural conventions emphasizing tidiness, order and high sanitary standards; and • strong sense of righteousness. Cohen concludes that the Dutch environmental knowledge orientation conforms quite closely to rational-ecologism which is strongly consistent with ecological modernization. Commenting on other similar studies, Cohen argues that the German

92 ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES

Figure 6.1 Typology of environmental knowledge orientations (Cohen 2000).

environmental knowledge orientation tends toward Arcadianism and the United States shows a proclivity toward Prometheanism. He concludes by stating that more detailed research would be required in order to substantiate these intuitive observations. In this chapter, we will seek to apply Cohen’s approach to an analysis of environmental values in Japan. Changing values on the economy versus the environment The Prime Minister’s Office regularly undertakes public opinion surveys on environmental issues. For instance, in 1969 27.4 per cent of those surveyed agreed with the statement, ‘Environmental pollution must absolutely not be allowed.’ By 1975, after the pollution debacle, this had increased to 51 per cent (Imura 2004). Moreover, in a 1988 public opinion survey 25 per cent of respondents indicated that global environmental issues were a serious concern. By 1990 this had risen to 42.4 per cent and by 1993 it was 55.6 per cent.1 In November 1998, from a survey of 3,000 people throughout Japan, nearly 80 per cent indicated that they are concerned about the state of the global environment. A large number (around 50 per cent) also consider that decline in the quality of the natural environment within Japan is one explanation why the national situation is currently getting worse.2 These surveys are very important in that they provide snapshots of the changing environmental values.

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 93

Table 6.1 International surveys on environmental attitudes in Japan

In this chapter, we will present results from ten major surveys listed in Table 6.1. While the surveys show that the majority of Japanese are increasingly aware of the need to protect the environment, the results are nuanced and hence careful interpretation is required since contradictions are common, influenced by the temporal circumstances and survey design. One major source of information on environmental attitudes in Japan is the World Values Survey (WVS) organized by Ronald Inglehart at the University of Michigan. These surveys have been implemented in over 23 countries in 1981, 1990–1991, 1995–1996 and most recently in 2000–2001.3 Another major source of information on environmental attitudes is the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), which has undertaken two rounds of survey (1993 and 2000) on public attitudes and behaviour toward the environment in 19 countries.4 Before discussing these surveys, however, let us begin by looking at the findings of a survey at the start of the global environmental boom (as mentioned in Chapter 2) comparing public knowledge and environmental politics in Japan and the United States (Pierce et al. 1989).5 The findings from Japan are summarized in Tables 6.2 and 6.3. The results show that the Japanese public is knowledgeable about environmental issues and support for the NEP in Japan was high (higher than in the United States) at the end of the 1980s. They show that support for the role of science and technology was lower in Japan than in the United States. In explaining Japanese support for the NEP, it is argued that some of the fundamental concepts it contains correspond to long-held fundamental/ traditional beliefs that underpin Japanese culture (perhaps associated with Shinto religious beliefs). Another interesting survey was undertaken at about the same time on Japanese perceptions of wildlife and its conservation (Kellert 1991). Results from this survey reveal that Japanese appreciation of nature is very narrow and idealized,6 primarily focused on single species and individual aspects of the environment. The researchers also argue that the ecological and ethical dimensions seem to be lacking from the Japanese perspective. Turning to the 1990–1991 WVS, Cohen (2000) argues that it provides a useful tool for the analysis of ecological consciousness although narrowly based on the respondents’ willingness to make abstract financial compromises. For instance, in the 1990–1991 survey 42.2 per cent of the Japanese respondents concurred with the statement: ‘I would agree to an increase in taxes if the extra money were used to

94 ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES

Table 6.2 Percentage correct on knowledge of environmental science items among various groups in Japan

Source: Pierce et al. (1989).

prevent environmental damage.’ As shown in Figure 6.2, similar and at times higher responses are found in the ISSP 1992, WVS 1995 and 2000 surveys. These contrast sharply with the findings from the 1997 Global Environment Survey (GOES) and the ISSP 2000 which both show acceptance of higher taxes for environmental reasons dropping well below the 40 per cent mark. Taking this further, Figure 6.3 presents an indication of the willingness of the survey respondents to pay higher prices in order to protect the environment. Clearly in both instances, the GOES survey respondents proved less willing to accept personal costs associated with environmental protection. One reason for this clear distinction relates to the wording of the questions. In WVS 1995 and GOES 1997, for instance, specific mention is made of a ‘20 per cent increase in prices’, which compares with the ISSP wording of ‘much higher’. Clearly, as the degree of abstraction decreases so too does the willingness to pay. The wording with respect to taxation is similar in all of the surveys, which may in part explain why the differences between the GOES and other surveys are not significant on this topic. Nevertheless, we can note that, for the ISSP 1992 and 2000 responses, there is a significant fall in the willingness of the Japanese to pay higher taxes for environmental protection purposes and this could reflect the impact of the continued recession and a general concern that levels of taxation are already high enough. While a total of 57.5 per cent of the respondents to the 1995 WVS indicated a willingness to pay higher taxes in order to protect the environment (much higher than the 1990–1991 WVS survey) and 28.1 per cent showed a propensity to pay up to 20 per cent more for environmentally friendly goods, in comparison to the other countries the willingness of the Japanese is rather low for both tax and environmental goods—placed seventeenth and twenty-third respectively.

Source: Pierce et al. (1989).

Table 6.3 Distribution of Japanese public attitudes on items related to the NEP (in percentages)

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 95

96 ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES

Figure 6.2 Willingness to accept tax increases for environmental protection purposes.

The 1992 ISSP survey also revealed a number of interesting insights on Japanese attitudes toward the environment in comparison with predominantly European countries.7 For instance, nearly 52 per cent of Japanese respondents indicated a willingness to pay much higher prices in order to protect the environment (Japan ranked fifth from 21 locations) and 43 per cent indicated that they would be willing to pay much higher taxes (Japan ranked fourth). With respect to willingness to accept a drop in their current standard of living in order to protect the environment, 44 per cent of the Japanese respondents indicated their willingness to do so (ranked seventh). Little change occurred with respect to the willingness of the Japanese to pay for environmental protection in the late 1990s. This view is reinforced by the fact that the Dentsu International Values Surveys (DIVS) in 1997 and 1998 show a marginal fall off from 56 per cent to 55.1 per cent in the response to the statement that ‘it is acceptable for household expenses to increase about 10 per cent for the sake for the environment’. The Japanese response in 1998 was lower than that of all of the Asian countries surveyed (China 69 per cent, South Korea 75 per cent, Thailand 68 per cent, Singapore 66 per cent, Indonesia 67 per cent and India 85 per cent). From a broader perspective, on the issue of economy versus environment the results for the 1995 WVS8 provide some interesting perspectives on the environmental attitudes of the respondents (Dentsu 1999). For instance, only 31.2 per cent of the respondents in Japan felt that ‘protecting the environment should be given priority, even if it causes slower economic growth and some loss of jobs’. This was lower than the other 22 nations covered in the 1995 WVS, with the exception of South Africa.9 As shown in Figure 6.4, the desire to protect the environment appears to have increased in other surveys undertaken in 1996 and

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 97

Figure 6.3 Willingness to accept price increases for environmental protection purposes.

1997, before falling off to around 34–36 per cent in the late 1990s, again reflecting perhaps the impact of the on-going and deepening economic recession. The crucial issue here, however, is the fact that, with the exception of the GOES 1997 respondents, the majority of Japanese respondents (ranging from 42–53 per cent) are unable to choose between economic growth and environmental protection. On the negative side, this may be indicative of feelings of uncertainty and scepticism on environment-economy interactions while on the positive side it may be representative of the recognition of the mutual embeddedness of these issues. The findings presented in Figure 6.4 are not particularly illuminating in this respect but may imply the public perception of a declining need for greater environmental protection. The ISSP 2000 survey did, however, include an interesting question on the relationship between economic progress and the environment. Respondents were asked to indicate whether they felt that economic progress in Japan would slow down unless measures were taken to better look after the environment. The positive response to this question was high at 36.7 per cent and only 10.5 per cent disagreed. Environmental values According to the WVS 1995, 94.4 per cent of the respondents agree with the notion that humans should coexist with nature (Japan was third in this ranking), 44 per cent agree that we should emphasize tradition more than high technology (placing Japan tenth under this ranking) and 24.9 per cent agree that humanity has a bright future (placing Japan twentieth). Looking at the results from the ISSP 1992 as presented in Figure 6.5, we also can note some interesting features of the Japanese perspective on the environment, economy and science. The first is the generally negative view of the

98 ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES

Figure 6.4 Economy versus environment.

impact of economic development on the environment and second there is a clear emphasis on the importance of respecting nature as well as the rights of animals. Moreover, NHK Public Opinion Research Division’s analysis of the ISSP 1992 results indicate that the main distinctions with other countries are as follows: • Japanese respondents rank second in the predominance of the perspective that considers that human activity inevitably causes damage to the environment (49.5 per cent). • They rank last with regard to those that hold an optimistic view that scientific progress can solve environmental problems (8 per cent), and highest in the tendency to believe that animals should have the same moral rights as human beings (74.1 per cent). • With respect to knowledge of environmental problems, the Japanese have the most accurate knowledge among the 21 locations surveyed. • Japanese respondents tend to be more concerned about air pollution by automobile exhaust fumes than respondents from other countries. • Many Japanese answer in the affirmative, in principle, about bearing the costs of protecting the environment to a certain extent, but only a few are willing to share the expenses voluntarily.10

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 99

Figure 6.5 Japanese views on science, nature and the environment (ISSP 1992).

Comparison of the ISSP 1992 results with those for GOES 1997 and ISSP 2000 reveals considerable and unexpected consistency in most areas with one exception concerning the potential for modern science to solve environmental problems, as shown in Figure 6.6. A possible explanation for this is the fact that the GOES survey used slightly different wording by asking if the respondents felt that modern technology (no mention of science) will solve environmental problems reasonably well. NEP and ecological modernization Results from the various international surveys clearly indicate that the majority of Japanese citizens recognize the significance of environmental problems and the necessity for ordinary citizens to act to protect the environment. Building upon this survey work, Aoyagi-Usui (1999) presents a useful analysis of the ISSP data for Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, the USA, Ireland and Italy in 1993 and compares the results with a survey undertaken in Japan in 1995 by the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES). Utilizing the NEP approach, Aoyagi-Usui asked the respondents 14 questions and undertook a factor analysis of the results. Figure 6.7 presents the findings from Aoyagi-Usui’s survey applying the environmental knowledge orientations developed by Cohen (2000). Interestingly, the results reinforce Cohen’s distribution of countries based upon intuitive observation

100 ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES

Figure 6.6 Comparison of the environmental values from the ISSP and GOES.

but it is unclear why countries like Italy and Ireland would fall within the ecocidal mysticism quadrant (although both are strong Roman Catholic countries). Interestingly, in commenting upon the environmental attitudes of the Japanese, based on the findings of another comparative survey, this time for the Netherlands, Thailand, the Philippines and Japan, Aoyagi-Usui states, as mentioned earlier, that in Japan environmental values are linked ‘both to traditional and altruistic values’, whereas values in the Netherlands are linked to altruistic values that are contrary to traditional values or—perhaps put another way—that are ecologically modern (Aoyagi-Usui et al. 1999). However, it is appreciated that more rigorous analysis would be required before any firm conclusions can be made. With respect to the shift within Japan towards a more post-materialistic type of society, Aoyagi-Usui analysed returns from the GOES 1997 and classified the respondents as predominately postmaterialist (35 per cent) or mixed materialists/post-materialists (54 per cent) (AoyagiUsui, unpublished) suggesting that Inglehart’s observed shift to a less material-based society is well under way in Japan. Japan compared to other ecologically modern states It may be interesting to begin here by exploring the environmental value systems in two ecologically modern societies—Japan and the Netherlands. Again, the GOES 1997 survey provides an excellent data source for this comparison and in this section we draw on the work of Aoyagi-Usui et al. (1999) which compares the results of surveys undertaken in Japan and the Netherlands between September 1997 and February 1998 by NIES in Japan and the Institute of Social Research at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. The survey included questions based on the ISSP 1992 Environment module, Inglehart’s post-materialist value system as well as from

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 101

Figure 6.7 Analysis of NIES data using Cohen’s environmental knowledge orientations.

Schwartz’s general value system. A regression analysis was undertaken of the results in order to estimate the significance of variables for political activity, energy saving and green consumerism in relation to values, education, gender and household income. The results are presented in Table 6.4. In this table, political activity refers to the signing of environmental petitions, participating in environmental groups and demonstrations. Energy saving refers to reductions in energy use for cooking, heating and cooling of households as well as using public transport in preference to cars. Green consumerism relates to the choice of products labelled as environmentally friendly, purchase of recycled materials and so on. The analysis presented in Table 6.4 is very interesting and we can note that only the notion of ‘progress’ as expressed through the environmental values (NEP) items has a negative relationship in the Japanese responses reinforcing the results from other surveys in this chapter identifying a slightly more pessimistic view from Japanese respondents compared to other countries. In analysing the findings, Aoyagi-Usui et al. (1999) argue that political activity in the Netherlands has a very different, more individually oriented (egoistic) context when compared to Japan. Moreover, they argue that the environmental movement in the Netherlands appears to hold ‘counter-traditional’ values but that involvement in green consumerism and energy saving (with their strong links to economic activity) fits closely with traditional Dutch ways of living. Looking at the results for Japan, Aoyagi-Usui et al. (1999) a’rgue that environmental values in Japan run contrary to egoistic values (wealth and authority) as well as to the notions of progress in terms of economic growth and technological development (closer to Cohen’s Arcadianism). Another interesting comparative assessment of Japanese citizens’ interest and concern about the environment was undertaken by Wilhelm Vosse from the

102 ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES

Table 6.4 Regression analysis of value and behaviour—Japan and the Netherlands

Source: Aoyagi et al (1999b). Notes: + means positive significant (>10%) relationship and − means negative significant (<10%) relationship. Logistic regression was used to estimate consumer behaviour and elsewhere ordinary least squares estimates were used.

International University of Japan using ISSP 2000 Environment II survey raw data for eight countries (Vosse 2002). Table 6.5 draws from this work and focuses on four ecologically modern societies—Japan, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden. It is clear that Japanese citizens share a comparable level of concern about the impact of modernization on the environment to those in Germany and Sweden, and this is significantly higher than the Dutch. However, all of the countries appear to reject to the same degree the notion that people may be overly concerned about the impacts of progress on the environment. On willingness to pay higher taxes, the Japanese and the Dutch are very similar, while the Germans and Swedes appear less willing. With regard to government action to protect the environment, it is clear that the Japanese are highly dissatisfied with government performance when compared to the other ecologically modern countries. Related to this, however, is a higher level of distrust of government information on the environment when compared to the three other countries and a comparatively lower trust in environmental organizations, matched by the lowest participation in such groups. These results imply that Japan remains unique amongst the ecologically modern societies with respect to the extent

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 103

Table 6.5 Comparison of ISSP 2000 results for ecologically modern states

of civic environmental advocacy and the relative degree of disaffection expressed by citizens about their government. Before concluding the analysis on the relationship between environmental values in Japanese society and ecological modernization, let us briefly examine the values of young Japanese citizens, the environmental activists of tomorrow. Environmental values of young people in Japan In the following sections the results of the surveys of Japanese youth are elaborated and compared with the findings from similar surveys undertaken in Asia-Pacific (Yencken et al 2000).11 To begin with, students in Japan (surveys were undertaken in Iwate Prefecture and Tokyo) were asked their views on how to balance the hitherto seemingly competing demands for economic growth and environmental protection. By far the majority in both locations (83 per cent in Tokyo and 71 per cent in Iwate) indicated that Japan should concentrate on protecting the environment even if it means some reduction in economic growth.12 Likewise, students surveyed in the

104 ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES

Asia-Pacific region showed overwhelming support for environmental protection with Tokyo and Iwate students in the top bracket and ranked first and fourth out of 12 responding locations. When asked whether economic growth must be at the expense of the environment, 45–46 per cent of Japanese students indicated that they felt this to be the case. These results were distinctly different from the rest of Asia with Singapore giving the next highest response registering at 22 per cent agreement with the above statement. This would suggest that Japanese students have a slightly more pessimistic view than those from other countries regarding the prospects of promoting both a prosperous economy and a healthy environment.13 This pessimism is mirrored in surveys of adult views about the future with the DIVS 1996 to 2000 showing an increasingly pessimistic view held by the Japanese from around 36.6 per cent who felt the country would get better in 1996 to 31.4 per cent who felt the same way in 2000. The proportion in 2000 who felt that the natural environment in Japan would continue to deteriorate in DIVS was 47.9 per cent, ranked second to the perceived general decline in morals and ethics. The NEP approach was utilized in these surveys and, surprisingly for an advanced technological society like Japan, only 15 per cent of students in Tokyo and 16 per cent in Iwate held beliefs consistent with the technological paradigm. By far the majority supported the environmental paradigm though slightly more in Tokyo (61 per cent) when compared with Iwate (58 per cent).14 These attitudes are in line with those found elsewhere in Asia where most country responses were in the range 51–61 per cent indicating a pro-environmental belief. The survey also revealed that Japanese students’ knowledge of environmental concepts and participation in environmental activities in the past year were the lowest of all countries surveyed. Moreover, the form of participation is essentially either litter collection or recycling. This led the researchers to make the following comment: The differences between beliefs, knowledge and behaviour of Japanese students and other students are not…because Japanese students think that the environment is less important than others do. The differences seem to stem from norms about nature in Japanese society, youth culture in Japan, views young people in Japan appear to have about their own society, and a possible lack of exposure to or teaching about some aspects of ecology and sustainability. (Yencken et al. 2000:232) This is a direct reference to the epistemological commitment of the Japanese students and application of Cohen’s environmental knowledge orientations to the survey results for the entire Asia-Pacific reveals that the students from all countries are essentially located within the same quadrant. Figure 6.8 presents a simplistic analysis of the survey results whereby the epistemological commitment is based upon student attitudes towards science and technology as derived from the NEP questions. Their ecological consciousness is based on the percentage of respondents placing priority on environmental conservation over economic growth. While acknowledging that the analysis is somewhat primitive in its current form, it is interesting to note that

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 105

Figure 6.8 Environmental knowledge orientations of youth in Asia-Pacific.

adopting this approach (with the arbitrary boundaries, i.e. less than or more than 50 per cent for each category) results in a cluster of most of the countries into the Arcadianism knowledge orientation. This would tend to suggest that the environmental orientation of young people in these countries was influenced by the 1960s—1970s brand of ecological consciousness reflected in the social movements of that period (see Chapter 2). This is exemplified by strong scepticism related to science and technology as well as Romantic reflections and nostalgic longing for more traditional rural lifestyles: in other words, and perhaps not surprisingly, utopianist yearnings that work to shape how young people interpret environmental information. The only exception is Guangzhou in China which falls under the rational-ecologism quadrant (i.e. ecologically conscious, optimistic and technologically focused). In commenting on these results, it may be worth while recalling Promethean and Arcadian knowledge orientations, as follows: Prometheanism and Arcadianism have served as the warp and weft of modernity. Public faith in science, technology, continual progress has regularly been tempered by the critical scrutiny of more circumspect traditions… Ecological modernization, the new voice of rational ecologicalism, represents yet another attempt to merge our conflicting Promethean and Arcadian tendencies. (Cohen 2000:98)

106 ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES

Ecological modernization, as a policy programme, requires optimism in science and technology, confidence in human resourcefulness and strong respect for expert appraisal. Our analysis shows that these characteristics are relatively weak in the youth of the Asia-Pacific region and particularly in the adults and young population of Japan. Moreover, it is argued: ‘nations that have an environmental knowledge orientation that privileges these notions in the interpretation of ecological information will have a heightened capacity for pursuing initiatives that are consistent with this pattern of reform’ (Cohen 2000:98). This would suggest, based on the simplistic analysis presented above, that the current knowledge orientations in Japan are not yet favourable to the widespread adoption (beyond the elite groups) of such a reformist oriented programme as ecological modernization. Put more precisely, the 1990s environmental orientation in Japan may be indicative of a general disposition to assimilate ecological information in a manner that is not conducive to pursuit of initiatives consistent with reforms attendant to ecological modernization. For instance, the GOES 1997 indicates that only 46.3 per cent of the respondents considered themselves to be well informed about environmental issues. Moreover, WVS 1995 and 2000 indicate that 50–55 per cent have confidence in the environmental movement, and ISSP 2000 shows that 40 per cent trust environmental groups as a source of information on pollution. Conversely, results from most surveys show clear political reticence on the part of the Japanese with regard to participation in environmental group activities, with GOES 1997 revealing only 3.4 per cent of respondents had joined such a group with figures of 3.2 per cent for WVS 2000 and 1.5 per cent for ISSP 2000. Looking at the levels of activism in Japan and comparing them with those in the ecologically modern Netherlands, the ISSP and GOES indicate that on average 20 per cent of Japanese are willing to sign petitions, 10 per cent are willing to give money and 2 per cent take part in environmental demonstrations. This compares with 38 per cent, 68 per cent and 12 per cent respectively in the Netherlands implying a very different form of environmental activism. Partly explaining this situation, the results from some of the surveys show that there remains a tendency for Japanese citizens to rely heavily on government action in solving environmental problems. For instance, the DIVS 1996, 1997 and 1998 showed a gradual increase in the view that the government should tackle pollution and environmental issues from 46.1 per cent to 57.5 per cent and 58.2 per cent respectively. This was higher than all other countries covered in the surveys (i.e. China, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, India, the USA, the UK, France, Germany and Sweden). Effective solutions to contemporary environmental problems in Japan must start from a sophisticated understanding of the issues as well as clear inputs from the scientific community and as such the attainment of societal transformation along the lines proposed under ecological modernization may necessitate new modes of social learning that integrate various knowledge systems and opens up greater opportunities for public engagement and action. Taking this argument forward could lead to the supposition that failure to promote new forms of social learning and innovation could lock Japan into an out-dated and antagonistic form of environmentalism that,

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 107

although effective in increasing awareness of environmental issues, falls far short of creating the potentialities for their effective long-term amelioration. Conclusions Creating the shift to strong ecological modernization requires that greater consideration be given to a ‘reflexive process of social learning, one that recognizes the value inherent in scientific ways of interpreting the world, but simultaneously maintains a critical scepticism about the virtues of abstruse forms of expertise’ (Cohen 2000). Evaluating the levels of ecological consciousness and behaviour is an important contribution to our understanding of the relative potential in various countries to embark on this societal transformation. The implications from the survey results on Japanese environmental attitudes and behaviour are that the potential for the widespread adoption of ecological modernization in Japan is currently low. A remarkable aspect of contemporary values in Japan is the persistently pessimistic outlook on the future of the nation, the natural and global environment combined with an ambivalence towards the role of technology in driving forward social progress and environmental change. Closely related to this is the manifest and growing distrust of existing institutional structures. The results from the various surveys imply that the potential to integrate environmental and economic concerns more effectively is still not widely accepted (except by the youth) and appears to be viewed in contradistinction by a large part of the population. Even more worrying is the fact that the respondents across a range of surveys appear less willing to pay higher prices and taxes for environmental purposes than ten years ago, although this may be an expression of the current economic realities facing Japan. Nevertheless, responses from both ISSP and DIVS do reveal a willingness of 30–40 per cent of Japanese to accept cuts in their existing standard of living in order to protect the environment. This, however, may relate to the more traditional value systems on waste and frugality. Values surveys from both the Netherlands and Japan imply that traditional values are a key to understanding environmental behaviour in the general population. This becomes even more significant when we consider the fact that our surveys of youth environmental values place them firmly within the Arcadianist view, an orientation dismissed by Cohen as unsuitable for the propagation of the ecological modernization project. Notes 1 As discussed in Kanazawa (1996). 2 These findings are from the December 1997 survey of 5,100 persons undertaken by the Prime Minister’s Office which showed that the poor economic situation was the main explanation for concern about the current state of affairs with 72 per cent of respondents indicating this factor. The second most important concern was the state of public sector finances (58.5 per cent of respondents) followed by the environment.

108 ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES

3 For more information see the World Values Survey web site at http://wvs.isr.umich. edu/index.html. The 2000–2001 survey results were released to the public in 2003. 4 The 1992 and 2000 ISSP surveys of attitude and behaviour concerning the environment were undertaken in Japan by the NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute (Midooka and Onodera 1993; Aramaki 2001). 5 The survey in Japan was undertaken in Shizuoka Prefecture and had a sample size of 1,500. A total of 694 completed responses were obtained. 6 The questionnaire survey was undertaken in 1986 and covered a random sample of 450 Japanese in Tokyo, Niigata, Iwate and Hokkaido. 7 These included Philippines, USA, Canada, Britain, Northern Ireland, West Germany, East Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Norway, Ireland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Russia, Israel and New Zealand. 8 Coordinated by the Dentsu Institute for Human Studies. 9 The 23 countries included in the 1995 WVS were Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Philippines, Australia, USA, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Russia, Slovenia, Croatia, Nigeria and South Africa. 10 The survey in Japan was undertaken in 1992 and covered 1,305 persons. Similar surveys were undertaken in 20 other countries mainly in 1993 and are accessible from the ISSP at the University of Cologne. The findings presented in this chapter are taken from a summary report prepared by Kiyoshi Midooka and Noriko Onodera of NHK. 11 In April 2000, we undertook a survey of 1,009 high school students (15–16 years old) at 13 schools in Iwate Prefecture. The findings from the Iwate survey are compared directly with those from a similar survey undertaken by Professor Satoshi Ichikawa in 1996 at eight high schools in Tokyo covering the same age group. The total number of students surveyed in Tokyo was 1,161. The Tokyo-Iwate comparison is very interesting since it provides the opportunity to contrast urban and non-urban environmental attitudes in Japan. Furthermore, comparisons are made with the results of the Yencken et al. (2000) extensive study of young people’s environmental attitudes in Asia-Pacific undertaken between 1996 and 1998 covering Brisbane and Melbourne in Australia, Bali, Brunei, China (Guangzhou and Hong Kong), India, New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand. 12 These results are significantly higher than the corresponding results for adults from WVS, DIVS and GOES surveys (only 31–53 per cent of Japanese adults felt the same way). 13 In ISSP 1992, 56 per cent of Japanese adults agreed with the statement that ‘Economic growth always harms the environment’ and for ISSP 2000 the figure was 44 per cent. This suggests even greater pessimism amongst the adult population a decade ago than for the youth of Japan. 14 A survey of the environmental beliefs of adults in Shizuoka Prefecture was undertaken in 1988 by Pierce et al (1989). The survey showed that 27 per cent were pro-technological belief, 20 per cent neutral and 53 per cent pro-environmental belief. The results from Tokyo and Iwate are roughly in line with this earlier study and show a more pro-environmental belief on the part of the students.

Part 3 Issues and responses

110

7 Transformation of the development process Brendan F.D.Barrett

It is difficult to find a more laboured attempt for legislative realization than the case of environmental impact assessment in Japan which was once given up in 1984 after more than 10 years of striving and then had to wait a further 13 years before its final success in 1997. (Tsuru 1999:150) According to Hajer (1995:29), by accepting the existence of a common environmental problem, ecological modernization seeks to bring an end to the ‘antagonistic debates between the state and the environmental movement that were characteristic of the 1970s’. It acknowledges the role of new actors such as NGOs and reflects upon the opening up of the policy-making process through important tools such as Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). In this context, Japan entered a new phase from June 1999 when the national EIA Law (enacted in 1997) came into effect after two years of preparatory work. As the above quote clearly attests, the history of EIA in Japan is long1 and efforts to legislate have been traumatic to say the least.2 In the narrative encompassing the evolution of EIA in Japan, the main proponents of legislation have included, amongst others, the Japan Environment Agency (now MoE) and some of the more progressive local governments. The list of those organizations that have fought against national, comprehensive, mandatory EIA includes the Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren), policy-specialized groups (zoku) within the LDP, the Ministry of Construction (now MLIT) and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (now METI) (Barrett and Therivel 1991: 96–99; Broadbent 1998:293–295). In this chapter, we will look at the approach to development in Japan as exemplified by the emphasis on major public works and examine the associated environmental impacts. We briefly discuss some of the pressures for change in the 1990s and link this to the passage of the 1997 EIA Law. We will look at the actual implementation of the legislation in the context of a number of recent decisions on the EIA for major projects. Finally, the chapter addresses the question of why it was not possible to incorporate requirements for Strategic Environmental Assessment (including the appraisal of government policies and programmes) within one integrated legislative package.

112 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT

Importance of public works Despite the emergence of new environmental discourses (Chapter 2), the reform of national government structures (Chapter 3), the pressures for change from localities (Chapter 4), the increasing effectiveness of environmental NGOs (Chapter 5) and the spread of pro-environmental values (Chapter 6), the Japanese construction state is alive and well. The traditional approach to development (over the past 50 years) has been based on the formulation of Comprehensive National Development Plans (fifth plan published in 1998 covering the period from 2002 to 2015 and entitled Grand Design for the 21st Century) which function as a framework for the implementation of sectoral plans for major public works covering airports, rail and road developments, flood control, urban parks, sewerage, housing, ports, land improvements and waste disposal facilities (Barrett and Therivel 1991; Maehara 2002). These include plans for the creation of a 14,000-kilometre arterial standard highway network, two new bridges to link the islands of Shikoku, Kyushu and Honsho (making five in total) and the development of the high-speed maglev train. The costs of implementing the entire plan are said to be ‘incalculable’ (Maehara 2002). The development of major infrastructure projects has been central to Japanese economic and political life for so long now that it has almost become a cultural trait with its own vocabulary of doken kokka, kensetuzoku-gin and dango (Inoguchi and Iwai 1987; Broadbent 2002a). The central aims were for Japan to ‘catch up’ with other industrialized countries then to spread the benefits of economic growth across the archipelago and more recently to ‘pump-prime’ the economy (Woodall 1996; Igarashi 1999; Kerr 2001; Kingston 2001; McCormack 2001; Feldhoff 2002). While appreciating that Japan maintains a lean government structure compared to other countries in terms of expenditure (Jinno 1999), it has consistently maintained high levels of investment in capital projects, even during the current economic recession (6.6 per cent in 1990 and 7.8 per cent in 1997) and significantly higher than most other industrialized countries (averaging around 2–3 per cent) (Kase 1999). There is a geographic explanation for this high spending: ‘Compared to many Western nations, Japan experiences far more natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods. Also because Japan is extremely mountainous, construction costs for roads and railways are high’ (Kase 1999:16). There are around 560,000 construction companies employing around 6 million people directly and 10 million more indirectly (Igarashi 1999; Feldhoff 2002). A large part of the spending (around Yen 7 trillion—US$64 billion) on public works is overseen by MLIT (Miyazaki 1999) and it is estimated that in 2000 the combined public works spending of national and local government plus special corporations was around Yen 34 trillion (US$300 billion) (Maehara 2002). Local communities in many parts of Japan are dependent upon this expenditure that in turn is tied into the subsidy system and the issuance of local bonds so that the local governments can cover their costs. This, in turn, has resulted in major financial problems for many local governments, and many cities including Osaka and Tokyo are on the verge of bankruptcy (Jinno 1999; Igarashi 1999). Furthermore, the cumulative debts for national and local government reached Yen 670 trillion in 2001 (US$ 6 trillion) (Feldhoff 2002; Maehara 2002). In its defence, MLIT argues that,

TRANSFORMATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 113

throughout the 1990s, public works expenditure played an important role in supporting the national economy and in creating employment opportunities during the recession (MLIT 2002). In the late 1990s, however, there was a significant shift in thinking in Japan with considerable criticism levelled from various quarters about the efficacy of the existing public works system (Igarashi 1999). Even the coalition government led by the LDP began to raise concerns and a 2000 review3 of public works projects resulted in the cancellation of over 200 projects (Maehara 2002). This change in attitude has been influenced by increasing public dissatisfaction over the wasteful use of taxpayers’ money, over the limited economic impact of public works expenditure, as well as the questionable need based on under-estimated construction costs and overestimated demand (Maehara 2002),4 and over the need to balance capital investment with equally important social welfare spending (Igarashi 1999). Increasing concerns have been voiced with respect to the long-term implications of these large-scale development projects wherein benefits to the local economy or in terms of improvements in convenience and safety are off-set by the gradual decline of traditional lifestyles, deterioration in the state of the environment, loss of cultural assets and the general degeneration in quality of life (Kase 1999; Kerr 2001; Feldhoff 2002). In reaction, we witness the recent emergence of the ‘slow life’ movement in Japan marked by the 2001 ‘Take-It-Easy Declaration’ (Gambaranai Sengen) made by Governor Hiroya Masuda of Iwate Prefecture, and followed by around 20 municipalities from around the country embracing ‘Slow Life’ as their slogan in August 2003 at a summit held in Gifu City (Japan for Sustainability 2004). It is also associated with a significant increase in civic activism in the form of plebiscites on such controversial issues as the construction nuclear power plants and major dams. In Chapter 5, we introduced the role that local referendums play in enabling some communities to reject projects that they considered to be environmentally unfriendly. For instance, in January 2000, a local referendum was held in the city of Tokushima, Tokushima Prefecture, to gauge local opinion on a plan by the Ministry of Construction to construct a movable dam on Yoshino River. The result of the local referendum, which asked whether voters were for or against the project, showed that the turnout ratio reached 55 per cent, exceeding the 50 per cent necessary to make the referendum stand, as stipulated by ordinance. Of the voters, an overwhelming majority of 90 per cent voted against the project.5 Perhaps the most dramatic political result of this broad public resistance to the ‘construction state’ was the October 2000 election of Yasuo Tanaka as governor of Nagano Prefecture. Tanaka ran on a platform of ‘no more dams’ (datsu damu) and won the election. As governor, Tanaka quickly moved to cancel a large dam project (Asahi. Newspaper, 16 November 2000) and opposed other dam projects. Governor Tanaka, to demonstrate his openness to the public, moved his office to a ground floor office fully open to public view. These policies won him great popular support, surveyed at 70 per cent in 2001 (Asahi Newspaper, 24 March 2001). As a result, in July of 2002, Governor Tanaka received a no-confidence vote from the LDPdominated prefectural legislature. A majority of prefectural citizens (61 per cent) opposed the no-confidence vote (Asahi Newspaper, morning edn, 8 July 2002). He

114 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT

resigned and ran for governor again. On 5 September 2002, Tanaka again won the governorship with broad public support. The Nagano case illustrates significant change of public opinion concerning the supposed benefits of construction projects and a growing cynicism about the ‘construction state’ payoff politics driving many of the projects. The dynamics of this growing wave of public rejection of major development projects and protest resembles that of the 1960s: build-up of public concern, official neglect and denial, accidents and health damage, intensifying citizen protest and community political resistance. The main distinctions this time around relate to the fact that this resistance is happening in a period of economic recession and institutional reform. Nevertheless, the on-going transformation of the development process, in order to make further headway, requires change in a large number of areas including reform of the national planning system, amendment to the supporting legislation, fiscal reform (i.e. of the subsidy system) and greater decentralization of responsibilities and funding (Maehara 2002). According to some commentators, ‘institutional changes appertaining to public works are thought to be a pre-requisite to the political, economic, and ecological stability of the Japanese system as a whole’ (Feldhoff 2002:41). Signs of change on the ground In Chapter 5, we mentioned a number of major projects that have been highly contested and that have become identified with the new patterns of environmental struggle in the 1990s (Vosse 2000; Broadbent 2002a; Danaher 2002a; Reimann 2003). These include the dam proposals on the Nagara (Aichi) and Yoshino Rivers (Tokushima), the development of Expo 2005 (Aichi), construction on tidal flats at Isahaya (Nagasaki), Sanbanze (Chiba) and Fujimae (Aichi), as well as the reclamation of Lake Nakaumi (Shimane and Tottori). These projects share a great deal in common in terms of the long lead times prior to initiation, the significant economic and environmental costs involved and the extent of opposition from the local communities and environmental groups (Choy 2000). For instance, the plan to drain the Isahaya Tidal Flats was first conceived in 1952 (work started in 1986), the Nagara River Dam was first proposed in 1960 and the Lake Nakaumi reclamation was initiated in 1963. Experience with the unsuccessful protests against the Nagara Dam and Isahaya Bay have been well documented (Choy 2000; Vosse 2000; Reimann 2003) and essentially focused on costs, economic benefits, need and environmental impact (on fishing and local lifestyles, amongst others).6 The experience of these two environmental campaigns is described as landmarks in the history of contemporary movements in attracting media attention and widespread public support. The outcomes have been interpreted as follows: Although they ultimately failed in their ostensible objectives, the campaigns to stop the construction of the Nagara River Estuary Dam and the Isahaya Bay Land Reclamation Project succeeded in publicly calling into question state policies that placed public works, construction projects and economic development over environmental presentation and biodiversity. These

TRANSFORMATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 115

campaigns…paved the way for successes in other cases that came after them. The unsuccessful fight against the Nagara dam, for instance, was followed by the successful campaign to halt construction of a dam on the Yoshino River. The failure to save the wetlands of Isahaya Bay led to more recent success of similar campaigns to preserve the Fujimae wetlands in Nagoya Bay and Sanbanze tidal flats in Tokyo Bay. (Reimann and Forrest 2002) The situation at Yoshino River is very interesting. The dam was proposed in 1982 and approved in 1998. At a cost of Yen 100 billion ($909 million), the project was designed to replace the 250-year-old flood barrier (Choy 2000). Local opposition claimed that the existing rock dam is sound and should be considered as an archaeological treasure. They also argued that the new dam would harm fishing grounds and wetlands in the area. As mentioned previously, a local plebiscite in January 2000 rejected the project and it was cancelled in the review of public works initiated by the national coalition government. The Lake Nakaumi reclamation project followed a slightly different path in that it was halted in 1988 (with only about 40 per cent of the work completed) due to declining demand for farmland and in response to growing complaints from residents about the environmental impacts. Following suspension, the local authorities were unable to reach consensus with local citizens about the project’s fate and in the public works review this project was also cancelled. From all of the projects covered in this section, only the experience at the Sanbanze Tidal Flats can actually be described as a victory for the environmental movement (we will discuss the outcomes at Fujimae and the Aichi Expo later). The protests against development on the tidal flats at Sanbanze had been on-going for around 30 years and had been successful in reducing the local government’s reclamation plans from 740 hectares in 1993 to 101 hectares in 2001 as well as extending the time required for ecosystem studies. The groups were also very successful in attracting media attention and when the then Minister of Environment Yoriko Kawaguchi inspected Sanbanze in January 2001 she stated that ‘the project should be revisited from every angle including curtailing the area of land to be reclaimed’ This proved to be a significant milestone (Akaike 2002). Furthermore, the protest groups succeeded in having their candidate, Akiko Domoto, elected Governor of Chiba Prefecture and in September 2001 she announced in the prefectural assembly the abandonment of the project on environmental grounds (Mainichi Shimbun, 26 September 2001). Experience with these projects highlights a number of important lessons. First, it has been noted that ‘the campaigns…revealed the need for the Japanese government to increase participation, transparency of decision-making and accountability to the public’ (Reimann 2003). The prolonged protests and their high visibility can be linked to changes in national legislation (such as the amendments to the River Law in 1997 requiring public opinion to be taken into account when planning projects), to 1998 changes to the national administration’s approach to the auditing and evaluation of major projects, and to shifts in the opinions of national politicians in all parties (but mainly led by the opposition parties) on the wastefulness of many public works projects and their negative impacts on the environment (Maehara 2002). They also

116 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT

provide very strong evidence on the need to develop a more effective EIA system where we find that: ‘In most cases, project plans are not tailored to address the concerns of those who will feel the impact of construction…[and where] only in a few cases have plans been suspended or abandoned’ (Miyazaki 1999:14). From 1984 to 1997, the Japanese EIA system was based on administrative guidance put in place by the Cabinet Decision on the Implementation of EIA. However, the absence of a national law did not impinge upon the practical implementation of impact assessment and as of 1997 there were more than 60 EIA systems in Japan (Harashina 1998:309). For instance, in the 1970s a large number of local authorities (starting with Kawasaki City) began to develop their own EIA systems based on local ordinances and guidelines (Barrett and Therivel 1991:101–106). Need for a new EIA Law The current round of EIA legislative activity began with the passage of the Environment Basic Law in 1993, which was effectively Japan’s response to Agenda 21. Article 20 of EBL specified that the national administration should take appropriate steps to ensure that projects with potentially significant environmental impacts are subject to evaluation and that conservation measures are considered. Accordingly, the subsequent Environment Basic Plan (EBP) of 1994 made four related recommendations for the national administration, as follows: 1 Promote environmental appraisal for all government policies and programmes. 2 Ensure the assessment of projects at the planning stage. 3 Ensure the EIA of all physical projects that have significant environmental effects. 4 Promote systematic research on EIA. At the same time, OECD’s 1994 environmental performance review remarked upon the fact that Japan was the only member country without a mandatory EIA system and called on the Japanese government to make it a legal requirement for all major public and private projects. Recognizing that international experience with EIA is well developed with over 100 countries currently following some kind of EIA procedures (UNEP 1996), the Japanese environmental administration was keen to place Japan’s system on the same footing as those of other OECD countries (Kurasaka 1999:78).7 Despite the lack of a national law prior to 1997, the number of environmental statements produced annually in Japan is impressive. According to the OECD, approximately 50 to 70 projects per year in Japan were subject to assessment prior to 1984 (OECD 1993). From 1984 onwards, this increased to 100 to 200 per annum. To get some idea of the scale of this activity, one estimate suggests that as many as 3,000 impact assessments were undertaken between 1984 and 1997 (Harashina 1998:310). These statements were required under a variety of EIA systems.8 The approach to EIA in Japan, however, was not without its critics who called for national, mandatory EIA, the centralization of responsibilities in one government agency and the assessment of policies as well as projects (Barrett and

TRANSFORMATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 117

Therivel 1991:231–234). Prior to 1997, the procedures for the implementation of an impact assessment varied according to the applicable law or guideline for the project. As such, it was possible for a project to be subject to different EIA procedures purely on the basis of geographical location (i.e. the responsible local government) or by project type (e.g. power station, road, bridge, airport, etc.). For example, the developer of the Tokyo Bay Aqualine had to deal with three different EIA procedures9 each with different provisions for public participation and expert review (Barrett and Therivel 1991:218–220). Quite clearly, from the developer’s perspective, there would be considerable merit in streamlining EIA procedures and creating a uniform approach across the entire country. This could best be promoted through legislative integration and the simplification of EIA procedures. In order to achieve this goal, it would be essential for the Japan Environment Agency to tackle the thorny issues of inter-ministerial coordination and jurisdictional infighting that had plagued the early development of EIA in Japan. There were, however, a number of additional reasons behind the Japan Environment Agency’s efforts to legislate for EIA. First, although the quality of the environmental assessments undertaken in Japan annually is generally high, there have been significant cases of very low quality environmental statements. In these instances, the developer’s approach to the EIA has generally been characterized by unsystematic and incomplete assessment methods, surveys undertaken at inappropriate times, models used but the assumptions not explained, restricted public consultation and cases where authorship of the environmental statement is anonymous. Second, some Japanese academics argue that EIA is simply a process of meeting existing environmental standards not a process designed to protect the environment (Shimizu 1987).10 Hence, in drafting legislation the Japan Environment Agency needed to take into consideration how EIA could be most effectively utilized to prevent negative environmental and social effects of development. Perhaps one of the most effective ways to achieve this objective would be through a requirement that the developer and decision-makers take into account various alternatives to proposed projects including non-development. Third, EIA is about making ‘better decisions’ and fostering good design during project development by involving more parties in the process in a democratically pragmatic manner in order to secure legitimacy of those decisions (Dryzek 1997:86; Ootsuka 1998:29). Environmentally and human friendly design is ensured through improved decision-making, inter-agency coordination and public consultation/participation. Hence, the Japan Environment Agency needed to take into consideration how to enhance the existing procedures for public and relevant stakeholder participation in the EIA process. Taking the above limitations into consideration, it is possible to argue that the pre-1997 EIA system in Japan seemed to be fulfilling a valid, but not totally satisfactory, function of topdown project level EIA coordination. Many of the problems with the system stemmed from its narrow emphasis on pollution standards11 and also from the lack of transparency (Harashina 1998:310). Those opposed to major projects tended to feel that the decision-making process was unfair and that the impact assessment system was merely a form of project justification (Barrett and Therivel 1991; Tsuru 1999). The implementation of a nationally uniform, comprehensive and mandatory EIA system

118 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT

can therefore be understood as a pre-requisite for the promotion of a shift in Japanese environmental policy-making in order to move forward to the attainment of sustainable development objectives and, perhaps, ecological modernization. Development of the legislation As shown in Table 7.1, in July 1994, six months prior to the publication of the EBP, the Japan Environment Agency established an ad hoc research body called the Comprehensive Research Group on Environmental Impact Assessment Systems (CRG). This group was supported by a secretariat of government officials drawn from ten ministries and agencies. After undertaking an examination of EIA systems in Japan and abroad, the group published a report in June 1996. The report highlighted numerous issues that needed to be addressed and urged the national government to reconsider the current EIA system. Following the publication of this report, then Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto asked the Central Environment Council (CEC) to provide him with a report outlining an appropriate EIA system for Japan. The Council held three national and six regional public hearings. In addition, over 500 people submitted their opinions by mail, facsimile and email. The negotiations were far from smooth and at one point the dispute between the Japan Environment Agency and MITI became politically charged. The Agency was keen to develop one integrated piece of EIA legislation while MITI wanted to ensure that it retained control over the EIA regulations related to power stations. Representatives from the Agency argued that making exceptions for the power stations would undermine public trust in the EIA system as a whole (Japan Times, 28 January 1997). However, MITI was supported in its opposition to certain provisions in the EIA bill by other ministries, as well as by the energy and construction sectors. In the end a compromise agreement was made whereby MITI was required to support the bill and the assessment of power stations would be covered by amendments to the Electricity Utility Law. Moreover, separate provisions were incorporated in Articles 39 to 48 relating to the assessment of urban planning projects, ports and harbours in order to satisfy the MoC. Prior to the submission of its report to the Prime Minister, the Japan Environment Agency had ensured that there was basic ministerial agreement on what elements would be included in the bill and what issues would be deferred to guidelines that would be published following enactment. Subsequently, a report outlining proposals for a new bill was handed to the Prime Minister in February 1997 and a Cabinet Decision was made in March. The Japan Environment Agency also ensured political support was in place for the bill (or thatopposition would be limited) by holding special consultations with members of the ruling government coalition. Moreover, key politicians from all political parties were confidentially briefed on the bill and its implications. Shortly thereafter, the bill was submitted to the national Diet where it was discussed in the Upper and Lower Houses before enactment on 13 June 1997. Since the new law required amendments to existing national and local regulations as well as the preparation of guidelines on a wide range of issues, a two-year period of grace was allowed before the law would take effect.12 During this period, additional consultations took place on the basic

TRANSFORMATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 119

Table 7.1 Chronology of the enactment and implementation of the EIA Law, 1994–1999

120 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT

approach to EIA and in December 1998 the Japan Environment Agency published guidelines that included provisions for (a) scientific comparison of the impact of given projects with those of alternative proposals and (b) in instances when serious impacts are anticipated, mitigation measures that should be taken to off-set the environmental damage. Characteristics of the EIA Law The EIA Law can be considered as an important step in the transformation of the development process toward a new, and potentially a more equitable, development paradigm. In order to identify projects for which an assessment is required, the law adopts a scaled list similar to the one used by the 1985 European Union Directive but essentially closely based on the original EIA Cabinet Decision of 1984. The emphasis of the legislation is on physical development projects with 14 project types outlined including road construction, dam/river construction, railway developments, construction of airports, construction of power plants, reclamation, waste disposal, land readjustment, industrial complexes, development of new urban residential areas, urban infrastructure development, the development of distribution complexes and any other project of an equivalent nature to those listed. There are essentially two categories of projects. Environmental assessment for Category 1 projects is mandatory and thus screening is not required. Those projects that do not exceed Category 1 thresholds but do exceed those set for Category 2 projects will be subject to screening in order to enable the competent national or local authorities to determine whether an EIS is required. The law also makes provisions for scoping which ensures public involvement early on in the assessment process. A project proponent is required to prepare a document describing how surveys, predictions and the evaluation of environmental impacts will be undertaken, and to make this public in order to obtain opinions from local government or those interested in environmental conservation. By identifying the key issues that need assessment, it is envisaged that considerable time-savings would ensue for the developer. The proponent is also required to make the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) publicly available. In a significant step forward, the local governments concerned and anyone who is interested in environmental conservation may express their opinion. This represents the realization of a much fairer system of public participation than was possible in the past, by removing the earlier ‘regional limitation’ allowing only local residents to express their opinions on the proposed project. Moreover, all environmental conservation/mitigation measures need to be clearly specified. Uncertainties with respect to the forecasts should be explained and the names of all relevant parties involved in the EIA should be included in the EIS. In addition, nontechnical summaries must be prepared so that the general public can understand the findings of the assessment. The final environmental statement is submitted to the competent authority (a central government ministry) responsible for the consideration of licences and the MoE may express its opinion, representing a potential centralizing of EIA review procedures. The competent authority can require the proponent to revise the final environmental statement if necessary. A monitoring procedure is

TRANSFORMATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 121

recommended in order to ensure re-evaluation of the projects once implementation has commenced (Tsuru 1999:209). Commentators on EIA in Japan have raised a number of concerns about the 1997 EIA Law. The first relates to the lack of provisions for policy appraisal and plan assessment though Strategic Environmental Assessment. Although, the 1993 EBL made specific provisions in Article 19 for consideration of environmental conservation when formulating and implementing policies that are deemed to influence the environment, such provisions were not incorporated in the EIA Law, perhaps because of the perceived wider ramifications for development patterns in Japan and also potential opposition from the pro-development ministries. Instead, a new Comprehensive Research Group on SEA was established by the Agency and included academics, local government officials and one journalist. The group met on ten occasions between July 1998 and July 2000. An interim report on their deliberations was published in July 1999 and a final report one year later in August 2000. A new round of deliberations of the research began in 2001. The MoE was initially planning to propose a new SEA Law in 2001 that would include provisions for a ‘watchdog’ to be established to ensure proper consideration of environmental conservation issues. As yet, no legislation has been forthcoming. In the absence of a national law, some local authorities are already studying the possibility of introducing EIA for policy and plans including Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Saitama Prefecture. Related to SEA to some extent is the issue of how to consider alternatives to specific development projects and the issue of whether or not a development is needed. The 1997 EIA Law makes no reference to the requirement for the developer to consider alternative designs and alignments (and even no development) or the project need within the assessment process. While in the past some assessments have considered alternatives (such as the Kansai International Airport), in others no alternatives have been proposed during the EIA or in more extreme cases new alternatives have been proposed after the rejection of the initial site as a result of extensive public opposition, for example Ishigaki Island Airport (Barrett and Therivel 1991). Both project need and the consideration of alternatives are the most contentious issues of any assessment and, in legislating for EIA, the environmental administration took the decision at some point to exclude these factors and to try to incorporate them in subsequent guidelines and best practices. Moreover, Tsuru (1999:209) remarks on the fact that EIA in Japan remains effectively a form of self-assessment with the developer in the cases of major public works projects also being the decision-maker on the results of the assessment. While the MoE’s review role was somewhat strengthened, the potential for independent review of some kind was not included. Although measures have been taken to bring forward the stage, and to widen the scope, of public consultation, the opportunity to further enhance this process, say through developer allocation of funds for participation or through experimentation with new participation methods (citizen juries, forums and so on), was missed. Even under the new procedures, public consultation still takes place after the decision to proceed with the project has been taken (i.e. included in sectoral plans) and the form of public consultation is limited

122 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT

(i.e. public explanatory meetings). Here there is clearly a case of political inequity within the EIA process and the MoE has only recently begun to address this issue seriously through an initiative called ‘sankagata assess’ (participatory assessment) designed to increase innovation with the use of public participation techniques, although there is still a long way to go before reaching some of the more sophisticated approaches found in other parts of the world (Fischer 2000). On the actual impacts of given projects, the 1997 EIA Law is vague on how best to consider the definition of impacts and also the local-global dimensions. This may, however, be the subject of subsequent guidelines.13 Related to this is the need to consider the cumulative and secondary impacts of development. Most EIAs to date in Japan have tended to present each impact (air, water, noise, waste, etc.) in separate chapters of the assessment and have failed to look at the interaction of these impacts. While this has been remedied to some extent by the provision for ‘Comprehensive Assessment’ within the EIA Law, it appears that practical experience with the development of methods for cumulative assessment in contemporary Japanese EIAs is somewhat limited but growing with each practical implementation. Recent practical experience with EIA In this section, we refer to the cancellation of one project and the alteration of another as indicative of a new phase of development in Japan. The first project is the Fujimae Tidal Flats Reclamation Project, located in the centre of Nagoya port area on an internationally recognized wetland area providing an important habitat for migratory birds. Initial planning for the Fujimae site began in July 1981 with the local authority arguing that no alternative site was available and that in line with existing good practice every effort should be taken to dispose of the waste within the boundaries of the municipality. In July 1993, the Nagoya City Land Development Corporation purchased the land, effectively committing the local authority to the development of the site, and a project plan was developed in December 1993. Under the plan, roughly 4 million cubic metres of waste was to be disposed of on-site, including 0.5 million cubic metres of dredged mud. Construction of the protection wall was to begin in 1999 with the disposal of waste beginning in 2001. The EIA process, initiated in January 1994, was challenged by a group of local citizens called the Save Fujimae Association with support from the Japan Wetlands Action Network—JAWAN (Danaher 2002a). However, the local authority was determined to proceed with the project and applied in August 1998 for permission to reclaim the bay area under the Public Waters Reclamation Act. In December 1998, the Japan Environment Agency intervened directly expressing great concern about the potential negative implications of the proposed project and likely ineffectiveness of the mitigation measures. The Ministry of Transportation (now MLIT) subsequently let it be known that it would not approve the project if the Agency disapproved (Suzuki 1999). The local authority had no choice but to back down and in January 2000 announced the abandonment of the project. The unprecedented cancellation of the project may represent a landmark event in the approach to EIA in Japan and the strong stance adopted by the Japan Environment Agency may in part be explained by

TRANSFORMATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 123

the desire to ensure legitimacy of the new EIA legislation about to take effect in June 1999 (Tsuji 1999). Another very important influence may have been the enactment of a new legislative system to promote the creation of a recycling oriented society, providing considerable legitimacy for Nagoya City Council to issue a ‘Declaration of a State of Emergency for Waste Management’ in the city that called upon local citizens to fully participate in the achievement of waste reduction measures. The original target for waste reduction in 2000 was 258,000 tons. Data from the city authority for the 1999 and 2000 period indicate the successful implementation of these policies with waste falling from 1,020,000 tons in 1998 to 920,000 tons in 1999 and 800,000 in 2000. Subsequently, the waste levels fell again to 760,000 tons in 2001 (representing a 25 per cent decrease over three years). At the same time, the local authority announced its intention to look for an alternative waste disposal site. In order to maintain the momentum, in August 2000, the city enacted its own ‘Container/ Wrapping Recycling Ordinance’ and produced a steady stream of guidance for citizens on measures to reduce waste. The search for a new disposal site continues. The second example is the Aichi Expo 2005, also located in Nagoya. Aichi Prefectural Government originally began preparing for an exposition after the failed bid to host the 1988 Olympics. The Government of Japan informed the BIE Secretariat in April 1996 of its desire to host EXPO 2005. This bid was backed by a formal Cabinet Decision in December 1995, confirming that the exposition must be preceded by an EIA. Nearly one year later, in November 1996, the 2005 World Exposition Plan on the theme ‘Beyond Development: Rediscovering Nature’s Wisdom’ was published. The plan identified a candidate site located in semi-natural woodland southeast of Seto City. The Japan Association for the 2005 World Exposition was established in 1997 and work commenced on the detailed development of the plan for the exposition (taking place from March to September 2005—a period of 185 days). Although the proposed development does not require assessment under the 1997 EIA Law, MITI issued a notification (tsutatsu) in March 1998 to the Association requesting that an EIA be undertaken according to procedures similar to those under the EIA Law. In April 1998, the Association issued an ‘Implementation Plan’ for the EIA that corresponded closely to the scoping report as required under the new law. Under this plan, the proposed Expo site covered around 540 hectares of land at the Kaisho area (near Seto City) divided into three zones. It was estimated that the Expo would attract over 25 million visitors (roughly 275,000 per day). There was considerable local public opposition to the project and a number of leading conservation groups such as the World Wide Fund for Nature, Japan Wild Birds Society and Nature Conservation Society of Japan began to take an active interest in the outcome of the Expo EIA. The draft environmental statement for the initial plan was issued in February 1999 and extensive consultations were undertaken (see Figure 7.1). In addition, surveys in June-July 1999 revealed the presence of an endangered species (goshawk) on the project site. The NGOs pointed out that their earlier surveys had already highlighted the plight of the goshawk and other endangered species, but that these surveys had been ignored and that under the Japan

124 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT

Figure 7.1 Procedures for the Aichi Expo 2005 EIA.

Environment Agency’s own technical guidelines a two-year survey is required of the goshawk in its habitat (WWF Japan 1999). Subsequently, revisions were made to the project plan by the Expo Secretariat. The area utilized for development at Kaisho was reduced and an extension was added with the inclusion of the Aichi Youth Park. At this stage, however, no reductions in the number of visitors were envisaged. The EIS

TRANSFORMATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 125

for the Expo was then prepared and opened to the public in October 1999. The Japan Environment Agency presented its opinion on the plan within 25 days and MITI responded within 90 days. Again explanatory meetings were organized in the locality and extensive public comments received. Nevertheless, significant concerns about the potential negative environmental impacts from the development remained and the BIE General Assembly in Paris, lobbied by international environmental NGOs, also indicated that it was unhappy about the existing proposal. As a result, the Association in consultation with local citizen groups worked to significantly revise the plan in December 2000. The final version of the Expo plan significantly reduces the development area in Kaisho to 15 hectares and in the Aichi Youth Park to 158 hectares, and revises the predicted number of visitors to 15 million (180,000 per day). Although in some respects this is a major step forward for EIA in Japan involving consideration of alternatives in the assessment process, with hindsight and as experience in other countries shows, the Association could have handled the process more systematically from the start through greater integration of Expo planning and assessment (Harashina 2000). There are many weaknesses with the Expo assessment compared to best practice internationally, but for Japan it could represent the beginning of a transition towards a new form of development process that is more participatory and sustainable. However, there are important lessons to be learnt from this case and the question remains as to how effectively experience at the Expo 2005 can be transferred to other projects in Japan and enhanced through future assessments. As one member of the International Impact Assessment Association (Japan Branch) stated, the Expo assessment, if it did not try to reflect best international practice, would hardly be representative as a ‘model for the 21st century’ (Usami 2000). Conclusions According to Dryzek (1997:86), EIA is an important tool in the repertoire of administrative rationalism. Throughout the world EIA systems have been designed to enable decision-makers to consider environmental issues and scientific evidence that might otherwise have been overlooked. While the procedures for public consultation may in many instances be more symbolic than real and while the influence of the information obtained via EIA on the final decision may be difficult to trace, the entire process is important in altering the context in which project decisions are made. In effect, EIA works to enhance the stakeholder dialogue surrounding project determination in a way that makes environmental and democratic values more visible than before (Dryzek 1997:87). Some might claim that the Japanese national environmental administration showed renewed leadership in developing this legislation and that it is a positive step, an endeavour worthy of support. There is indeed considerable evidence to support this proposition. However, so much work lies ahead and there is still so much to achieve with respect to the further enhancement of EIA in Japan (and elsewhere). While welcoming this initiative, we must also be careful to evaluate how well the EIA Law is delivering improved decisions and

126 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT

ensuring a better-protected environment. We should also judge it in the context of the state of the art globally. There are two factors that we need to take into consideration. First, it appears that the national environmental administration pushed for an EIA Law at all costs. This meant weakening the original proposals with a view to making subsequent amendments and with plans to provide additional guidance to further strengthen the legislative basis for EIA in Japan. This is a very pragmatic and effective approach that appears to have had some positive long-term effects by raising the bar on how environmental conservation matters are dealt with. Second, the complex nature of the innovation within the Japanese administrative system and the need for extensive and time-consuming negotiations at the ministerial level explains why the national environmental administration may have adopted a strategy of minimalist mandatory change (i.e. the 1997 law was based on the lowest common denominator of existing EIA legislation, rather than incorporating the best of some of the more ambitious local systems that were also around at that time). There appears to be a sophisticated and multifaceted milieu of interministerial relations in Japan that undermines and stifles more ambitious reformist efforts. This is gradually breaking down but in its contemporary form may in part explain why the environmental administration could not develop a more advanced system of EIA and environmental management that would be the envy of the world. Rather, the gradual improvement of EIA in Japan will take place through an incremental process based on practical successes during implementation, because ‘seeing is believing’. Notes 1 Some commentators claim that EIA in Japan pre-dates the US National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) of 1969. They argue that the development of EIA in Japan can be traced as far back as 1965 when MITI, motivated by the desire to avoid pollution incidents like Yokkaichi and associated political disturbances, began conducting EIAs in areas where industrial development was planned (see Barrett and Therivel 1991:94). 2 Efforts to legislate for EIA began in 1972 with the passage of a Cabinet Decision on ‘Environmental Conservation Measures Relating to Public Works’. In the period to 1984, the Agency made seven attempts to introduce legislation, each of which was countered by opponents’ claims about potentially negative economic implications, the possibility of an ensuing development slowdown and fears of increased litigation. The opponents argued that the time was not ‘ripe’ for an EIA law and the social milieu not yet ‘mature’ enough for the associated public participation requirements (Tsuru 1999: 154–155). The Agency finally gave up in 1984 and another Cabinet Decision was issued entitled ‘On Implementation of EIA’. 3 The review used various criteria including the fact that the project had not commenced within five years of approval; had not been completed within 20 years of the planned completion date; or had been under construction for more than 20 years.

TRANSFORMATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 127

4 A good example is the Tokyo Bay Aqualine (as examined in Barrett and Therivel 1991) which had an initial price tag of Yen 900 billion, that grew to Yen 1.44 trillion, and with actual use running one-third below the projected level (Maehara 2002). 5 The only referendum to buck the trend took place in July 1999 and concerned the construction of a new quarry (or expansion of the existing quarry) near the town of Konagai, Nagasaki Prefecture. The result of the referendum gave a majority of over 50 per cent to those for both the construction of a new quarry and expansion of the existing quarry (Foreign Press Center 2000, Local Referendums Broaden Scope in Japan, as found at: http://www.fpcj.Jp/e/shiryo/jb/0006.html). 6 At a cost of ¥en 150 billion ($1.4 billion), it is argued that ‘need arguments’ for the Nagara Dam (based on the assumption that there would be demand for 9.1 million tons of water per day) proved to be somewhat inflated (current consumption is 6.3 million tons per day). Moreover, the Nagara River Dam has saddled local authorities with sizable debts (something like Yen 145 billion ($1.3 billion) shared by three local entities). As for Isahaya, the MoC initially calculated that the reclamation would generate Yen 103 (93.6 cents) in new economic activity for every Yen 100 (90.9 cents) spent, and recently estimated that the project’s rate of return has slid to a barely positive 101 Yen. Critics maintain, however, that the payback has dropped into the negative range and will be just Yen 58 (52.7 cents) for every Yen 100 (90.9 cents) spent (for more details see Choy 2000). 7 The US National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was enacted in 1969 and the EU Environmental Assessment Directive was enacted in 1985 and came into effect 1988. 8 Under the 1984 Cabinet Decision on the Implementation of Environmental Impact Assessment, the major national ministries established EIA guidelines. In addition, some key national laws were amended in the early 1970s. These included the Port and Harbour Law, Reclamation of Public Waters Law, City Planning Law and Electricity Utility Law (Barrett and Therivel 1991). From 1984 to 1997, the total number of projects assessed under requirements set out in the 1984 Cabinet Decision was 384. The remaining 2,700 or so EIAs were prepared in accordance with local systems or the national laws referred to above. As of December 1995, six prefectural authorities (Hokkaido, Saitama, Gifu, Tokyo, Kanagawa and Hyogo) and two designated cities (Kawasaki and Kobe) had enacted EIA ordinances. Another 37 prefectures and seven designated cities had issued EIA guidelines (Japan Environment Agency 1998). 9 The Kanagawa Prefectural Government’s EIA Ordinance, Chiba Prefectural Government’s EIA Guidelines and Ministry of Construction Guidelines. 10 The verb for ‘meet’ in Japanese is awaseru and thus they refer to EIA as ‘Environmental Awasement’. 11 In Japan, the main concern of environmental policymakers in the past focused on human health impacts and pollution control. Environmental issues that are difficult to quantify, like the effects of pollutants on the ecosystem, were until recently given less attention. 12 Similar to the three years allowed for implementation of the EU Directive on EIA. 13 Officials from the Agency could counter the above criticisms by stating that, in view of the historical difficulties of legislating for EIA, the approach adopted had to be somewhat strategic and a decision was taken to leave all of the controversial

128 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT

issues to subsequent guidelines and ordinances. Thus in December 1997, the Japan Environment Agency produced guidance on criteria for determining Category 2 projects, for the items to be covered in the assessment and the procedures for scoping. The guidance proposed new items for assessment such as (a) amount of contact between people and nature, (b) waste disposal volumes, (c) impact on groundwater and geology, as well as (d) biodiversity. Moreover, emissions of CO2 need to be calculated and judged against emission targets set by central and local government which is an important example of Japan’s response to the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol as discussed in Chapter 9. Very interestingly, the developer is required to ‘scientifically’ compare the impact of the project with those of alternative projects including the possibility of alternative technologies and techniques. This represents a significant move on the part of the Agency to eliminate one of the biggest weaknesses of EIA and it would be interesting to review practical experience with the implementation of this particular aspect of the guideline. Finally, projects which are likely to have ‘significant effect’ on the environment must off-set the anticipated damage with mitigation measures or habitat/environment recreation. All of these measures are non-mandatory and were reviewed after five years (i.e. by December 2002).

8 Ecologically modern industrialization Brendan F.D.Barrett and Andrea Revell

A recycling oriented economic system is an economic system in which measures for the environment and conservation of resources are built into every aspect of industrial and economic activity, and in which the social and behavioural standards that were accepted in conventional economic society, which generally gave little thought to measures for conservation of environment and resources, are converted into a society in which the environment and the economy are integrated. (METI, February 2002) Recent statements like the one above imply that the most powerful industry oriented governmental body, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), views the integration of environmental and economic concerns as central to the future development of Japan. As we mentioned in Chapter 1, some commentators consider that environmental performance of Japanese industries has broadly followed a path consistent with ecological modernization (see e.g. Jänicke et al 1996; Dryzek 1997; Gouldson and Murphy 1997; Christoff 2000; Gille 2000; Gouldson 2000; Mol and Sonnenfeld 2000; Fisher and Freudenburg 2001; Mol 2001b). In this chapter we will explore some of the empirical evidence on eco-efficiencies1 in Japan’s industrial and energy sectors. Policy measures to increase eco-efficiencies in the economy by reducing material, water, land and energy intensities (as well as the demand for transportation) are a central component of ecological modernization (Jänicke et al. 1996; Cohen 1997). In this chapter, we will begin with a discussion of trends in the environmental performance of Japanese industry and then focus on the question of eco-efficiencies mainly in relation to resource consumption patterns. This will be followed by a discussion of the emergence of a recycling society and then we will look at patterns of energy consumption as well as the growth of new energy sources. We conclude with a discussion of the role of small and medium-sized enterprises in the attainment of ecological modernization related goals for Japanese industry. The following sections aim to develop the debate on Japan’s status as environmental laggard or front-runner (see Chapter 1) by looking at the complex relationships between environmental reforms, industrial environmental conservation measures, eco-efficiencies, waste management, energy policy and the environmental practices of Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a sector which

130 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND ANDREA REVELL

comprises 99 per cent of Japanese industry (JSBRI 1999) yet which previous studies on ecological modernization have curiously ignored. Environmental trends in Japanese industry The environmental performance of Japanese industry has been the subject of considerable and contested debate (Ui 1992; Moore and Miller 1994; Fukasaka 1995; Wallace 1995; Jänicke et al 1996; Imura 1997; Richards 1997; Rosenbluth and Theis 1999; Cruz et al. 2002; Yoshida 2002). For instance, it is argued that between 1970 and 1980 the Japanese steel industry cut air pollutant emissions by 30 to 80 per cent, producing steel with 40 per cent less energy expenditure than the United States (Moore and Miller 1994) and that: By 1989, Japan had installed three times as many flue-gas cleaning systems as the rest of the countries in the industrialized world combined. The number of systems for removing sulphur dioxide rose from 323 in 1972 to 1,810 in 1988. Selective catalytic reduction systems for NOx control jumped from 5 in 1972 to 379 in 1988. (Moore and Miller 1994:42) As a result, Japanese industries were emitting less SO2 and NOx pollutants per capita by 1989 than any other industrial nation. Building on this work, it has been argued that due to the efforts of Japanese industry between 1971 and 1996 ambient SO2 levels and carbon monoxide (GO) dropped by 85 per cent and 75 per cent respectively (Cruz et al. 2002).2 Looking at other aspects of industrial performance, Jänicke et al. (1996) compare the manufacturing sectors of Japan, Germany and Sweden, and examine the trends in energy consumption and water consumption, as well as environmental performance in different manufacturing sectors between 1971 and 1987 and find that some of the most significant industrial energy savings have taken place in Japan. They conclude that ‘ecological modernization [in Japan] has thus far mainly taken the form of increases in the efficiency of energy and water use and in the extent of recycling’ (1996:17). Contrary to common belief at the time such measures actually reduced production costs and created new markets (Moore and Miller 1994; see also Schreurs 2002:3).3 The overall impression is that Japanese production practices became increasingly resource efficient as a result of the government’s energy conservation and pollution control policies, with certain industrial sectors (such as iron, chemicals, steel and automobiles) being particularly effective in reducing energy intensities and pollution emissions. Fukasaka (1995) supports this view, noting that strong GDP growth (around 57 per cent) between 1980 and 1991 was accompanied by significant reductions in SOx, NOx and CO2 as a result of the government’s energy diversification policies and emission control standards. According to the OECD, urban air quality in Japan continued to improve in the 1990s and the strong decoupling of air emissions from GDP was reinforced (−5 per cent for SO2, NMVOCs and CO between 1990 and 1999, while GDP rose by 13 per cent). Among OECD

ECOLOGICALLY MODERN INDUSTRIALIZATION 131

countries Japan has the third lowest emission intensity (kilogram/unit GDP) for SOx and the lowest for NOx. Reductions have also been witnessed in relation to other pollutants (−60 per cent for total dioxin emissions, −45 per cent for benzene, −43 per cent for trichloroethylene and −50 per cent for tetrachloroethylene from 1995 to 1999) for major emitting industries (OECD 2002). Effectively Japanese industry led the way internationally in the shift from end-ofpipe solutions towards preventative technologies and life-cycle analysis models (Mol and Sonnenfeld 2000). The Japanese approach to pollution prevention involves a creative mix of command-and-control instruments (emission standards, environmental quality standards and technology designations), market-based mechanisms (compensation levies—polluter pays principle, emission taxes and emission permit trading) and voluntary measures (Matsuno 2003). Perhaps most striking has been the use of pollution control agreements between business and local governments/communities which complement the local regulation and guidance with measures designed to reflect industry-specific pollution prevention goals, the condition of the local economy and the local social context. By the 1990s, over 30, 000 voluntary agreements between industry and local governments were in place (Imura 1998). Most of the early agreements in the 1960s dealt with major industrial facilities (over 1,000 employees), peaking at about 450 agreements per year in 1974, after which there was a drop-off to nearly 200 a year in the 1980s, before a second peak in the late 1980s/early 1990s in response to newly recognized threats such as high-technology pollution. Other studies, however, present contrasting evidence on the form and relative impact of environmental innovation within Japanese industry. For instance, it is argued that energy savings from the 1970s to early 1990s were less the outcome of national policies and more an environmental gratis effect resulting from the fast growing and highly flexible industrial structure (e.g. restructuring and the decline in energy intensive industries) attempting to cope with rising energy prices and a heavy dependency on imports (Jänicke et al. 1996). As mentioned in Chapter 1, there are also those who claim that Japanese industry has ‘exported pollution’ to neighbouring Asian countries as manufacturing plants have moved to nations with less stringent environmental standards (Ui 1989c; Imura 1997; Taylor 1999). Moreover, others argue that Japanese corporations have been able to avoid costly abatement measures because political institutions are biased in favour of business interests and oppose any serious, sustained effort to regulate environmental pollution (Rosenbluth and Theis 1999). As a result, highly visible and relatively easily regulated air pollution has been curtailed but less visible and trickier water, toxic,4 soil and groundwater pollution have been more difficult to tackle (Yoshida 2002). Regulations in these areas have been slow in coming with the prevention of groundwater pollution delayed until revisions to the Water Pollution Control Law were made in April 1997. Prevention of soil contamination was not addressed until the May 2002 enactment of the Law Concerning Countermeasures against Soil Pollution. Finally, the OECD states that, whilst Japan has achieved a strong decoupling of economic growth from pesticide, fertilizer, NOx and SOx emissions, environmental gains have been more than off-set by additional impacts arising from an expansion of output. In the 1990s growth in

132 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND ANDREA REVELL

energy demand cancelled out energy efficiency gains, resulting in a 5 per cent increase in the energy intensity of the economy and an increase in absolute CO2 emissions. Similarly, the growth in private consumption and waste generation has cancelled out many material efficiency gains (OECD 2002). Let us discuss these contrasting perspectives further within the context of the eco-efficiency debate. Eco-efficiency in Japan Perhaps the best discussion of the links between eco-efficiency and ecological modernization can be found in Cohen’s work where the former is described as: ‘the implementation of industrial practices that can improve corporate profitability by redesigning manufacturing processes to reduce the production of wastes at the source so as to avoid remedial treatment’ (Cohen 1997:1). One of the main promoters of the eco-efficiency concept is the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (as explained in DeSimone and Popoff 1997). Eco-efficiency has become a consensus strategy amongst multinational corporations and has been embraced by a number of governments including Japan,5 as exemplified by the 2002 White Paper on the Environment published by the Ministry of the Environment (MoE 2002a). Presenting data for the period from 1965 to 1999, the White Paper looks at, amongst others, final energy consumption, CO2 emissions, domestic waste generation, NO2 and SO2 concentrations as well as energy eco-efficiencies. The entire period is subdivided into three stages. Stage one covers the period to 1973, the occurrence of the first oil crisis. In this stage, as Japan experienced rapid economic growth, ecoefficiencies generally declined for energy and waste but increased for NO2 and SO2 as regulations were implemented to control air pollution (see Figures 8.1 and 8.2). The second stage covers the period to 1985 when the price for oil fell and here we find that, as economic growth slowed, eco-efficiencies improved for all indicators mainly due to the impact of energy and resource conservation measures. The final stage covers the period from 1985 to 1999, where we see continued improvements in eco-efficiencies for NO2, SO2 and waste contrasting with only minor improvements for CO2 and energy. Overall, this data is supportive of the findings from the OECD environmental performance review of Japan which argued that in the 1990s there was a Very strong decoupling between conventional air pollutants from GDP’ at −82 per cent for SOx and −22 per cent for NOx (OECD 2002:23). With respect to implementation of policy measures to promote eco-efficiency in Japan most of the expertise lies with METI. In April 2002, the Ministry established a new committee under the chairmanship of Professor Ryoichi Yamamoto dealing with ‘Factor Eight’ as a means of improving resource productivity (Bleischwitz 2002). Professor Yamamoto of the University of Tokyo, in close collaboration with METI, has undertaken much of the research on eco-efficiency in Japan. His work analyses the improvements in eco-efficiency for LNG-fuelled combined cycle power generation systems and for thermal storage type air conditioning systems. He also looked at the performance of a number of eco-designed products and found improvements ranging from factor 2 for the Toyota hybrid car to factor 10 for the Sharp liquid crystal display (LCD) TV and factor 20 for Honda’s Intelligent

ECOLOGICALLY MODERN INDUSTRIALIZATION 133

Figure 8.1 Changes in eco-efficiencies for final energy consumption, CO2 emissions and domestic waste. Note: Prepared by the Ministry of the Environment based on the ‘Annual Report on National Accounts’ published by the Cabinet Office, ‘Comprehensive Energy Statistics’ published by the Agency of National Resources and Energy and ‘Emission of Domestic Waste and Processing Status (Performance of 1999)’ published by the Ministry of the Environment.

Community Vehicle System (ICVS) (Yamamoto 2000). Yamamoto concludes that Japan is now in a new phase of promoting environmental protection through the development of eco-efficient products and services, as well as green purchasing (Yamamoto 2001). Another influential figure with respect to eco-efficiency and green productivity is Professor Hiroshi Komiyama, also from Tokyo University and chair of METI’s materials flow committee (Bleischwitz 2002). Professor Komiyama has developed ‘Vision 2050’ designed to promote green productivity by increasing energy efficiency threefold compared to today’s levels, creating recycling systems and doubling the use of renewable energy sources (Bleischwitz 2002; Itochu 2002). As a result of the work of these and other influential thinkers, the concept of ecoefficiency has gained much ground in Japan in the past decade and has been associated with the emergence of such concepts as zero emissions, green productivity and factor four (Mitsuhashi 1998; Watanabe 1999; Yoshida 2002; Hotta 2004). A large number of projects have been implemented across the country with direct involvement from local government and business. Interesting examples include the Fujisawa Eco-Industrial Park developed by Ebara Corporation (a manufacturer of precision electronic devices and environmental equipment), the Kokubo Ecolndustrial Park in Yamanashi Prefecture promoting collaboration between a number of firms including Panasonic, Fujitsu and Pioneer (Morikawa 2000) and the

134 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND ANDREA REVELL

Figure 8.2 Eco-efficiency rates for other air pollutants. Note: Prepared by the Ministry of the Environment based on ‘Annual Report on National Accounts’ published by the Cabinet Office and ‘Air Pollutions Status Report’ by the Ministry of the Environment.

Kitakyushu Eco-Industrial Park (Bleischwitz 2002). The latter is also referred to as an Eco-Town project, initiated by METI in 1997 in order to encourage development of environmentally sound community systems involving industrial and public sectors. Initially, ten Eco-Towns were launched with METI financial support in the prefectures of Hokkaido, Chiba, Gifu and Akita and in the cities of Sapporo, Iida, Omuta, Uguiszawa, Kitakyushu and Kawasaki (Morikawa 2000). Other influential initiatives relate to the formation of zero-emissions clusters with the best examples being that of Yakushima Island (a model area for material recycling and the development of renewable energy based on the zero-emissions concept) and production of eco-cement by Taiheiyo Cement Corporation utilizing ashes from municipal waste incineration and sewage sludge (Morikawa 2000; Kai et al. 2002). These eco-industrial initiatives have been matched by the widespread adoption of environmental management systems (EMS) within Japanese corporations. For instance, Japan now boasts the highest number of ISO 14001 accreditations globally, with over 13,800 entities obtaining certification by December 2003.6 Concerns have been expressed however about the need to increase participation from the small and

ECOLOGICALLY MODERN INDUSTRIALIZATION 135

medium-sized enterprises in EMS processes in order to promote vertical and horizontal coordination amongst firms (Bleischwitz 2002). We will explore this matter further later in this chapter. All of the above illustrate how eco-efficiencies are improving in some areas matched by performance enhancements with respect to eco-designed products up to factor 20 in some cases. Many major eco-industrial community projects are under way and represent the search for a new development model bringing together various stakeholders including government, businesses and local communities. However, these projects are still in their early days and analysis of their environmental impacts is limited. Moreover, they tend to focus on solid waste management/technology issues rather than on environmental management from a more holistic, industrial ecology perspective (see Morikawa 2000). In this context, our main concern relates to the potential for recent efficiency gains to be undermined by the return of economic growth. In particular, it has been shown that, even during economic recession, energy efficiencies have been weakened by the expansion of consumption in different sectors, e.g. personal computers in the commercial sector, air conditioners in the residential sector and large sports utility vehicles in the transportation sector (MoE 2002a). As with most industrialized countries, household size in Japan is declining, from 3.22 persons per household in 1980 to 2.67 in 20007 and this is accompanied by associated impacts on the environment.8 Further, of the 46 million households in Japan in 2002, 86.4 per cent owned a car, 63.3 per cent owned personal computers and 81.4 per cent owned video players. Moreover, whilst in 1970 around 10 out of 100 homes had an air conditioner and 25 out of every 100 homes had a colour TV, by 1999 this had increased to 208 and 226 respectively (Masuzoe 2001). These trends imply that further greening of Japanese industry may be unlikely to bring about significant environmental gains unless some kind of policy framework is in place to respond to the environmental impacts associated with major consumption pressures. Ecological modernization is less effective in providing explanatory sub-theories on environment related consumption patterns and on how innovations might result in environmental improvements (despite the efforts made by Spaargaren 2000a; Spaargaren and van Vliet 2000). It appears, however, that the Japanese are responding to this dilemma in their own unique way through the promotion of something called the junkangatta shakai—recirculatory society. Emergence of the recycling (recirculatory) society The notion of the recycling society first began to take shape in Japan in 1991 with the publication of a report by the Japan Environment Agency entitled ‘Towards a Recycling Society in the 21st Century’ calling for the recovery, recycling and reuse of materials and energy as well as the reduction of the nation’s environmental load through measures to encourage the frugal use of resources and the selection of environmentally benign resource options (Japan Environment Agency 1991b). At this time, it was estimated that only 10 per cent of the 2 billion metric tons of materials used each year by Japan were actually recycled (Gotoh 1997). By 2000, Japan was responsible for the extraction of 1.84 billion tons of natural resources

136 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND ANDREA REVELL

(0.7 billion tons or 38 per cent from overseas) with 0.23 billion tons of recycled materials, or roughly 11 per cent of the total resource inputs (MoE 2002a). Japan generates around 450 million tons of waste each year (50 million tons of municipal and 400 million tons of industrial waste) (Yoshida 2002). For municipal waste this translates into per capita waste generation at around 410 kilograms per year (daily rate of 1 kilogram of waste per capita), lower than Norway, Germany and the Netherlands. Nevertheless, Japan faces a serious shortage of landfill capacity with only 12.3 years of municipal landfill space remaining in 1999 and 3.7 years remaining for industrial wastes (OECD 2002). As a result, unlike in other industrialized nations, the primary method of disposing of general waste is incineration (77 per cent of waste was incinerated in 2000) and this has led to considerable public concerns over the associated dioxin emissions (Kerr 2001; OECD 2002:107; Yoshida 2002). Container and packaging wastes such as cans, PET bottles and plastic/paper boxes account for about 60 per cent of the total municipal refuse. The rate of waste recovery by municipalities and community groups stood at around 13 per cent in 1999. Recovery rates for individual wastes vary greatly. For instance, in 2000, 84 per cent of steel cans, 80 per cent of aluminium cans, 78 per cent of glass bottles, 57 per cent of used paper and 34 per cent of PET bottles were recovered (MoE 2002a). Effective waste management in Japan is complicated by three key factors. First. Japan is dependent on the import of both natural resources and finished goods, particularly consumer electronics. In 2000 alone, Japan imported 9.8 million televisions, 2.5 million personal computers and 2.3 million video cameras. These represented roughly 96 per cent, 14 per cent and 19 per cent respectively of domestic sales (METI 2002). Second, in the 1990s there was a steady increase in the export of used goods from Japan (including automobiles, air conditioners, televisions and microwaves) and recyclable materials (e.g. plastics, paper, iron, aluminium and copper scraps) to countries such as China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea and Hong Kong. Third, domestic illegal dumping of industrial wastes is a major problem, with some 1,027 cases in 2000, representing around 400,000 tonnes (MoE 2002a) and tens of thousands of unreported waste sites all over the country. Central and local governments have been heavily criticized for supporting illegal dumping by means of limited policing and coverups.9 Well-known examples include Teshima (Seto Inland Sea),10 Mitake town (Gifu Prefecture) and Hinode town (Tokyo) (Yoshida 2002). The outcome at Teshima was instrumental in bringing about revisions to the 2002 Waste Management Law that now holds firms liable for dumping violations if they are irresponsible enough to leave their waste in the hands of illicit contractors. All of the above represent significant obstacles to the attainment of a ‘recirculatory society’ in Japan. In recognition of and response to the above problems, it is significant that nine laws were recently enacted or revised at the national level. These include: 1) the Basic Law for Promoting the Creation of a Recycling Oriented Society (enacted and enforced in 2000); 2) the Law for Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources (revised in 2000 and enforced in 2001); 3) the Containers and Packaging Recycling Law (enacted in 1995 and enforced in 2000); 4) the Home Appliances Recycling Law

ECOLOGICALLY MODERN INDUSTRIALIZATION 137

(enacted in 1998 and enforced in 2001); 5) the Food Recycling Law (enacted in 2000 and enforced in 2000); 6) the Construction Materials Recycling Law (enacted in 2000 and enforced in 2002); 7) the Green Purchasing Law (enacted in 2000 and enforced in 2001); 8) the Revised Waste Management Law (revised in 2000 and enforced in 2001); and 9) the Automobile Recycling Law (enacted in 2002 and enforced from 2004). The new law on automobile recycling is noteworthy since it introduces for the first time in Japan the concept of extended producer responsibility (EPR), and specifically defines the roles and responsibilities of car manufacturers. A total of 72 million four-wheeled vehicles are registered in Japan, and 5 million are scrapped every year. At present, more than 70 per cent of used cars are recycled, but the Japanese government aims to raise the car-recycling ratio to 95 per cent by 2015.11 The enactment and revision of so many laws has led the national government to hint at similarities between the 1970 Pollution Diet and the 2000 Recycling Diet as indicative of a new age of environmentalism in Japan (METI 2002). The general policy direction is the so-called 3-R approach; reduce (decrease wastes generated during production), re-use (re-utilize parts of products) and recycle (convert wastes into raw materials). A whole set of rules have been put in place to require businesses, local governments and citizens to adopt this approach. The recycling guidelines have been developed covering some 35 items of production and 18 types of business, estimated at around 60 per cent of municipal wastes and 50 per cent of industrial wastes. This is an impressive suite of new laws and according to Yasuo Tanabe, Director, Recycling Promotion Division at METI: industry is making progress in reduction, using less resources, extending product life, and constraining the emergence of waste. In the product area, the volume of resources used per unit for containers and computers has been pared back by 10 to 20 percent in recent years. Companies are competing fiercely to produce smaller, lighter and slimmer products. Once scarcer than in US and Europe, the number of repair businesses is also picking up. In plants and factories too, efforts to reduce industrial waste toward the goal of zero emissions are making rapid progress. In response to guidelines issued by the Industrial Structure Council in June 2001, manufacturing majors and other players in 12 industries have committed themselves to reducing the final volume of industrial waste by 20 to 60 percent by 2010. (see: http://www.meti.go.jp/english/policy/index_environment.html) The MoE also plays a key role in waste management and in March 2003 published the Basic Plan for Establishing a Recycling-based Society. The plan includes measures to limit natural resource consumption and to increase recycling. Numerical targets are included in the plan to boost resource productivity (GDP divided by natural resource inputs) by 40 per cent, to reduce per capita daily waste generation by 20 per cent and to halve the amount of waste going to landfills from 56 million tons in 2000 to 28 million tons by 2010 (MoE 2003c). It is still early days but clearly Japan has embarked on a major process of institutional innovation related to waste management that could be described as a prime example of ecological modernization.

138 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND ANDREA REVELL

Nevertheless, according to METI, a number of limitations need to be addressed including the relative difficulty of treating different business wastes, associated costs, the state of development of recycling facilities, and perhaps most importantly the implications for performance of the Japanese economy globally and the potential ramifications of the recycling society for imports and exports within the framework of WTO rule-making (METI 2002:3). Interestingly, the promotion of a recirculatory society also includes emphasis on ‘thermal recycling’ in Japan, or waste to heat schemes, which brings us to the next topic of discussion. Energy industry/energy consumption As in many other countries, the Japanese economy made the shift from coal to petroleum in the late 1950s only to be faced with the problems of the high sulphur content in heavy oil and the need to stabilize supplies (Fukasaka 1995). The need to respond to the associated environmental problems culminated in the formulation of a whole new legislative and institutional framework in the 1970s (Gresser et al 1981; Hoshino 1992; Tsuru 1999). Various fiscal measures were introduced at this time including low interest government loans, preferential tax treatment and special depreciating schemes for the industrial sector. The result was massive investment by the industrial sector in technological innovation to ensure compliance with environmental standards. Reductions in the levels of SOx were possible through the introduction of desulphurization technologies (Ren 2000). However, it was the impact of the 1973 oil shock that had the. greatest impact on Japan’s reliance on petroleum products and its consumption (Barrett and Therivel 1991). A number of initiatives were launched in the late 1970s to try to reduce Japan’s dependency on petroleum including the search for alternative energy sources, diversification of energy sources, promotion of energy conservation, and the implementation of research and development on new energy sources. For instance, in 1979, the Energy Conservation Law established standards for all energy-consuming sectors and called for an increase in energy efficiency in consumer products. As a result the Japanese economy was better placed than others to weather the second oil crisis of 1979 and it is argued that the introduction of these energy policies in no way hindered the performance of the Japanese economy (Fukasaka 1995). An often-quoted statistic concerns Japan’s ability to reduce by 25 per cent the ratio of energy consumption to GDP from 1979 to 1987 (OECD 1994). As a result, Japan has one of the lowest ratios of energy consumed per unit of gross domestic product (GDP), as well as one of the lowest energy intensity rates per capita (OECD 1994; IEA 2003). However, we can note that more recently, between 1990 and 1999, Japan’s total final energy consumption increased by 16 per cent, during a time of economic recession, exceeding GDP growth by 2 per cent (OECD 2002: 222–223). Moreover, while Japan’s overall electricity consumption increased by 24.6 per cent in the 1990s, that of the residential/commercial sector increased by 42 per cent.12 Interestingly, the growth rate per capita of energy consumption was 13 per cent, close to that of GDP growth for the same period. The explanation for these trends given by the OECD is that Japan is witnessing a continuing shift towards a mass consumption

ECOLOGICALLY MODERN INDUSTRIALIZATION 139

based economy, as mentioned above, with smaller households living in larger homes with more electrical appliances and increased use of information and communication technologies (OECD 2002). For instance, total energy consumption for all households in Japan in 2001 was 193 billion kWh, of which 16 per cent was from refrigerators, 10 per cent from air conditioners and 15.8 per cent from lighting (ANRE 2003). A number of initiatives were implemented in the 1990s in order to support the attainment of Japan’s energy policy objectives. From May 1997 onwards, an Action Programme for Economic Structure Reform began the process of deregulation designed to restructure the supply side of the energy industry. Also in 1997, this time in June, a new law was passed to promote the development and use of new energy (not clean energy, since it also includes energy from waste). These two initiatives have had the impact of allowing smaller entities (Independent Power Producers) to construct energy facilities and sell their electricity to the ten main electricity utilities. Associated with this has been a steady growth in different forms of electricity production. According to the New Energy Foundation, the long-term impact of these measures would be to increase new energy related employment to around 1.3 million persons with a market size of Yen 7 trillion (US$ 8.3 billion) by 2010.13 In 2001, METI published the Long-Term Supply and Demand Outlook to 2010, which forms the basis for government policy (Toichi 2002; ANRE 2003; IEA 2003). Considering that approximately 90 per cent of CO2 produced in Japan is energy related, the measures that Japan adopts to deal with growth in energy consumption are particularly important (IEA 1999:7, 2003). Just like the 3Rs of the waste policy, the energy policy of Japan is based on 3Es—economic growth (deregulation to cut high energy costs), energy security (more nuclear and alternative energy sources) and environmental protection (Toichi 2002). There are four central policies currently being pursued under this framework. First, energy conservation activities are being strengthened so as to restrict growth in primary energy demand to 0.1 per cent per annum in the period 1999–2010 (compared with an anticipated GDP growth of 1.5 per cent per year). Second, new energy sources are being developed to try to reach a target of 18 million TOE by 2010, about 3 per cent of the total primary energy supply. This policy thrust is supported by various fiscal measures including low interest loans for the establishment of new businesses, subsidies and loan guarantees as well as by the supply of information/know-how. Third, plans for the construction of nuclear power stations have been revised downward from 16–20 new plants to 10–13 (Toichi 2002). This may in part explain the difficulties encountered when siting these facilities (Hayden Lesbirel 1998) and public concerns over safety related incidents in recent years (IEA 2003). At present there are 53 commercial nuclear power plants in Japan, which when in operation provide roughly 35 per cent of the national electricity supply (see http://www.enecho.meti.go.jp/english/energy/ index.html). This represented 12 per cent of the total primary energy supply in 1995, estimated to increase to 17.4 per cent by 2010. Fourth, emphasis is placed on increasing the use of natural gas from the current level where it represents around 13 per cent of total primary energy supply (ANRE 2003). With respect to the growth of new energy sources, cumulative output of photovoltaic power generation systems

140 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND ANDREA REVELL

in 2000 was about 321 MW and the numerical target for 2010 is an increase to 4,820 MW (1,180 million oil equivalent litres—moel). Turning now to renewable energy resources, with respect to wind power generation there has been significant progress in recent years with about 284 units built by September 2001, representing a total installed capacity of about 300 MW. The national target for the installation of wind power generators by 2010 is 3,000 MW (1,340 moel) (ANRE 2003). Data is also available for power generation from biomass showing this represented around 80 MW in 1999 and estimated to increase to around 330 MW in 2010. As of the end of 2000, there were 5,603 cogeneration plants in Japan with a combined power output of 5,480 MW (2.4 per cent of overall power generation output and significantly lower than US and European countries). The numerical target for the introduction of cogeneration (excluding steam turbine system) by 2010 has been set to 10,020 MW (6,620 moel). Other renewable energy resources with a longer, more established history in Japan include hydropower and geothermal. The former, in 1997, accounted for 46,320 MW at around 1,800 sites in Japan. With regard to the latter, there are 16 geothermal plants operating in 14 stations with a total potential output of 530 MW, or 0.2 per cent of Japanese power capacity. However, there are no plans to increase the number of geothermal stations. In contrast, waste to energy is viewed as an important source of electricity and there were more than 1,900 municipal solid waste incineration facilities in Japan in 1999, and only 189 had power generation equipment. The combined power output was 843 MW. The number of industrial waste incineration plants featuring power generation equipment, on the other hand, stood at 53 with a combined power output of 136 MW. Altogether, there were 242 waste incineration plants with power generation equipment, and their combined installed capacity was 979 MW. The numerical target for the introduction of waste incineration power generation by fiscal year 2010 has been set to 4,170 MW (5.52 billion LOE). Taking all of the above into consideration, with the addition of hydropower and geothermal, it is estimated that Japan’s renewable and new energy supply will reach 7.5 per cent (i.e. 3 per cent for clean energy) of the total in 2010, compared with 29 per cent for Denmark, 10.3 per cent for Germany and 9.3 per cent for the United Kingdom for the same period (Iida 2003). One reason for this marked difference may relate to funding priorities. For instance, research and development is a central component to the future of Japan’s energy economy. The IEA has, however, pointed out several internal inconsistencies with the current energy related R&D expenditure patterns (IEA 1999:145). For instance, in the mid-1990s, government expenditure in Japan on energy R&D was significantly higher than in other IEA member countries (e.g. US$4.7 billion compared with US$2.9 billion for the United States). Within this context, less than 5 per cent of this R&D spending was committed to non-nuclear priorities— photovoltaics, geothermal, storage technologies and so on. Other problems have been identified in relation to institutional structures and the policy formulation process. In particular, reference is made to the fact that the existing monolithic energy supply structure is based on powerful central control through METI and the ten electricity utilities (Iida 2000). Recent deregulation efforts have had a positive impact and there are calls for the establishment of a regulatory

ECOLOGICALLY MODERN INDUSTRIALIZATION 141

system that would be completely independent from METI (IEA 2003). Furthermore, considerable progress in the promotion of renewable energy has been made on the ground by new coalitions of business, local government and NGOs working to develop renewable energy resources. These groups see renewable energy as a launch pad for Japan’s sustainable energy future that would increase public participation in energy policy formulation and overcome the deep divisions that currently surround Japan’s nuclear power policy. At the same time, the previously closed policy process has begun to open up (although METI remains the convenor). These changes appear to indicate that with respect to green energy policy Japan has placed ‘one foot on the threshold of ecological modernization’ (Iida 2000). It is a hesitant step forward dependent on balancing the three Es. It lacks clarity on how best to make trade-offs between liberalizing the utility sector, ensuring secure energy supplies and reducing carbon dioxide emissions (IEA 2003). The contradictions between these policy goals may in part explain why the Japanese government struggles to communicate its position and timetable for utility restructuring and deregulation. The challenge that Japan again faces is how to reduce energy consumption growth while at the same time enabling the economy to grow. Efforts are being made to try to remedy this situation and a set of detailed and specific measures designed to bring about greater energy efficiencies in all sectors has been introduced through various programmes (including the April 1997 Ministerial Council for Comprehensive Energy Measures and the 2001 Long-Term Energy Supply and Demand Outlook). These include the introduction of ‘quantitative targets’ to reduce energy consumption at all Japanese factories. The target calls for an average annual reduction in energy intensity of more than 1 per cent. At present, these targets are to be met through voluntary actions, for example, through the Keidanren’s Voluntary Action Plan on the Environment (IEA 2003). The government is also promoting the adoption of energy codes and standards for buildings and appliances to increase energy efficiency requirements and a Top Runner methodology is being used specifically for appliance energy efficiency standards (ANRE 2003).14 In April 2003, the Special Measures Law Concerning the Use of New Energy by Electricity Utilities was enacted, functioning as a renewable portfolio standard (RPS). This legislation sets the minimum percentage of electricity generated from renewable sources in relation to the amount of electricity sold (Nakakuji and Kudo 2003). Concerns have been expressed, however, about the need to ensure consistency with existing policy measures (Nakakuji and Kudo 2003) and perhaps more importantly on the potential to use the RPS to shift renewable energy from a marginal concern to a central factor in Japan’s energy policy that could have positive impacts with respect to the promotion of technological innovation and possible rethinking of national nuclear energy policy (Iida 2000). So far we have examined recent innovations related to waste and energy management. The success of these measures is dependent on participation from all sectors including small and medium-sized enterprises.

142 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND ANDREA REVELL

Japanese SMEs and ecological modernization The degree to which small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are involved in ecological restructuring is an important issue to explore if one is to gain any sense of the extent to which ecological modernization is occurring within industry, given that they are such a vast sector of the Japanese economy. In 1996, SMEs accounted for 99 per cent of all firms, 77 per cent of employment and 51.0 per cent of total shipment value of the manufacturing sector. Data for 1994 show that they represent 61.4 per cent of the total amount of wholesale and 76.8 per cent of retail sales.15 However, fascination with Japan Inc.’ has meant that to date there has been little research on the environmental behaviour and attitudes of smaller firms, and therefore their part in METI’s vision of a ‘new age of environmentalism’ remains unclear. From the small number of quantitative surveys conducted on the environmental practices of SMEs in Japan (e.g. Japan Finance Corporation 1997; Sanwa Research Institute and Consulting 1999; Asahi Bank 2000; Yoshida 2002) it appears that most of the ecological restructuring occurring within the SME sector is focused on reducing waste and energy usage, which certainly bodes well for the government’s plans for a ‘recirculatory’ and ‘clean energy’ society. The primary motivation for these practices is to reduce the cost of waste fees and energy bills. However, the perception that other environmental improvements will impose a cost burden on business is a barrier for many owner-managers. Lack of environmental awareness and appropriate skills is also an obstacle to more proactive behaviour. The number of small firms with environmental management systems is low due to the resources required to embark on the accreditation process. Yoshida’s (2002) quantitative study of over two thousand SMEs in Tokyo found that 32 per cent claimed to be involved in industrial waste reduction, 21 per cent claimed to be recycling or re-using products, 20 per cent claimed to be involved in measures to cut noise, vibrations and offensive odours and 18 per cent claimed to be involved in energy-saving measures. Only 2.3 per cent indicated they had acquired or were in the process of acquiring environmental management systems. In terms of size, larger SMEs were more likely to be engaged in environmental measures than their smaller counterparts. Environmental measures were often viewed as either ‘not necessary’ as owner-managers perceived their firm’s environmental impact to be negligible, or as a cost burden which they were unwilling to bear. Another study of 1,590 SMEs in the Tokyo area (Asahi Bank 2000) found that 70 per cent of the sample claimed to be taking measures to cope with environmental issues, mainly minimizing waste disposal (such as cutting paper usage) and energy usage. However, more proactive environmental measures such as recycling or installing energy-saving equipment were rare. The main obstacles to making environmental improvements were found to be a lack of environmental awareness, the cost of investing in environmental equipment and a lack of technical know-how. The vast majority of small firms claimed to be too busy trying to comply with environmental regulation to consider voluntary initiatives. Revell’s qualitative study of mechanical engineering and restaurant firms in Tokyo used the analytical framework provided by ecological modernization theory to explore the environmental practices of small firm owners (Revell 2002). Twenty

ECOLOGICALLY MODERN INDUSTRIALIZATION 143

in-depth interviews were conducted with owner-managers of businesses with under 50 employees, augmented by interviews with ten ‘key informants’ from relevant trade associations, industrial organizations, chambers of commerce and industry and academia. The findings challenged three assumptions in ecological modernization theory, namely the role of market dynamics in the ‘greening’ of industry, the emergence of new ideologies such that business actors increasingly view environmental and economic goals as compatible, and the increasingly participative nature of environmental governance structures. The study found that, whilst some environmental reform was occurring within the sample, market dynamics and changing ideologies were not pushing this reform in the way that might have been expected under ecological modernization. Firstly, there was little supply chain pressure to ecologically restructure (for instance, mechanical engineers had not been encouraged by suppliers to improve their environmental performance or invest in environmental management systems, and restaurants similarly felt no pressure from customers to take an interest in environmental concerns). Secondly, economic and environmental goals were often perceived as conflicting, with many owner-managers unwilling to invest the resources required for environmental management because of the perception that it would be too costly. Thirdly, small firm owners felt marginalized from policy networks that they perceived to be dominated by political, bureaucratic and business elites. The study concluded by arguing that the environment was not yet a core business concern for small firms as neither the state nor the market had provided significant enough pressure on owner-managers to reduce their environmental impacts. Moreover, a lack of participation in policy networks was highlighted as a possible reason for small firm resistance to environmental action, as firms had not been engaged in a consultative process aimed at stimulating environmental management and therefore a context of consensual support for policy strategies had not been created (Revell 2002). Whilst it appears that large firms in Japan have widely adopted voluntary goals and standards, these studies indicate that small and medium-sized enterprises are more laggardly with regards to voluntarily embracing environmental best practice than their corporate counterparts. The environmental performance gap between large and small firms may in part be due to the sheer numbers of small firms which make them more difficult to regulate than large firms, but it is also due to the traditional emphasis on voluntarism within Japanese environmental policy. Voluntary agreements, a favoured policy tool in Japan, have been very effective in encouraging environmental management amongst large firms who are responsive to stakeholder pressure to reduce environmental risk and who have the resources to invest in environmental management systems and clean technology. However, voluntary approaches are arguably less likely to be effective amongst resource-poor smaller firms, particularly if market dynamics such as supply chain pressure and consumer demand are doing little to drive environmental change. Owner-managers are likely to resist voluntary action when they are concerned that making environmental improvements might affect the competitiveness of their business. Clearly, regulatory drivers are needed to ensure that the environment becomes a top business priority for small firms. The introduction of the raft of new legislation

144 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND ANDREA REVELL

on waste and energy augurs well for reducing the environmental ‘footprint’ of the SME sector, for when a level playing field’ is perceived small firms are more likely to accept additional costs. Small firms have unique characteristics that distinguish them from large firms and therefore attempts to include them in the ‘recirculatory’ and ‘clean energy’ society will necessarily entail the adoption of a size as well as sectoral approach to policy-making in Japan. Moreover, it appears that policies such as the Green Purchasing Law will be essential in encouraging the vertical and horizontal coordination amongst firms that a Wuppertal Institute’s study identifies as currently inadequate in Japan, yet which is so vital to the formation of a recirculatory economy (Bleischwitz 2002). Conclusions Japan has gone through various phases of eco-efficiency since the 1960s. In the past, Japan was able to reduce environmental impacts in some areas by applying its technical prowess to find innovative solutions that allowed greater productivity to occur without the need for more material and energy usage. However, it is apparent that due to a continued expansion in output Japan has achieved only a relative decoupling of economic growth from environmental degradation. This has led to a debate over whether Japan is an environmental laggard or leader, as absolute levels of waste, energy usage and pollution continue to increase. In this chapter we have discussed policymakers’ aspirations for a new age of environmentalism in Japan, involving the creation of a ‘recirculatory’ and ‘clean energy’ society. This renewed vigour in environmental policy indicates that Japan is hoping to reassert itself as an ‘ecological front-runner nation’. However, this new phase of ecological modernization will not be without its challenges, for it requires a radical reordering of many segments of industry and society. In this chapter, we have shown that management of the environmental side effects of industrialization goes beyond single industrial facilities (end-of-pipe) or entire production processes (cleaner production) or even entire groups of industries (zero emissions). It is apparent with respect to both waste management and energy in Japan that we are now talking about the embedded nature of industrialism within society such that, in order to green industry, we must also green the wider society. This will inevitably involve challenging some of the existing values surrounding consumption. In Japan, within the waste management sector, we note the use of the term recirculatory or recycling society to describe a gradual process whereby waste generation and depletion of capital stock is curtailed. This may be possible without undue disincentives for economic growth but the challenge lies in the fact that it intrinsically involves the creation of greater linkages and shared responsibilities between producers and consumers, between large and small firms, as well as between different sectors of the economy and society. The same is also true of the early efforts we are witnessing as Japan attempts yet again to decouple primary energy growth from GDP growth. The government has recognized that measures targeted at industry have reached saturation in terms of their relative effectiveness and that additional investments in this sector will have limited impact. The test is how to

ECOLOGICALLY MODERN INDUSTRIALIZATION 145

curtail growth in the residential, commercial and transportation sectors where decisions are made based on lifestyle choices rather than rational neoclassical economics. The success depends to a large extent on whether society is willing to buy into ecological modernization’s notions of ‘economizing ecology’ (Mol 1997), whether the place for dialogue and consensus building around these notions actually exists in Japanese society (outside of academic forums and government committees) and whether a socially shared value structure is possible in order to facilitate this process of change. One thing is clear. The current environmental dilemma in Japan does not lend itself easily to command-and-control mechanisms that worked so successfully in the past and may in part explain why the government has favoured steering policies consistent with ecological modernization. The ‘recirculatory’ and ‘clean energy’ society is an ambitious policy platform based on radical social change; if achieved Japan will have certainly earned its position as a global environmental leader. Notes 1 Defined as the implementation of industrial practices that improve corporate profitably by redesigning manufacturing processes to reduce the production of wastes at source (Cohen 1997:8). 2 Citing experience at the Nippon Steel Corporation, the Cruz et al. report argues that this company was able to reduce SO2 emissions from its factories by 85 per cent between 1973 and 1997. Similar trends are found for NOx with the case of the Tokyo Electric Power Company indicating that it reduced emissions by 85 per cent per kilowatt-hour (kWh) between 1973 and 1997 (Cruz et al 2002). Unfortunately, these industry related reductions were offset by increases in NO2 emissions from vehicles and the associated gradual increase in road traffic. 3 Technical advances have yielded great successes in Japan, particularly in the areas of pollution abatement and energy efficiency. In recent decades, Japanese companies have spent as much as Yen 9.7 trillion (US$73.5 billion) on pollution abatement (Taylor 1999). Research and development in clean technology has resulted in such innovations as flue-gas desulphurization and denitrification, computerized monitoring techniques and automobile exhaust gas control technologies. The automobile industry has dramatically decreased pollutant levels in passenger cars with such inventions as unleaded petrol, the catalytic converter and the hybrid car. 4 Toxic waste regulations in Japan are described as ‘primitive’ by Kerr (2001), who highlights that only a few dozen substances are regulated compared with over a thousand chemicals in the US. 5 Some of the leading thinking on this topic in Europe has been undertaken in Germany at the Wuppertal Institute and in Finland at the University of Tampere. For instance, a paper from Jukka Hoffren at the University of Tampere includes a comparison of material efficiencies for Finland, the Netherlands, the USA, Japan and Germany (based on a calculation of GDP divided by the primary consumption of natural resources) between 1975 and 1994 (Hoffren 2003). The results indicate that, through the 1970s and 1980s, Japan and the Netherlands followed very similar

146 BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT AND ANDREA REVELL

6 7 8

9 10

paths in terms of eco-efficiency only to diverge around 1990 as the Japanese economy managed to make greater improvements up to 1993. Consequently, efficiencies dropped off as a result of the sudden economic decline at the end of the bubble economy (i.e. direct material inputs to the Japanese economy fell from over 2 billion tons per annum in 1990 to around 1.7 in 1993) (Adriaanse et al 1997). For more recent data see http://www.ecology.or.jp/isoworld/english/analyl4k.htm. See following web sites for access to these statistics—http://www.jinjapan.org/stat/ and http://www.stat.go.jp/english/index.htm. It is very interesting to reflect upon the Japanese government’s efforts to look more closely at the current environmental load created by the residential, commercial and transportation sectors, particularly in the area of climate change. Similar activities are under way in most industrialized countries with a recent study from the UK being most interesting. The report by Dr Jan Koojiman published in June 2001 looked at the environmental impacts of households and came up with some fascinating observations (INCPEN 2001). Firstly, he argues that declining household size has implications for the associated environmental impacts (i.e. a single person has double the impact of a person in a large household) and in the UK the average household size dropped from 3.1 in 1961 to 2.3 in 2001, with associated negative environmental impacts. Second, each household consumes around 4,300 items of all kinds in a year (equivalent to 2.8 tonnes) and all 25 million households consume 100 billion goods per year. The choice for consumers is ever increasing, with the average supermarket now offering around 20,000 products. Furthermore, most households now have all the necessary basic commodities—car, fridge, washing machine, microwave, television and so on. Dr Koojiman then applies life-cycle analysis to identify where the big environmental impacts occur for individual households. His results show that the production of food and goods accounts for 109 gigajoules of energy for each household per year, home heating and water were next with 63 gigajoules followed by transportation 39 giga-joules and the use of household appliances at 16 gigajoules. He then presented a comparative analysis of various possible environmental conservation measures and showed that choosing a car that can travel 40 miles to the gallon over one capable of only 20 saves in one year the energy equivalent to the recycling by a household of all its glass bottles for 400 years. According to Kerr (2001), of the industrial waste sites that are reported, more than half are unprotected with no devices to prevent leaching. The case of Teshima is possibly the best-known case. The story begins in 1975 when the Kagawa Prefectural Government received an application from a firm to use a seven-hectare site on the island for a hazardous waste management business. Within two years, the company modified the application to an intermediate disposal and earthworm cultivation in the sludge (Yoshida 2002). The application was granted in 1978 but, according to the Daily Yomiuri Newspaper (23 August 2003:9), from 1983 onwards, the company called Teshima Sogo Kanko Kaihatsu began illegally dumping industrial waste and open burning. This continued until 1990 when the prefectural government began investigations. Two years later, the national Environmental Disputes Coordination Committee was brought in to mediate between the company and the local residents. The latter demanded the removal of the waste and compensation. In 1996, the local court ruled in favour of

ECOLOGICALLY MODERN INDUSTRIALIZATION 147

11 12 13 14

15

the local residents. An intermediate agreement was then reached in 1997 between the local residents and the prefectural government whereby the latter admitted that it had made a mistake. The local citizens then successfully took legal action against the prefectural government. Subsequently, in June 2000, after something like 36 rounds of negotiation between community groups and the prefectural government, the local authority formally admitted responsibility and promised to remove the waste. The local area was subsequently designated as an Eco-Town and at a cost of Yen 50 billion a new waste processing facility was constructed on the adjacent Noashima and will operate for ten years until all of the waste is dealt with. As reported on the Japan for Sustainability web site—http://www.japanfs.org. Interestingly Masuzoe (2001) indicates that there are 2 million beverage vending machines in Japan each using around 3,500 kWh of electricity annually. See http://www.nef.or.jp/english/new/implement.html for more details. Moreover, a similar approach is being implemented to compute fuel efficiency standards for automobiles. If effectively implemented, the current Top Runner standard will mandate significant improvements in automobile efficiency (on average a 22.8 per cent improvement by 2010 over 1995 levels). See the following web site for details: http://www.actetsme.org/japa/jap98.htm.

148

9 Japan in the greenhouse—the challenge of addressing rising emissions Miranda A.Schreurs

Japan’s decision to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and abide by its provisions will create new challenges for the nation as we begin the 21st century. The challenge is made more complicated by several important factors: the decision of the United States to not ratify the protocol; Japan’s current economic recession; and the nation’s already high energy efficiency, a result of the implementation of technological advances. It is important not to have an unduly pessimistic impression of the socioeconomic consequences for Japan. Industrial and market changes can, with suitable policy initiatives, form part of the nation’s response to the protocol. These changes can generate new economic activity and wealth. (Tsuneyuki Morita, National Institute of Environmental Strategies, 2002)1 While Dryzek (1997) has argued that Japan is one of a handful of states that can be considered ecologically modernized in terms of past energy efficiency improvements and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (2002) gave Japan’s environmental performance a positive assessment, the real test for Japan’s status as an environmental pioneer may well lie in how it responds to climate change. Reducing Japan’s greenhouse gas emissions by the substantial degrees as recommended by scientists in order to slow global warming will require changes to Japanese industrial, agricultural and societal practices of an unprecedented scale.2 Even meeting the limited reductions called for by the Kyoto Protocol will be a real challenge. Whether or not Japan’s governmental officials, scientists, industries and civil society can work closely enough together to make possible the necessary cuts to emissions domestically remains to be seen. Another uncertainty is the extent to which Japan will succeed in finding international partners with which it can work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions abroad. As a global problem closely linked to the spread of the industrial revolution through the nations of Europe, North America, East Asia and more recently Latin America, Southeast Asia and parts of the Middle East, global warming will require coordinated action and high levels of cooperation among states. Climate change is a far more complex environmental problem than those nations have had to tackle in the

150 JAPAN IN THE GREENHOUSE

past (Langhelle 2000). It raises a whole array of challenges in terms of how nations need to respond to the ecological interconnectedness of our world, the increasing importance of political links between different parts of the world and on whether these political links can be collaborative rather than conflicting. Global warming also raises questions about the implications of globalization for environmental change and the theoretical constructs used by sociologists to analyse the transformation of modernity (Mol 2001b: 54–55). The difficulties of dealing with global warming within the framework of ecological modernization have been presented by Mol and Spaargaren (1993) and Murphy (2001a) and there have been calls for a new phase of ecological modernization that focuses on high-consequence risks such as climate change and on the distributive aspects of environmental policy (Mol 1996). Since the early 1990s, the Japanese government has made environmental protection an important element of its foreign policy (Yamamoto 1994; Broadbent 2002b; Schreurs 2005). Environmental protection has become one of the largest budget items in Japan’s official development assistance and Japan has begun to play a more visible role in international environmental protection efforts.3 Climate change is a prominent component of Japan’s foreign environmental policy (Kameyama 2003). One important indication of this was Japan’s decision to host the 1997 United Nations Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) where the Kyoto Protocol was formulated (Kawashima 2001). The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement mandating greenhouse gas emissions reductions by the advanced industrialized nations of the world (Grubb et al 1999; Oberthür and Ott 1999). Both Japan and the European Union (EU) have ratified the agreement, but at the time of writing the agreement has yet to come into force because of opposition to the agreement from the United States.4 Nevertheless, as a result of commitments it made at the Kyoto Conference, the Japanese government has implemented numerous changes to domestic laws and programmes in an effort to slow the growth of domestic greenhouse gas emissions. It has introduced various programmes to assist developing countries with improving energy efficiency and reducing emissions that contribute to global warming. The government has also become more open to non-governmental organizations’ involvement in climate change policy formulation and implementation than was true in earlier decades (Reimann 2001; Fisher 2004). Yet, to date these efforts have done little to reverse the rising trend in Japan’s greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, there is a certain degree of ill-ease in Japan regarding the Kyoto Protocol. While many, and especially the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and environmental groups, are eager to see the Kyoto Protocol become a legally binding agreement, there is concern particularly among industries and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) that, as long as the US is not party to the agreement, then Japanese industrial competitiveness will suffer if Japan is forced to take costly energy savings or pollution control measures when the US is not. This may be why recent efforts to pass a carbon tax have not succeeded and instead the Japanese government has focused on technology innovation, some regulation, voluntary measures and

MIRANDA A.SCHREURS 151

international initiatives to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions. This chapter examines the evolution of Japan’s response to international climate change negotiations and its efforts to implement the Kyoto Protocol. It begins with a brief overview of the history of the formation of the agreement and then provides a more detailed look at Japan’s reaction to the US pull-out and its subsequent attempts to find a way to bridge the very different positions of the US and European Union (EU) on the agreement. As a consequence of the US withdrawal, Japan had considerable influence over the shape the Kyoto Protocol’s implementation mechanisms eventually took. The chapter then examines Japan’s efforts domestically and overseas to introduce laws and programmes aimed at cutting back emissions. We suggest that, while Japan has made some important regulatory changes and Japanese industries have voluntarily introduced programmes to cut their own emissions, greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. Particularly problematic are emissions tied to individual consumption. METI also has found it difficult to promote nuclear energy, a solution the Ministry favours for meeting the nation’s energy needs and portrays as a ‘clean energy’ because it does not contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. This is largely because of growing domestic opposition to the construction of new plants but also because of soaring costs for plant construction. Interestingly, METI and industry have begun to take more seriously the development of renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar and biomass, as mentioned in Chapter 8. Nevertheless, the challenge for Japan to reduce emissions domestically is great. There does not appear to be sufficient political will at this stage to introduce the more painful measures, such as carbon taxes, that will be needed to make sharp cuts in emissions. Various climate change mitigation programmes have been initiated, but Japan cannot as of yet be labelled a greenhouse gas success story. There is also still much work to be done in terms of building up international partnerships to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries. The formation of the Kyoto Protocol Japan entered the 1990s eager to improve its international standing by enhancing its foreign contributions. Beleaguered by complaints that Japan was not doing enough for the international community given its economic wealth, Japan’s political leaders began to consider ways of strengthening the country’s international image (Pempel 1998:138–157). The end of the Cold War provided new opportunities for international engagement (Inoguchi 1993). This was also a time when international environmental problems such as acid rain, stratospheric ozone depletion, biodiversity loss, ocean pollution and global climate change were rising on to the international agenda (Porter and Brown 1995). Environmental protection was an area that Japan’s political leaders seized upon as it was felt that Japan could draw upon its past experiences with severe pollution and its relatively successful efforts to get domestic pollution under control and use this know-how to help developing countries address their growing pollution problems (MoFA 1992).

152 JAPAN IN THE GREENHOUSE

Moreover, despite Japan’s successes with air pollution control and energy efficiency improvements domestically, Japan’s environmental image was suffering. Ironically, in part this was because of the increase in Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) to developing countries in Southeast Asia in the 1980s. Much of the ODA loans were for large infrastructure projects, such as dams, power plants and roads. Critics complained that Japan was doing more harm than good with ODA projects that may have been well intentioned, but proved to be environmentally destructive, lined the pockets of corrupt officials or displaced large numbers of people (Forrest 1989; Dauvergne 1997; Kerr 2001). Japan’s international environmental image problems were also related to long-held cultural practices that made use of parts of species, like ivory tusks, that were from threatened or endangered species. Consumption levels of exotic species’ products had also grown during Japan’s economic boom decade of the 1980s. Japan’s continuation of whaling for ‘scientific purposes’ was also viewed with disdain in the West (Miyaoka 2004).5 Efforts to alter Japan’s international environmental image began seriously around 1990 just at the time of international efforts in preparation for the twentieth anniversary of the 1972 United Nations Convention on the Human Environment (the Stockholm Conference). Scientific warnings that an accumulation of anthropogenic (man-made) greenhouse gases in the atmosphere could lead to a warming of the planet and alter climatic systems began to gain political attention (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2001a). In 1990 Japan joined several European countries (e.g. the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Norway) in announcing a voluntary target to stabilize its carbon dioxide emissions at 1990 levels by 2000. Two years later at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), Japan announced that it would become a major contributor to international environmental protection efforts. At the conference, Japan signed Agenda 21, which is a plan for action for sustainable development; the Biodiversity Convention; the Forest Principles; and the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC). The FCCC states that global warming is a problem and that the developed countries of the world (basically the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries) are responsible for the largest share of accumulated emissions. The agreement was signed by 166 countries within one year and has since been ratified by 188 countries including Japan, the EU and the US.6 The agreement, however, did not spell out any specific measures to be taken or emissions reductions to be required of parties. Instead, it left these questions to be worked out in the future at annual Conferences of the Parties (COPs). The history of these negotiations has been told in great detail elsewhere (Grubb et al. 1999; Oberthür and Ott 1999; Schroder 2001). For the purposes of this chapter, it is sufficient to note that in 1995 Japan announced its interest in hosting the third COP where it had been agreed efforts to hammer out an international agreement on climate change would occur. This decision was made, apparently, because of an interest in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and elsewhere in the government in having the name of a Japanese city tied to what was likely to become a major international agreement (Kawashima 2000). It is interesting

MIRANDA A.SCHREURS 153

to speculate in hindsight if Japan’s leadership would have made the offer to host the COP if they had known that the US would pull out of the agreement. The third COP was held in Kyoto, Japan in December 1997. Months of preparation went into the Kyoto Conference during which time various possible models of an international agreement were reviewed and debated. Going into the negotiations there was a major divide between the EU, on the one side, and the US—with support from Japan, Canada, New Zealand and Australia—on the other. The EU went into the negotiations calling for a 15 per cent emissions reduction for all developed countries, with an important exception for EU member states. In the negotiations, the EU treated itself as a political unit and thus argued that the EU members as a whole (as opposed to individually) should be required to make a 15 per cent cut. Within this bubble some member states would be expected to make sharp emission reductions while other less developed states within the EU would be allowed to increase their emissions. This demand for common emissions reduction targets fell flat due to strong opposition from the US and Japan, which argued the proposal was inherently unfair and argued that differentiated emissions reductions based on national circumstances should be required. On this issue, the EU relented (Schreurs 2003). In part because of developments in the US Senate, the US went into the negotiations demanding that developing countries also be required to take action. Just a few months prior to the Kyoto Conference, the Senate had voted 95:0 in a resolution that made clear they would not back a treaty unless it required ‘meaningful action’ on climate change from developing countries (Harris 2000: 231–232). The EU’s position, in contrast, was that, since the rich countries were largely responsible for the rising concentration of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, they should be required to reduce their domestic emissions and set an example for developing countries in doing so (Grant, Matthews and Newell 2000: 120–147). Although there were several other contentious points, including even which gases the agreement should cover, the two most visible disagreements regarded what the actual emissions target(s) for each country should be and how those targets were to be reached. The US argued that the best it could achieve would be a stabilization of emissions at 1990 levels by 2012 because of the growing US population and the need for economic stability. The EU continued to argue for a 15 per cent reduction. Japan was in a difficult position. It had a strong interest, as host to the agreement, in achieving a successful outcome. Yet, Japan already had substantially higher energy efficiency than the US and much of Europe. Thus, the costs of reduction would be high for Japan. Moreover, within the national bureaucracy there was considerable tension on this issue. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Japan Environment Agency were very concerned about achieving a deal, with the latter being of the view that relatively substantial reductions in the order of 6 to 8 per cent were obtainable. The Ministry of International Trade and Industry was more cautious. The compromise reached among these ministries and presented as Japan’s negotiating position was that the maximum emissions reductions that the country could achieve without being put at a severe competitive disadvantage was in the order of 5 per cent (Kawashima 2000, 2001; Schreurs 2002: 186–187).

154 JAPAN IN THE GREENHOUSE

The debate at COP3 was contentious and reaching a compromise proved difficult. Eventually a deal was struck with Japan doing its best to play the role of mediator between the EU and the US. The EU agreed that it would cut its combined member state emissions by 8 per cent of 1990 levels by 2008–2012 (with different nations within the EU having different targets) and the US would cut its emissions by 7 per cent in the same period. In order to seal the deal between the EU and the US, Japan had to accept a sharper reduction goal than it had said was the maximum it could achieve. Japan committed to a 6 per cent emissions reduction goal. There was also disagreement regarding how much of those emissions reductions should be made domestically. The US pushed hard for the inclusion in the language of the agreement of the right for a nation to gain credit for emissions reductions overseas or through enhancing carbon absorbing forests and other sinks. The EU argued that the agreement should require that the bulk of emissions reductions be made domestically. Japan sided with the US saying that it would not be appropriate to cap the percentage of emissions reduction credits a nation could receive for cleaning up greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries or countries in transition because pollution control and energy efficiency improvements would be more cost-effective in those places. Both the US and Japan argued for allowing nations maximum flexibility in the use of various implementation mechanisms. No agreement was reached on these implementation questions other than that flexible mechanisms were written into the agreement. Working out implementation rules was left for subsequent negotiations. The US withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol Although the William J. Clinton administration signed the Kyoto Protocol, the agreement did not have the support of the United States Senate. In the US, ratification of an international agreement requires a two–thirds majority of the Senate to pass. Clinton, therefore, never introduced the agreement to the Senate for ratification. When George W.Bush became president, one of his very first decisions was to reject the agreement signed by his predecessor. The basis for his abrupt decision was his belief that the emissions reductions required of the US under the agreement would be too costly and would adversely impact job growth and economic conditions. The Bush administration’s decision, which was made without prior consultation with either Japan or the EU, shocked and angered the international community. The EU erupted in anger both at the US decision to withdraw from the agreement and the unilateral way in which the withdrawal was announced.7 Japan too criticized the US withdrawal, but at the same time Prime Minister Koizumi suggested that US involvement in the agreement was critical and thus efforts should be made to bring the US back in.8 While the EU was also engaged in diplomatic efforts to try to change the Bush administration’s stance, it also began an effort to isolate the US on this issue by moving forward with efforts to ratify the agreement even without the US. Under strong public pressure, Prime Minister Jun’ichiro Koizumi joined the EU in moving forward with the Kyoto Protocol even without the US.

MIRANDA A.SCHREURS 155

Japan’s decision to join the EU in continuing to back the Kyoto Protocol, even after the George W. Bush administration decided to withdraw the US signature from the agreement, was critical to the EU’s efforts to keep the Kyoto Protocol alive. The unilateral US decision to reject the Kyoto Protocol, however, placed Japan’s leadership in a difficult position. The MITI (which in 2001 became the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry—(METI) and industrial leaders were already worried about Japan’s ability to meet the 6 per cent reduction goal when the US was still part of the deal. With the US out of the agreement, US industries would not be bound to any emissions reductions. This made METI and Japanese industry even more concerned. The costs of reducing CO2 pollution would put Japanese industry at a competitive disadvantage at a time when Japan was already facing the longest recession in post-war history. The bottom line, however, was that Japan had staked its reputation on the successful conclusion of the Kyoto Protocol and on playing a leadership role in international environmental protection. Thus, despite METI’s trepidations, the MoFA and the MoE with the backing of Japan’s political leadership determined to continue to work towards making the agreement a reality (Schreurs 2002). It was at this point in the negotiations that Japan was at centre stage and in a powerful position. Even though the Kyoto Protocol had been formulated, the difficult work of hammering out rules governing implementation mechanisms still needed to be done. In these negotiations Japan took on many of the arguments that the US had been making under the Clinton administration and that would take some of the burden of the 6 per cent reduction goal off Japan. In an effort to win the Senate over to the agreement, the Clinton administration had pushed hard for inclusion in the Kyoto Protocol of the right for a nation to gain credit towards its emissions reductions from what are known as ‘flexible mechanisms’. There are several kinds of flexible mechanisms. Joint implementation is an arrangement under which a developed country can get credit for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in a country in transition (primarily the former Soviet bloc countries) that is also bound by the Kyoto Protocol. Similar to this, the clean development mechanism allows developed countries to get credit for emissions reductions in developing countries. Another flexible mechanism is known as emissions trading. This market-based mechanism allocates a fixed number of pollution permits to firms at a cost. Depending on the cost of the permits, firms will have an incentive to reduce their pollution loads so that they can sell off some of their permits. Others, such as environmental groups, may have an incentive to buy up permits in order to retire them from the system. This system can be a cost-effective way of persuading firms to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Countries can also achieve emissions off-sets by expanding carbon dioxide absorbing sinks, such as forests (Schreurs 2002; Kameyama 2003). The US succeeded in getting these flexible mechanisms accepted as part of the Kyoto language but no decision was reached at Kyoto regarding how much a nation could rely on flexible mechanisms to reach its reduction target. The EU argued that a nation should be required to meet the bulk of its emissions reduction goals—and certainly at least 50 per cent of its emissions reductions—by making cuts to emissions domestically rather than using flexible mechanisms that would allow a country to obtain credits towards its own emission reduction target by investing in

156 JAPAN IN THE GREENHOUSE

energy efficiency improvements or pollution reduction programmes in developing countries. The logic behind the EU position was that, because developed countries are responsible for the bulk of the greenhouse gas emissions that have accumulated in the atmosphere, they should take real measures to reduce their own emissions and, in the process, set a good example for the rest of the world. The US in contrast argued that there should be no limit placed on the use of the flexible mechanisms as that would ignore the fact that, in the future, the largest emitters of greenhouse gases will be the developing countries. Moreover, this would not be cost-effective since emissions reductions could be achieved for less in developing countries. Given that the atmosphere is a global commons, it should not matter where emissions reductions occur. Japan, which had already achieved relatively high energy efficiency standards domestically, felt that it would be too expensive for Japan to make substantial cuts domestically and sided with the US on this issue. In the subsequent negotiations, Japan succeeded in convincing the EU to accept the idea that only a very limited cap be placed on the extent to which a nation could meet its reductions requirements through the use of flexible mechanisms. It also won EU support for the inclusion of sinks as an acceptable implementation mechanism. Japan did not succeed, however, in winning the EU over to the idea that nuclear energy development be permitted under joint implementation or the clean development mechanism. Winning over Russia Almost three years after the US rejection of the Kyoto Protocol, the future of the agreement looks more uncertain. To go into effect, the Kyoto Protocol requires that two important conditions be met. The first condition is that 55 nations ratify (approve, accept or accede to) the Protocol. This condition has been met and, as of November 2003, 120 parties had ratified the agreement. Japan acceded to the Kyoto Protocol in June 2002 just weeks after the EU ratified it (http://unfccc.int/ resource/ kpstats.pdf). The second condition is that those ratifying the agreement include countries responsible for 55 per cent of industrialized countries’ carbon dioxide emissions in 1990 (http://unfccc.int/resource/convkp.html). The 32 industrialized countries (technically known as Annex I parties to the 1992 FCCC) that have ratified the agreement as of now amount to only 44.2 per cent of those 1990 emissions levels. The US alone is responsible for 36.1 per cent of 1990 Annex I country emissions and the Russian Federation 17.4 per cent (http://unfccc.int/ resouce/ kpco2.pdf). Thus, without US participation, the only way for the Kyoto Protocol to go into effect is if the Russian Federation agrees to ratify. Numerous efforts to persuade Russia to join the agreement have been made. As late as November 2003, for example, Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi had her deputy foreign minister deliver letters to Russia’s Foreign Minister Igor Sergeyevich Ivanov and Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Borisovich Khristenko urging Russia to ratify the agreement.9 But despite Japanese and European efforts to persuade Russia to join the Kyoto club, for two years, Russia played a shrewd diplomatic game, first suggesting it would ratify, then backing away, but not entirely dismissing the agreement, either.

MIRANDA A.SCHREURS 157

Russia seemed eager to extract the best deal possible from Japan and Europe before committing to ratification, including support for the possibility of joining the World Trade Organization. Japan’s greenhouse gas emissions There are numerous greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxides, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride. However, because of the sheer quantity of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels, CO2 is considered the biggest emissions problem. In the United States, for example, it is estimated that CO2 accounted for approximately 80 per cent of global warming potential weighted emissions in 1990. The Japanese government estimates that CO2 accounted for approximately 90 per cent of Japan’s greenhouse gas emissions released between April 2001 and March 2002 (Japan Times, 29 August 2003). Carbon dioxide emissions therefore have been a main target of government programmes to counter global warming. Japan is one of the world’s biggest carbon dioxide emitters. Its 1990 carbon dioxide emissions levels (the base year used for the Kyoto Protocol) were 8.5 per cent of Annex I country totals. Japan is the third largest emitter of CO2 among the advanced industrialized states, but its emissions are relatively small when compared with the US or the Russian Federation. Japan’s status improves slightly when viewed on a global scale (including developed and developing countries). The world’s largest emitters are the US accounting for approximately 23.1 per cent of global emissions in 2000, China 11.5 per cent, the Russian Federation 5.9 per cent and Japan 4.89 per cent. India does not trail far behind Japan, however, at 4.42 per cent. Germany comes in sixth place at 3.24 per cent.10 On a per capita emissions level, Japan’s rankings look somewhat less disturbing. The largest emitters on a per capita basis are the very small, wealthy countries. Per capita CO2 emissions are an astounding 61.12 metric tons in the Antarctic Fisheries, 29.91 in the US Virgin Islands and 19.65 in Qatar, the world’s three largest greenhouse gas emitters on a per capita basis. Next in the rankings are primarily the wealthy Middle East oil producers. The United States comes in tenth place, Canada nineteenth, Germany thirty-fifth, the United Kingdom thirty-sixth and Japan thirty-seventh at 2.55 metric tons per capita (Marland et al. 2003). Japan’s relatively good per capita CO2 emissions ranking can be largely attributed to energy-saving measures introduced in Japan in reaction to the two Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil embargoes of the 1970s. The oil shocks hit Japan particularly hard because of its near total dependence on energy imports. Oil prices nearly quadrupled after the 1973 oil embargo causing great concern about Japan’s heavy dependence on petroleum imports. In reaction, MITI initiated the Sunshine Project in 1975, an effort to promote the development of alternative energy sources to petroleum (including nuclear energy and renewable energy sources). This was followed in 1978 by the Moonlight Project to promote the development of energy– saving technologies. MITI’s various initiatives helped to reduce dramatically the energy intensity of industry. Thus, although the economy continued to grow at a

158 JAPAN IN THE GREENHOUSE

healthy rate throughout the 1970s and 1980s, carbon dioxide emissions remained virtually flat. Japan emitted 248,470 metric tons of carbon in 1973 and 244,816 metric tons in 1987 (Marland et al 2003). Emissions trends since this time, however, suggest that Japan has a substantial challenge ahead if it is to meet its Kyoto Protocol emissions reduction pledge. In the decade between 1987 and 1996 CO2 emissions grew by 30 per cent suggesting that past energy-saving measures had reached a threshold. At the December 1997 Kyoto Conference, Japan agreed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 6 per cent of 1990 levels by 2008–2012. Yet, according to Japanese government statistics, CO2 emissions for all energy industries combined had increased 9.6 per cent between 1990 and 1999. Carbon dioxide emissions in the commercial (office and residential) and agricultural (forestry and fisheries) sectors increased 4.7 per cent over this same period. Even more alarming were the particularly large increases evident in the transportation sector (a 23.9 per cent rise) and the civil aviation sector (a 50 per cent increase) over the decade of the 1990s.11 While there was a 2.5 per cent drop in greenhouse gas emissions between fiscal year 2000 and fiscal year 2001, the fall was largely attributed to a warm winter. Moreover, there was a 2.2 per cent increase in emissions between fiscal year 2001 and fiscal year 2002. Emissions in fiscal year 2002 were 7.6 per cent higher than in 1990.12 This means that over the next decade emissions must be cut by approximately 13.6 per cent if the goal of returning to 1990 levels is to be achieved. These figures suggest that Japan has a difficult road ahead if it is to fulfil its Kyoto Protocol obligations. Comparative perspective with other ecologically modern states Comparatively speaking, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden were among the first to introduce comprehensive programmes to address climate change. The Norwegian government was also prompt to respond with some narrowly focused domestic reduction measures. Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands all introduced carbon taxes in the early 1990s. While Japan was also early in its introduction of an emissions reduction goal, Japan’s approach has differed a little from the other ecologically modern states with its heavier emphasis on technological development, particularly in the energy sector and also with the adoption of a key mediation role in relation to the formulation of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. Of the five countries, only Germany appears to be currently moving toward meeting its target under the Kyoto Protocol. This has been largely as a result of industrial collapse and subsequent cleanup in the former East Germany following reunification, rather than as a result of a climate change policy per se. A comparison of the per capita CO2 emissions for the five states is presented Figure 9.1. It is interesting to see the significant dip in emissions in Germany since reunification. It is also worth pointing out that, although per capita emissions in Japan have gradually increased since the early 1980s, they are well below those of the Netherlands and in line with those of Norway.

MIRANDA A.SCHREURS 159

Figure 9.1 Per capita carbon dioxide emissions in the five EM states from the consumption and flaring of fossil fuels, 1980–2000 (metric tons carbon equivalent) (source: Greenhouse Gas Inventory Office of Japan, http://www-gio.nies.go.jp/gio-e/gio/ db-e.html).

Transposing the Kyoto Protocol into domestic laws and programmes Regulatory measures The uncertainty that surrounded the future of the Kyoto Protocol for so long dulled somewhat the drive to fulfil Kyoto Protocol mandates domestically. The uncertainty has been an important factor, for example, in preventing the introduction to date of carbon taxes, which have been called for by the MoE. Both Japan and the EU have been operating under the assumption that the Kyoto Protocol would eventually go into effect and that it was therefore wise to begin the process of reducing emissions. They also felt that, even if the Kyoto Protocol did not become binding, then in the future other efforts to address climate change would arise and Japan and the EU would have a head start on the US in addressing the problem. During the many years that negotiations progressed at the international level, domestically Japan began to introduce various legislative and voluntary measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and especially CO2 emissions. Numerous measures have been introduced in Japan in an effort to stop the growth and eventually cut the level of greenhouse gas emissions. In April 1998, for example, the Law Concerning the Rational Use of Energy (or the Energy Conservation Law) was amended to further energy saving measures (http:// www.eccj.or.jp/law/e-law.html).

160 JAPAN IN THE GREENHOUSE

Under the revised law specific categories of appliances were designated as requiring measures to improve their energy efficiency standards. In 2000 the list was expanded to include items such as heaters, heating and cooking appliances, automatic goods vending machines, and transformers among others. A system was also established under which industrial facilities were categorized as Type 1 or Type 2 Designated Energy Management Factories and have been required to draw up medium- to longterm plans for rationalizing their energy use.13 The guideline listed a variety of specific suggestions for meeting the 6 per cent reduction target established by the Kyoto Protocol. These included targets to improve automobile fuel consumption by 15–20 per cent of 1995 levels by fiscal year 2010 and an 8–30 per cent improvement in the energy efficiency of household appliances. It also promoted Daylight Savings Time. Another measure was the establishment of the Top Runners programme, which promotes the establishment of new efficiency standards at the level of the most energy efficient product supplied domestically, and the introduction of an energy efficiency labelling system for products. The guideline further called for annual assessments of implementation measures and the development of climate change centres.14 In 1998, the Diet also passed the Law Concerning the Promotion of Measures to Cope with Global Warming.15 In reaction to the law local governments began drawing up action plans for how they would work to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The July 2001 assessment of the law found that 412 municipalities in 40 prefectures had drawn up action plans.16 With pressures mounting for Japan to ratify the Kyoto Protocol in the wake of the US withdrawal from the agreement, new efforts were made to strengthen climate change regulations. In March 2002 the Government of Japan adopted the New Climate Change Policy Programme17 and in May 2002 the Diet passed the Revision of the Law Concerning the Promotion of Measures to Cope with Global Warming or, more simply, the Climate Change Policy Law.18 The law formally adopted the Kyoto Target Achievement Plan, which sets sector-specific goals for obtaining the 6 per cent reduction target. It assumes that there will be an increase in greenhouse gas emissions over 1990 levels as a result of a growth in emissions from HFCs, PFCs and SF6 (+2 per cent), transportation (+17 per cent), and utilities (+5 per cent). This increase is to be off-set by a reduction in emissions from industry (–7 per cent), of CH4 and N2O (–0.5 per cent), other reductions (–2 per cent), and emissions reduction credits obtained through Kyoto flexible mechanisms (e.g. joint implementation, clean development mechanism and emissions trading) (–1.6 per cent) and development of carbon absorbing sinks (−3.9 per cent). Progress towards meeting these goals is to be assessed in 2004 and in 2007 and new measures introduced as deemed necessary at those times. The extent to which Japan is relying on development of sinks and the Kyoto flexible mechanisms to off—set the substantial growth in emissions expected, especially from the transportation sector, is noteworthy. The Kyoto Target Achievement Plan further introduces economic incentives such as reduced tax rates for eco-friendly automobiles and mandates that all official vehicles be low emission vehicles by fiscal year 2004.19 Other measures taken include an amendment to the Energy Conservation Law extending the energy management system requirements to large

MIRANDA A.SCHREURS 161

commercial buildings and the promotion of energy conservation measures for buildings during their construction.20 Japan has also introduced renewable energy portfolio standards to encourage the use of renewable energies. Nuclear energy While many of these measures have encountered relatively little resistance, there has been considerable public debate regarding plans to enhance Japan’s energy self— sufficiency through the development of nuclear power. METI and the nuclear imports from politically unstable regions and the fact that nuclear power plants do energy industry argue that, both because of Japan’s high dependence on energy energy intensive mining that is required to extract uranium), nuclear energy should not emit greenhouse gases (a claim disputed by the Germans who point to the be a key element of greenhouse gas mitigation plans. Anti–nuclear advocates argue that nuclear energy is too risky and expensive and that the country should instead invest in other renewable energies. Japan imports approximately 80 per cent of its total energy supply. A central aspect of the Japanese government’s energy policy to deal with climate change is the construction of new nuclear power plants. At the time that the Kyoto Protocol was formulated, MITI was calling for the construction of an additional 20 nuclear power plants. A series of accidents at Japanese nuclear reactors during the 1990s and into the 2000s, however, has made METI reconsider its nuclear power development projections. In December 1995 there was a sodium leak and fire at the Monju fastbreeder reactor. A year and a half later a fire broke out at the Tokaimura reprocessing facility exposing 37 individuals to radiation. Then in September 1999 a criticality accident—the worst nuclear accident in the world after Chernobyl—occurred at a uranium conversion facility in Tokaimura, Ibaraki. Two workers died almost immediately and dozens of others were exposed to high levels of radiation.21 These and other smaller accidents have rocked the public’s confidence in the safety of nuclear energy and led to various protest movements against nuclear fuel shipments and new plant construction. Because of these public concerns and the difficulty that METI has had in siting new facilities, the Ministry has been forced to alter its assessment of the number of new facilities that can be built. Environment Minister Yuriko Koike attributed in part the 2.2 per cent increase in Japan’s greenhouse gas emissions between fiscal years 2001 and 2002 to increased power generation in Japan’s thermal power stations that was necessitated by the shutdown of nuclear power plants operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co.22 As of 2003, Japan has 53 commercial nuclear reactors and another two under construction. They generate 34.6 per cent of Japan’s electric power.23 Despite considerable disagreement within Japan regarding the desirability of nuclear energy or the feasibility of building an additional 10–13 nuclear power plants, the Energy Basic Law of July 2002 and the subsequent Energy Basic Plan approved by the Cabinet in October 2003 place a priority on the development of nuclear energy.

162 JAPAN IN THE GREENHOUSE

Renewable energy For years MITI/METI argued that non-nuclear renewable energies were not something that the country could rely on for more than a fraction of its energy supply. This view still dominates. Nevertheless, in part because of the example of several European countries that have seen remarkable growth in wind and biomass energy and to a lesser extent solar energy and in part because of the lobbying efforts of environmental groups (such as the Green Energy Law Network) and a group of environmentally oriented politicians, Japan in recent years has also begun to invest more intensively in renewable energies. In April 2003 the Special Measures Law Concerning the Use of New Energy by Electric Utilities came into effect. Under this framework, the renewable portfolio standards (RPS) will require electric utilities to purchase 1.35 per cent (12.2 billion kilowatt hours) of their electricity from alternative energies, including wind, solar and biomass.24 Voluntary measures by industry Japanese industry has been eager to avoid regulations and has been at the international forefront in the introduction of voluntary measures to reduce industrial emissions and waste. The Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren), the largest association of corporations, businesses and industries in Japan, introduced in 1997 a voluntary action plan to reduce their CO2 emissions in 2010 to below 1990 levels. Most major industries have now completed environmental action plans in which they establish targets for reducing their environmental load. Many of the agreements focus on climate change and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The agreements typically spell out major steps that industries plan to take to reduce their environmental loads. Annual assessments of the plans are now conducted by Keidanren’s successor, Nippon Keidanren.25 The 2003 global warming assessment involved 35 industries that together emitted the equivalent of 45.3 per cent of the total amount of CO2 emitted in Japan in 1990 (and 82.6 per cent of the total amount of CO2 emitted by the country’s industry and energy—converting sectors). Carbon dioxide emissions of these industries in fiscal year 2002 were 1.8 per cent higher than in fiscal year 2001, but 1.9 per cent below fiscal year 1990 levels.26 This suggests that the voluntary measures have had some success. Pluralizing decision-making and implementation processes One of the politically more fascinating aspects of Japan’s engagement with the climate change problem has been the impact this has had on domestic policy-making processes (Fisher 2004). Traditionally, policy-making in Japan in relation to environmental and energy issues was largely dealt with by bureaucrats. There have always been citizens’ movements and some environmental groups concerned with local environmental issues, but there were few national groups dealing with environmental or energy policy matters. This is no longer the case as a still small, but very active, environmental community addressing national and international environmental issues has emerged.

MIRANDA A.SCHREURS 163

Japan’s involvement in international climate change negotiations has helped to legitimize the activities of environmental groups. In the past, bureaucrats had a tendency to look down on environmental activists as radicals and communists. Japan’s NGO community was faced by one of the most inhospitable environments of any advanced industrialized democracy (Schwartz and Pharr 2003). Obtaining not for profit status was extremely difficult and required the approval of relevant ministries. Japan’s environmentalists, therefore, often operated without not for profit status and the benefits such status accrues. They tended to be small and cash strapped. Staff tended to work as volunteers as most organizations did not have sufficient capital to pay employees. A norm of international environmental negotiations, however, is that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) be allowed to participate as observers and in some cases even as members of national negotiating teams. The Japanese government found itself in an awkward position. Although Japan’s bureaucrats had little interest initially in sharing decision-making authority with NGOs, they found themselves under considerable international pressure to open decision-making processes to NGOs. This has meant that over the course of the 1990s several Japanese NGOs have been able to open doors in Kasumigaseki (Japan’s government district) and get invited to sit on advisory councils (shingikai) to the ministries and even to participate in the official delegation to the Johannesburg Earth Summit in 2002, something which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs points out on its web site (Kawaguchi 2002). These groups now use their climate change and energy policy expertise to make policy proposals to the government, to critique the government’s policies or implementation record, and to form coalitions with international groups to enhance their influence. Slowly, these groups are also beginning to form networks with groups in other parts of Asia. One of the first groups to form was the Osaka-based Citizens’ Alliance for Saving the Atmosphere (CASA). CASA initially focused its campaigns on phasing out stratospheric ozone—depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). In preparation for the UNCED, it also began to address global climate change.27 Greenpeace Japan, which was established at the urging of (and with financial support from) Greenpeace International in 1990, has made climate change one of its organizational priorities.28 Greenpeace and Kiko Forum (Climate Forum) have been among the more active groups working on climate change. They have lobbied the government, critiqued governmental policies, advised the ministries and prepared policy alternatives for addressing climate change (Reimann 2001). Japan’s environmental groups are now accepted as players in climate change policy formulation and implementation even if the door is not yet fully open to them and their financial status and membership size remain circumscribed. Conclusion: where to from here? Japan’s decision to support the Kyoto Protocol contrasts sharply with the US withdrawal from the agreement. Japan, like Europe and in contrast with the US, has embraced the precautionary principle in relation to climate change. The precautionary

164 JAPAN IN THE GREENHOUSE

principle is premised on the notion that action should be taken to address a problem despite scientific uncertainties when inaction could result in serious or irreparable damage to the natural environment or human health. That Japan has introduced an array of policy measures to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions suggests that the government does take climate change and the need for an economic transformation to a less greenhouse gas intensive society seriously, although, as rising emissions trends suggest, not yet seriously enough. Perhaps the largest challenge for Japanese policymakers in moving the country towards a lower emission society and to what could be considered the next stage of ecological modernization is persuading the public to change its behaviour. Consumption-driven growth is really the root cause of the climate change problem (Princen et al 2002). From a societal and democratic perspective, one of the most encouraging changes has been the growth in public concern for global environmental preser—vation and the opening of decision—making processes at the national and local levels to permit greater citizen involvement. It is doubtful that any society will be able to make major cuts in greenhouse gas emissions without strong public support and involvement. Yet, whether or not Japanese society really has the will to make the kinds of deep cuts in emissions that will be required to address climate change in the long run remains to be seen. The US opposition to the Kyoto Protocol complicates Japanese and international efforts to formulate a post-2012 (the year the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period ends) mitigation strategy. It must be remembered that the Kyoto Protocol was only ever meant to be a first, small step towards curbing greenhouse gas emissions and that additional measures to further reduce emissions beyond those mandated by the Kyoto Protocol will be necessary if we are to slow global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that emissions of greenhouse gases will have to be drastically reduced if human-induced global warming is to be slowed (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2001b). Japanese negotiators are now beginning to think about what should come after 2012 and laying the groundwork for the next international agreement or the next phase of the Kyoto initiative. The divide between the US (and Australia—another opponent of the Kyoto Protocol), on the one side, and Japan and the EU, on the other, makes this planning extremely difficult. It also means that there are intense efforts under way to influence the positions of developing countries towards any post-2012 agreement. Notes 1 This quote is taken from a paper entitled An Economic Analysis of Japanese and Global Participation in Kyoto Protocol presented at the International Symposium on Climate Policy and Sustainable Development: Measures for Global Participation, held in Korea on 20 March 2002. Professor Tsuneyuki Morita was a leader of Japanese efforts at acid rain and climate change modelling. He also was a strong proponent of Japanese leadership in climate change policy and an active participant in international scientific and policy forums. He served as Project

MIRANDA A.SCHREURS 165

2

3

4 5

6 7

8 9

10

11

12 13

14 15 16

17 18 19 20

Leader of Climate Change Research at the National Institute for Environmental Studies, Ministry of the Environment, Japan. For a synthesis report on the status of climate change science see Watson, R.T. and the Core Writing Team (eds) (2002) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Third Assessment Report, Climate Change 2001: Synthesis Report, New York and Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. See Japan’s Official Development Assistance Charter, Cabinet Decision, 30 June 1992, available at http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/oda/summary/1999/refl.html. See also Institute for International Cooperation, Japan International Cooperation Agency (2002) The Second Study on Development Assistance for the Environment: Practical Approaches towards the Environmental Challenges, Tokyo, August. A thermometer tracking the status of ratifications of the Kyoto Protocol can be found at http://unfccc.int/resource/kpthermo.html. It should be noted that in 1992 Japan agreed to a zero import quota on its reservations on the import of elephant ivory and hawksbill turtle under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. See United Nations, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, available at http://unfccc.int/resources/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf. See Edward L.Andrews, Frustrated Europeans Set to Battle U.S. on Climate, New York Times, 16 July 2001: A3, and Bush Angers Europe by Eroding Pact on Warming, New York Times, 1 April 2001: A3. Howard W.French, Japan Promotes Treaty on Global Warming but Keeps Its Options Open, New York Times, 16 June 2001, A9. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2003) Request for Russia’s Early Ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, Nov. Available at http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/europe/russia/ request0311.html. Derived from Greg Marland, Tom Boden, Bob Andres, Global, Regional and National Fossil Fuel CO2 Emissions, Apr., http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/trends/emis/ em_cont.htm. Source: UNFCCC, FCCC/SAI/2001, Synthesis and Assessment Report of the Greenhouse Gas Inventories Submitted in 2001. Accessible online at http:// unfccc.int/programs/mis/ghg/sai2001.pdf. Eriko Arata, Japan’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions up 2% in ‘02; First Rise in Two Years, Japan Times, 19 May 2004. For more information see Progress on the Guidelines for Measures to Prevent Global Warming and Priorities for Future Action (Summary), 10 July 2001, http:// www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/policy/ondanka/01071 0summary_e.html. Available online at http://www.env.go.jp/en’pol/gw/index.html. Available at http://www.env.go.jp/en/lar/warming/index.html. Progress on the Guidelines for Measures to Prevent Global Warming and Priorities for Future Action (Summary), 10 July 2001, available online at: http:// www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/policy/ondanka/01071 0summary_e.html. Available online at www.env.go.jp/en/topic/cc/020319.pdf. Available online at http://www.jccca.org/en/laws.html. Available online at http://www.kantei.jp/foreign/policy/ondanka/ 020319summary_e.html. See http://www.eccj.or.jp/law/rational_use_of_energy.html.

166 JAPAN IN THE GREENHOUSE

21 See Michael Donnolley (2003) Nuclear Blight in Japan: Criticality at Tokaimura, Annual Conference of JSCA, 5–7 Oct. 22 Eriko Arata, Japan’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions up 2% in ‘02; First Rise in Two Years, Japan Times, 19 May 2004. 23 For more information see www.enecho.meti.go.jp/english/policy/nuclear/p. 24 For more details see http://www.rps.go.jp/RPS/contents/pdf/outline.pdf. 25 Nippon Keidanren was formed in May 2002 as an amalgamation of Keidanren and Kikkeiren (the Japan Federation of Employers’ Associations) with a membership of 1,584. 26 See Keidanren, Results of the Fiscal 2003 Follow-Up to the Keidanren Voluntary Action Plan in the Environment—Section on Global Warming Measures, 21 November 2003, http://www.keidanren.or.jp/english/policy/2003/113/report.pdf. 27 See for more details http://www.netplus.ne.jp/~casa. 28 For more information see http://www.greenpeace.or.jp/index_en_html.

10 Conclusions Brendan F.D.Barrett

Japan appears to be on the way toward ecological modernisation. The conceptual break with the past for the Japanese appears to have occurred during the late 1970s when it became clear, largely due to several serious and widely publicized contamination events, that health of the population was jeopardized by the country’s environmental conditions. Further, the state of the environment was likely to pose a profound obstacle to future economic expansion. Since this period, Japan has made commendable strides in reducing industrial emissions and has become an international leader in the development of environmental technology. (Cohen 1996:12) In this volume we argue that the evolution of a Japanese variant of ecological modernization is following the same trajectory as its European counterparts and has attained comparable results. The main contrast may be that the key determinants for the emergence of ecological modernization in the Netherlands, Germany, Norway and Sweden was the existence of comparatively open, democratic polity with extensive civil society participation and heightened public awareness of environmental concerns (see Dryzek 1997; for background on the Netherlands see Hajer 1995; Cohen 2000; on Germany and Norway see Dryzek et al 2003; on Sweden see Lundqvist 2000). In Japan’s case, however, we witness a more gradual opening up of the democratic policy processes as a result of innovative measures along ecologically modern lines, with the late 1990s representing an important watershed (see Chapter 5; also see Schwartz and Pharr 2003 for recent changes in Japan’s civil society). Essentially, as each environmental innovation occurs in Japan (for example, new measures to promote the recycling of household appliances or cars), awareness within policy circles and wider society is assumed to grow with regard to the potential for win-win situations in economic-environmental interactions, even when accompanied by a more active civil society (as is the case with the Aichi Expo 2005 mentioned in Chapter 7). This runs counter to much of the logic of the traditional model of environmental governance that dominated Japanese thinking in the 1980s (Tsuru and Weidner 1989; Barrett and Therivel 1991;

168 CONCLUSIONS

Broadbent 1998; Tsuru 1999). The discussions presented in Chapters 8 and 9 are also particularly supportive of this proposition. The difficulty that we face in analysing the situation in Japan is that, although external globalization forces and internal political and social change forces have brought about ‘change in some unexpected areas, many pockets of old practices remain in the very areas where true change seems to be most called for’ (Schaede and Grimes 2002:4). This diagnosis certainly applies to the attempts to reform the Japanese electricity supply industry and waste management policy (as discussed in Chapter 8). As a result, commentators on Japan tend to divide into two camps. The first argues that changes are superficial and the core remains unaltered. The second group argues that a complete overhaul of everything has already begun. Schaede and Grimes distance themselves from this polarization and instead argue that Japan is changing significantly but along the dual tracks that they describe as ‘permeable insulation’ differentiated by sector, policy and issue areas. In essence this suggests that the Japanese government is reacting to the existing external and internal pressures by shifting away from previous unified protectionist (insulating) policies of the 1980s, that functioned also to defend business from environment related pressures, to a more flexible (permeable) approach to securing the economic growth imperative by evaluating the potential for non-disruptive change on a case by case basis, and recognizing that there will be both intended and unintended consequences. In part, this willingness to expose business to environment related pressures may reflect the emergence of an additional state imperative for Japan—the conservation imperative (Dryzek et al. 2003)—or put another way we may be witnessing the more widespread recognition in Japan of the basic, most fundamental idea of ecological modernization theory—the ‘growing independence of an ecological sphere and rationality with respect to the economic sphere and rationality’ (Mol 2001b: 222). We have explored the configurations of this growing independence throughout this volume with respect to the growth of social movements (Chapter 5), the emergence of pro-environmental conservation values in society (Chapter 7) and the greening of Japanese industry (Chapter 8). In recent research on environmentalism in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Norway, ecological modernization has been applied as one frame for analysis (Dryzek et al. 2003). This research found that the emergence of an ecological conservation imperative is conditioned by the creation of linkages between environmentalism and the core economic and legitimation imperatives, through the existence of new forms of sub-politics around the issue of how risks are dealt with by society. A qualitative measurement of the degree of linkage between the economy and environment was used in the assessment, as well as the authors’ judgment on the extent of sub-politics, to come to a decision on whether a strong or weak form of ecological modernization was manifest in each country. With regards to sub-politics, they argue that the approach taken to the inclusion or exclusion of social movements is a significant factor in determining the extent to which ecological modernization penetrates state structures. Further, they argue that forms of ecological modernization characterized as techno-corporatist ultimately fail to deliver in terms of connecting

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 169

ecological aims to state imperatives and that to be successful ecological modernization requires a vibrant and active civil society. While appreciating that not all ecological modernization scholars feel comfortable with the strong-weak polarizations (e.g.Jänicke 2000;Jänicke and Jacob 2002), it is interesting to note that Germany is the only country that stands out in the analysis undertaken by John Dryzek and his colleagues. They define Germany as having the potential to become a strongly ecological modernized nation, exhibiting professional sub-politics exemplified by election of an SPD/Green coalition in 1998 (Dryzek et al 2003:185). In this analysis, Germany is described as passively exclusive (opportunities for formal inclusion of the environmental movement were limited and unconventional challenges to governmental authority were resisted) and it is argued that this condition is conducive to the formation of a vibrant civil society. The discourses on ecological modernization and sustainable development are seen as dominating recent environmental politics in Germany. Nevertheless, Dryzek and his colleagues hesitate to define Germany as a ‘green state’—it still has a long way to go.1 So where does Japan stand in this analytical framework? In the first instance, it is possible to argue that Japan adopted from the mid-1990s onwards (increasing pace around 1997) an approach to the involvement of social movements that essentially lies somewhere between actively inclusive, exhibiting tendencies toward consultation (without influence) and passively exclusive, with rather strong patterns of very locally oriented sub-politics (as discussed in Chapter 5; see also Tsujinaka 2003) but a ‘dearth of large, professionalized, independent organizations’ (Pekkanen 2003). In Japan, localism (jimoto shugi), identification with local interests, has been described as a ‘free-floating resource that can be mobilized for policy innovation and may in fact be necessary for its successful implementation’ (MacDougall 1994). While, like Germany, Japan cannot be considered a green state, it is firmly exhibiting some ecologically modern characteristics, but let us explore this further in comparison to the five green, clean states (Dryzek 1997). How does Japan compare to other ecologically modern states? According to Dryzek (1997:140), the five ecologically modern nations share key commonalities. Germany, Japan and the Netherlands are all densely populated countries that have largely destroyed their native ecosystems, providing a strong incentive to try to accommodate high population levels while seeking to minimize further environmental damage. Moreover, all five countries share a common politicaleconomic system eschewing ‘adversarial policy making and unbridled capitalist competition’ (Dryzek 1997:141). Moreover, they all have a strong state, an industrialized economy and innovative markets (Dryzek 1997:144). There are a number of recent publications reviewing the environmental performance of high consumption industrialized societies which provide interesting insights on experience in Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway. For instance, Lafferty and Meadowcroft (2001) describe Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands as enthusiastic implementers of sustainable development domestically

170 CONCLUSIONS

and globally, with Germany and Japan seen as more cautious, although this varies depending on the issue under analysis.2 With regards to per capita CO2 emissions, for example, Japan is performing much better than both the Netherlands and Norway. The authors describe Japan’s approach to sustainable development as having a strong emphasis on technological development and energy efficiency, with recent limited opening of the closed government policy-making to wider societal participation, and an external focus on assisting other countries to achieve sustainability. Another recent study compares the environmental performance of 17 industrial democracies, including the five main ecologically modern states mentioned above (Scruggs 2003). Six environmental indicators are applied in the analysis, covering air pollution, waste, water treatment and fertilizer use, and a simple scoring system is devised based on performance. Taking into consideration the trends from 1970 to 1995, Germany ranks as the best performer (score of 538 out of 600), followed by Sweden (489) and the Netherlands (482). The two other ecologically modern countries, Japan and Norway, rank ninth and tenth respectively. Both score poorly on water treatment, with Japan surprisingly faring badly with respect to recycling activities and Norway scoring low on fertilizer use. Furthermore, the study correlates environmental performance with income per capita levels and geographic structure (land area and population density) and finds that the densely populated Netherlands has relatively good environmental performance while Japan, Germany and Sweden fare better than anticipated (reinforcing the point made by Dryzek above with regard to population density and environmental performance). On the relationship between environmental performance and public opinion/environmental mobilization, Scruggs finds that, as expected, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Germany have the best-informed and most active publics. Japan, compared to all 16 other countries in the study, is something of an anomaly here, with the lowest environmental mobilization in 1990 (low membership of environmental groups and public unwillingness to donate money for the environment) but relatively high environmental performance (as discussed in Chapter 6 of this volume). The final set of criteria taken into consideration by Scruggs is the links between pluralism, corporatism and environmental performance, whereby all the ecologically modern countries are described as corporatist, although Japan is somewhat unique since it is described as ‘corporatist without labour’ (linking back to Dryzek’s comments in Chapter 1 of this volume) or elsewhere as ‘communitarian elite corporatism’ (Broadbent 1998). Based on this assessment Scruggs argues that the ‘more corporatist-consensual the country, the better its environmental performance’ (Scruggs 2003:160). One inference we can draw from this study is that in terms of the current state of Japan’s environmental performance it appears (judging by data up to 1995) to be moving beyond the cluster of poorly performing pluralist countries (like the United States, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom) and closer to the ecologically modern, corporatist countries. Looking at the environmental performance of all countries around the globe presents a broader and more challenging picture for Japan. The 2002 Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI), developed by the World Economic Forum, provides an

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 171

Table 10.1 Ecological footprints for ecologically modern countries

Source: http://www.redefiningprogress.org/programs/sustainability/ef/projects/ 1999_ results.html Note: * Global hectares per capita.

interesting, yet controversial, ranking of environmental sustainability in 142 countries through 20 indicators, each of which combines eight variables (World Economic Forum 2002).3 The ESI tracks each nation’s performance against the five components: maintenance of vital systems at healthy levels, environmental stress reduction (reducing impact of human activity on the above systems), human vulnerability, social and institutional capacities and global stewardship. Based on this analysis, ESI ranks Norway second (behind Finland), Sweden third, the Netherlands thirty-fourth and Germany fiftieth. Japan is ranked number 78 from 142 nations, highlighting the sharp contrast between the performance of industrial and nonindustrial societies with regards to environmental sustainability.4 Lastly, when examining the environmental performance of the five ecologically modern nations, it is useful to look at the comparative size of their ecological footprints, drawing on the work of ‘Redefining Progress’ under the supervision of Mathis Wackernagel (see also Wackernagel and Rees 1996; Worldwide Fund for Nature 2002). The results for 1999 are presented in Table 10.1 and show that, with the exception of Sweden, the four other ecologically modern countries are in ecological deficit. According to Redefining Progress, on average there are only 1.9 global hectares of biologically productive space available per person on the Earth.5 However, the world average ecological footprint is 2.3 global hectares per person, implying that humanity is currently exceeding the biosphere’s ecological capacity by 20 per cent. Interestingly, some scholars argue that the historic trend for Japan’s per capita load in the past one hundred years is a tenfold increase (Wada 1999). The available data indicates that, around 1880, pre-industrial Japan had an ecological footprint equivalent to 0.4 hectares per capita and that by 1991 this had increased to 4.8 hectares (which is fairly close to the 1999 level in Table 10.1).6 In many respects the question of growing ecological footprints is intimately linked to the notion of dematerialization (see Ayres and Weaver 1998; von Weizsacker et al 1998; Hawken et al. 1999) and Martin Jänicke from the Free Berlin University sheds some light on this problem (Jänicke 2000). He states that the incremental increases in ecoefficiencies in many industrialized countries are still not a ‘causal, sustained solution’ and they tend to be wiped out by subsequent growth processes (e.g. industrial NO2 emission reductions in Japan subsequently neutralized by road traffic increases).7 He

172 CONCLUSIONS

also argues that there has been only a slight decoupling of materials use intensity8 and no general reduction of total material use for OECD countries since 1973. The same situation currently applies to CO2 emissions growth in Japan throughout the 1990s. While the data shows that a decoupling of economic growth and CO2 emissions is taking place, it is also apparent that actual CO2 emission levels are increasing almost year on year from 800 million tons in 1970 to 1.3 billion tons in 2000 (although a decline is noted in 20019). Similar trends can be confirmed with respect to the rise in domestic waste generation with an almost doubling in the same period. Moreover, with respect to total energy consumption there was a near doubling from 270 million TOE in 1971 to 510 million TOE in 1996 (MoE 2002a). In 1978, Jänicke described this kind of situation as the dilemma of the ‘environmental N curve’ (as cited in Mol 2001b: 162). This perspective contrasts sharply with the more common environmental ‘Kuztnetz curve’—an inverted U shape where the intensity of pollution initially increases with GDP growth and then begins to decrease once a certain income threshold as been crossed. The environmental N curve, on the other hand, occurs when a problem is tackled as a symptom rather than the cause and as a result it is likely that any associated environmental improvements will be cancelled out by the subsequent economic growth (for a fuller explanation see Mol 2001b: 161–163). According to Jänicke (2000), the environmental N curve remains very much in evidence and the engines of demand for materials are deep-seated and persistent within the OECD countries. Nevertheless, some commentators acknowledge that recent innovative measures (recycling, eco-auditing, zero emissions, factor 4/10) in countries like Japan might yet again give impetus to a new efficiency drive (see von Weizsacker et al. 1998; Hawken et al. 1999). The above studies offer very interesting insights on Japan’s comparative environmental performance and are generally supportive of the view that Japan has recently made significant, but not yet categorical, progress in catching up with the other ecologically modern states. Nevertheless, reservations remain regarding the classification of Japan as an ecologically modern state (as discussed in Chapter 1). As such, we now spend some time examining the roots of this ambivalence before reaching our conclusions on the claims about the applicability of ecological modernization for Japan. Why is it difficult to view Japan as ecologically modern? As mentioned in Chapter 1, ecological modernization is a complex social theory and one of the most influential explanations of the contemporary environmentally conservation oriented transformative processes within industrialized societies like Japan (Hajer 1995; Mol and Sonnenfeld 2000; Young 2000; Mol 2001b; Dryzek et al 2003; Eckersley 2004). It is a theory focused on structural changes in social practices and institutions, on the actual contributions to environmental reform (rather than on the actual effects of these changes for other social criteria such as distributional equity) and on the analysis of the consequences of environmentally radical changes on society (Mol 2001b: 201–204). In reviewing the historical and empirical trends (as presented in Chapters 2, 5, 6 and 8), it is clear that Japanese experience with

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 173

environmentalism until the 1970–1980s and then again in the mid-1990s is more consistent with reflexive modernization in a Risk Society, particularly with respect to the cases of organic mercury (for more on Minamata see Mishima 1992; George 2001; Keibo 2001), cadmium contamination (for more on itai itai see Huddle and Reich 1975) and dioxin pollution (see Chapter 5; see also Broadbent 2002a). However, in the past ten years there have been some signs of a shift to a stronger form of ecological modernization (see Christoff 2000 for discussion of this term) exemplified by actors from science, industry and the state leading the way in the implementation of the climate change regime (Chapter 9), by the gradual adoption of new sources of ‘clean’ energy (Chapter 8) and by the emergence of new social movements actively lobbying for global warming response measures (explored in Chapter 5). The problem that we encounter when discussing whether or not Japan is actually ecologically modern is the fact that a large part of the academic literature (mainly from outside commentators) tends to preclude such a judgment (e.g. Tsuru and Weidner 1989; Barrett and Therivel 1991; Broadbent 1998; Tsuru 1999; Yoshida 2002). While recognizing the often ambiguous nature of empirical evidence and the fact that large variations in data sets, criteria and time intervals can at times rule out the possibility of reaching irrefutable conclusions (Mol 2001b: 203), the data presented in this volume appears to support the view that over a period of time starting from the energy crises in the 1970s Japan made good progress in disengaging its economy from the environment, particularly in terms of energy and resource use (perhaps to a lesser extent with respect to emission reductions) associated with structural changes in the economy from mass production-based to value-based industries (Jänicke et al. 1996, 2000). From the mid-1970s onwards, however, most commentaries on Japan’s environmental performance have tended to adopt the treadmill of production (ToP) perspective in their analysis of the problematique (as mentioned in Chapter 1; for a detailed explanation of the ToP see Mol 2001b; Mol and Spaargaren 2002; Schnaiberg et al. 2002). This may be because, according to some commentators, the explanatory potential of the ecological modernization theory is at times seriously constrained when marketable technological solutions are not available, where the risks are acute and where immediate action is required (see Jänicke 2000). For instance, many critics argue that Japan’s technological zeal led to environmental degradation on an unprecedented scale within its national boundaries and overseas (for example see Huddle and Reich 1975; Barrett and Therivel 1991; Broadbent 1998; Tsuru 1999; Kerr 2001). The nation’s dash to modernize is seen as encouraging an approach within industry and government described as ‘technonationalism’ (Samuels 1995), required in order to revitalize the post-war economy and to maintain some degree of economic parity with the United States and Europe (Neary 2002). Others argue that Japan is imbued with an ideology of ‘rampant industrialisation without fear of consequences’ (Taylor 1999:554) or that ‘industry in Japan is confronted less with political and civil society counter powers’ (Huber 2000: 276) and that in reality industrial environmental conservation efforts are far from exemplary (Rosenbluth and Theis 1999) with many problems, especially related to new high-technology industries, remaining intractable (Yoshida 2002). Further, as

174 CONCLUSIONS

mentioned in Chapter 1, the promotion of Japan’s technocratic development model abroad is linked to Asia’s growing environmental problems through the export of pollution and the location of manufacturing plants in nations with less stringent environmental standards (Dryzek 1997; Imura 1997; Taylor 1999; Hall 2001; Wong 2001). This is a long list of problems and yet the radical critique of Japan plays an important role in raising public awareness of environmental concerns and in stimulating innovative changes within the environmental administration and business practices. Such critique plays an educative role and, to some extent, embodies one condition for the pursuit of more reformist approaches along ecologically modern lines (Eckersley 2004:75). Only recently have we begun to find more positive reports on Japan’s overall environmental performance (Broadbent 2002a; OECD 2002; Schreurs 2003; Scruggs 2003) and it is possible to hypothesize that in any assessment of Japan’s environmental performance we can now recognize dual tracks whereby features that are indicative of ecological modernization sit alongside other features that are indicative of ToP. However, it is very difficult to reach firm conclusions due to the complex and dramatically changing character of Japanese society in the 1990s and early 2000s, and because of the difficulties encountered when trying to assess the impact of global modes of production and consumption on national environmental governance where states’ ability to prescribe the scope of society—economy— environment interactions appears increasingly limited (Mol 2001b; Mol and Buttel 2002:4). Bearing the above constraints in mind, the findings from this volume do point toward an on—going active search for a new model of environmental governance in Japan under the leadership of key segments of society (i.e. influential academics, business leaders, some government officials and representatives from the NGO community10) as evidenced by the rise of concepts such as the ‘recirculatory society’, the ‘environmental conservation society’ and the ‘clean energy society’. In the past, these reformist efforts have been undermined by factors such as a renewed focus on economic growth or by the extension of the state to incorporate the more radical elements (Jänicke et al. 2000:149; Mol 2001b: 133). In this context, it may well be that the contemporary innovative changes in Japanese environmental governance are also transitory—history could repeat itself. Moreover, today’s reform efforts could well be undermined by a general failure of the innovators to look beyond national boundaries when assessing the robustness of the new measures (this may be particularly relevant with respect to the new recycling laws for major products such as automobiles and home electronics). When such a large part of Japanese industry is spread across the globe (described as the hollowing out or deindustrialization of the Japanese economy), when reverse importing is now a core economic process (Nelson 2003) and when the export of waste goes hand in hand with the import of natural resources, the kind of model environmentally efficient society that Japan is pursuing may seem elusive, and is certainly difficult to evaluate. However, it is precisely with regard to the extension of ecological modernization beyond national boundaries that the greatest confusion with the notion of sustainable development begins to arise (Langhelle 2000). The global processes and dynamics of ecological modernization are analysed by Mol (2001b) who argues that it represents a

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 175

promising course for ‘interpreting innovations and achievements in environmental reform under conditions of globalization as well as for outlining future trajectories for environmental transformation’ (p. 225). The analysis presented in this volume supports the view that ecological modernization has begun to shift beyond its earlier geographical limitations (Mol 1995; Spaargaren 1997) to become increasingly relevant at the global level (Mol 2001b) and that ‘local refinements and contextual refinements of this theoretical framework, which until recently could rightfully be criticized as too monolithic and too Eurocentric, would be most welcome’ (Mol 2001b: 225). In this volume, we have attempted to make such a contextual refinement focusing on experience in Japan and have gained some interesting insights. Concluding remarks In the face of a decade of tremendous global pressures and competition, which have worked to both undermine the vitality of the Japanese economy and bring about major institutional changes in various domains, the national and local environmental regimes in Japan have flourished (Chapters 3 and 4). The analysis of Japan in this volume provides fairly convincing evidence of its emergent ecologically modern nature, mainly when defined in economic and technical terms (see Jänicke et al. 1996, 2000; Mol 2001b: 132–134) but with growing diversity in the patterns of institutional and cultural politics reflecting a stronger role of civil society organizations and social movements (Chapter 5). For instance, in Chapter 2, we describe the development of various environmental discourses in Japan and show how environmental sociologists (e.g. Funabashi 2001) argue that over time environmental responsibilities (constraints) are being internalized into governmental structures and into other entities including corporations. This phenomenon, although we cannot be sure how deep the changes actually are, is consistent with ecological modernization and represents a shift away from the traditional approach in Japan where environmental issues were treated as an add-on. We also note from Chapter 4 that environmental concerns have moved beyond the control of one single government agency (although this was always difficult in Japan—Barrett and Therivel 1991) to a situation where in key areas like global warming and recycling responsibilities are spread across government, business and the rest of society, with this trend beginning to take shape after the release of the first Environment Basic Plan in 1994. In this context, the new MoE is no longer a ‘steward’ or ‘watchdog’ (with or without teeth), but functions more as a facilitator or partnership builder within and outside of government (as mentioned in Chapter 3, the creation of the Global Environment Partnership Plaza in 1996 is a good example of this). Looking at the environmental performance of Japan, in general, it is possible to argue that the process of ‘superindustrialization’ (Buttel 2001) fits closely with the Japanese development model as best exemplified by new policies measures from METI including the recirculatory society or zero emissions (discussed in Chapter 3; see also Elder 2003) involving the implementation of ecologically efficient manufacturing processes designed to try to loosen the couplings between economic

176 CONCLUSIONS

growth and environmental deterioration (Low et al 1999). This process of industrial change and environmental reform is in part stimulated by the implementation of strict government regulations (Cohen 1997). While Japan does have a long tradition of support for the use of voluntary agreements (Chapter 3), the whole array of recent recycling laws and the new strict controls on automobile emissions, amongst others, illustrate how tight regulatory controls can force through technological changes. Related to this, Japan has been promoting integrated pollution management from the 1970s particularly at the local government level (as discussed in Chapter 4) but also within the context of individual firm management (exceptions being the smaller firms—see Revell 2003). This approach (Barrett 1994; Gouldson and Murphy 1997; Murphy and Gouldson 1998) is crucial in preventing the transmedia movement of contaminants and also in encouraging the use of systems theory in the design of manufacturing approaches along the lines of the zero-emissions concept (see Suzuki and Kuehr 2003). We likewise find an emphasis, often associated with moves toward integration, on anticipatory planning in ecologically modern states in order to deal with risk reduction and scientific uncertainty. While acknowledging the progress made in some areas, particularly with regard to the legislation of environmental impact assessment (as discussed in Chapter 7), the OECD (2002) called upon the environmental administration in Japan to further develop a number of anticipatory planning measures including risk assessment and strategic environmental assessment. It is important to note that one such anticipatory planning measure, the precautionary principle, gained greater acceptance in the 1990s (Schreurs 2002:241) bringing the Japanese environmental management system one step closer to the German model (Cohen 1997). Finally, it has been argued that changing discursive practices, the creation of new coalitions and new ideologies are very important in bringing about environmental restructuring (Mol and Spaargaren 1993; Hajer 1995). In Chapter 1, we mentioned that, since 1997, there has been a general upswing in civil society activity and that this has also impacted on the opportunities for social movements organized around environmental issues. Japanese civil society is expanding and becoming more pluralistic, moving away from the patterns of government and business dominance typical of the developmental state (Tsujinaka 2003). Moreover, in Chapter 5, we argued that the antagonism and conflict that characterized the pollution problems in the 1960s and 1970s are now less apparent and have been replaced, in some instances, by significant (but still not extensive) cooperation between civil society and the development community, perhaps best exemplified with the experience related to the Aichi Expo 2005. The evidence presented in Chapters 5, 6 and 8 suggests that, in Japan, ecological modernization remains a somewhat elitist construct, not shared with Japanese citizenry, but incorporated within political and to a certain extent business rhetoric. There still remain many obstacles to the full participation from civil society in environment related decisions, which are mainly institutional including the strict regulatory environment in Japan for non-profit organizations (Yamamoto 1999; Vosse 2000; Danaher 2002a; Schwartz 2003). The above points paint a rather rosy picture of recent progress made in Japan along ecologically modern lines. However, as we have mentioned throughout this volume

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 177

much of the evidence is conflicting and our conclusions can only be tentative. Significant changes are taking place in some key areas but it is not clear how deep or sustained they are and it is possible that the progress made could be wiped out when the economy begins to pick up. Nevertheless, after a decade of environmental gains matched by changes in institutional structures and social practices, Japan stands tantalizingly close to being able to project itself in the twenty-first century as a relatively good model of a clean, green state. Notes 1 According to their analysis, Norway is characterized as exhibiting weak ecological modernization and limited sub-politics. The main reason for this is that the Norwegian state adopts an actively inclusive approach to social movements whereby these groups moderate their demands in order to gain access to state funding and public policy-making. In essence, with the Norwegian approach, ecological modernization is initiated and controlled by the state, which works to undermine grassroots environmentalism and sub-politics. In contrast, the United States is described as having some sub-politics and no ecological modernization. Activist environmental politics is still in evidence in the US but the battle lines between economics and ecology are entrenched, resulting in a zero-sum game. The situation in the US is described as passively inclusive whereby groups, once included, tend to engage in adversarial politics characterized by lobbying and court actions. The description of the United Kingdom is even less complimentary— portrayed as sub-politics by default and belated ecological modernization. The UK is an actively inclusive state that can also be described as a culture of consultation that inevitably results in social movements settling into a moderate and somewhat institutionalized relationship with government. However, the main problem is that consultation can occur without influence on outcomes being possible; the result is a chain reaction whereby we witness the emergence of more extensive activism within society as manifested through the anti-roads demonstrations. 2 For instance, official development assistance being consistently high at around 0.8 per cent of GNP for Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden comparing with 0.3 per cent for Germany and Japan. 3 The methodology applied is still in the early stages of development and significant changes have been made over the three years of evolution of the ESI. For instance, Scruggs (2003:201) mentions that ESI does not measure change over time and includes many environmental indicators that might be considered ‘tangential to national environmental performance.’ 4 For four out of the five components, Japan scores lower than the other countries and it is only with respect to reduction of environmental stresses that Japan scores better than both the Netherlands and Germany. 5 The ecological footprint approach does face serious limitations in terms of data availability and reliability. For more on limitations see Wackernagel (2002). 6 In response, social theorists refer to Opschoor’s work on environmental space utilization and argue that the equal distribution of this space, the harmonization of environmental backpacks and the shrinking of ecological footprints can be

178 CONCLUSIONS

7

8

9

10

included in a radical ecological transformation of industrial societies along ecologically modern lines (Opschoor 1992). There are early indications that this is happening, particularly through environmental groups in the Netherlands, with implications for the patterns of production and consumption in the industrialized countries (Spaargaren 2000a). Moreover, Arthur Mol argues that the issue of equal distribution of environmental space, ecological footprints and environmental rucksacks is used at the global level, rather than national, as a means to focus public/political attention on issues of poverty, access to resources and the distribution of environmental threats (Mol 2001b: 83). This issue needs to be understood within the framework of the so—called flexible ceiling determined by a combination of ecological and technological criteria. That is, society through some form of technological innovation has the capacity to reduce ecological footprints. Further, it is argued that some of the criteria used in relation to ecological carrying capacities are survivalist in nature (referring back to the limits to growth debates) whereas others are open to political negotiation and societal acceptability. It is also argued that operationalization of concepts such as environmental space, rucksacks and footprints remains questionable (Spaargaren 2000a). Experiments conducted to date, rationing for instance, have proven both unfeasible and politically undesirable, amounting to something along the lines of resource communism (Huber 2000: 269–285). Nevertheless, ecological modernization scholars do appreciate the importance of these concepts as a means to identify the available space (rather than the limits to growth) and the different ways in which environmental resources are being used (inefficiently, prudently or recklessly) within limits set by eco-politics and eco-technology. For instance, it is argued that between 1973 and 1985 Japanese industries made remarkable savings in energy and raw materials but subsequent high industrial growth linked to lower prices simply cancelled out this effect (Jänicke 2001). Also referred to as the material inputs per service (MIPS)—but can cover industrial sectors, firms and products—and is a way to determine the kilograms of materials that must be moved about somewhere in the world (see von Weizsacker et al. 1998). According to the Japan Times (29 August 2003) the amount of greenhouse gases emitted in Japan in fiscal year 2001 fell by 2.5 per cent compared to the previous year due to the deteriorating economy as well as an unusually warm winter and cool summer, resulting in a reduction in air conditioner use. The amount of greenhouse gases emitted from April 2001 to March 2002 totalled 1.3 billion tons with CO2 accounting for 90 per cent of this total. The 2001 figure was still 5.2 per cent higher than recorded in 1990 (requiring an 11 per cent emissions cut in order for Japan to fulfil its protocol obligation of reducing emissions by 6 per cent from 1990 levels by 2008–2012). It might be helpful to provide some examples here of the kinds of people we are talking about. With respect to political leaders good examples include the former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and a number of former Ministers of the Environment including Wakako Hironaka, Kazuo Aichi and Hiroshi Ohki. The list of leading academics is extensive and includes Yoichi Kaya (Director—General, Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth), Hidefumi Imura (Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University), Takamitsu Sawa (Professor, Institute of Economic Research, Kyoto University), Ryouichi

BRENDAN F.D.BARRETT 179

Yamamoto (Professor and Director, Centre for Collaborative Research, University of Tokyo), Tadahiro Mitsuhashi (Professor, Faculty of Policy Informatics, Chiba University of Commerce) and Motoyuki Suzuki (former Vice—Rector of the UN University). Other leaders from civil society include Saburo Kato (former government official and head of the Environment and Culture Research Institute) and Akio Morishima (Director of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies). The list could go on and on.

180

Bibliography

Abe, H., Shindoo, M. and Kawato, S. (1994) The Government and Politics of Japan, Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press. Abe, T. (1998) Environmental Impact Assessment Law and the Role of Local Government (Japanese only) in New Environmental Assessment Law: Theory and Practice, Journal of Environmental Law and Policy 1, Tokyo: Commercial Law Centre. Adriaanse, A., Bringezu, S., Hammond, A., Moriguchi, Y., Rodenburg, E., Rogich, D. and Shutz, H. (1997) Resource Flows: The Material Basis of Industrial Economics, World Resources Institute, Wuppertal Institute, Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment, National Institute for Economic Studies-Japan. Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE) (2003) Energy in Japan, Tokyo: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Government of Japan. Agyeman, J. and Evans, B. (eds) (1994) Local Environmental Policies and Strategies, London: Longman. Agyeman, J., Bullard, B.D. and Evans, B. (2003) Just Sustainabilities: Development in an Unequal World, London: Earthscan. Akaike, M. (2002) Wetland Preservation Protects Ecosystems and Cleanses Our Oceans: Yatsu-higata Wetlands: Sanbanse, Japan Close-up, July, Tokyo: PHP. Andersen, M.S. and Massa, I. (2000) Ecological Modernisation—Origins, Dilemmas and Future Directions, Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning 2:337–345. Aoyagi-Usui, M. (1999) A Comparative Analysis of Citizens’ Values and ProEnvironmental Behaviour, Asian Geographer 18:1–2, 111–122. Aoyagi-Usui, M. (unpublished) Public Awareness towards the Environment in Japan, Tokyo: National Institute for Environmental Studies. Aoyagi-Usui, M., Ester, P., Vinken, H. and Kuribayashi, A. (1999) Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Behaviour: A Survey of the Netherlands, Thailand (Bangkok), the Philippines (Manila) and Japan, Tokyo: National Institute for Environmental Studies. Apter, D.E. and Sawa, N. (1984) Against the State: Politics and Social Protest in Japan, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, Aramaki, H. (2001) Tsuyomaru Kankyou Hakkai he no Kikkikan: ISSP Kokusai Hikaku Chosa: Nihon no Kekka kara, Tokyo: NHK, Hoso Bunka to Chosa Kenkyu 5:56–69. Asahi Bank Research (2000) About SMEs Management on Environmental Issues, July, Tokyo: Asahi Bank.

182 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Asaoka, M. (1998) Environmental Impact Assessment Law and Information Disclosure—Public Participation (Japanese only) in New Environmental Assessment Law: Theory and Practice, Journal of Environmental Law and Policy 1, Tokyo: Commercial Law Centre. Asquith, P.J. and Kalland, A. (1997) Japanese Images of Nature: Cultural Perspectives (Man and Nature), London: Routledge Curzon. Awaji, T. (1998) Evaluation of the Environmental Impact Assessment Law (Japanese only) in New Environmental Assessment Law: Theory and Practice, Journal of Environmental Law and Policy 1, Tokyo: Commercial Law Centre. Ayres, R.U. and Weaver, P.M. (1998) Eco-Restructuring: Implications for Sustainable Development, Tokyo, New York, Paris: United Nations University Press. Baker, S., Richardson, D., Young, S. and Kousis, M. (eds) (1997) The Politics of Sustainable Development, London: Routledge. Barrett, B.F.D. (1994) Integrated Environmental Management—Experience in Japan, Journal of Environmental Management 40, 1:17–32. —— (1995) From Environmental Auditing to Integrated Environmental Management: Local Government Experience in the United Kingdom and Japan, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 38, 3:309–331. ——(2000) Decentralisation in Japan: Negotiating the Transfer of Authority, Japanese Studies 20, 1:33–48. Barrett, B.F.D. and Therivel, R.B. (1991) Environmental Policy and Impact Assessment in Japan, London: Routledge. Barrett, B.F.D. and Usui, M. (2002) Local Agenda 21 in Japan: Transforming Local Environmental Governance, Local Environment 7, 1:49–67. Barrett, B.F.D., Kuroda, A. and Miyamoto, K. (2002) Ecological Modernisation, Environmental Knowledge and Societal Change: Attitudes and Behaviour of Young People in Japan, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education11, 3: 237–261. ——(1992) Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity, London: Sage. Basel Action Network (2002) Exporting Harm: The High Tech Trashing of Asia, Seattle: Basel Action Network Silicon Valley Toxic Coalition. Beck, U. (1987) The Anthropological Shock: Chernobyl and the Contours of the Risk Society, Berkeley Journal of Sociology32:52–65. Befu, H. (2001) Hegemony of Homogeneity: An Anthropological Analysis of Nihonjinron, Japanese Society Series, Melbourne, Portland, Oregon: Trans Pacific Press. Begley, S. and Takayama, H. (1989) The World’s Eco-Outlaw, Newsweek, 1 May. Bestor, V.L. (1999) Reimagining Civil Society in Japan, Japan Journal, Special Issue, Spring: 1–10. Blake, J. (1999) Overcoming the ‘Value-Action Gap’ in Environmental Policy: Tensions between National Policy and Local Experience, Local Environment 4, 3:257–278. Bleischwitz, R. (2002) Governance of Eco-Efficiency in Japan: An Institutional Approach, Wuppertal Papers 124, Nov. Blowers, A. (1997) Environmental Policy: Ecological Modernisation or the Risk Society, Urban Studies 34, 5–6:845–871. Blüdhorn, I. (2000) Ecological Modernisation and Post-Ecologist Politics’ in Spaargaren, G., Mol, A.P.J. and Buttel, F.H. (eds), Environment and Global Modernity, London: Sage Studies in International Sociology.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 183

Boyce, J.K. (1994) Inequality as a Cause of Environmental Degradation, Ecological Econormcs 11, Dec.: 169–178. Brecher, W.P. (2000) An Investigation of Japan’s Relationship to Nature and Environment, Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press. Broadbent, J. (1988) State as Process: The Effect of Party and Class on Citizen Participation in Japanese Local Government, Social Problems 35, 2:131–142. ——(1989) Strategies and Structural Contradictions: Growth Coalition Politics in Japan, American Sociological Review 54, 5:707–721. ——(1998) Environmental Politics in Japan: Networks of Power and Protest, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ——(2000) The Japanese Network State in US Comparison: Does Embeddedness Yield Resources and Influence?, Occasional Paper, Stanford, California: Asia/Pacific Research Centre, Stanford University. ——(2002a) Japan’s Environmental Regime: The Political Dynamics of Change, in Desai, U. (ed.), Environmental Politics and Policy in Industrialized Countries, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. ——(2002b) From Heat to Light? Japan’s Changing Response to Global Warming, in Montgomery, J. and Glazer, N. (eds), Sovereignty under Challenge: How Governments Respond, New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers. ——(2003) Movement in Context: Thick Networks and Japanese Environmental Protest, in Diani, M. and McAdam, D. (eds), Social Movements and Networks: Relational Approaches to Collective Action, New York: Oxford University Press. Broadbent, J. and Devitt, S. (2001) The Role of Domestic NGOs in Networking Global Climate Change Concerns into Japan, Paper presented at the American Sociological Association, Anaheim, California. Broadbent, J. and Shinohara, C. (2003) Civil Society in Japan, Working Project funded by University of Minnesota Graduate Research Partnership Program, as yet unpublished. Buckingham-Hatfield, S. and Percy, S. (eds) (1999) Constructing Local Environmental Agendas: People, Places and Participation, London: Routledge. Burgess, J., Harrison, C. and Filius, P. (1998) Environmental Communications and the Cultural Politics of Environmental Citizenship, Environment and Planning A 30, 1: 1445–1460. Business Week (1989) Charging Japan with Crimes against the Earth, Business Week, 9 Oct: 108–112. Buttel, F.H. (2000a) Ecological Modernization as Social Theory, Geoforum 31:57–65. ——(2000b) Classical Theory and Contemporary Environmental Sociology, in Spaargaren, G., Mol, A.P.J. and Buttel, F.H. (eds), Environment and Global Modernity, London: Sage Studies in International Sociology. ——(2000c) World Society, the Nation-State, and Environmental Protection, American Sociological Review 6, 51:117–121. ——(2001) Environmental Sociology and the Explanation of Environmental Reform, Paper presented at the Kyoto Environmental Sociology Conference, Oct., Kyoto. Calder, K.E. (1988) Crisis and Compensation: Public Policy and Political Stability in Japan, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Catton, W.R., Jr (1980) Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change, Urbana, Illionois: University of Illinois Press. Chatterjee, L. (ed.) (2004) Words into Action, London: International Institute for Environment and Development.

184 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Choy, J. (1989) MITI to Revise Energy Demand Outlook, Japan Economic Institute Report 19B (12 May): 5–6, Washington, DC. ——(2000) Japan Rethinks Public Works Policy, Japan Economic Institute Report 34 (1 Sept), Washington, DC. Christoff, P. (1996) Ecological Modernisation, Ecological Modernities, Environmental Politics 5:476–500. ——(2000) Ecological Modernisation, Ecological Modernities, in Young, S. (ed.), The Emergence of Ecological Modernisation, London: Routledge. Clark, W.C. (2001) A Comparative History of Social Responses to Climate Change, Ozone Depletion, and Acid Rain, in Social Learning Group, Learning to Manage Global Environmental Risks, Vol. 1,Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. Coalition of Local Governments for Environmental Initiatives (COLGEI) (Kankyou Chijitai Kaigi) (1999) Towards the Development of Global Action: Basic Survey and Promotion of the Development of Local Authority Global Action [in Japanese: Guroukaru Akushun Tenkai e Mukete: Guroukaru Akushun Tenkai no Tame no Kankyou Seisaku Jisshi Joukuou Chousa], Tokyo: COLGEI. Cohen, J.L. and Arato, A. (1994) Civil Society and Political Theory, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. Cohen, M.J. (1996) Risk Society and Ecological Modernisation: Alternative Visions for Postindustrial Nations, Oxford Centre for the Environment, Ethics and Society Research Paper, Oxford: University of Oxford. ——(1997) Sustainable Development and Ecological Modernisation: National Capacity for Rigorous Environmental Reform, Ethics and Society, Oxford Centre for the Environment, Ethics and Society Research Paper 14, Oxford: University of Oxford. ——(1998) Science and the Environment: Assessing Cultural Capacity for Ecological Modernization, Public Understanding of Science 7:149–167. ——(2000) Ecological Modernization, Environment Knowledge and National Character: A Preliminary Analysis of the Netherlands, in Mol, A.P.J. and Sonnenfeld, D.A. (eds), Ecological Modernisation around the World: Perspectives and Critical Debates, London: Frank Cass. CQ Researcher (1996) Global Warming Update: Are Limits on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Needed?, CQ Researcher 6, 41 (1 Nov.): 961–984. Cross, M. (1989) Tokyo Nods Its Head toward the Environment, New Scientist (16 Sept.): 24. Crump, J. (1996) Environmental Politics in Japan, Environmental Politics 5, 1 (Spring): 115–121. Cruz, W., Fukui, K. and Warford, J. (eds) (2002) Protecting the Global Environment: Initiatives by Japanese Business, Washington, DC: World Bank Institute. Curtis, G.L. (ed.) (2002) Policymaking in Japan: Defining the Role of Politicians, Tokyo, New York: Japan Centre for International Exchange. Danaher, M. (2002a) Crusaders of the Lost Archipelago: The Changing Relationships between Environmental NGOs and the Government in Japan, in Maswood, J., Graham, J. and Miyajima, H. (eds), Japan: Change and Continuity, London: Routledge Curzon. ——(2002b) Why Japan Will Not Give Up Whaling, Pacific Review 14, 2:105–120. ——(2003) On the Forest Fringes? Environmentalism, Left Politics and Feminism in Japan, Transformations6 (Feb.), Brisbane: Central Queensland University.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 185

Dauvergne, P. (1997) Shadows in the Forest: Japan and the Politics of Timber in Southeast Asia, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. Deguchi, M. (1998) A Comparative View of Civil Society, Available online, Accessed 16 Feb. 1999, http://www.us-japan.org/dc/cs.yamauchi.paper.htm. Dentsu Institute for Human Studies (1999) Seikai 23 Kakoku Kachikan Databook, Tokyo: Douyukan. DeSimone, L.D. and Popoff, F. (1997) Eco-Efficiency: The Business Link to Sustainable Development, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. DiMaggio, P. and Powell, W. (eds) (1991) The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis, Chicago: University of Chicago. Dryzek J.S. (1997) The Politics of the Earth, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Dryzek J.S., Downes, D., Hunold, C., Schlosberg, D. and Hernes, H. (2003) Green States and Social Movements: Environmentalism in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Norway, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Dunlap, R.E. (2002) Paradigms, Theories and Environmental Sociology, in Dunlap, R.E., Buttel, F.H., Dickens, P. and Gijswijt, A., Sociological Theory and the Environment: Classical Foundations, Contemporary Insights, Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. Dunlap, R., Gallup, G., Jr and Gallup, A. (1992) The Health of the Planet Survey, Princeton, New Jersey: George H. Gallup International Institute. Dunlap, R.E. and Van Liere, K.D. (1978) The New Environmental Paradigm, Journal of Environmental Education 9 (Summer): 10–19. ——(1984) Commitment to the Dominant Social Paradigm and Concern for Environmental Quality, Social Science Quarterly 65:1013–1028. Dunlap, R.E., Van Liere, K.D., Mertig, A.G. and Emmet Jones, R. (2000) Measuring Endorsement of the New Ecological Paradigm: A Revised NEP Scale, Journal of Social Issues 56, 3:425–442. Eckersley, R. (1992) Green versus Ecosocialist Economic Programmes: The Market Rules OK?, Politic Studies 40, 2:315–333. ——(2004) The Green State: Rethinking Democracy and Sovereignty, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. Economist (1998) Toxic Waste in Japan: The Burning Issue, Economist (25 July): 60. Elder, M. (2003) METI and Industrial Policy in Japan—Change and Continuity, in Schaede, U. and Grimes, W. (eds), Japan’s Managed Globalization: Adapting to the Twenty-first Century, Armonk New York, London: M.E. Sharpe. Emirbayer, M. and Sheller, M. (1999) Publics in History, Theory and Society 28: 145–197. Evans, P. (1995) Embedded Autonomy, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Feinerman, J. and Fujikura, K. (1998) Japan: Consensus-Based Compliance, in Weiss, E.B. and Jacobson, H. (eds), Engaging Countries: Strengthening Compliance with International Environmental Accords, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. Feldhoff, T. (2002) Japan’s Construction Lobby Activities: Systemic Stability and Sustainable Regional Development, Asien 84 (July): 34–42.

186 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fischer, F. (2000) Citizens, Experts and the Environment: The Politics of Local Knowledge, Durham, North Carolina, London: Duke University Press. Fisher, D.R. (2002) From the Treadmill of Production to Ecological Modernisation? Applying a Habermasian Framework to Society-Environment Relationships, in Mol, A.P.J. and Buttel, F.H. (eds), The Environmental State under Pressure, Amsterdam: Elsevier Science. ——(2004) National Governance and the Global Climate Change Regime, Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. Fisher, D.R. and Freudenburg, W.R. (2001) Ecological Modernization and Its Critics: Assessing the Past and Looking toward the Future, Society and Natural Resources 14, 8: 701–709. ——(2004) Post Industrialization and Environmental Quality: An Empirical Analysis of the Environmental State, Social Forces 83, 1. Flyvberg, B. (1998) Rationality and Power, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Forrest, R.A. (1989) Japanese Economic Assistance and the Environment: The Need for Reform, Washington, DC: National Wildlife Federation. Foster, J.B. (1992) The Absolute General Law of Environmental Degradation under Capitalism, Capitalism, Nature, Socialism 2 (3 Sept.): 77–82. Frank, D.J., Hironaka, A. and Schofer, E. (2000a) Environmentalism as a Global Institution: Reply to Buttel, American Sociological Review 65, 1:122–127. ——(2000b) The Nation-State and the Natural Environment over the Twentieth Century, American Sociological Review 65, 1:96–117. Frijns, J., Phuong, P.T. and Mol, A.P.J. (2000) Ecological Modernization Theory and Industrializing Economies: The Case of Viet Nam, in Mol, A.P.J. and Sonnenfeld, D.A. (eds), Ecological Modernisation around the World: Perspectives and Critical Debates, London: Frank Cass. Fukasaka, Y. (1995) Energy and Environment Policy Integration: The Case of Energy Conservation Policies and Technologies in Japan, Energy Policy 23, 12:1063–1076. Fukui, H. (1992) The Japanese State and Economic Development: A Profile of a Nationalist-Paternalist Capitalist State, in Appelbaum, R. and Henderson, J. (eds), States and Development in the Asian Pacific Rim, Newbury Park, California: Sage. Fukui, K. (2002) Global Benefits from Private Sector Initiatives: Lessons on the Environment from Japan, in Cruz, W., Fukui, K. and Warford, J. (eds), Protecting the Global Environment: Initiatives by Japanese Business, Washington, DC: World Bank. Funabashi, H. (1992) Environmental Problems in Post-War Japanese Society, International Journal of Japanese Sociology 1:3–18. ——(2001) Four Logical Stages of Intervention of the Environmental Control System in the Economic System, Paper presented at the Kyoto Environmental Sociology Conference, 21 Oct., Bukkyo University, Japan. Funabashi, H., Hasegawa, K., Hatanaka, M. and Katsuta, H. (1985) Shinkansen Kogai: Kosoku Bunmei No Shakai Mondai [Bullet Train Pollution: Social Problems of a High Speed Civilization], Tokyo: Yuhikaku. Furukawa, S. and Menju, T. (eds) (2003) Japan’s Road to Pluralism: Transforming Local Communities in the Global Era, Tokyo, New York: Japan Centre for International Exchange.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 187

Garon, S. (2003) From Meiji to Heisei: The State and Civil Society in Japan, in Schwartz, F.J. and Pharr, S.J. (eds), The State of Civil Society in Japan, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. George, T.S. (1996) Minamata: Power, Policy and Citizenship in Postwar Japan, Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. ——(2001) Minamata: Pollution and the Struggle for Democracy in Postwar Japan, Cambridge, Massachusetts:Harvard University Press. Giddens, A. (1998) The Third Way, Cambridge: Polity Press. Gille, Z. (2000) Legacy of Waste or Wasted Legacy? The End of Industrial Ecology in PostSocialist Hungary, in Mol, A.P.J. and Sonnenfeld, D.A. (eds), Ecological Modernisation around the World: Perspectives and Critical Debates, London: Frank Cass. Global Environment Forum (1995) Local Agenda 21 Guide [in Japanese: Roukaru Ajenda 21 Kettei Gaido], Tokyo: Global Environmental Forum. ——(1999) Report on the State of the Implementation of Local Agenda 21 [in Japanese: Roukaru Ajenda 21 kettei joukyo oyobi sono naiyou nado ni kan suru chousa], Tokyo: Global Environmental Forum. ——(2000) Local Agenda 21: Adoption/Implementation Sourcebook, Tokyo: Global Environmental Forum. Gotoh, S. (1997) Japan’s Changing Environmental Policy, Government Initiatives, and Industry Responses, in Richards, D.F. (ed.), The Green Industrial Game: Implications for Environmental Design and Management, Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Gouldson, A. (2000) Editorial, Geoforum 3, 1:1–8. Gouldson, A. and Murphy, J. (1997) Ecological Modernisation: Economic Eestructuring and the Environment, in Jacobs, M. (ed.), Greening the Millennium: The New Politics of the Environment, Oxford: Blackwell. Gouldson, A. and Roberts, P. (2000) Integrating Environment and Economy: Strategies for Local and Regional Government, London: Routledge. Government of Japan (1993) National Plan for Agenda 21, Tokyo: Government of Japan. ——(1997) Japan—Implementation of Agenda 21: Review of Progress Made since the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development 1992, Information provided by the Government of Japan to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, New York. Grant, W., Matthews, D. and Newell, P. (2000) The Effectiveness of European Union Environmental Policy, New York: St Martin’s Press. Gresser, J., Fujikura, K. and Morishima, A. (1981) Environmental Law in Japan, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. Grove-White, R. (1996) Environmental Knowledge and Public Policy: On Humanising the Research Agenda, in Lash, S., Szerszynski, B. and Wynne, B. (eds), Risk, Environment and Modernity: Towards a New Ecology, London: Sage. Grubb, M. with Vrolijk, C. and Brack, D. (1999) The Kyoto Protocol: A Guide and Assessment, London: Royal Institute of International Affairs. Haas, E.B. (1989) Do Regimes Matter? Epistemic Communities and Mediterranean Pollution Control, International Organisation 43, 3:377–403. ——(1990) When Knowledge is Power, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Oxford: University of California Press. Habermas, J. (1970) Towards a Rational Society., New York: Beacon.

188 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hajer, M.A. (1995) The Politics of Environmental Discourse: Ecological Modernization and the Policy Process, Oxford: Clarendon Press. ——(1996) Ecological Modernisation as Cultural Politics, in Lash, S., Szerszynksi, B. and Wynne, B. (eds), Risk, Environment and Modernity—Towards a New Ecology, London and New Delhi: Sage. Hall, D. (2001) Japan’s Role in the Asian Environmental Crisis: Comparing the Critical Literature and the Environment Agency’s White Papers, Social Science Japan Journal 4, 1: 95–102. Hann, C. and Dunn, E. (1996) Civil Society: Challenging Western Models, London: Routledge. Hannigan, J.A. (1995) Environmental Sociology: A Social Constructivist Perspective, New York: Routledge. Harashina, S. (1998) EIA in Japan: Creating a More Transparent Society?, Environmental Assessment Review 18:309–311. ——(2000) Asesu ho no shikoo to kongo no tenkai [Assessment Law Execution and Development from Now], Kankyou to Kogai [Environment and Pollution Journal]29, 3: 11–14. Harashina, S., Murayama, T., Morita, T. and Naitoh, M. (1994) Environmental Assessment (in Japanese), Tokyo: Ministry of Finance Publishing, Government of Japan. Harris, P.G. (2000) International Norms of Responsibility and U.S. Climate Change Policy, in Harris, P.G. (ed.), Climate Change and American Foreign Policy, New York: St Martin’s Press. Hasegawa, K. (1995) A Comparative Study of Social Movements for the Post-Nuclear Energy Era in Japan and the United States, International Journal of Japanese Sociology 4: 21–36. ——(1996) Datsu Genshiryoku Shakai No Sentaku [The Choice for a Post-Nuclear Society: The Age of New Energy Revolution], Tokyo: Shinetsu Sha. ——(1998) Global Climate Change and Japanese Nuclear Policy, Paper presented at the World Congress of Sociology, 26 July–1 Aug., Montreal, Canada. Hashimoto, M. (1970) Kogai Wo Kangaeru: Yori Kagakuteki Ni Yori Ningenteki Ni [Thinking about Pollution: More Scientifically and More Humanely], Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbunsha. ——(1985) Development of Environmental Policy and Its Institutional Mechanisms of Administration and Finance, Paper presented at the International Workshop on Environmental Management for Local and Regional Development, Nagoya. ——(1987) Development of Environmental Policy and Its Institutional Mechanisms of Administration and Finance, in United Nations Centre for Regional Development and United Nations Environmental Programme, Environmental Management for Local and Regional Development: The Japanese Experience, Nagoya: United Nations Centre for Regional Development. ——(1988) Shishi Kankyo Gyosei [Personal History: Environmental Administration], Tokyo: Asahi Shimbunsha. Hawken, P., Lovins, A.B. and Hunter Lovins, L. (1999) Natural Capital: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, Boston, New York, London: Little, Brown. Hayden Lesbirel, S. (1998) Nimby Politics in Japan: Energy Siting and the Management of Environmental Conflict, Ithaca, New York, London: Cornell University Press. Herskowitz, A. and Salerni, E. (1987) Garbage Management in Japan: Leading the Way, New York: Inform, Inc.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 189

Hiraishi, T. (1989) Control of Chemicals, in Tsuru, S. and Weidner, H. (eds), Environmental Policy in Japan, Berlin: Edition Sigma Rainer Bohn Verlag. Hirata, K. (2002) Civil Society in Japan: The Growing Role of NGOs in Tokyo’s Aid Development Policy, New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Hoffman, S.M. (1996) The Influence of Citizen/Environmental Groups upon Local Environmental Policy Process in Japan, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Hoffren, J. (2003) Measuring the Eco-Efficiency of the Finnish Economy, Paper presented at the Third Biennial Conference of the European Society for Ecological Economics on Transitions towards a Sustainable Europe—Ecology, Economy, Policy, 3–6 May, Vienna. Horikawa, S. (2001) Who Owns the Landscape? Landscape Preservation and the National Trust Movements, in Torigoe, H. (ed.), Natural Environment and Culture of Environment (in Japanese), Environmental Sociology in Japan series, Vol. 3, Tokyo: Yuhikaku. Hoshino, Y. (1992) Japan’s Post-Second World War Environmental Problems, in Ui, J. (ed.), Industrial Pollution in Japan, Tokyo: United Nations University Press. Hotta, Y. (2004) The Transnational Politics of Ecological Modernisation: An Analysis of the Formation of Transnational Authority in Global Environmental and Industrial Governance, with Special Reference to the Zero Emissions Initiative in Japan, Ph.D. in International Relations thesis, University of Sussex. Huber, J. (1985) Die Regenbogengesellschaft: Ökologie und Sozialpolitik, Frankfurt am Main: Fisher Verlag. ——(1991) Unternehmen Umwelt: Weichenstellungen für eine ökologische Marktwirtschaft, Frankfurt am Main: Fisher Verlag. ——(2000) Towards Industrial Ecology: Sustainable Development as a Concept of Ecological Modernisation, in Andersen, M. and Massa, I. (eds), Ecological Modernisation, Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, Special Issue 2: 269–285. Huddle, N. and Reich, M. (1975) Island of Dreams, New York: Autumn Press. Igarashi, T. (1999) Public Works at a Crossroads, Social Science Japan 17 (Dec.): 3–5. Iida, T. (2000) Strategies for Green Electricity in Japan: Presentation Made at the Conference on Energy Markets in the Making—Strategies for the New Millennium, Paper presented at the Green Energy Session, 20 Nov. Salzburg. ——(2002) Green Power and Renewable Energy in Japan: Its Co-evolution and Conflict, Paper presented at the Seventh National Green Power Marketing Conference, 30 Sept.–2 Oct, Washington, DC. ——(2003) Evolution and Conflicts over Renewable Energy Policy in Japan, Paper presented at Chalmers Technical University, Centre for Environment and Sustainability, 15 Aug., Göteborg. Iijima, N. (ed.) (1979) Pollution Japan: Historical Chronology, Tokyo: Asahi Evening News. ——(1984) Kankyo Mondai to Higaisha Undo [Environmental Problems and the Victim’s Movement], Tokyo: Gakubunsha. ——(1992) Social Structures of Pollution Victims, in Ui, J. (ed.) Industrial Pollution in Japan, Tokyo: United Nations University Press. ——(1993) Kankyo Shakaigaku [Environmental Sociology], Tokyo: Yuhikaku Books.

190 BIBLIOGRAPHY

——(1994) Environmental Sociology in Japan, International Journal of Japanese Sociology 3:121–130. ——(1995) Kankyoo shakaigaku no susume [Recommendations for Environmental Sociology], Tokyo: Maruzen. ——(1998) Environmental Deterioration and the Interrelationship between Global and Local Inequalities: Perspectives from Asia and Australia, Paper presented at the World Congress of Sociology, 26 July–1 August, Montreal, Canada. Imamura, T. (1989) Environmental Responsibilities at the National Level: The Environment Agency, in Tsuru, S. and Weidner, H. (eds), Environmental Policy in Japan, Berlin: Edition Sigma Rainer Bohn Verlag. Imura, H. (1989) Administration of Pollution Control at the Local Level, in Tsuru, S. and Weidner, H. (eds), Environmental Policy in Japan, Berlin: Sigma Rainer Bohn Verlag. ——(1994) Japan’s Environmental Balancing Act: Accommodating Sustained Development, Asian Survey 34, 4:355–368. ——(1997) Japan, in Jänicke, M., Weidner, H. and Jorgeus, H. (eds), National Environmental Policies: A Comparative Study of Capacity Building, Berlin: Springer. ——(1998) The Use of Voluntary Approaches in Japan? An Initial Survey, Report prepared for the OECD Environment Directorate, ENV/EPOC/GEEI(98) 28/Final, OECD, Paris. ——(2004) Japan Environmental Policy: Past and Future, in World Bank Institute, in Imura, H. and Schreurs, M. (eds), Environmental Management in Japan, Amsterdam, London: Elsevier Press. INCPEN (2001) Towards Greener Households—Products, Packaging and Energy: Summary Report, Reading: Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment. Inglehart, R. (1977) The Silent Revolution: Changing Values and Political Styles among Western Publics, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ——(1982) Changing Values in Japan and the West, Comparative Political Studies 14, 4: 445–479. ——(1989) Observations on Cultural Change and Post Modernism, in Gibbins, J.R. (ed.), Contemporary Political Culture: Politics in a Postmodern Age, Newbury Park, California: Sage. ——(1990) Culture Shift in Advanced Industrial Society, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ——(1997) Modernization and Postmodernization Cultural, Economic, and Political Change in 43 Societies, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Inoguchi, T. (1993) Japan’s Foreign Policy in an Era of Global Change, New York: St Martin’s Press. Inoguchi, T. and Iwai, T. (1987) Zoku Giin No Kenkyu [Research on Tribal Legislators], Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbunsha. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2001a) Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis, ed. Houghton, J.T., Ding, Y., Nogua, M., Griggs, D., Vander Linden, P. and Maskell, K., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ——(2001b) Third Assessment Report, Climate Change 2001: Synthesis Report, ed. Watson, R.T. and the Core Writing Team, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 191

International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) (2002) Second Local Agenda 21 Survey, Background Paper No. 15, Commission on Sustainable Development, Second Preparatory Session, 28 Jan.–8 Feb. 2002, New York. International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives-Japan (2001) Japanese Local Government and Agenda 21: Report of the Survey of the Current Implementation Situation [in Japanese: Nihon no Jichitai no Ajenda 21: Jisshi Jyoukyou Chousa Houkukosho], Tokyo: ICLEI Japan Secretariat. International Energy Agency (IEA) (1999) Energy Policies of IEA Countries, Japan 1999 Review, Paris: OECD. —— (2003) Energy Policies of IEA Countries, Japan 2003 Review, Paris: OECD. International Monetary Fund (IMF) (2003) World Economic Outlook, Public Debt in Emerging Markets, Washington, DC: IMF. Ishida, T. and Krauss, E.S. (eds) (1994) Democracy in Japan, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. Ishii, K. (2002) 20 Seiki no Nihon Kankyo Shi, Tokyo: Sangyo Kankyo Kanri Kyokai. Ishikawa, E. (2000) The Edo Period Had an Ecological Society [O-edo ecology jijo], Tokyo: Kodansha. Ishimure, M. (1990) Paradise in the Sea of Sorrow: Our Minamata Disease, Kyoto: Yamaguchi. Ishino, K. (1989) Waste Management, in Tsuru, S. and Weidner, H. (eds), Environmental Policy in Japan, Berlin: Edition Sigma Rainer Bohn Verlag. ISO 14001 Information Centre (2002) ISO World: Number of ISO 14001/EMAS Certifications by Country, Available online, Accessed 30 Apr. 2004, http:// www.iso 14000.com/Community/RegisteredList.htm. Isobe, Y. (1999) Issues Related to Environmental Problems and Decentralization [in Japanese: Kankyou Mondai to Bunken no Kadai], Jurist: Zoukan (May): 246–250. Itochu (2002) Environmental Report 2002, Tokyo: Itochu, Available online, Accessed 30 Apr. 2004, http://www.itochu.co.jp/main/coy/coy_l 2e.html. Jacobson, H. and Weiss, E.B. (1998) A Framework for Analysis, in Weiss, E.B. and Jacobson, H. (eds), Engaging Countries: Strengthening Compliance with International Environmental Accords, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. JACSES (Japan Centre for a Sustainable Environment and Society) (1996) Environment and Sustainable Development in Official Development Assistance since the 1992 Earth Summit, Tokyo: JACSES. Jain, P. (1989) Local Policies and Policymaking in Japan, New Delhi: Commonwealth Publishers. Jänicke, M. (1990) State Failure, University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press. ——(1992) Conditions for Environmental Policy Success: An International Comparison, Environmentalist 12, 1:47–58. ——(2000) Ecological Modernisation: Innovation and Diffusion of Policy and Technology, Forschungsstelle für Umweltpolitik, Report 00–08, Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin. ——(2001) Towards an End to the ‘Era of Materials’? Discussion of a Hypothesis, in Binder, M., Jänicke, M. and Petschow, U. (eds), Green Industrial Restructuring: International Case Studies and Theoretical Interpretations, Berlin: Springer Verlag.

192 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jänicke, M. and Weidner, H. (1995) Successful Environmental Policy: An Introduction, in Jänicke, M. and Weidner, H. (eds), Successful Enviromental Policy: A Critical Evaluation of 24 Cases, Berlin: Sigma. Jänicke, M. and Jacob, K. (2002) Ecological Modernisation and the Creation of Lead Markets, Forschungsstelle für Umweltpolitik, Report 03–2002, Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin. Jänicke, M., Monch, H., Ranneburg, T. and Simonis, U. (1989) Economic Structure and Environmental Impacts: East West Comparisons, Environmentalist 9, 3:171–182. Jänicke, M., Binder, M. and Monch, H. (1996) Dirty Industries’ Patterns of Change in Industrial Countries, Forschungsstelle für Umweltpolitik, Report 96–1, Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin. Jänicke, M., Weidner, H. and Jorgens, H. (eds) (1997) National Environmental Policies: A Comparative Study of Capacity Building, Berlin: Springer Verlag. Jänicke, M., Binder, M. and Monch, H. (2000) Structural Change and Environmental Policy, in Young, S.C. (ed.), The Emergence of Ecological Modernisation, London: Routledge. Japan Environment Agency (1987a) Environmental White Paper [Kankyo Hyakusho], Tokyo: Government of Japan. ——(1987b) Quality of the Environment in Japan, Tokyo: Government of Japan. ——(1988) Environmental White Paper [Kankyo Hyakusho], Tokyo: Government of Japan. ——(1991a) Pollution in Japan—Our Tragic Experience: Case Studies of Pollution Related Damage at Yokkaichi, Minamata and the Jinzu River, Study Group for Global Environment and Economics, Tokyo: Government of Japan. ——(1991b) Towards a Recycling Society in the Twenty-first Century (in Japanese), Tokyo: Government of Japan. ——(1992) Environmental White Paper [Kankyo Hyakusho], Tokyo: Government of Japan. ——(1993) Environment Basic Law [Kankyou Kihon Hou], Tokyo: Government of Japan. ——(1994a) Concerning Local Agenda 21 [Roukaru Agenda 21 ni Tsuite], Tokyo: Government of Japan. ——(1994b) Environment Basic Plan [Kankyou Kihon Keikaku], Tokyo: Government of Japan. ——(1997) Environmental Impact Assessment Law: Special Report (in Japanese), EIA Promotion Group, Tokyo: Government of Japan. ——(1998) White Paper on the Environment in Japan [Heisei 10-nen Kankyou Hakusho], Tokyo: Government of Japan. Japan Finance Corporation for Small Business (1997) How SMEs are Affected by Environmental Issues and SMEs Environmental Measures, Tokyo: Japan Finance Corporation. Japan for Sustainability (2004) The Slow Life Movement: Happiness before Economic Efficiency, Newsletter 14, Tokyo: JFS. Japan Small Business Research Institute (JSBRI) (1999) White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises in Japan: Into an Age of Business Innovation and New Startups, Tokyo: Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Government of Japan. Japan Times (1998) 11 Endocrine Disrupters Found in Nation’s Water, 8 Dec.: 1. Jinno, N. (1999) Public Works Projects and Japan’s Public Finances, Social Science Japan 17, (Dec.): 6–9.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 193

Joas, M. and Gronholm, B. (2001) Diffusion of New Environmental Policy: The Transfer of Local Agenda 21 in a West-East Perspective, Paper presented to the fifth Nordic Environmental Research Conference, The Ecological Modernisation of Society, Aarhus, Denmark. Johnson, C. (1982) MITI and the Japanese Miracle, Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ——(1995) Japan: Who Governs? The Rise of the Developmental State, New York: W.W.Norton. Jokinen, P. (2000) Europeanisation and Ecological Modernisation: Agro-environmental Policy and Practices in Finland, in Mol, A.P.J. and Sonnenfeld, D.A. (eds), Ecological Modernisation around the World: Perspectives and Critical Debates, London: Frank Cass. Kabashima, I. and Broadbent, J. (1986) Referent Pluralism: Mass Media and Politics in Japan, Journal of Japanese Studies 12, 2:329–361. Kada, Y. (1991) Understanding the State of the Lake Environment in the Context of SocioCultural Perspective, in Hashimoto, M. and Barrett, B.F.D. (eds), SocioEconomic Aspects of Lake Management, Guidelines of Lake Management, Shiga: International Lake Management Committee: 2, 7–18. ——(1999) Environmental Justice in Japan: Case Studies of Lake Biwa, Nagara River, Minamata and Niigata Minamata, Paper from Workshop on Public Philosophy, Environment and Social Justice, Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs, New York. Kai, T., Uemura, Y., Takahashi, T., Yasui, H. and Yoshida, M. (2002) Regional Energy System in Yakushima Island Analysis of Energy Demand and Supply, Paper No. 361, Kagoshima: Kagoshima University. Kajita, T. (1988) Tekunokurashii to shakai undo [Technocracy and Social Movements]., Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press. Kajiyama, S. (ed.) (1995) Gomi Mondai Funso Jiten, Tokyo: Resaikuru Bunkasha. Kalberg, S. (1994) Max Weber’s Comparative-Historical Sociology, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Kalland, A. (1995) Culture in Japanese Nature, in Bruun, O. and Kalland, A. (eds), Asian Perceptions of Nature: A Critical Approach, Richmond: Curzon Press. Kameyama, Y. (2003) Climate Change as Japanese Foreign Policy: From Reactive to Proactive, in Harris, P.G. (ed.), Global Warming and East Asia, London: Routledge. Kanazawa, M. (1996) Transformative Learning and Social Activism in Japan, Master’s thesis, University of Alaska, Anchorage. Kase, K. (1999) Economic Aspects of Public Works Projects in Japan, Social Science Japan 17 (Dec.): 16–19. Katoh, H. (2002) Breaking the State Monopoly on Public Affairs, in Mann, T.E. and Sasaki, T. (eds), Governance for a New Century:Japanese Challenges, American Experience, Tokyo, New York: Japan Centre for International Exchange. Katoh, I., Kumamoto, N. and Matthews, W.H. (1981) Environmental Law and Policy in the Pacific Basin Area, Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press. Katoh, S. (1989) Kogai Taisaku Kihonho to Sono Sekai [The World of the Basic Law against Pollution], Gesuido Kyokaishi 26, 306 (Nov.): 2–9. Katz, R. (2001) Japan’s Convoy Capitalism, Asia Wall Street Journal (22 Feb.): 14.

194 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kawaguchi, Y. (2002) Moving beyond North-South Divide: An Effective Approach to Sustainable Development, Accessible online, http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/japan/ opinion/kawaguchi.html. Kawana, H. (1987) Nihon No Kogai, Tokyo: Ryokufu. ——(1988) Dokyumento: Nihon No kogai Kogai [Documents: Japan’s Pollution], Tokyo: Ryokufu Shuppan. ——(1995a) Dokyumento Nihon No Kogai, Dai11maki: Kankyo Gyosei No kiro Kiro [Documents of Japan’s Pollution, Volume 11: Quandaries for Environmental Bureaucracy], Tokyo: Ryokufu Shuppan. ——(1995b) Dokyumento: Nihon No Kogai, Dai12maki: Chikyu Kankyo No Kiki [Documents: The Pollution of Japan, Volume 12: Crisis in the Global Environment], Tokyo: Ryokufu Shuppan. ——(1998) Kensho: Daokishin Osen, Tokyo: Rokufu Shuppan. Kawashima, Y. (1997) A Comparative Analysis of the Decision-Making Process of Developed Countries toward CO2 Emissions Reduction Targets, International Environmmtal Affairs 9, 2 (Spring): 95–126. ——(1998) Kisho Hendo Wakugumi Joyaku Dai 3 Kai Teiyaku Kaigi—Kosho Katei, Goi, Kongono Kadai [Framework Conditions for Atmospheric Change, Third Conditions Legislative Deliberations—Process of Negotiations, Consensus, Future Issues], Technical report, Tsukuba, Japan: National Environmental Research Institute. ——(2000) Japan’s Decision-Making about Climate Change Problems: Comparative Study of Decisions in 1990 and 1997, Environmental Economics and Policy Studies 3:29–57. ——(2001) Japan and Climate Change: Responses and Explanations, Energy and Environment 12, 2 and 3:167–180. Keibo, O. (2001) Rowing the Eternal Sea: The Story of a Minamata Fisherman, Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. Keidanren (2000) Regarding Results of the 3rd Follow-up to the Keidanren Voluntary Action Plan on the Environment, Available online, Accessed 30 Apr. 2000, http:// www.keidanren.or.jp/english/policy/2000/055/. Kellert, S.R. (1991) Japanese Perceptions of Wildlife, Conservation Biology 5:297–308. ——(1993) Attitudes, Knowledge, and Behavior toward Wildlife among the Industrial Superpowers: United States, Japan, and Germany, J. Social Issues 49:53–56. Kelley, D.R., Stunkel, K.R. and Wescott, R.R. (1976) The Economic Superpowers and the Environment: The US, the Soviet Union and Japan, San Francisco: W.H.Freeman. Kent Weaver, R. (2002) The Limits of Institutional Reform, in Mann, T.E. and Sasaki, T. (eds), Governance for a New Century: Japanese Challenges, American Experience, Tokyo, New York: Japan Centre for International Exchange. Kerr, A. (2001) Dogs and Demons: Tales from the Dark Side of Japan, New York: Hill and Wang. Kingston, J. (2001) Japan in Transformation 1952–2000, Harlow: Pearson Education. Kitamura, Y. (1997) Jichitai Kankyou Seisakuhou [Local Government Environmental Administrative Law], Tokyo: Dainippon. Knight, J. (1996) Making Citizens in Postwar Japan: National and Local Perspectives, in Hann, C. and Dunn, E. (eds), Civil Society: Challenging Western Models, London: Routledge. Kobayaka, M. (1999) The Environmental Impact Assessment Law and Related Matters (in Japanese only), Jurist Special Edition (May): 58–61.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 195

Krauss, E.S. (2000) Local Politics in Japan: Welcoming the Third Wave, in Smith, S.A. (ed.), Local Voices, National Issues: The Impact of Local Initiative in Japanese Policy-Making, Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies, Michigan: University of Michigan. Kriesi, H., Koopmans, R., Duyvendak, J.W. and Guigni, M.G. (1995) New Social Movements in Western Europe: A Comparative Analysis, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press. Kurasaka. H. (1999) Assessment Will Change as a Result of the Environmental Impact Assessment Law (in Japanese only), Eco Machine and Technology Magazine [Kankyou Kiki] (Spring): 78–81. Lafferty, W.M. and Eckerberg, K. (eds) (1998) From the Earth Summit to Local Agenda 21: Working towards Sustainable Development, London: Earthscan. Lafferty, W.M. and Meadowcroft, J. (eds) (2001) Implementing Sustainable Development: Strategies and Initiatives in High Consumption Societies, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Langhelle, O. (2000) Why Ecological Modernisation and Sustainable Development Should Not Be Conflated, in Andersen, M. and Massa, I. (eds), Ecological Modernisation, Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, Special Issue 2: 303–322. Lebra, T.S. (1976) Japanese Patterns of Behavior, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Leroy, P. (1999) Political Modernisation and the Renewal of Environmental Policy Arrangements, Paper presented to Euroconference, 16–19 Oct, Rust, Austria. Leroy, P. and van Tatenhove, J. (2000) Political Modernization Theory and Environmental Politics, in Spaargaren, G., Mol, A.P.J. and Buttel, F.H. (eds), Environment and Global Modernity, London: Sage Studies in International Sociology. Lewis, J.G. (1980) Civic Protest in Mishima: Citizens’ Movements and the Politics of the Environment in Contemporary Japan, in Steiner, K. (ed.), Political Opposition and Local Politics in Japan, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Lindseth, G. (2001a) Local Agenda 21 and Discourse Analysis: Groundwork for an Empirical Study of 3 Norwegian Municipalities, Working Paper No. 2/01, Programme for Research and Documentation for a Sustainable Society, Oslo: University of Oslo. ——(2001b) Participation, Discourse and Consensus: Local Agenda 21 in a Deliberative Democracy Perspective, Working Paper No. 4/01, Programme for Research and Documentation for a Sustainable Society, Oslo: University of Oslo. Low, M., Nakayama, S. and Yoshioka, H. (1999) Science, Technology and Society in Contemporary Japan, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lundqvist, L.J. (2000) Capacity Building or Social Construction? Explaining Sweden’s Shift toward Ecological Modernisation, Geoforum 31:21–32. McCormack, G. (1998) From Number One to Number Nothing: Japan’s Fin de Siecle Blues, Japanese Studies 18, 1:31–44. ——(2001) The Emptiness of Japanese Affluence, Armonk, New York, London: M.E.Sharpe. MacDougall, T.E. (1994) Democracy and Local Government in Postwar Japan, in Ishida, T. and Krauss, E.S. (eds), Democracy in Japan, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. McDowell, M.A. (1990) The Development of the Environment in Asean, Pacific Affairs 62, 3:307–329.

196 BIBLIOGRAPHY

McKean, M. (1977) Pollution and Policymaking, in Pempel, T.J. (ed.), Policy Making in Contemporary Japan, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ——(1981) Environmental Protest and Citizen Politics in Japan, Berkeley, California: University of California Press. Maclachlan, P. (2003) The Struggle for an Independent Consumer Society: Consumer Activism and the State’s Response in Post-war Japan, in Schwartz, F.J. and Pharr, S.J. (eds), The State of Civil Society in Japan, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Macnaghten, P. and Jacobs, M. (1997) Public Identification with Sustainable Development: Investigating Cultural Barriers to Participation, Global Environmental Change 7, 1: 5–24. Macnaghten, P., Grove-White, R., Jacobs, M. and Wynne, B. (1995) Public Perceptions and Sustainability in Lancashire: Indicators, Institutions, Participation, Lancaster: Centre for the Study of Environmental Change. Maehara, S. (2002) Toward a Fundamental Review of Public Works, in Curtis, G.L. (ed.), Policymaking in Japan: Defining the Role of Politicians, Tokyo, New York: Japan Centre for International Exchange. Mann, T.E. and Sasaki, T. (2002) Governance for a New Century: Japanese Challenges, American Experience, Tokyo, New York: Japan Centre for International Exchange. Marland, G., Boden, T. and Andres, B. (2003) Global, Regional and National Fossil Fuel CO2 Emissions, Apr., Available online, http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/trends/emis/ em_cont.htm. Martin, C.H. and Stronach, B. (1992) Politics East and West: A Comparison of Japanese and British Political Culture, Armonk, New York, London: M.E.Sharpe. Marvin, S. and Guy, S. (1997) Creating Myths rather than Sustainability: The Transition Fallacies of New Localism, Local Environment 2, 3:311–318. Massa, I. and Andersen, M.S. (2000) Ecological Modernization: Origins, Dilemmas and Future Directions, Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, Special Issue 2: 337–345. Masumi, J. (1995) Contemporary Politics in Japan, translated by Carlisle, L., Berkeley, California: University of California Press. Masuzoe, Y. (2001) Keeping the Lights on in Japan: A Primer on Global Energy Issues, Trends and Prospects, Tokyo: Japan Echo. Maswood, J., Graham, J. and Miyajima, H. (eds) (2003) Japan: Change and Continuity, London: RoutledgeCurzon. Matsubara, H. (1971) Kogai to Chiiki Shakai [Pollution and Regional Society], Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbunsha. Matsumura, H. (2001) Japan and the Kyoto Protocol: Conditions for Ratification, London: Royal Institute of International Affairs. Matsuno, Y. (2003) Local Government, Industry and Pollution Control Agreements, Paper presented at the Dissemination Seminar on Environmental Management: Lessons and Recommendations from Japan, 23–24 June, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. Matsuoka, N. (1989) Energy Policy and the Environment, in Tsuru, S. and Weidner, H. (eds), Environmental Policy in Japan, Berlin: Edition Sigma Rainer Bohn Verlag. Meadowcroft, J. (1999) Cooperative Management Regimes: Collaborative Problem Solving to Implement Sustainable Development, International Negotiation 4, 2: 225–254.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 197

Mervio, M. (2000) Anthropocentrism in Japanese Environmental Politics: Birds and Politics in Japan, Paper presented at the Fourth Asian Studies Conference Japan, 24–25 June 2000, Sophia University Ichigaya Campus, Tokyo. Meyerson, A. (1980) Japan: Environmentalism with Growth, Wall Street Journal, 5 September. Midooka, K. and Onodera, N. (1993) Kankyo ni tsuite Nihonjing no Ishiki to Kodoh, ISSP Kokusai Hikaku Chosa Kara, NHK, Hoso Bunka Chosa Kenkyu Nenpo 41: 199–244. Milbraith, L. (1984) Environmentalists: Vanguard for a New Society, Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. Miller, A. and Curtis, M. (1990) Japan and the Global Environment: Problem Solver or Problem Maker?, Available online, Accessed 5 June 1998, http://www.gwjapan.org/ ftp/pub/policy/jec/jec5–5.txt. Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) (2002) Towards Advancement of a Recycling Oriented System, Planning Working Group, Waste and Recycling Subcommittee, Environment Committee, Industrial Structure Council, Tokyo: Government of Japan. ——(2003) Perspectives and Actions to Construct a Future Sustainable Framework on Climate Change, Interim Report by the Global Environmental Sub-committee, Environmental Committee, Industrial Structure Council, Tokyo: Government of Japan. Ministry of the Environment (MoE) (2002a) Quality of the Environment in Japan 2002, Abridged and Illustrated for Easy Understanding, Tokyo: Government of Japan. ——(2002b) Survey on the State of Local Agenda 21, Tokyo: Government of Japan. ——(2003a) Local Agenda 21: Survey Results on the Status with Implementation (in Japanese), Press Release 15 May 2003, Tokyo: Government of Japan. ——(2003b) Basic Plan for Establishing a Recycling-Based Society (Outline), Tokyo: Government of Japan. ——(2003c) White Paper on the Environment (in Japanese), Tokyo: Government of Japan. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) (1992) Japan’s Environmental Endeavors, Apr., Tokyo: Government of Japan. ——(1997) Environmental Policy of Japan, Tokyo: Government of Japan. [MoFA]—(2003) Japan’s Official Development Assistance, White Paper 2002, Strategy and Reform, Tokyo: Government of Japan. Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) (1988) Japan’s Energy Conservation Policy, Tokyo: Government of Japan. Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) (2002) White Paper on Land, Infrastructure and Transport in Japan, Tokyo: Government of Japan. Mishima, A. (1992) Bitter Sea: The Human Cost of Minamata Disease, Tokyo: Kosei. Mitsuda, H. (1991) Environmental Elitism and Landscape Pattern: The Case of the Shiretoko Controversy in Hokkaido,Journal of Bukkyo University 75:165–181. ——(1997) Surging Environmentalism in Japan: A Sociological Perspective, in Redclift, M. and Woodgate, G. (eds), The International Handbook of Environmental Sociology, Massachusetts: Edward Elgar. Mitsuda, H. and Geisler, C. (1992) Imperiled Parks and Imperiled People: Lessons from Japan’s Shiretoko National Park, Environmental History Review (Summer): 23–37. Mitsuhashi, N. (1998) zero Emissions and Japanese Economy, Tokyo: Iwanami-Shinsho.

198 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Miyamoto, K. (1997) Japan, in Weidner, H. (ed.), Performance Characteristics of German Environmental Policy: Overview and Commentaries from 14 Countries, Discussion paper FSII97–301, Berlin: Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung. Miyaoka, I. (1998) More than One Way to Save an Elephant: Foreign Pressure and the Japanese Policy Process, Japan Forum 10, 2:167–179. ——(2004) Legitimacy in International Society: Japan’s Reaction to Global Wildlife Preservation, London: Palgrave Macmillan. Miyauchi, T. (1995) Household Strategy for Survival in the Pacific Islands: A Case Study from a Village in the Solomon Islands, in Satoo, Y. (ed.), Regional Development and Cultural Transformation in the South Pacific, Graduate School of International Development, Nagoya: University of Nagoya. Miyazaki, Y. (1999) Government Procedures and Public Works Projects, Social Science Japan 17, (Dec.): 13–15. Mofson, P. (1997) Zimbabwe and CITES: Illustrating the Reciprocal Relationsip between the State and the International Regime, in Schreurs, M. and Economy, E. (eds), The Internationalization of Environmental Protection, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Mol, A.P.J. (1995) The Refinement of Production, Utrecht: Van Arkel. ——(1996) Ecological Modernisation and Institutional Reflexivity: Environmental Reform in the Late Modern Age, Environmental Politics 5, 2:302–323. ——(1997) Ecological Modernization: Industrial Transformations and Environmental Reform, in Redclift, M. and Woodgate, G. (eds), The International Handbook of Environmental Sociology, London, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. ——(1999) Ecological Modernization and the Environmental Transformation of Europe: Between National Variations and Common Denominators,Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning 1:167–181. ——(2000a) The Environmental Movement in an Era of Ecological Modernization, Geoforum 31:45–56. ——(2000b) Globalization and Environment: Between Apocalypse-Blindness and Ecological Modernization, in Spaargaren, G., Mol, A.P.J. and Buttel, F.H. (eds), Environment and Global Modernity, London: Sage Studies in International Sociology. ——(2001a) Ecological Modernisation and the Global Economy, Paper presented at the Nordic Environmental Research Conference on the Ecological Modernisation of Society, 14–16 June, Aarhus, Denmark. ——(2001b) Globalization and Environmental Reform: The Ecological Modernisation of the Global Economy, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. Mol, A.P.J. and Spaargaren, G. (1993) Environment, Modernity and the Risk Society: The Apocalyptic Horizon of Environmental Reform, International Sociology 8:431–459. Mol, A.P.J. and Sonnenfeld, D.A. (eds) (2000) Ecological Modernisation around the World: Perspectives and Debates, London: Frank Cass. Mol, A.P J. and Spaargaren, G. (2000) Ecological Modernization Theory in Debate: A Review, Paper presented at the fourteenth World Congress of Sociology, Montreal. Mol, A.P.J. and Buttel, F.H. (eds) (2002) The Environmental State under Pressure— Research in Social Problems and Public Policy, Vol. 10, Oxford: Elsevier Science Ltd.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 199

Mol, A.P J. and Spaargarent, G. (2002) Ecological Modernisation of the Environmental State, in Mol, A.P.J. and Buttel, F.H. (eds), The Environmental State under Pressure: Research in Social Problems and Public Policy, Vol. 10, Oxford: Elsevier Science. Moore, C. and Miller, A. (1994) Green Gold: Japan, Germany, the United States, and the Race for Environmental Technology, Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press. Mori, H. (1993) Japanese Experience with Environmental Management: Role of Local Government, Paper presented at the EDI/Fasir Seminar on Economic Development and Environmental Management, Varna, Bulgaria. Morikawa, M. (2000) Eco-Industrial Developments in Japan, Indigo Development Working Paper No. 11, Emeryville, California: RPP International, Indigo Development Centre. Morris-Suzuki, T. (1991) Concepts of Nature and Technology in Pre-Industrial Japan, East Asian History 1 (June): 81–97. ——(1998) Reinventing Japan: Time, Space, Nation, Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe. Murakami, Y. (1984) Shin chuukan taisshuu no jidai [The Age of the New Middle Mass], Tokyo: Chuuoo Koronsha. Muramatsu, M. (1997) Local Power in the Japanese State, Berkeley, California: University of California Press. Murphy, J. (2000) Editorial, Geoforum 31:1–8. ——(2001a) A Response to Mol’s Paper ‘Ecological Modernisation and the Global Economy’, Paper presented at the Nordic Environmental Research Conference on the Ecological Modernisation of Society, 14–16 June, Aarhus, Denmark. ——(2001b) Ecological Modernisation: The Environment and the Transformation of Society, Oxford Centre for the Environment, Ethics and Society Research Paper 20, Oxford: University of Oxford. Murphy, J. and Gouldson, A. (1998) Integrating Environment and Economy through ecological Modernisation: An Assessment of the Impact of Environmental Policy on Industrial Innovation, Oxford Centre for the Environment, Ethics and Society Research Paper 16, Oxford: University of Oxford. Nagayama, J. (1998) Daiokishin Osen Retto: Nihon e No Keikoku [Dioxin Pollution Archipelago: A Warning to Japan], Tokyo: Kanki Shuppan. Nakaguchi, T. (1999) Roukaru Ajenda Tokushu—Saishuukai: Nihon no Roukaru Ajenda no Hyouka [Evaluation of Local Agenda in Japan—Local Agenda Special Feature: Final Part], Coalition of Local Governments for Local Environmental Initiatives Newsletter 4, 14: 2–4. Nakaguchi, T., Fujisaki, R. and Negishi, M. (1999) Jichitai ni okeru no kankyou koudou no genjou to kadai [Present Situation and Problems with the Environmental Behaviour of Local Government], Environment Information Science [in Japanese: Kankyou Jouhou Kagaku] 28,4:13–17. Nakakuji, S. and Kudo, H. (2003) Discussion Points in Japan’s Renewable Energy Promotion Policy, 382nd Regular Researchers’ Meeting, Tokyo: Institute for Energy and the Environment. Nakane, C. (1970) Japanese Society, Berkeley, California: University of California Press. Nakano, M. (1997) The Policy-Making Process in Contemporary Japan, Basingstoke: Macmillan.

200 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Nakemata, T. and du Florey, C. (1987) Health Effects of Air Pollution and the Japanese Compensation Law, Columbus, Ohio: Batelle Press. Neary, I. (2002) The State and Politics in Japan, Cambridge: Polity. Nelson, P.A. (2003) Integrated Production in East Asia: Globalization without Insulation, in Schaede, U. and Grimes, W. (eds), Japan’s Managed Globalization: Adapting to the Twenty-first Century, New York, London, Armonk: M.E. Sharpe. Nemoto, T. (2002) The Successful Handling of the Financial Crisis, in Curtis, G.L. (ed.), Policymaking in Japan: Defining the Role of Politicians, Tokyo, New York: Japan Centre for International Exchange. Nester, W.R. (1991) Japanese Industrial Targeting: The Neomercantilist Path to Economic Superpower, Basingstoke: Macmillan. Nihon Bengoshi Rengokai, Kogai Taisaku-Kankyo Hozen Iinkai (1995) Nihon No Kogai Yushutsu to Kankyo Hakai: Tonan Ajiya M Okeru Kigyo Yushutsu to ODA [Japan’s Export of Pollution and Environmental Destruction: Industrial Location and ODA in South East Asia], Tokyo: Nihon Hyoronsha. Nihon Kankyo Kaigi (Japan Environmental Council) (1994) Kankyo Kihonho Wo Kangaeru, Tokyo: Jikkyo Shuppan. Nishimura, H. (1989) How to Conquer Air Pollution: A Japanese Experience, Amsterdam: Elsevier Science. Notehelfer, F.G. (1975) Japan’s First Pollution Incident, Journal of Japanese Studies 1, 2 (Spring): 351–383. Oberthür, S. and Ott, H. (1999) The Kyoto Protocol, Berlin: Springer Verlag. O’Connor, J. (1991) On the Two Contradictions of Capitalism, Capitalism, Nature, Socialism 2 (3 Oct): 107–109. (ed.) (1994) Is Capitalism Sustainable?, New York: Guilford Press. Okimoto, D.I. (1989) Between MITI and the Market: Japanese Industrial Policy for High Technology, Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. Olsen, M.E., Lodwick, D.G. and Dunlap, R.E. (1992) Viewing the World Ecologically, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. O’Neill, K. (1998) Global to Local, Public to Private: Influences on Environmental Policy Change in Industrialized Countries, Paper presented at the fourteenth World Congress of Sociology, July, Montreal. Ootsuka, T. (1998) Objective and Legal Characteristics of the Environmental Impact Assessment Law, in New Environmental Assessment Law—Theory and Practice, Journal of Environmental Law and Policy 1, Tokyo: Commercial Law Centre. Opschoor, J.B. (1992) Sustainable Development, the Economic Process and Economic Analysis, in Opschoor, J.B. (ed.), Environment, Economy and Sustainable Development, Groningen: Wolters-Noordhoff. Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (1977) Environmental Policies in Japan, Paris: OECD. ——(1993) OECD Environmental Data Compendium, Paris: OECD. ——(1994) Environmental Performance Review of Japan, Paris: OECD. ——(2002) Environmental Performance Review of Japan, Paris: OECD. O’Riordan, T. (1976) Environmentalism, London: Pion. Owens, S. (2000) Commentary, Environment and Planning A 32, 7:1141–1148. Pearce, D. and Warford, J. (1993) World without End: Economics, Environment and Sustainable Development, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 201

Pekkanen, R. (1991) Toxic Politics, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ——(2000) Japan’s New Politics: The Case of the NPO Law, Journal of Japanese Studies 26, 1 (Winter): 111–148. ——(2003) Molding Japanese Civil Society: State-Structured Incentives and the Patterning of Civil Society, in Schwartz, F.J. and Pharr, S.J. (eds), The State of Civil Society in Japan, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pellow, D.N., Schnaiberg, A. and Weinberg, A.S. (2000) Putting the Ecological Modernization Thesis to the Test: The Promises and Performances of Urban Recycling, in Mol, A.P.J. and Sonnenfeld, D.A. (eds), Ecological Modernisation around the World: Perspectives and Critical Debates, London: Frank Cass. Pempel, T.J. (1982) Policy and Politics in Japan: Creative Conservatism, Phildelphia: Temple University Press. ——(1998) Regime Shift: Comparative Dynamics of the Japanese Political Economy, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. Peng-Er, L. (1999) Green Politics in Japan, Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies Series, London: Routledge. Pepper, D. (1987) The Roots of Modern Environmentalism, London: Routledge. ——(1996) Modern Environmentalism: An Introduction, London: Routledge. Pharr, S.J. (2003) Conclusion: Targeting by an Activist State: Japan as a Civil Society Model, in Schwartz, F.J. and Pharr, S.J. (eds), The State of Civil Society in Japan, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pharr, S.J. and Badaracio, J. (1986) Coping with Crisis: Environmental Regulation, in McCraw, T. (ed.), America versus Japan, Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press. Pierce, J.C., Loverich, N.P., Tsurutani, T. and Abe, T. (1989) Public Knowledge and Environmental Politics in Japan and the United States, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. Pirages, D. and Ehrlich, P. (1974) Ark II: Social Responses to Environmental Imperatives, New York: Viking. Piven, F.F. and Cloward, R. (1971) Regulating the Poor, New York: Pantheon. Pollack, A. (1997) Japan’s Road to Bankruptcy Is Paved with Public Works, New York Times, 1Mar. Porter, G. and Brown, J.W. (1995) Global Environmental Politics, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. Princen, T., Maniates, M. and Conca, K. (2002) Confronting Consumption, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. Putnam, R. (1993) Making Democracy Work, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Reed, S. (1986) Japanese Prefectures and Policy-Making, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. Reich, M. (1983a) Environmental Policy and Japanese Society, Part 1: Successes and Failures, International Journal for Environmental Studies 20:191–198. ——(1983b) Environmental Policy and Japanese Society, Part 2: Lessons about Japan and the Policy, International Journal for Environmental Studies 20:198–207. Reimann, K.D. (2001) Building Networks from the Outside In: International Movements, Japanese NGOs, and the Kyoto Climate Conference, Mobilization 6, 1:69–82. ——(2003) Going Global: The Use of International Politics and Norms in Local Environmental Protest Movements in Japan, Paper presented at the Grassroots

202 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Environmental Movements in Japan and the United States International Conference, Apr. 25–26, University of Kentucky. Reimann, K.D. and Forrest, R. (2002) Connecting Global and Local Societal Activism: International Politics, NGOs and the Environmental Movement in Japan, Paper prepared for delivery at the forty-third Annual Conference of the International Studies Association, 24–27 Mar., New Orleans. Reinicke, W.H. and Deng, F. (2000) Critical Choices: The United Nations, Networks and the Future of Global Governance, Ottawa: International Development Research Centre. Ren, Y. (2000) Japanese Approaches to Environmental Management: Structural and Institutional Features, International Review for Environmental Strategies 1, 1:79–96. Revell, A. (2002) The Ecological Modernisation of Small Firms in Japan, Environmental Economics and Policy Studies 5, 4:291–317. ——(2003) Is Japan an Ecological Frontrunner Nation?, Environmental Politics 12, 4: 24–48. Richards, D.J. (ed.) (1997) The Industrial Green Game: Implications for Environmental Design and Management, Washington, DC: National Academy Press. ——(2000a) The Ideology of Ecological Modernization in ‘Double-Risk’ Societies: a case study of Lithuanian environmental policy in Spaargaren, G., Mol, A.P.J. and Buttel, F.H. (eds) Environment and Global Modernity, London: Sage Studies in International Sociology. Rinkevicius, L. (2000b) Ecological Modernisation as Cultural Politics: Transformation of Civic Environmental Activism in Lithuania, in Mol, A.P.J. and Sonnenfeld, D.A. (eds), Ecological Modernisation around the World: Perspectives and Critical Debates, London: Frank Cass. Risaikuru (n.d.) Tokushu: Yugai Kagaku Busshitsu No Risk Shogen o Kangaeru [Special Edition: Thinking about How to Reduce the Risk of Toxic Materials], Risaikuru Bunka [Recycle Culture], 57. Rosenbluth, F. and Theis, M. (1999) The Political Economy of Japanese Pollution Regulation, Paper prepared for presentation at the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, 2–5 Sept, Atlanta, Georgia, Accessible online, Last accessed 6 May 2004, http://www.yale.edu/leitner/papers.htm. Sakakibara, E. (1993) Beyond Capitalism: The Japanese Model of Market Economics, New York: University Press of America. Samuels, R.J. (1983) The Politics of Regional Policy in Japan: Localities Incorporated, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ——(1995) Japan as a Technological Superpower, JPRI Working Paper 15, Washington, DC: Japan Policy Research Institute. Sanwa Research Institute and Consulting (1999) The Present Situation regarding SMEs and the Environment, June, Tokyo: SRIC. Sasaki, T. (2002) The Changing Shape of Party Politics and Governance in Japan, in Mann, T.E. and Sasaki, T. (eds), Governance for a New Century: Japanese Challenges, American Experience, Tokyo, New York: Japan Centre for International Exchange. Sawai, M. (1998) Aomori Allows Spent Fuel Shipment to Rokkasho, Nuke Info Tokyo, Sept/Oct., No. 67:1–2. Schaede, U. and Grimes, W. (eds) (2003) Japan’s Managed Globalization: Adapting to the Twenty-first Century, Armonk, New York, London: M.E.Sharpe.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 203

Schnaiberg, A. (1980) The Environment, from Surplus to Scarcity, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. Schnaiberg, A. and Gould, K.A. (1994) Environment and Society: The Enduring Conflict, New York: St Martin’s Press. Schnaiberg, A., Pellow, D.N. and Weinberg, A. (2002) The Treadmill of Production and the Environmental State, in Mol, A.P.J. and Buttel, F.H. (eds), The Environmental State under Pressure, London, New York: Elsevier Science. Schreurs, M. (1994) Policy Laggard or Policy Leader: Global Environmental Politics in Japan, Journal of Pacific Asia 2:3–38. ——M. (1996a) International Environmental Negotiations., the State, and Environmental NGOs in Japan, Occasional Paper No. 14, Harrison Program on the Future Global Agenda (August). ——(1996b) Domestic Institutions, International Agendas, and Global Environmental Protection in Japan and Germany, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. ——(1997a) Domestic Institutions and International Environmental Agendas in Japan and Germany, in Schreurs, M. and Economy, E. (eds), The Internationalization of Environmental Protection, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ——(1997b) A Political System’s Capacity for Global Environmental Leadership: A Case Study of Japan, in Metz, L. and Weidner, H. (eds) Umweltpolitik und Staatsversagen: Perspektiven und Grenzen der Umweltpolitikanalyse: Festschrift für Martin Jänicke zum 60 Geburtstag, Berlin: Edition Sigma Rainer Bohn Verlag. ——(2000) Japan: Law, Technology and Aid, in Lafferty, W. and Meadowcroft, J. (eds), Implementing Sustainable Development: Strategies and Initiatives in High Consumption Societies: A Comparative Assessment of National Strategies and Initiatives, Oxford: Oxford University Press. ——(2002) Environmental Politics in Japan, Germany and the United States, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ——(2003) The Climate Change Divide: The EU, the US, and the Future of the Kyoto Protocol, in Vig, N J. and Faure, M.J. (eds), Green Giants? Environmental Policy of the United States and the European Union, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. ——(2005) Japan and Global Environmental Governance, in Hook, G.D. (ed.), Contested Governance in Japan, London: Routledge, forthcoming. Schroder, H. (2001) Negotiating the Kyoto Protocol: An Analysis of Negotiation Dynamics in International Negotiations, New Brunswick, London: Transaction Publishers. Schwartz, F.J. (2003) Introduction: Recognizing Civil Society in Japan, in Schwartz, F.J. and Pharr, S.J. (eds), The State of Civil Society in japan, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Schwartz, F.J. and Pharr, S.J. (eds) (2003) The State of Civil Society in Japan, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Scruggs, L. (2003) Sustaining Abundance: Environmental Performance in Industrial Democracies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seippel, O. (2000) Ecological Modernisation as a Theoretical Device: Strengths and Weaknesses, in Andersen, M. and Massa, I. (eds), Ecological Modernisation, Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, Special Issue 2:287–302. ——(2001) Modernity, Politics, and the Environment: A Theoretical Perspective, in Dunlap, R.E., Buttel, F.H., Dickens, P. and Gijswijt, A. (eds) (2001) Sociological

204 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Theory and the Environment: Classical Foundations, Contemporary Insights, Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. Selman, P. (1996) Local Sustainability: Managing and Planning Ecologically Sound Places, London: Paul Chapman. ——(1998) Local Agenda 21—Substance or Spin?, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 41, 5:533–553. Selman, P. and Parker, J. (1997) Citizenship, Civic-ness and Social Capital in Local Agenda 21, Local Environment 2, 2:171–184. Shapira, P., Masser, I. and Edginton, D.W. (1994) Planning for Cities and Regions in Japan, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. Shibata, T. (1989a) The Influence of Big Industries on Environmental Policies: The Case of Car Exhaust Standards, in Tsuru, S. and Weidner, H. (eds), Environmental Policy in Japan, Berlin: Edition Sigma Rainer Bohn Verlag. ——(1989b) Pollution Control Agreements: The Case of Tokyo and Other Local Authorities, in Tsuru, S. and Weidner, H. (eds), Environmental Policy in Japan, Berlin: Edition Sigma Rainer Bohn Verlag. Shimizu, Y. (1987) Environmental Impact Assessment, Tokyo: NHK Books. Shiozaki, Y. (2002) Changes in the Japanese Policymaking Process, in Mann, T.E. and Sasaki, T. (eds), Governance for a New Century: Japanese Challenges, American Experience, Tokyo, New York: Japan Centre for International Exchange. Shoji, K. and Masuro, S. (1992) The Arsenic Milk Poisoning Incident, in Ui, J. (ed.), Industrial Pollution in Japan, Tokyo: United Nations University Press. Sigurdson, J. and Anderson, A.M. (1991) Science and Technology in Japan (2nd edn), Harlow: Longman. Simonis, U. (1989) Ecological Modernisation of Industrial Society: Three Strategic Elements, International Social Science Journal 41, 3:347–361. Smith, G. (2003) Deliberative Democracy and the Environment, London, New York: Routledge. Smith, J., Blake J.,Grove-White, R., Kashefi, E., Madden, S. and Percy, S. (1999) Social Learning and Sustainable Communities: An Interim Assessment of Research into Sustainable Communities Projects in the UK, Local Environment 4, 2:195–207. Smith, P. (1997) Japan: A Reinterpretation, New York: Pantheon Books. Sonnenfeld, D.A. (2000) Contradictions of Ecological Modernization: Pulp and Paper Manufacturing in South-east Asia, in Mol, A.P.J. and Sonnenfeld, D.A. (eds), Ecological Modernisation around the World: Perspectives and Critical Debates, London: Frank Cass. Spaargaren, G. (1997) The Ecological Modernization of Production and Consumption: Essays in Environmental Sociology, Wageningen, Netherlands: Wageningen University. ——(2000a) Ecological Modernisation Theory and Domestic Consumption, Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, Special Issue 2:323–335. ——G. (2000b) Ecological Modernization Theory and the Changing Discourse on Environment and Modernity, in Spaargaren, G., Mol, A.P.J. and Buttel, F.H. (eds), Environment and Global Modernity, London: Sage Studies in International Sociology. Spaargaren, G. and Mol, A.P.J. (1992) Sociology, Environment, and Modernity: Ecological Modernization as a Theory of Social Change, Society and Natural Resources 5: 323–344.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 205

Spaargaren, G. and van Vliet, B. (2000) Lifestyles, Consumption and the Environment: The Ecological Modernisation of Domestic Consumption, in Mol, A.P.J. and Sonnenfeld, D.A. (eds), Ecological Modernisation around the World: Perspectives and Critical Debates, London: Frank Cass. Steiner, K. (1965) Local Government in Japan, Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. Steiner, K., Krauss, E. and Flanagan, S. (eds) (1980) Political Opposition and Local Politics in Japan, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Stern, P.C., Dietz, T. and Kalof, L. (1993) Value Orientations, Gender and Environmental Concern, Environment and Behaviour 25, 3:322–348. Stern, P.C., Dietz, T. and Guagnano, G.A. (1995) The New Ecological Paradigm in Social-Psychological Contexts, Environment and Behaviour 27, 6:723–743. Stone, A. (1975) The Japanese Muckrakers, Journal of Japanese Studies 1, 2 (Spring): 385–407. Strong, K. (1977) Ox against the Storm, Vancouver: University of Columbia Press. Sugiyama, R. and Imura, I. (1999) Voluntary Approaches in Japan: Proven Record of Pollution Control Agreements and New Industrial Initiatives for the Protection of the Environment, Eco-Management and Auditing 6:128–134. Suzuki, M. (1999) Wetlands in Japan and Korea, Earth Island Journal 14, 3 (Fall). Suzuki, M. and Kuehr, R. (2003) Visualisation of a Sustainable Industrialized Society, Paper presented to the International Conference on Integrative Approaches towards Sustainability, 27 Mar., Jurmala, Latvia. Taguchi, M. (1998) Gomi Mondai Hyakka II: Soten to Tenbo, Tokyo: Shin Nihon Shuppansha. Takahashi, H. (2000a) Shimin shutai no kankyou seisaku—Jorei/Keikaku tsukuri kara no sanka [Environmental Policy and Civil Society—Part 1—Participation in Ordinance/ Plan Formulation], Tokyo: Koujinsha. ——(2000b) Shimin shutai no kankyou—Tayousei atte touzen no sanka shihou [Environmental Policy and Civil Society, Part 2: Typical Participatory Techniques in Diverse Contexts], Tokyo: Koujinsha. Takeuchi, K. (1998) Chikyu Ondanka No Seijigaku [Climate Change Politics], Tokyo: Asahi Sensho. Takeuchi, K., Brown, R.D., Washitani, I., Tsunekawa, A. and Yokohari, M. (eds) (2002) Satoyama: The Traditional Rural Landscape of Japan, Tokyo, New York: Springer Verlag. Takubo, Y. (1997) Emergence, Development and the Success of Association for Doing the Referendum in Maki, Kankyo Shakaigaku Kenkyu 3:131–148. (forthcoming) The Emergence, Development and the Success of the Referendum Association in Maki, Japan, in Broadbent, J. and Brockman, V. (eds), Social Movements in East Asia (under review). Taylor, J. (1999) Global Environmentalism: Rhetoric and Reality, Political Geography 18: 535–562. Terada, R. (1993) Changing Characteristics of Japan’s Environmental Movements since the 1970s, Environment and Development, Seoul: Korean Sociological Association. Terada, T. (1998) Overview of the Environmental Assessment Law (Japanese only) in New Environmental Assessment Law: Theory and Practice, Journal of Environmental Law and Policy 1, Tokyo: Commercial Law Centre.

206 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Thayer, N. (1969) How the Conservatives Rule Japan, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Thomas, J.A. (2001) Reconfiguring Modernity: Concepts of Nature in Japanese Political Ideology, Berkeley, California: University of California Press. Tilley, F. (2000) Small Firm Environmental Ethics: How Deep Do They Go?, Business Ethics: A European Review 9, 1:31–41. Toichi, T. (2002) Japan’s Energy Policy and its Implications for the Economy, Paper presented at the third Japan-Saudi Business Council Joint Meeting, 5–6 Mar., Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Torigoe, H. (1989a) Kankyou Mondai no Shakai Ronri [Environmental Problems and Society], Tokyo: Ohanomizu Press. ——(1989b) Environmental Problems and Everyday Life, Nishinomiya: Kwansei Gakuin University Annual Studies 38. ——(1997) Toward an Environmental Paradigm with Priority of Social Life, in Nisihira, S., Kojima, R., Okamoto, H. and Fujisaki, S. (eds), Environmental Awareness in Developing Countries: The Cases of China and Thailand, Tokyo: Institute of Developing Economies. ——(1999) Kankyo Shakaigaku [Environmental Sociology], Tokyo: Hoso Daigaku. Totman, C. (1989) The Green Archipelago: Forestry in Pre-Industrial Japan, California: University of California Press. Tsuji, A. (1999) Fujimae Tidal Flats Have Survived (in Japanese), Ecos 21 Magazine: 155–156. Tsujinaka, Y. (2003) From Developmentalism to Maturity: Japan’s Civil Society Organisations in Comparative Perspective, in Schwartz, F.J. and Pharr, S.J. (eds), The State of Civil Society in Japan, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tsuru, S. (1989) History of Pollution Control Policy, in Tsuru, S. and Weidner, H. (eds), Environmental Policy in Japan, Berlin: Edition Sigma Rainer Bohn Verlag. ——(1999) The Political Economy of the Environment: The Case of Japan, London: Athlone Press. Tsuru, S. and Weidner, H. (eds) (1989) Environmental Policy in Japan, Berlin: Sigma Rainer Bohn Verlag. Uchino, T. (1983) Japan’s Postwar Economy, Tokyo: Kodansha International. Ueda, H. (1998) Oyakusyo Kara Daiokishin: Machigaidarake No Kankyoseisaku e No Shohosen [Dioxin from the Bureaucracy: A Prescription for an Environmental Policy Full of Mistakes], Tokyo: Sairyusha. Ui, J. (1968) Kogai No Seijigaku: Minamata Byo Wo Megutte [The Politics of Pollution: On Minamata Disease], Tokyo: Sanseido. ——(ed.) (1972) Polluted Japan, Tokyo: Jishu Koza. ——(1972) The Singularities of Japanese Pollution, Japan Quarterly 19, 3:281–291. ——(1989a) Anti-Pollution Movements and Other Grass-Roots Organizations, in Tsuru, S. and Weidner, H. (eds), Environmental Policy in Japan, Berlin: Edition Sigma Rainer Bohn Verlag. ——(1989b) Lessons for Developing Countries, in Tsuru, S. and Weidner, H. (eds), Environmental Policy in Japan, Berlin: Edition Sigma Rainer Bohn Verlag. ——(1989c) Pollution Export, in Tsuru, S. and Weidner, H. (eds), Environmental Policy in Japan, Berlin: Edition Sigma Rainer Bohn Verlag. ——(ed.) (1992) Industrial Pollution in Japan, Tokyo: United Nations University Press.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 207

Umino, M. (1989) Formulation of Common Dilemmas: Dawes Model Reconsidered, Journal of Mathematical Sociology 14, 4:237–346. United Nations (2002) Report of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, 26 Aug.– 4 Sept., Johannesburg, South Africa, A/CONF. 199/20, published by the United Nations, New York. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (1996) Environmental Impact Assessment: Issues, Trends and Practice, Preliminary Version, Nairobi: UNEP, Environment and Economics Unit. ——(2000) Global Outlook 2000: Industry and New Technologies, Accessible online, Last accessed 6 May 2004, http://www.unep.org/Geo2000/english/0162.htm. Upham, F.K. (1987) Law and Social Change in Japan, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Usami, D. (2000) On the Environmental Impact Assessment of the 2005 Aichi World Expo, Abstract submitted to the International Association for Impact Assessment Annual Meeting, Glasgow, Scotland. Utsunomiya, F. (1999) Kankyou Kihin Jorei to Chijitai Kankyou Kanri Keikaku [Environment Basic Ordinances and Local Government Environment Management Plans], Jurist: Zoukan (May): 251–259. van der Heijden, H. (1998) Political Opportunity Structure and the Institutionalisation of the Environmental Movement, Environmental Politics 6, 4. Van Wolferen, K. (1989) The Enigma of Japanese Power, New York: Vintage. von Weizsacker, E., Lovins, A.B., Hunter Lovins, L. (1998) Factor Four: Doubling Wealth, Halving Resource Use, London: Earthscan. Vosse, W.M. (2000) The Domestic Environmental Movement in Contemporary Japan: Structure, Activities, Problems and its Significance for the Broadening of Political Participation, Doctoral thesis, Hannover University, Hannover. ——(2002) Japan—A Disaffected Democracy? On Political Trust, Political Dissatisfaction, Political Activity and Environmental Issues, in Pohl, M. and Wieczorek, I. (eds), JAPAN 2001/2002, Politik und Wirtschaft, Hamburg: Institut für Asienkunde. Wackernagel, M. (2002) What We Use and What We Have: Ecological Footprint and Ecological Capacity, Oakland, California: Redefining Progress. Wackernagel, M. and Rees, W. (1996) Our Ecological Footprints: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth, Gabriola Island, British Columbia: New Society Publishers. Wada, Y. (1999) The Myth of Sustainable Development: The Ecological Footprint of Japanese Consumption, Ph.D. thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Wallace, D. (1995) Environmental Policy and Industrial Innovation: Strategies in Europe, the US and Japan, London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, Earthscan. Watanabe, C. (1999) Systems Option for Sustainable Development, Research Policy 28, 7: 719–749. Watanuki, R. (1979) Seimeikei No Kiki [Crisis in the Life System], Tokyo: Anvil. Watson, R.T. and the Core Writing Team (eds) (2002) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Third Assessment Report, Climate Change 2001: Synthesis Report, New York, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Weale, A. (1992) The New Politics of Pollution, Manchester, New York: Manchester University Press.

208 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Weber, P. (1994) Safeguarding Oceans, inBrown, L. et al (eds), State of the World, New York: W.W. Norton. Weidner, H. (1989a) An Administrative Compensation System for Pollution-Related Health Damage, in Tsuru, S. and Weidner, H. (eds), Environmental Policy in Japan, Berlin: Edition Sigma Rainer Bohn Verlag. ——(1989b) Environmental Monitoring and Reporting by Local Government, in Tsuru, S. and Weidner, H. (eds), Environmental Policy in Japan, Berlin: Edition Sigma Rainer Bohn Verlag. ——(1989c) Japanese Environmental Policy in an International Perspective: Lessons for a Preventive Approach, in Tsuru, S. and Weidner, H. (eds), Environmental Policy in Japan, Berlin:Edition Sigma Rainer Bohn Verlag. Weiss, E.B. (1998) The Five International Treaties: A Living History, in Weiss, E.B. and Jacobson, H. (eds), Engaging Countries: Strengthening Compliance with International Environmental Accords, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. Whittaker, D.H. (1997) Small Firms in the Japanese Economy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wong, A. (2001) The Roots of Japan’s Environmental Policies, New York: Garland Publishing. Woo-Cummings, M. (ed.) (1999) The Developmental State, Cornell Studies in Political Economy, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. Woodall, B. (1996) Japan under Construction, Berkeley, California: University of California. World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) Our Common Future: The Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, Oxford: Blackwell. World Economic Forum (2002) Environmental Sustainability Index, An Initiative of the Global Leaders for Tomorrow Environmental Task Force, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale Centre for Environmental Law and Policy. World Media Handbook (1995) 50th Anniversary Issue, United Nations Department of Public Affairs, New York: UN Publications. World Resources Institute (1994) World Resources: Guide to the Global Environment 1994–1995, New York: Oxford University Press. Worldwide Fund for Nature (2002) Living Planet Report 2002, Gland, Switzerland: WWF. World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Japan (1999) Background of the Aichi Expo Issue and Its Recent Movement, Tokyo: Nature Conservation Society of Japan, Tokyo: Wild Bird Society of Japan and World Wide Fund for Nature Japan. Yamamoto, R. (2000) Development of Eco-Products in Japan from the Viewpoint of EcoEfficiency, Centre for Collaborative Research and Institute of Industrial Science, Tokyo: University of Tokyo. ——(2001) Sustainable Company: Successful Business Models and Eco-Services in the Centre of the Environment (in Japanese), Tokyo: University of Tokyo. Yamamoto, T. (ed.) (1999) Deciding the Public Good: Governance and Civil Society in Japan, Tokyo, New York: Japan Centre for International Exchange. Yamamoto, W. (1994) Japanese Official Development Assistance and Industrial Environmental Management in Asia, Paper presented at the Nautilus Institute

BIBLIOGRAPHY 209

Workshop on Trade and Environment in Asia-Pacific: Prospects for Regional Cooperation, 23–25 Sept. Yamaoka, Y. (1998) Shimin Katsudo No Zentaizo to Shokatsudo [An Overview of Citizen Activism], in Yamaoka, Y. (ed.), NPO Kisokoza 2, Tokyo: Gyosei. Yamauchi, N. (1998) The Non-Profit Sector in the Japanese Economy: An Overview, Accessible online, Accessed 16 Feb. 1999. http://www.usjapan.org/dc/ cs.yamauchi.paper.htm. Yencken, D., Fien, J. and Sykes, H. (2000) Environment, Education and Society in the Asia-Pacific: Local Traditions and Global Discourse, London: Routledge. Yomiuri (1998) Environmental Hormones: National Survey Starts, 11 July: 18. Yoshida. F. (2002) The Economics of Waste and Pollution Management in Japan, Tokyo, Berlin: Springer. Yoshida, M. and Iguchi, T. (1998) Kankyo Horumon o Tadashiku Shiru Hon [The Book of Correct Information about Environmental Hormones], Tokyo: Chukei Shuppan. Yoshida, S. (2002) Distrust of Politics: Will Voters Transform the Nature of Governance, in Mann, T.E. and Sasaki, T. (eds), Governance for a New Century: Japanese Challenges, American Experience, Tokyo, New York: Japan Centre for International Exchange. Young, S.C. (1998) The United Kingdom: A Mirage beyond the Participation Hurdle?, in Lafferty, W.M. and Eckerberg, K. (eds), From the Earth Summit to Local Agenda 21: Working towards Sustainable Development, London: Earthscan. ——(ed.) (2000) The Emergence of Ecological Modernisation, London: Routledge. Zinsmeister, K. (1993) MITI Mouse: Japan’s Industrial Policy Doesn’t Work, Policy Review (Spring): 28–35.

210

Index

academic community 80–81, 177 n 10 acid rain 29 Action Programme for Economic Structure Reform 138 advisory councils (shingikai) 35, 66, 80, 162 Agency for Natural Resources and Energy 37 Agenda 21 152 Agenda 21 Kanagawa 53 Aichi, Kazuo 177 n10 Aichi Agenda 21 53 Aichi Expo 2005 72, 113, 122–123, 125 f Aichi Prefecture 53, 122 air pollution 7, 16, 29, 44–45 n4, 65 n6, 129, 130, 132 f, 133 f Air Pollution Control Laws 45 n4 air quality 31 t, 129–130 akirame (giving up) 79 Akita Prefecture 133 Antarctic Fisheries 156 anthropocentrism 20–21 anti-pollution groups (jumin undo) 67 Aoyagi-Usui, M. et al. 87, 98, 100, 101, 101 t Arcadianism 91 f, 100 f, 104, 106 f, 106 Area-Wide Total Pollutant Load Control System 45 n4 Asahi Newspaper 82, 112 Asahi Shimbun 42 Asia-Pacific region 103, 104, 106 f, 107 n11 associations 74; see also community organizations Australia 106 f, 107 n11, 153, 164

automobile industry 132, 136, 144 n3, 146 n14 Automobile NO2 Law 29 automobile recycling 136 Barrett, B.F.D. 80–81, 126 n4 Basic Environmental Law 75 Basic Environmental Plan 75, 86 n7 Basic Law for Environmental Pollution Control 44–45 n4 Beck, U. 6, 17, 75 BIE see Bureau International des Expositions Biodiversity Centre of Japan 33 Biodiversity Convention 152 biomass energy 139 Broadbent, J. 15 t, 20, 67, 69, 78, 80, 170 building ventilation systems 36 Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) 122, 123 Burgess J. et al 53, 65 n2, 65 n9 Bush, George W. 153 Buttel, F.H. 5, 6, 175 Cabinet Office 37 Cambodia 40, 86 n8 Canada 153, 156 Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety 40 Central Council for Environmental Pollution Control (CCEPC) 35, 65 n4 Central Environment Council (CEC) 35, 37, 44, 117 Chiba Prefecture 72, 83, 114, 133 China 97, 104, 106 f, 107 n11, 135, 156

211

212 INDEX

CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) 39, 164 n5 cities 16, 111 citizen groups (shimin undo) 67 Citizens’ Alliance for Saving the Atmosphere (CASA) 162–163 civic/deliberative model 65 n2, 65–66 n9 civil society: academic community 80–81, 177 n10; culturalist view 73–74, 78, 86 n9; definition 66; development in Japan 8, 11n7, 19, 20, 40, 67–73, 84–85, 175–176; ecological modernization 168–169; environmental movements 67–73, 69–70 t, 77; hegemonic relationships 77–79; institutional statist view 74, 78, 84; media 77, 78, 79–80, 113, 114; new political landscape 75–77; post-war development 77; role 4, 5; social hegemony view 74, 78–79, 85; social pluralist perspective 74, 84–85; theoretical perspectives 73–75 Clean Water for People Initiative 39 climate change 37, 147–150, 163–164; see also global warming; Kyoto Protocol; Kyoto Protocol: Japan Climate Change Policy Law 159 Clinton, Bill 153, 154 CMR see cooperative management regimes CO emissions 129, 144 n2 CO2 emissions 7, 29, 38, 127 n 13, 129, 131, 132 f, 138, 150, 152, 156, 157–158, 158 f, 159–160, 161–162, 170, 171, 177 n3 Coalition of Local Governments for Environmental Initiatives (COLGEI) 53, 64, 64 n1 cogeneration plants 139 Cohen, M.J. 87, 90–91, 91 f, 93, 98, 104, 106, 131, 144 n1, 166 collaborative environmental management see cooperative management regimes communitarian elite corporatism 15, 170

community organizations 66–67, 74–75 Comprehensive National Development Plans 111 Comprehensive Research Group on Environmental Impact Assessment Systems (CRG) 117 Comprehensive Research Group on SEA 120 Conferences of the Parties (COPs) 152–153 conservation imperative 168 construction 8, 11 n6, 11, 36, 37–38, 111–115, 126 n3, 160; see also Ministry of Construction consumption patterns 134, 138, 145 n8, 163 Cooperative Association 68 cooperative management regimes (CMR) 13, 50–50, 50 t, 64 n2 corporatism 8, 15, 170 Council of Ministers for Global Environmental Conservation 18 Council of Overseas Economic Cooperation Related Ministers 39–40 Council on Comprehensive ODA Strategy 40 cultural politics 74, 81–83 culture Japanese 13, 73–74, 78, 86 n9, 152 Daily Yomiuri Newspaper 145 n 9 dam construction projects 40, 72, 86 n8, 112 Daylight Savings Time 159 Decentralization Promotion Act 54 dematerialization 170 Democratic Party (DPJ) 41 Denmark 139 Dentsu International Values Surveys (DIVS) 92 t, 97, 97 f, 106, 106 developing countries 150, 153, 153, 154, 155, 164 development crisis 11 dioxin 70, 130, 135, 172 discourse analysis 47 domestic waste 132 f Domoto, Akiko 83, 114 DPJ (Democratic Party) 41

INDEX

Dryzek, J.S. 7, 8, 9–11 n4, 124, 147, 168, 169 Ebara Corporation 133 EBL see Environment Basic Law EBP see Environment Basic Plan eco-cement production 133–134 eco-efficiency 128, 131–134, 132 f, 133 f, 143, 144 n1, 145 n5, 170–171 eco-materials 36 eco-nationalism 13, 21 Eco-Towns 133, 146 n10 ecocentrism 89, 100 f ecocidal mysticism 91 f, 100 f, 106 f ecological consciousness 90, 91 f, 106 ecological crises 14 ecological footprints 170, 170 t, 177 nn6–7 ecological modernization: as cultural politics 81–83; in Japan 3–3, 6–8, 28, 166–168, 169–176, 176–177 n3; sub-politics 168–169, 176 n1; theory 3, 3–6, 13, 27, 111, 171–172 Econet 21 Hiroshima 53 Economic Planning Agency 36 economy 3, 7, 18–19, 44, 76, 111–112; vs. environment 91–97, 95 f, 97 f, 102, 103, 106, 107 n2, 107 n13, 168, 172 education 106, 173 EIA see Environmental Impact Assessment EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) Law 20, 72, 111; characteristics 118–121; criticisms 120–121, 124, 127 n13; development 117–118, 118 t; local ordinances 51, 65 n5, 115; need for legislation 115–117, 126 n8; practical experience 121–123 EIS see Environmental Impact Statements electricity 138, 139, 140–141, 161 Electricity Utility Law 117, 126 n8 embedded autonomy 6 emissions trading 154 EMS see environmental management systems endangered species 39, 152, 164 n5

213

endocrine disrupters see environmental hormones energy 36, 37; codes and standards 140; consumption 132 f, 137–138, 146 n12, 171; efficiency 129, 131, 134, 140, 144 n3; energy saving 100–101, 101 t, 157; industry 137, 138; Moonlight Project 157; nuclear energy 70, 112, 139, 151, 160–161; policy 138–139, 140; quantitative targets 140; renewable energy 132, 139–140, 141, 151, 160, 161; research and development 139–140; Sunshine Project 157; supply structure 140 Energy Basic Law 161 Energy Basic Plan 161 Energy Conservation Law 137, 159, 160 Environment Basic Law (EBL) 42, 82, 115 Environment Basic Plan (EBP) 19, 30, 53, 54–55, 115 Environment Partnership Office 33 environmental change in Japan: impact of recent modernization 18–20; monitoring system 29–30, 45 n4; OECD’s evaluation 30–32, 31–32 t; post-war evolution 14–18, 15 t Environmental Conservation Initiative for Sustainable Development 39 Environmental Constraints Theory 14–18, 15 t, 16 f, 19, 36 Environmental Disputes Coordination Committee 145–146 n10 environmental hormones (kankyo horumon) 30, 42, 45 n7, 70, 86 n5 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 111, 124, 124–126 nn1–2; see also EIA Law Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) 118–120, 123 environmental knowledge orientations 90–91, 91 f, 170; surveys 92–93, 93 t, 94 t, 103–104, 106 t

214 INDEX

environmental management systems (EMS) 51–52, 65 n4, 66 n11, 134 environmental monitoring 29 environmental movements 67–73, 69–70 t, 77, 161, 162–163 environmental N curve 171 environmental policy 8; global policies 18; impact of recent modernization 18–20, 28; institutions 32–38; integration 30, 32; overseas manifestation 38–41; post-war evolution 14–18, 15 t; value persistence 42 Environmental Political Party Green Assembly (Kankyosento Midori no Kaigi) 43 environmental politics in Japan 13–18; culturally specific perspective 13; geographic/natural resources perspective 13; greening of politics 41–43; political opportunities structure (POS) 13–14 environmental problems 8, 14, 19 environmental protection 150, 151, 152 environmental protection style society (kankyo hozengata shakai) 43 environmental regime: definition 28–29; environmental powers 35–38, 43–44; institutions 32–38 Environmental Resource Technology Integrated Research Centre 45 n12 environmental rucksacks 176 n6 environmental space utilization 176 n6 ‘environmental state’ 4 Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) 170–170, 176 n3 environmental values see values environmentalism 20–22, 87, 168 epistemic communities 62, 66 n15 EPR (extended producer responsibility) 136 ESI see Environmental Sustainability Index European Union:

Environmental Assessment Directive 118, 126 n7, 127 n12; Framework Convention on Climate Change 152; Kyoto Protocol 150, 153, 153–154, 155, 159 Expo 2005 (Aichi) 72, 113, 122–123, 125 f extended producer responsibility (EPR) 136 FCCC see Framework Convention on Climate Change Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) 111, 161 fertilizer use 170 Finland 145 n5, 170 flexible ceiling 176 n6 foreign policy 150; see also Ministry of Foreign Affairs Forest Principles 152 forestation 30 Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) 8, 20, 152 Free Forum (Jishu Koza) 81 Fujimae Tidal Flats Reclamation Project (Nagoya) 72, 113, 114, 121–122 Fujisawa Eco-Industrial Park 133 Funabashi, H. 14, 15 t, 16 f, 17, 19, 36 GEA (Global Environmental Action) 45 n9 gender 43 genetically modified foods 42 geothermal plants 139 Germany: CO2 emissions 156, 157–158, 158 f; eco-efficiency 145 n5; ecological footprints 170, 170 t; ecological modernization 169–170, 170; energy 139, 160; Green Party 43; Local Agenda 21 52; surveys 91, 98, 100 f, 101–102, 102 t; waste generation 135 Giddens, A. 5–6 Gifu Prefecture 126 n8, 133 Global Environment Partnership Plaza 33

INDEX

Global Environment Survey (GOES) 92 t, 93, 95 f, 97 f, 98, 100, 106 Global Environmental Action (GEA) 45 n9 Global Environmental Information Centre 33 global warming 20, 38, 68–69, 147–150, 152, 156, 159; see also climate change; Kyoto Protocol; Kyoto Protocol: Japan globalization 150, 173 GOES see Global Environment Survey GONGOs (government organized NGOs) 68 government action 102, 106 Great Britain 98, 100 f green consumerism 100–101, 101 t Green Energy Law Network 161 green productivity 132 green purchasing 132, 143 ‘green state’ 4 Greenhouse Gas Inventory Office of Japan 158 f greenhouse gases 147, 150, 152, 156–157, 158 f, 159, 161, 177 n9; see also Kyoto Protocol; Kyoto Protocol: Japan greening of Japanese politics 41–43 Greenpeace Japan 163 groundwater pollution 130 Habermas, J. 5 Hajer, M.A. 6, 111 Hashimoto, Ryutaro 45 n9, 117, 177 n10 Hino City (Tokyo) 55, 61–57 t Hinode-machi 72 Hinode (Tokyo) 135 Hironaka, Wakako 177 n10 Hiroshima Prefecture 53 Hokkaido Prefecture 126 n8, 133 Hong Kong 106 f, 107 n11, 135 Hosokawa, Morihiro 75 House of Representatives (Shugiin) 42 household size 134, 145 n8

215

households, environmental impact 134, 145 n8 hydropower 139 Hyogo Prefecture 126 n8 Ichikawa, Satoshi 107 n11 ICLEI-Japan 52–53, 54, 64 n1; survey 56, 61, 62, 63, 64 ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) 52 IEA (International Energy Agency) 140 Iida City (Nagano Prefecture) 55, 61–57 t, 133 INGPEN 145 n8 Independent Power Producers 138 India 40, 86 n8, 97, 106 f, 107 n11, 156 Indonesia 40, 97, 106 f Industrial Science, Technology Policy and Environment Bureau 37 Industrial Structure Council 37, 136 industrialization 5, 170, 172–173, 175 industry: energy-saving 157; environmental trends 83, 129–131, 143–144; global market 9 n2, 173; and Kyoto Protocol 150, 154, 161–162; policy 15, 16, 23 n1; technical hearing system 44 n2; voluntary measures 161–162 information deficit model 52–53, 65 n2, 65 n9 Information Disclosure Law 77 Inglehart, R. 82–83, 89, 92, 98, 100 Institute for Global Environmental Strategies 33, 37 Institute of Social Research, Tilburg University 100 institutional statism 74, 78, 84 institutions 32–38 Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee 40 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 163–164 International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives; see also ICLEI-Japan

216 INDEX

International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) 52 International Eminent Persons’ Meeting 45 n9 International Energy Agency (IEA) 140 International Impact Assessment Association 123 International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) 92, 92 t, 93, 95 f, 97, 97–98, 100 f, 100, 101, 106, 106, 107 n4, 107 n13 Ireland 98, 100 f Isahaya Tidal Flats (Nagasaki) 113–114, 126 n6 Ishigaki Island Airport 120 ISO 14001 accreditation 134 ISSP see International Social Survey Programme itai itai 11 , 17, 172 Italy 98, 100 f Iwate Prefecture 83, 103, 106 f, 107 n11 Jänicke, M. 6, 129, 170–171 Japan Association for the 2005 World Exposition 122 Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) 40 Japan Centre for Climate Change Actions 33 Japan Communist Party (JCP) 41 Japan Development Bank 86–87 n12 Japan Ecological Society 81 Japan Environment Agency (JEA): establishment 32, 33; policy 42, 45 n7, 111, 116–117, 118, 122, 123, 126 n2, 127 n13, 134, 153; status 36, 45 n8, 116; surveys 86 n5, 123 Japan Environment Corporation 33 Japan Ichthyology Association 81 Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) 40 Japan Land and Water Academy 81 Japan Socialist Party 75 Japan Times 117, 177 n9 Japan Wetlands Action Network (JAWAN) 121

Japan Wild Birds Society 123 Japanese culture 13, 73–74, 78, 86 n9, 152 JBIC (Japan Bank for International Cooperation) 40 JCP (Japan Communist Party) 41 JEA see Japan Environment Agency JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) 40 Johannesburg Earth Summit 162 Kagawa Prefectural Government 145–146 n10 Kanagawa Prefecture 51, 53, 126 n8 kankyoo (environment) 21 Kansai International Airport 120 Kato, Saburo 177 n10 Kawasaki 126 n8, 133 Kaya, Yoichi 177 n10 keywords 82 Kiko Forum (Climate Forum) 163 Kitakyushu Eco-Industrial Park 133 Kobayashi (Miyazaki Prefecture) 70 Kobe 126 n8 Koike, Yuriko 161 Koizumi, Junichiro 40, 153, 154 Koizumi Initiative 40 Kokubo Eco-Industrial Park (Yamanashi Prefecture) 133 Komiyama, Hiroshi 132 Konagai (Nagasaki Prefecture) 126 n5 Kosugi, Takashi 87 n13 Kotopanjang Dam (Indonesia) 40 kougai (public nuisance) 21 Kuztnetz curve 171 Kyoto Protocol: clean development mechanism 154; emissions trading 154; European Union 150, 153, 153–154, 155, 159; flexible mechanisms 153, 154–155, 160; formation 150, 151–153; joint implementation 154; ratification 155; Russia 150, 155–156, 158; sinks 154, 155, 160;

INDEX

United States 150, 153, 153–155, 163, 164 Kyoto Protocol: Japan 77; decision-making and implementation 45 n5, 127 n13, 150–151, 162–163; greenhouse gas emissions 156–158, 158 f; nuclear energy 160–161; precautionary principle 163, 175; ratification 40, 147, 155; regulatory measures 158–160; renewable energy 161; targets 153, 153; voluntary measures by industry 161–162 Kyoto Target Achievement Plan 159–160 LA21 see Local Agenda 21 Lake Nakaumi reclamation 113, 114 Law Concerning Countermeasures against Soil Pollution 130 Law Concerning the Promotion of Measures to Cope with Global Warming 20, 45 n5, 159 Law Concerning the Rational Use of Energy see Energy Conservation Law legislation 8, 15 t, 17, 27, 29, 32 t, 41–42, 44 n2, 44–45 n4, 68, 75, 77, 86 n2, 111, 114–115, 122, 126 n8, 130, 135–136, 159, 161, 175; see also EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) Law Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) 17, 41, 42, 68, 75, 76, 77, 82, 111 limits to growth 176 n6 Local Agenda 21 (LA21) 54; evaluation models 65 n2; Germany 52; Japan 43, 52–53, 54–56, 61–64; Netherlands 52; Norway 47, 52; objectives: (comprehensiveness 62–63; discourse coalitions 61–62; joint implementation 63;

217

promoting pluralistic approaches 56, 61; shared knowledge base 62); Sweden 52 local environmental governance 47–50, 63–64; EIA systems 51, 65 n5, 115; environmental management systems 51–52, 65 n4, 66 n11, 134; greening of politics 42–43; historical perspective 50–52, 82; innovative practices 56; key objectives 50, 64–65 n2; LA21 progress 52–53, 54–56, 61–64; Ministry of Environment control 35; participatory management 53–56, 61–57 t, 62, 118; pollution control 50–51, 159, 175; post-war evolution 16, 17; theoretical framework 50–50 Local Government Environment Conference 64 n1 local government system 50, 65 n3, 111 localism (jimoto shugi) 169 London Convention on Ocean Dumping 39 Long-Term Energy Supply and Demand Outlook 138, 140 MAFF see Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Maki (Niigata Prefecture) 70 Masuda, Hiroya 83, 112 material inputs per service (MIPS) 177 n8 material use 171, 177 n8 Meadowcroft J. 50, 50, 64 n2, 169–170 media 77, 78, 79–80, 113, 114 METI see Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry MHW see Ministry of Health and Welfare Minamata 11, 17, 172 Ministerial Council for Comprehensive Energy Measures 140 Ministry for International Trade and Industry (MITI): economy 15; EIA Law 111, 117, 122, 123, 126 n1;

218 INDEX

energy 157, 161; Kyoto Protocol 153, 154; status 45 n8, 45 n12; see also Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) 36, 45 n8, 45 n11 Ministry of Construction (MoC) 36, 81, 111, 112, 117, 126 n6; see also Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI): eco-efficiency 131, 133; energy 151, 160–161; and Kyoto Protocol 150, 154; policy 36–37, 128, 138, 175; recycling 136, 137; status 32, 35; structure 45 nn11–12; see also Ministry for International Trade and Industry (MITI) Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) 35–36, 38–41, 45 n11, 150, 152, 153, 154, 162 Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW) 32, 45 n8 Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) 36, 37–38, 45 n11, 45 n14, 111–112; see also Ministry of Construction (MoC) Ministry of the Environment (MoE): eco-efficiency 131, 132 f, 133 f; ELIA Law 120, 121; establishment 8; and industry 44 n2; and Kyoto Protocol 150, 154; policy 15 t, 32–35; status 32, 36, 40, 45 n9, 120, 174; waste management 137 Ministry of Transport (MoT) 45 n8, 122 MIPS (material inputs per service) 177 n8 Mitake (Gifu Prefecture) 70, 135 MITI see Ministry for International Trade and Industry Mitsubishi 86 n8 Mitsuhashi, Tadahiro 177 n10

MLIT see Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport MoC see Ministry of Construction MoE see Ministry of the Environment MoFA see Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mol, A.P.J. 3, 3, 4, 6, 9 n4, 11 n5, 27, 142, 150, 168, 171, 174, 176 n6 Moonlight Project 157 Morishima, Akio 37, 177 n10 Morita, Tsuneyuki 147, 164 n1 MoT see Ministry of Transport Murai, Yoshinori 81 Murayama, Tomiichi 76 NACS-J see Nature Conservation Society of Japan Nagano Prefecture 83, 112–113 Nagara River Dam 72, 81, 113–114, 126 n6 Nagoya City 65 n7, 122 Nagoya City Land Development Corporation 121 Nakamura, Atsuo 43 Narmada Dam (India) 40, 86 n8 nation-states: role 27–28 National Environmental Research Institute 45 n8 National Environmental Training Institute 33 National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) 33, 98, 100, 100 f National Institute for Minamata Disease 33, 45 n8 national parks 72, 86 n6 National Research Council 89 National Strategy for Biological Diversity Conservation 30 National Strategy of Japan on Biological Diversity 45 n10 natural disasters 76, 111 natural gas 139 nature conservation 30, 31–32 t, 72, 92, 120 Nature Conservation Council (NCC) 35 Nature Conservation Society of Japan (NACS-J) 72, 77, 123

INDEX

NEP see new environmental paradigm Netherlands: CO2 emissions 157–158, 158 f; eco-efficiency 145 n5; ecological footprints 170, 170 t, 176 n6; ecological modernization 164, 169–170, 170; Local Agenda 21 52; surveys 90–91, 98, 100–102, 100 f, 101 t, 102 t, 106, 106; waste generation 135 Network Movement (NET) 42–43 New Climate Change Policy Programme 159 New Energy Foundation 138 new environmental paradigm (NEP) 89, 92, 94 t, 98, 100, 103 New Komeito (NK) 41 New Zealand 106 f, 107 n11, 153 NGOs (non-government organizations): in civil society 67, 72, 79, 81; climate change policy 150; links with Ministry of the Environment 33; in local governance 62–63; NGO-MoFA cooperation 40; political alienation 44, 66, 85; status 77, 162; see also GONGOs (government organized NGOs) NHK see Nippon Hyoso Kyoka NIES see National Institute for Environmental Studies nihonjinron (Japanese identity) 13, 21 Niji to Midori (Rainbow and Green Party) 43 Nikkei newspaper 80 NIMBY-style movements 69, 73 Nippon Hyoso Kyoka (NHK) 97, 107 n4, 107 n10 Nippon Keidanren 161, 165 n25 Nippon Steel Corporation 129 NK (New Komeito) 41 NO2 emissions 129, 131, 144 n2, 171 Noashima 146 n10 non-government organizations see NGOs Non-Profit Organization Law 8, 77

219

Norway: CO2 emissions 157–158, 158 f; ecological footprints 170, 170 t; ecological modernization 164, 169–170, 170, 176 n1; Local Agenda 21 47, 52; waste generation 135 NPOs (not for profit organizations) 8, 77, 162 Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency 37 nuclear energy 70, 112, 139, 151, 160–161 numinous-aestheticism 90, 91 f OECD see Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Official Development Assistance (ODA) 39–40, 152 Ohki, Hiroshi 40, 177 n10 oil crises, 137, 157 Oita Prefecture 69 Omuta City 133 optimism 100 f Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 7, 30–32, 31–32 t, 115, 129–130, 131, 138, 147, 152 Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) 157 Osaka 111, 162 Osaka Prefecture 65 n4, 66 n11 overseas aid see Official Development Assistance participatory assessment (sankagata assess) 121 pessimism 100, 100 f, 102, 103, 106 pesticide aid 40, 86 n8 Philippines 98 policy epistemic model 65 n2 policy-making 162–163 political activity 100–101, 101 t; see also protest groups political modernization 4 political opportunities structure (POS) 13–14 pollution: abatement 144 n3;

220 INDEX

crises 11, 16–17, 21; ‘export’ 130; Kuztnetz curve 171; local authority control 50–51, 159, 175; prevention 130; standards 117, 127 n11; trans-boundary 29; water 130; see also air pollution Pollution Diet 17, 68, 136 Pollution Related Health Damage Compensation and Prevention Association 33 POS (political opportunities structure) 13–14 post-materialism 82–83, 83 f, 89 power stations 117 precautionary principle 163, 175 Prime Minister 37 Prime Minister’s Office surveys 80, 86 n10, 91, 107 n2 Prometheanism 20–21, 91 f, 100 f, 104, 106 f protest groups 67–68, 70–72, 77, 78, 85, 86 n1, 112, 160 public consultation 118, 121 public opinion surveys 52, 65 n8, 92 t; economy vs. environment 91–6, 95 f, 97 f, 102; environmental knowledge 92–93, 93 t, 94 t, 103–104, 106 f; environmental values 97–102, 100 f, 101 t, 102 t; government action 102, 106; international comparisons 98, 100–102, 100 f, 101 t, 102 t; techniques 89–91; young people 103–106, 106 f, 107 n11 Public Waters Reclamation Act 122 public works 38, 42, 111–115, 126 n3 Qatar 156 qualitative environmental issues 52 rational-ecologism 91 f, 100 f, 106 f rational-scientism 90, 91 f

recirculatory society (junkangatta shakai) 37, 43, 134–137, 144 recycling 29, 36, 37–38, 103, 122, 128, 132, 134–137, 170 Recycling Diet 136 Red Data Book 30 Redefining Progress 170, 170 t referendums 70–72, 112, 126 n5 reflexive modernization 6, 17, 75 renewable energy 132, 139–140, 141, 151, 160, 161 renewable portfolio standards (RPS) 140–141, 161 Rio Earth Summit 19 risk society 6, 75, 85, 172 River Law 114 Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade 40 RPS see renewable portfolio standards Russia: CO2 emissions 156; Kyoto Protocol 150, 155–156, 158 Saitama Prefecture 120, 126 n8 Sanbanze Tidal Flats (Chiba) 72, 113, 114 Sapporo City 133 Satoyama movement 21 Save Fujimae Association 121 Sawa, Takamitsu 177 n10 science and technology 4–5, 104 Science and Technology Agency 36 SEA (Strategic Environmental Assessment) 120 Seikatsu Club 42–43, 68 Sendai 69 Shiki City (Saitama Prefecture) 55, 61–57 t Shiroishi (Miyazaki Prefecture) 70 Shizuoka Prefecture 107 n14 shore and coastline development 29 Singapore 97, 103, 106 f, 107 n11 ‘slow life’ movement 112 Small and Medium Enterprise Agency 37 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) 141–143 SO2 emissions 129, 131, 137, 144 n2

INDEX

social actors 4–5 social exclusion 44 social hegemony 74–75, 78–79, 85 social movements 66–73, 69–70 t, 77, 78, 79, 169, 176 n1 social networks 78 social pluralism 74, 84–85 Socialist Party of Japan 41 soil contamination 130 solar power 36 South Africa 97 South Korea 97, 135 Southeast Asia 152 Special Measures Law Concerning the Use of New Energy by Electricity Utilities 140, 161 SPEED (Strategic Programme on Environmental Endocrine Disrupters) 45 n7 state 5 state failure 6 steel industry 129 Stockholm Conference 152 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants 40 Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) 120 Strategic Programme on Environmental Endocrine Disrupters (SPEED) 45 n7 sub-politics 168–169, 176 n1 Sumi, Kazuo 81 Sunshine Project 157 ‘sustainable capitalism’ 5 sustainable development 19, 152, 169–170, 174 Sweden: CO2 emissions 157–158, 158 f; ecological footprints 170, 170 t; ecological modernization 164, 169–170, 170; Local Agenda 21 52; surveys 101–102, 102 t Taiheiyo Cement Corporation 133–134 Taiwan 135 ‘Take-It-Easy Declaration’ (Gambaranai Sengen) 112

221

Takeshita, Noboru 18, 45 n9 Tanabe, Yasuo 136 Tanaka, Yasuo 83, 112–113 technical hearing system 44 n2 techno-nationalism 172 technocentrism 89, 100 f, 103 technology 5, 89, 98, 106, 172 Teshima (Seto Inland Sea) 135–136, 145–146 n10 Teshima Sogo Kanko Kaihatsu 145–146 n10 Thailand 97, 98, 106 f, 107 n11, 135 theory of ecological modernization 3, 3–6, 13, 27, 111, 171–172 thermal recycling 137 3-R approach 136 3Es 138–139 Tohoku Electric Power Company 70 Tokaimura, Ibaraki 160 Tokushima 112 Tokyo 65 n3, 103, 106 f, 107 n11, 111, 126 n8 Tokyo Bay Aqualine 116, 126 n4 Tokyo Electric Power Company 144 n2, 161 Tokyo Metropolitan Government 65 n8, 120 ToP see treadmill of production Top Runners programme 140, 146 n14, 159 toxic waste 145 n4 Toyonaka City (Osaka Prefecture) 55–56, 61–57 t trans-boundary pollution 29 transportation 36, 37, 38, 160, 171 treadmill of production (ToP) 5, 9–11 n4, 14, 15, 172, 173 Uguiszawa City 133 Umino, M. 15 t Unakami (Chiba Prefecture) 70 United Kingdom 139, 156, 176 n1 United Nations: Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) 152; Convention on the Human Environment 152;

222 INDEX

Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 40; Framework Convention on Climate Change 8, 20, 152 United Nations University, Tokyo 33 United States: CO2 emissions 156; eco-efficiency 145 n5; Framework Convention on Climate Change 152; Kyoto Protocol 150, 153, 153–155, 163, 164; National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) 124 n1, 126 n7; Official Development Assistance (ODA) 39; sub-politics 176 n1; surveys 89, 91, 92, 98, 100 f University of Tampere, Finland 145 n5 value persistence 42 values: Arcadianism 91 f, 100 f, 104 , 106 f 106; biospheric-altruistic 89; dominant social paradigm 89; ecocentric perspective 89, 100 f; ecocidal mysticism 91 f, 100 f, 106 f; ecological consciousness 90, 91 f, 106; economy vs. environment 91–97, 95 f, 97 f, 102, 103, 106, 107 n2, 107 n 13; egoistic 89; environmental knowledge orientations 90–91, 91 f, 93 t, 103–104, 106 f, environmentalism 87; international comparisons 98, 100–102, 100 f, 101 t, 102 t; new environmental paradigm (NEP) 89, 92, 94 t, 98, 100, 103; numinous-aestheticism 90, 91 f; openness to change 89; post-materialism 82–83, 83 f; Prometheanism 20–21, 91 f, 100 f, 104, 106 f; rational-ecologism 91 f, 100 f, 106 f; rational-scientism 90, 91 f;

surveys 91–98, 92–93 t, 94 t, 95 f, 97 f, 101 t, 107 n2; technocentric perspective 89, 100 f, 103; traditional (conservation) 89, 106; young people 103–106, 106, 107 n11 Vietnam 135 Virgin Islands 156 voluntarism 143, 161–162 Voluntary Action Plan on the Environment 140 waste: disposal 29–30, 31 t, 55, 70, 72, 76, 122, 135; domestic 132 f; generation 135, 171; illegal dumping 135–136, 145–146 n10; management 135, 137, 146 n10; power generation 139; toxic waste 145 n4 Waste Management Law 135–136 water pollution 130 Water Pollution Control Law 130 water quality 29, 31 t, 45 n6, 65 n6, 170 White Paper on the Environment 29, 65 n4, 131 Wild Bird Society of Japan (WBSJ) 77 wind power 72, 86 n6, 139 World Business Council for Sustainable Development 131 World Economic Forum 170–170 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) 39, 40 World Trade Organization 156 World Values Surveys (WVS) 82–83, 83 f, 92, 92 t, 93, 95 f, 97, 97, 97 f, 106 World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) 123 WWF Japan 77 Yakushima Island 133 Yochinaga (Okayama Prefecture) 70 Yokohama Municipal Government 51 Yoshino River Dam 72, 112, 113, 114 young people 103–106, 106 f, 107 n11 zero emissions 36, 132, 133