A shocking announcement

While Landfills No. 6 and 7 and the harbor aroused only sporadic protest, Landfill No. 8 led to a big fight. In September 1969, the Showa Denko Company, owner of the Showa Denko petrochemical plant on Landfill No. 2, announced its desire to build the world s largest aluminum smelter on Landfill No. 8. People in Oita knew that aluminum smelters make much pollution. Since Landfill No. 8 was to go across Beppu Bay, however, people in Seki did not worry too much about it.

In January 1970, however, the Oita government suddenly announced a change of plans. The sea floor in the old place was not good for landfill. It now planned to build No. 8 on the coast of Saganoseki, in front of the hamlets of Kozaki and Baba (see Figure 2.1). No. 8 would be huge: a total of 4 square kilometers. Governor Kinoshita again painted a glowing picture of the social benefits of growth. In 1970, the Japanese economy was booming. This time, he said, high-employment companies would come for sure. By then, though, not all residents believed him so readily. The bloom had already fallen from the rose of industrial modernity.

The announcement shocked many Seki people. Not only would No. 8 come to their doorstep, it might bring an aluminum refinery too! Aluminum refineries dump vast quantities of red sludge waste into waters, and use copious amounts of (oil-generated) electricity.