Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T08:10:45.512Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Restructuring Environmental Policy in Japan: The 1990s and Beyond

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2016

Tsuneo Akaha
Tsuneo Akaha*
Affiliation:
Monterey Institute of International Studies
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Japan's environmental policy has shifted its focus from domestic pollution control in the 1960s and 70s to global environmental policy initiatives in the 1990s, most visibly demonstrated by its hosting of the Kyoto conference on global warming in 1997. This article reviews the nation's effort to restructure its environmental administration and policy since the 1990s and assesses its promises and shortcomings. The discussion includes administrative reform and its impact on environmental policy, Japan's domestic and diplomatic responses to global warming, environmental ODA, and the public's environmental consciousness. It concludes that the administrative restructuring that took place at the beginning of 2001 is but one part of the change Japan needs to undergo in order to realize its goal of sustainable development at home and to live up to the promises its environmental diplomacy has made, including the successful implementation of the Kyoto Protocol.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of East Asian Studies , Volume 1 , Issue 2: Special Issue: Perspectives on Environmental Protection in Northeast Asia , August 2001 , pp. 121 - 159
Copyright
Copyright © East Asia Institute 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Advisory Panel on Environment and Culture. 1991. Towards the Creation of an Environment-Friendly Culture: Final Report to the Environment Agency of Japan from the Advisory Panel on Environment and Culture. Tokyo: Global Environmental Forum.Google Scholar
Akaha, Tsuneo. 1984. Conservation of the Environment of the Seto Inland Sea. Coastal Zone Management Journal 12(1): 83–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Akaha, Tsuneo. 1998. Environmental Policy in Japan: From Domestic Pollution to Global Environment. In Global Environmental Policy and Administration, edited by Soden, Dennis L. and Steel, Brent S., 529–548. New York: Marcel Dekker.Google Scholar
Akaha, Tsuneo. ed. 1999. Politics and Economics in Northeast Asia. New York and London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Area Handbook: Japan. 1991.Google Scholar
Asahi Shimbun. July 15, 1901.Google Scholar
Asahi Shimbun. July 17, 2001 (web edition). Available at http://www.asahi.com/english/international/K2001070902724.html (July 17, 2001).Google Scholar
Asano, Naohito. 1999. Kankyo Kihonho to Kankyo Kihonkeikaku (Basic environment law and basic environment plan). Jurisuto, May: 31–35.Google Scholar
Asia Environmental Review. 1995. News and Analysis on Environmental Issues and Markets in the Asia Pacific Region. Available at home page: ftp://ftp.asianenviro.com/a595.txt (April 8, 1997).Google Scholar
Barrett, Brendan F.D. and Therival, Riki. 1991. Environmental Policy and Impact Assessment in Japan. London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Brazil, Mark. 1992. The Wildlife of Japan: A 20th Century Naturalist's View. Japan Quarterly, July-September.Google Scholar
Bunge, Frederica M. 1982. Japan: A Country Study . Area Handbook Series. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Army.Google Scholar
Donoghue, M., and Wheeler, A. 1990. Save the Dolphins. Sydney: Hodder and Stoughton.Google Scholar
Dunaher, Mike. 1996. What Price The Environment?: An Analysis of Japanese Public Awareness of Environmental Issues. Paper presented at the 1996 Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast (ASPAC) Conference, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, June 21–23.Google Scholar
Enloe, Cynthia H. 1975. The Politics of Pollution in a Comparative Perspective. New York: David McKay Company.Google Scholar
Fitzgerald, Sarah. 1989. International Wildlife Trade: Whose Business Is It? Washington, D.C.: World Wildlife Fund.Google Scholar
The Green Center. 1997. The Environmental Atlas. Available at home page: http://www.rri.org/envatlas/asia/japan/jp-conc.html.Google Scholar
Hara, Keikichi, and Ito, Takashi. 1997. Kankyo (The Environment). In Imidas '97, 644–657. Tokyo: Shueisha.Google Scholar
Hata, Akio, Yoshida, Fumikazu, Sakamaki, Yukio, Kurachi, Mitsuo, Lawyers for Itai-Itai Disease, and Coalition of Sufferers by Cadmium Pollution along the Jinzu River. 1994. Itai-Itai Disease and Pollution Prevention of Cadmium. Paper presented at “The 3rd Asia-Pacific NGO Environmental Conference,” November 18–19, 1994, Kyoto, Japan.Google Scholar
Holliman, Jonathan. 1990. Environmentalism with a Global Scope. Japan Quarterly, July-September.Google Scholar
Huddle, Norie and Reich, Michael. 1975. Island of Dreams: Environmental Crisis in Japan. New York: Autumn Press.Google Scholar
Iida, Daisuke. 1999. Chikyu Ondanka Boshi ni kansuru Kokunaiho-seisaku: Tsushosangyosho (Domestic legislation-policy concerning the prevention of earth warming: the Ministry of International Trade and Industry). Jurisuto. May: 143–146.Google Scholar
Ishida, Takeshi. 1984. Conflict and Its Accommodation: Omote-ura and Uchi-soto Relations. In Conflict in Japan, edited by Krauss, Ellis S., Rohlen, Thomas P. and Steinhoff, Patricia G. 16–38. Honolulu: University of Hawaii.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kihonho, Kankyo (Basic environment law). 1993. The full text is found in Kankyocho, , ed., Kankyo Kihon Keikaku (Basic environment plan), Tokyo: Okurasho Insatsukyoku. An unofficial English translation is available at: http://www.nies.go.jp/english/lib-e/blaw-3/blaw-e.html (November 4, 1997).Google Scholar
Kankyocho, (Environment Agency), ed. 1994. Kankyo Kihon Keikaku (Basic Environment Plan). Tokyo: Okurasho Insatsukyoku. An unofficial English translation can be found at: http://www.nies.go.jp/english/lib-e/bplan-e/coverpg.html (November 4, 1997).Google Scholar
Kankyocho, ed. 1996a. Kankyo Hakusho (Environment White Paper). Tokyo: Okurasho Insatsukyoku.Google Scholar
Kankyocho, ed. 1996b. Nihon no Kankyo Taisaku wa Susundeiruka (Are Japan's environmental measures making progress?). Tokyo: Okurasho Insatsukyoku.Google Scholar
Kankyosho (Ministry of the Environment), ed. 2001. Kankyo Hakusho (Environment White Paper). Tokyo: Gyosei Keidanren. 1996. “Keidanren Appeal on Environment: Declaration on Voluntary Action of Japanese Industry Directed at Conservation of Global Environment in the 21st Century.” Tokyo: Keidanren. Available at http://www.keidanren.or.jp/english/policy/po1046.html (November 4, 1996).Google Scholar
Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan Chosa oyobi Rippo Kosakyoku. 1973. Setonaikai ni okeru Kankyo Hakai ni kansuru Shomondai (Problems related to the environmental destruction in the Seto Inland Sea). Tokyo: Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan.Google Scholar
Krauss, Ellis S., and Simcock, Bradford L. 1980. Citizens' Movements: The Growth and Impact of Environmental Protest in Japan. In Political Opposition and Local Politics in Japan. Edited by Steiner, Kurt, Krauss, Ellis S. and Flanagan, Scott C., 187–227. N.J.: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Krishnan, Radha A., and Tull, Malcolm. 1992. Resource Use and Environmental Management in Japan, 1890–1990. Australian Economic History Review. 34 (2): 3–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuronuma, Yoshihiro, and Tisdell, Clement A. 1993. Institutional Management of an International Mixed Good: Socially Optimal Whale Harvests, the Moratorium and the Role of the International Whaling Commission. Brisbane: University of Queensland.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matsushita, Kazuo. 2000. Kankyo Seiji Nyumon (Introduction to Environmental Politics). Tokyo: Heibonsha.Google Scholar
McKean, Margaret A. 1977. Pollution and Policy-Making. In Policymaking in Contemporary Japan, edited by Pempel, T. J. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 1997. http://www2.nttca.com.8010/infomofa/env/2_front.html. (November 3).Google Scholar
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2001. Home page: http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/oda/category/environment/pamph/2001/coop-1.html (June 19).Google Scholar
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 1997. Global Warming. http://www2.ntta.com.8010/infomofa/global/vo13.html (November 3, 1997).Google Scholar
Morishima, Akio. 1999. Chikyu Ondanka Taisaku ni kansuru Waga Kuni no Seisaku (Japan's policy concerning measures against earth warming). Jurisuto, May: 130–136.Google Scholar
Naikakufu Daijinkanbo Seifu Kohoshitsu. 2001. Seronchosa (Public Opinion Survey), Tokyo: Naikakufu Daijinkanbo Seifu Kohoshitsu, May.Google Scholar
Okubo, Noriko. 1999. NPO Katsudo to Kankyohozen (NPO activities and environmental conservation). Jurisuto, May: 260–265.Google Scholar
Overseas Environmental Cooperation Center. 2000. Cases of Japan-China Environmental Cooperation: Compendium.Google Scholar
Pempel, T.J. 1982. Policy and Politics in Japan: Creative Conservatism. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Setonaikai Kankyo Hozen Chiji-shicho Kaigi. 1977. Setonaikai no Gaikyo (An overview of the Seto Inland Sea). Kobe: Setonaikai Kankyo Hozen Chiji-shicho Kaigi.Google Scholar
Setonaikai Kankyo Hozen Kyokai. 1978. Setonaikai no Kankyo Hozen: Shiryoshu (Environmental conservation in the Seto Inland Sea: A compendium of documents). Kobe: Setonaikai Kankyo Hozen Kyokai.Google Scholar
Shoji, Hikaru, and Miyamoto, Kenichi. 1979. Nihon no Kogai (Pollution in Japan). Tokyo: Iwanamishoten.Google Scholar
Kohoshitsu, Sorifu. 1995. Seronchosa (Public Opinion Survey) 27(9). Tokyo: Okurasho Insatsukyoku.Google Scholar
The Study Group for Global Environment and Economics. 1991. Pollution in Japan — Our Tragic Experiences: Case Studies of Pollution-related Damage at Yokkaichi, Minamata, and the Jinzu River (unpublished paper).Google Scholar
Tsuru, Shigeto and eds, Helmut Weidner. 1989. Environmental Policy in Japan, edited by Tsuru, Shigeto, Berlin: Edition Sigma.Google Scholar
Tsushosangyosho Enerugiicho Chokankanbo Kokusaishigenka and Sekiyubu Kaihatsuka, eds. 1999. 21 Seiki, Kyakko wo abiru Ajia no Tennengasu Enerugi (The 21st century, natural gas energy of Asia in a limelight). Tokyo: Okurasho Insatsukyoku.Google Scholar
UNEP. 1997. Environment Agency, Government of Japan. Ref. No. 3 38150. Available at: http://www.gsf.de/UNEP/ea-jap.html (November 3, 1997).Google Scholar
Upham, Frank. 1976. A Sociological Analysis of Four Japanese Pollution Suits. Law and Society Review 10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kinenkai, Yano Tsunetaro. 1991. Suji de Miru Nihon no 100-nen (100 years of Japan through numbers). Revised Third Edition. Tokyo: Kokuseisha.Google Scholar