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Environmental Problems After 1960

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In my essay, I am going to discuss Japan's strategy regarding environmental problems after 1960 based on the lectures of Konttinen, Kingston and Hasegawa and the provided text from Revell. I will start with a brief recap of the major pollution incidents and the changes and main actors in policy-making. I am going to continue with a short comparison of the public's attitude towards nuclear energy before and after the Fukushima disaster. Finally, I will argue whether Japan can be considered to be an ecological frontrunner nation.
Over the course of the past fifty years, Japan had to deal with a great number of environmental problems. The Ashio copper mine incident was one of the most significant cases in the 19th century, when as a result of …show more content…

Kingston described the phenomenon as" the nuclear village promoting nuclear energy". Before 2011, the majority of citizens supported the use of existing nuclear reactors, not realizing that earthquakes significantly increase risks concerning nuclear safety. However, as Hasegawa concluded, the disaster forced the public to face the real risks and public support has now shifted to renewable …show more content…

The country has been applauded by various reviews and annual reports for the successful rehabilitation of urban air quality, recovery of major waterways, and advanced industrial controls. Investigating climate change, sustainable material cycles, waste disposal systems and developing energy sources and the reduction of carbon dioxide omission are key priorities in the policy-making, and the government is committed to photovoltaic research and hybrid cars. Japanese industry inarguably excels in finding technical solutions to environmental problems, . Even so, Japan is receiving growing criticism about its environmental politics.
Japan's environmental politics were criticised for being “symbolic” and reactive to international pressure. Revell argues a number of factors are hindering the environmental reform in Japan, including the "dense webs of vested interest" , the "limited civil society counter-powers", and the lack of "political modernisation". The author concludes that in order to truly become an ecological frontrunner nation, Japan would need a more participatory and transparent government, an empowered NGO and small firm sector, and a more proactive

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