Ecology and Industry – History of the Coexistence in JapanReturn to Essay List

Toki
Photo from http://web-japan.org/nipponia/nipponia23/en/topic/inex.html

The Japanese government and independent environmental groups have exerted great efforts in preserving native species from extinction, such as the Toki (Japanese Crested Ibis) above. A growing number of national parks are being sectioned off to protect endangered species.

However, initially the whole process of saving the ecosystems of Japan was not spurred on by the concerns for wildlife extinction but because of methyl mercury poisoning in the population of Minamata City. This mass poisoning of the people of Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyūshū was so severe and so widespread (in that prefecture) that methyl mercury poisoning is called Minamata disease.

Methyl mercury poisoning was first discovered in Japan in 1956. This particular case started when the Chisso (=nitrogen) Corporation dumped byproduct methyl mercury into the ocean when the factories were producing acetaldehyde.

a mother bathes her crippled daughter in a hot bath
Photo from http://driouxgalvan.livejournal.com/

In the photograph above, a mother bathes her crippled daughter in a hot bath. W. Eugene Smith photographed this scene during the 1970s. He was an very vocal journalist trying to tell Japan that the Chisso Corporation was dumping mass amounts of mercury into the sea. The untreated waste water dumping started in 1932 and continued till 1968, a total of 36 uninterrupted years of. During this time, hatcheries and fisheries filed two lawsuits against the Chisso Corporation in 1926 and in 1943. The court cases showed that the hatcheries and fisheries were being affected by the mercury and that their fish populations were being damaged by the pollution. Thus the Chisso Corporation was well aware of what was going on. According to wikipedia during the time when the massive torrents of waste water were flushed into the sea, fish hatcheries and fisheries yielded 91% less fish, and most of the fish that fishermen did catch could not be sold because the government limited the sale of the fish from the area. Because it was not a complete ban of sale, the seafood industries were not able to get compensation and the limited amount of tainted fish further increased the numbers of methyl mercury poisoning victims. Even the seafood industry could not win against a corporate giant like Chisso and the common victim does not have nearly enough money or influence to back a class action suit.

There was a reason why Chisso Corporation could continue operating as it did causing 36 years of wanton ecological and societal destruction. At it height of operation, Chisso and its subsidiaries supplied over a quarter of Minamata City’s jobs and contributed to half the tax revenues of Minamata City and. Not only did Chisso have cozy ties with the government, but it also had people to intimidate anyone who dared to speak out against them. The photographer of the above picture Eugene Smith was one of Chisso’s many victims of intimidation. According to wikipedia.org Smith, who was exposing the pollution that Chisso Corp created, was assaulted so badly by Chisso’s employees that he lost his sight in one of his eyes.
In 1959 Chisso tried to calm the growing unrest and suspicion of its methyl mercury dumping by unveiling a cyclator which supposedly purified the water. The president of Chisso, Kiichi Yoshioka, drank water filtered by the cyclator device. But in fact this was a ruse to calm the public and the cyclator did not do anything to purify the wastewater. The pollution was just as bad, but the people were lulled into a false sense of security. Between 1932 and 1968 the sea around Minamata City must have suffered untold amounts of habitat destruction. At its peak, Kumamoto University found that many aquatic habitats were barren, kelp and seaweed would not grow on the bottoms of the seabed and dead fish floated on the ocean’s surface. It was not until 1968 that Chisso actually stopped dumping waste water that killed around 2000 people and crippled thousands more. If one were curious, yes, Chisso Corporation is still in business and their website is at http://www.chisso.co.jp/english/index.asp.

Chisso Corporation Logo

Now another pressing environmental issue is the whaling that is occurring around Japan. The habit of eating whales was established long ago in Japan and according to wikipedia.org the Japanese were whaling as early as 712 A.D. Especially in the post World War II era when food was scarce whales became a staple of the Japanese diet. Recently the International Fund for Animal Welfare has accused Japan for fueling the market for whale meat under the guise of whaling in the name of science. It is rather ironic that when Perry came to open up Japan in 1853 one of his reasons was to open a whaling outpost and now there is a public outcry to stop all whaling. According to wikipedia.org the whaling industry in Japan generates around 60 million U.S. dollars a year (Kyodo Senpaku Industries). Greenpeace is another major organization pressuring companies in Japan to stop whaling. Even though whaling is wrong and not a necessity, Greenpeace, IFAW, and the radical ELF seem to be trying to persuade people using an incorrect approach.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling_-_Japan

In one article at news24.com the ship of Greenpeace “Artic Sunrise” rammed the whaling ship Nisshinmaru during its science expedition. If a person were to read this article, s/he might get the wrong idea that these environment protection groups are all just a bunch of terrorists. In fact many groups such as the ALF, ELF, and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society are labeled “eco-terrorists” by some. (http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1861384,00.html).

In recent years, Japan has been one of the leaders in lowering amount of emissions in automobiles and in building extensive railroad systems both in Japan and abroad. But there are no easy clean cut solutions for coexistence of industry and ecology.