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The first section of this compilation is devoted to an in-depth probe into the Ashio copper-mine situation, which at the beginning of the Meiji period created one of the most devastating environmental catastrophes ever visited upon the nation, the ill-effects of which still persist to the present day. The situation surrounding Ashio is typical of the pollution problems that existed in the pre-Second World War period, and the case-study brings the reader up to the present time. The second section outlines Japan's economic development after the Second World War, with the Morinaga arsenic milk, Minamata disease, Kochi Pulp, and Miike coal-mine explosion cases being probed as examples of pollution in that period. The final section deals with the sociological aspects of environmental destruction as manifested in labour-related problems and workplace-induced occupational hazards and diseases. The problems coalescing around the twin foci of occupational hazards and environmental destruction are in reality two sides of the same coin. The primary points of departure in relation to issues of environmental destruction is a need to recognize the damage done. Our research efforts have not paid enough attention to the specific damage to compromised life-support systems, especially in terms of those suffering from particular environmental problems, and how this suffering manifests itself; therefore, one section of this compilation deals specifically with these issues.
For purposes of clarity these case-studies are all located historically, within designated time-frames, and each section includes reference material for further study.
Bibliography
Iijima, N. Kogai, rosai, shokugyoubyou nenpyou [Historical Table on Pollution, Industrial Accidents, and Occupational Disease in Japan]. Kogai Taisaku Gijutsu Doyukai, 1978.
Shoji, H., and K. Miyamoto. Nihon no kogai [Pollution in Japan]. Iwanami Shoten, 1975.
Tsuru, S. Sekai no kogai chizu. [Pollution Map of the World]. Iwanami Shoten, 1977. Ui, J. Kogai genron [Principles of Pollution]. Aki Shobo, 1971.
Chronological Chart
Social background |
Ashio copper-mine issue |
Minamata disease |
|
| 1877 | Furukawa opens Ashio copper mine | ||
| 1890 | Hydro-power generation | ||
| Shozo Tanaka raises question in the Diet | |||
| Sino-Japanese War First Poisons Survey Committee | Out-of-court negotiation | ||
| 1900 | Second Poisons Survey Committee | Kawamata Incident | |
| Russo-Japanese War | Yanaka villagers evacuated by force | Nippon Chisso Minamata plant opens | |
| 10 | First World War | Shozo Tanaka dies | |
| 20 | Labour union organized | ||
| Ashio labour-management dispute | Ammonia synthesis | ||
| Poison catchment dam constructed | Chosen (Korea) Chisso | ||
| 30 | Electric dust-collector installed | Acetate synthesis | |
| Catchment dam overflows | |||
| 1940 | Second World War | Labour union disbanded | Vinyl chloride |
| 1945 | Air-raid damage/Nippon Chisso disbanded | ||
| Priority production system | Association for Halting Copper Production formed | Acetaldehyde production restarted | |
| New Constitution | Typhoon Katherin | ||
| Eugenic Protection Law | Typhoon Kitty | ||
| Vinyl chloride production restarted | |||
| 1950 | Korean Issue: red purge | ||
| US-Japan Security Treaty; peace treaty with allied countries | |||
| May Day Incident | Association for Halting Copper Production disbanded | Octanol production starts | |
| Korean Issue truce | DOP production starts | ||
| Kotaki mine closed | |||
| 1955 | Conservative panics formed into a single body | Automatic blast furnace introduced; production of sulphuric acid starts | Minamata disease discovered |
| Honshu Paper Edogawa factory incident | Gengorozawa retention basin bursts | ||
| Water Quality and Factory | Association for Eradicating Copper Poisoning | ||
| Discharge Control Law | |||
| Investigation based on the Water Quality Law starts | Organic mercury discovered | ||
| 1960 | Student movement against the revision of the US-Japan | Fishermen's riot | |
| Security Treaty: Ikeda cabinet | Tamiya research group | ||
| High-growth policy adopted by the government | Kumamoto identifies methyl mercury | ||
| Cadmium theory for Itai-itai | Plant management confirms involvement of methyl | ||
| Major energy source switches from coal to oil | Long strike | ||
| Mishima-Numazu petrochemical complex project | |||
| Tokyo Olympics | |||
| 1965 | Second Minamata disease | ||
| Pollution Control Ordinance | Niigata civil action | ||
| Kanemi oil poisoning case | Water pollutants' standard established | Government's public acknowledgement | |
| Revised Integrated National Development Plan (INDP) | First Minamata civil court suit | ||
| 1970 | Special Diet session on pollution problems | Cadmium contamination discovered | Reparations |
| Environment Agency decision Sitdown strike at head office | |||
| Mercury and PCB contamination of coastal areas Oil crisis | Ashio cooper mine closed | Negotiation between Niigata group and Showa Denko | |
| Court decision on the first civil suit | |||
| Arbitration by EDCC (Environmental Dispute Co-ordination Committee) | Third Minamata disease | ||
| 1975 | Exhaust gas control relaxed | Pollution Control Agreement | Remarcs about non-genuine victims |
| INDP III | |||
| NOx regulation relaxed | Agreement on specific issues | Environment Agency vice-minister issues guidelines | |
| Court decision on the second civil suit | |||
| 1980 | Overwhelming victory of Liberal Democratic Party | Indictment of Kawamoto dismissed | |
| Partial cancellation of Shibushi National Park area designation | Minamata victims, training centre established |
Arsenic milk poisoning |
Miike coal-mine explosion |
Kochi Pulp |
| Mitsui purchases Miike coal mine | ||
| Mitsui Mining Company founded | ||
| Morinaga Seika (parent company of Morinaga Milk) founded | Elelectric blasting cap introduced | |
| Electric trolley begins to haul out coal | ||
| Koppers coke oven introduced in Japanese mines | ||
| Condensed milk division established | Production peak in the pre-Second World War period | |
| Morinaga Milk founded | Miike coal mine labour union formed | |
| Kochi Pulp project starts | ||
| National Baby Contest | Hinged bar system introduced in Japanese coal mines | Construction or Kochi Pulp |
| Construction suspended due to shortage of funds | ||
| Plant operation starts | ||
| Air and water contamination begins | ||
| Fishermen's co-operative receives cash donation | ||
| Tokushima plant starts adding sodium phosphate | Fishermen plan opposition activities | |
| Arsenic milk poisoning starts | Mitsui Mining adopts Ten-year Plan for company rebuilding | |
| Zenkyo dissolved | Coal-planer introduced in Japanese mines | New plant constructed in Iyo-Mishima |
| Urado Bay reclamation plan | ||
| Merged with Daio Pulp | ||
| Mitsui Miike miners' strike | Urado Bay reclamation plan adopted | |
| Part of Kochi Pulp separated and becomes Nishi Nippon | ||
| Urado Bay Protection Citizens' group established | ||
| Mine explosion | ||
| Coal mines in Chikuho area shut down in rapid succession | ||
| Fire breaks out within the mine | Hunger strike demanding purification of Enoguchi River | |
| Visit after 14 years (rediscovery of victims) |
||
| Typhoon No 10/reclamation work stops | ||
| Cement-plugging incident | ||
| Plant closed | ||
| Hikari Foundation established | Court decision on cement-plugging incident |