So, if you read my previous two blogs on wildlife in Japan, you already know that while Japan is teeming with unique biodiversity, many species are at risk or endangered. But you're probably wondering, what does Japan think of all this?
The Battle of The Two "Ecos"
Well, after doing some legwork, I found that the environmental issues and restoration attempts in Japan eerily resemble our own. Similar to America, there's this general divide on conservation and environmental restoration mostly because people don't see the point of these efforts or they believe the economic benefits and modern day conveniences outweigh the environmental costs. This ironically seems to stem from Japan's perceived closeness with nature. The people of Japan sincerely believe nature is important and think it should be preserved; but for different reasons than we'd initially assume. In Japan, nature is seen more as a scenic backdrop and a place to spend leisure time. I've had a few conversations with people here about this and they usually say things like " we should preserve the beauty of nature" or " nature is important" without specifying why. I began to realize that people in Japan are generally unaware of environmental issues; let alone how to fix them. Now I could write an entire paper on this matter (I actually have here if you really wanted to know the full scoop of what I found), but the jist is that Japanese people are more concerned with protecting nature for anthropocentric reasons above all else. The environment is treated as a commodity and as a result, the efforts to protect the natural environments here are constantly at odds with other commodities and resources.
Because of this continual tug of war between a healthy economy and a healthy ecosystem, Japan has attempted to find a balance between the two through legislative measures. As a result Japan is now laced with various "eco tourism" activities throughout its borders. Sounds like an awesome plan right? Well lets keep reading.
Because of this continual tug of war between a healthy economy and a healthy ecosystem, Japan has attempted to find a balance between the two through legislative measures. As a result Japan is now laced with various "eco tourism" activities throughout its borders. Sounds like an awesome plan right? Well lets keep reading.
What we have to realize is that Japan has a different take on this word then we're used to. The Japan Ecotourism Society descries Eco-tourism as an
"aims to activate local economies by providing tourists with opportunities to experience local attractions accompanied by competent interpreters while preserving local resources such as natural environment, the culture and historical heritages".
By this definition, eco-tourism can be anything from hiking, swimming, seeing historical temples, farming, fishing,visiting a zoo, as well as planting and even cutting down trees. Not only are some of these activities contradictory to what would normally be considered "eco-friendly" by our definitions, but they'll most likely have a negative impact on Japan's environment as well; defeating the initial purpose of these efforts. In these situations, nature usually ends up losing the battle of the Ecos.
So by now you're probably thinking "well this sounds incredibly hypocritical. If people in Japan are so close to nature, how can they stand by and let the environment suffer?" This is most likely due to a general lack of public knowledge on these issues. Knowing about these things doesn't necessarily give you job skills to help create a strong economy (a more hot topic in Japan), and are thus generally not taught in schools. The way eco-tourism system in Japan also requires little work or alterations of current live in Japan, so things have an air business as usual. This in my opinion, is why Japan seems so relaxed about environmental issues. Current steps in conservation show little to no change in before and after they're implemented, and there is no sense of urgency about these matters (for reasons listed above).
So despite all the legislative moves Japan as made over the years, conservation in Japan is in a very similar state to that of the U.S. As previously noted, there is a general lack of knowledge of the environment, and the issues we cause it. But unlike America, this lack of understanding is deeply rooted in culture, and attempts to fix global issues like climate change are tailored to fit these cultural views. Although it won't solve everything, I think Japan (as well as ourselves) should start by taking a look at other reasons the environment benefits us. Nature is a lot more than scenic backdrop, and the sooner we learn and understand this, the better choices we can all make in conserving what we have.
"aims to activate local economies by providing tourists with opportunities to experience local attractions accompanied by competent interpreters while preserving local resources such as natural environment, the culture and historical heritages".
By this definition, eco-tourism can be anything from hiking, swimming, seeing historical temples, farming, fishing,visiting a zoo, as well as planting and even cutting down trees. Not only are some of these activities contradictory to what would normally be considered "eco-friendly" by our definitions, but they'll most likely have a negative impact on Japan's environment as well; defeating the initial purpose of these efforts. In these situations, nature usually ends up losing the battle of the Ecos.
So by now you're probably thinking "well this sounds incredibly hypocritical. If people in Japan are so close to nature, how can they stand by and let the environment suffer?" This is most likely due to a general lack of public knowledge on these issues. Knowing about these things doesn't necessarily give you job skills to help create a strong economy (a more hot topic in Japan), and are thus generally not taught in schools. The way eco-tourism system in Japan also requires little work or alterations of current live in Japan, so things have an air business as usual. This in my opinion, is why Japan seems so relaxed about environmental issues. Current steps in conservation show little to no change in before and after they're implemented, and there is no sense of urgency about these matters (for reasons listed above).
So despite all the legislative moves Japan as made over the years, conservation in Japan is in a very similar state to that of the U.S. As previously noted, there is a general lack of knowledge of the environment, and the issues we cause it. But unlike America, this lack of understanding is deeply rooted in culture, and attempts to fix global issues like climate change are tailored to fit these cultural views. Although it won't solve everything, I think Japan (as well as ourselves) should start by taking a look at other reasons the environment benefits us. Nature is a lot more than scenic backdrop, and the sooner we learn and understand this, the better choices we can all make in conserving what we have.
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