The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Volume 8 | Issue 4 | Number 2 | Article ID 3292 | Jan 25 2010

1

Natural Environments Wildlife and Conservation in Japan　 日本における自然環境野生動植物その保護

Catherine Knight

Natural Environments Wildlife andConservation in Japan

Catherine Knight

Abstract

Owing to its diverse geology geography andclimate Japan is a country rich in biodiversityHowever as a resul t o f accelerateddevelopment over the last century andparticularly the post-war decades Japanrsquosnatural environments and the wildlife whichinhabit them have come under increasedpressure Now much of Japanrsquos natural forestwet lands r ivers lakes and coasta lenvironments have been destroyed or seriouslydegraded as a consequence of development andpollution Despite increasing awareness of theimportance of preserving Japanrsquos remainingnatural environments and wildlife habitatdestruction (both direct and indirect)inadequately controlled hunting andintroduced species pose a threat to these Thispaper explores these factors and theunderlying forcesmdashpolitical legislative andeconomicmdashwhich have undermined efforts topreserve Japanrsquos natural heritage during thepost-war decades

Introduction

This article outlines the state of Japanrsquos naturalenvironments and wildlife and assesses the keythreats of habitat destruction hunting andintroduced pests It then examines the keyfac torsmdashpo l i t i ca l l eg i s l a t i ve andeconomicmdashwhich contribute to Japanrsquos failureto adequately protect wildlife and natural

environments from these threats and inparticular the primary threat of habitatdestruction1 It will be seen that the key factorsare the relative weakness of the legislativeframework for nature conservation a systemfor managing national parks that emphasisestourism rather than the ecological function ofparks and the strong impetus for developmentparticularly in rural areas which underminesattempts to protect natural environments andthe wildlife which inhabit them It should beemphasised that Japan is not alone instruggling to adequately protect its naturalheritagemdashthis is a problem faced by manynations around the world Also considered inthe context of its long period of humanoccupation and very high population density itmight be suggested that it is remarkable thatJapan has retained as much of its naturalenvironments as it has2

The state of Japanrsquos natural environmentsand wildlife

The Japanese archipelago consists of almost4000 islands with a combined coastline ofapproximately 33000 kilometres (Organisationfor Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD) 2002 136) Japanrsquos topography ischaracterised by mountainous regions whichcover 75 per cent of the land area Beforehuman activity impacted on the environmentJapan was for the most part covered in forestsubtropical forest in the southern part ofHonshu Shikoku and Kyushu as well as thesouthern islands temperate forests through theremainder of Honshu and boreal forests inHokkaido and the highlands of Honshu Onflatter ground in river valleys or natural

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

2

basins bog vegetation predominatedconsisting of rushes grasses and small trees(Bowring amp Kornicki 1993 13ndash14) There was acomplex network of fast-flowing rivers acrossthe archipelago feeding into numerous lakes

Topographical map of Japan (sourceWikipedia Commons)

Japanrsquos geographical isolation diversetopography and climate has supported a highlevel of biological diversity About 200 mammalspecies have been identified in Japancompared to 67 in the United Kingdom andIreland an area roughly similar in size Over700 bird species including sub-species havebeen recorded again approximately double thenumber found in United Kingdom and Ireland(Environment Agency 2000 vol1 285 Kellert1991 298)

Mixed coniferous and regeneratingindigenous forest in Tohoku (Photo C

Knight)

Today about 67 per cent of Japanrsquos land area isforested however a large proportion ofthatmdashabout 40 per centmdashis coniferousplantation forest (Statistics Bureau of Japan2006 19 255) Of the remaining natural (non-plantation) forest only a small percentage isprimeval forest and the area of primeval forestcontinues to decrease (OECD 2002 135ndash136)Wetlands cover approximately 50000 hectares(013 per cent of Japanrsquos land area) but manyof these are threatened by water pollution andland reclamation projects (OECD 2002 149Nature Conservation Society of Japan (NACSJ)2003) Most major rivers have been modifiedwith dams dykes concrete embankments andstraightening works Nagara river the lastfree-flowing river in Honshu was dammed in1994 (McCormack 1996 46) Only 45 per centof the coastline of the four main islandsremains in an unmodified state ndash the rest hasbeen transformed by land reclamationdredging construction of port facilitiesseawalls breakwaters and other shorelineprotection works (OECD 2002 136 NatureConservation Society of Japan (NACSJ) 2003)Many of Japanrsquos lakes and rivers are pollutedfor example in 2005 the level of pollution of47 per cent of all lakes exceeded environmentalstandards (Ministry of the Environment 2007)

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

3

In the same year the level of pollution of 24per cent of Japanrsquos coastal waters exceededenvironmental standards and enclosed areas inparticular such as the Seto Inland Sea Ise Bayand Tokyo Bay are seriously polluted byhousehold and industrial waste (Ministry of theEnvironment 2007)

Concrete tetrapods on the Fukushimacoast used to minimise erosion (Mike

Beddall photograph)

Data from the ldquored data listsrdquo compiled by theJapanese Ministry of the Environment (MOE)provide an indication of the state of Japanrsquosnative flora and fauna The red data list a listof endangered species was first compiled bythe Environment Agency in 1991 andsubsequently updated according to IUCN(World Conservation Union) criteria3 Of theapproximately 200 mammal species the red listcurrently lists 4 as extinct and 48 as criticallyendangered endangered or vulnerable Ofabout 700 bird species it lists 14 as extinct orextinct in the wild and 89 as criticallyendangered endangered or vulnerable Ofabout 300 fresh or brackish water fish speciesit lists 3 as extinct and 76 as criticallyendangered endangered or vulnerable (MOE2006)

Threats to Japanrsquos natural environmentsand wildlife

The three primary threats to Japanrsquos natural

environments and wildlife are habitat loss anddegradation poorly-controlled hunting andintroduced species Habitat loss degradationand fragmentation is undoubtedly the mostserious threat to Japanrsquos wildlife and naturalenvironments There are two aspects to habitatloss in Japan failure to protect habitats(through legislative measures and conservationmanagement practice) and direct habitatdestruction such as deforestation landreclamation and pollution

One key problem in Japan is the level ofprotection provided for flora and fauna in areasdesignated as national or natural parks Japanhas 29 national parks covering 54 per cent ofits land area (MOE 2008a)4 To compare withcountries of similar size the United Kingdomhas 14 comprising nearly 8 per cent Korea has17 (66 per cent) and New Zealand 14 (11 5per cent) Therefore as a percentage of landarea this is less (though not significantly less)than in similarly sized nations (UnitedKingdom Korea and New Zealand) while morethan larger countries such as the United Statesand Canada whose national parks (but notnecessarily ldquoprotected areasrdquo comprise about 2per cent of their land areas

However little of the national park area inJapan is protected from environmentallydetrimental development or human activityThe Natural Parks Law which governs themanagement of these areas does not precludedevelopment construction or other humanactivities that may detrimentally impact on theparksrsquo environments In fact development oftourist facilities in national parks is explicitlyencouraged by the Resort Law (1987)Furthermore the designation of these areas asnational parks in i tsel f br ings aboutenvironmentally damaging impacts as aconsequence of high traffic volumes excessivenumbers of visitors and the construction oftourist facilities and roads

To date only a negligible proportion of natural

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

4

park area has been designated as reserves inwhich human activity is strictly controlled onlyfive areas totalling 5631 hectares (0015 percent of the total land area of Japan) have beendesignated as ldquowilderness areasrdquomdashareas whereldquoactivities entailing adverse effects onecosystems are strictly prohibitedrdquo In additionto these about 95000 hectares have beendesignated as national or prefecturalldquoconservation areasrdquomdashareas in which humanactivity is limited but not prohibited outright(Environment Agency 2000 vol2 144)Combined the total area of conservation landin which human activity is controlled makes up0 27 per cen t o f J apan rsquo s t o ta l l andarea 5 However even in these areasinadequate staffing and resourcing levelsmeans that there is not always effectivemonitoring to ensure that prohibited activitiesdo not take place

In addition to the failure to protect areas ofecological importance direct habitatdestruction is a major threat to naturalhabitats Habitat destruction has taken manyforms deforestation land reclamationconstruction of dams and other riparian worksuse of pesticides on agricultural landdevelopment projects and pollution

Red-crowned cranes of Hokkaidomdashthe last

remaining population in Japan

Deforestation had already taken a toll onJapanrsquos wi ld l i fe by the Mei j i per iod(1868ndash1912) particularly in Honshu pushing anumber of species such as the Japanese wolf(Canis lupus hodophylax) and the Japanese red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis) to extinctionor to the brink of extinction (Stewart-Smith1987 127 Knight 1997)6 Extensive logging ofindigenous forest and afforestation with single-species tree plantations has destroyed ordegraded the forest habitat for many forestdwelling species particularly in the post-warera When reforested with commercialplantations the monocultures of planted treesallow few indigenous plant species to coloniseand have little to offer animals such as themacaque (Macaca fuscata) Asiatic black bear(Ursus thibetanus) and the Japanese serow(Capricornis crispus an antelope-like ungulate)(Stewart-Smith 1987 Maita 1998 38ndash44Hazumi 1999 NACSJ 2003 Knight 200335ndash36 119ndash120 160) To adapt to theirdepleted habitat and food sources thesespecies have changed their behaviour toinclude eating shoots of young plantation treesand the raiding of farm crops (Hazumi 1999208 Knight 2003 191ndash192) This makes themvulnerable to being culled as agricultural andforestry pests

Land reclamation projects have claimed 60 percent of Japanrsquos tidal flats half of Japanrsquosseacoast and about one-third of its wetlandsmainly to reclamation for agriculturalindustrial and commercial use (NACSJ 2003Danaher 1996) Dams have been constructed inevery major river in mainland Japan causingdegradation of the river environment andimpacting on fish populations by obstructingwater and sediment flow impeding animalmovement fragmenting riverine habitats anddegrading water quality (McCormack 199645ndash48 McCormack 2007 448 Niikura ampSouter nd) By the late 1990s only 12 of 113major rivers surveyed were free of river

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

5

crossing structures or had facilities permittingsufficient fish passage As a result species offreshwater fish that need to migrate forbreeding purposes have declined significantly(OECD 2002 136)

Nagara River the last major river in Japanto be dammed - then and now Top Asportrayed by Eisen in the 19th century

Bottom Now - the ldquoestuary barragerdquo at themouth of the river (Wikipedia

(httpenwikipediaorg))

The intensive use of agricultural chemicalssince the Second World War has causedcontamination of soil and waterways and hasmade farmland marshland and other lowlandareas uninhabitable for a number of speciescausing the extinction of some including theJ a p a n e s e c r e s t e d i b i s ( N i p p o n i anippon)7 Fertiliser and pesticide application

levels in Japan are higher than those in almostall other OECD countries partly because of therelatively hot wet climate and intensivecropping although it has been decreasing inline with overall reduction of crop productionover the last decade (OECD 2002 139)

Development projects such as roads airportsresorts and exposition sites particularly inareas of ecological importance have destroyeddegraded or fragmented many naturalenv i ronments 8 For examp le r oadinfrastructure increased by almost 40 per centin area and 80 per cent in length in the 1980sand 1990s causing fragmentation andinterference with adjacent ecosystems (OECD2002 135) Further while about five per centof Japanrsquos total land area has been designatedas national parks much of this land is affectedby extensive development such as roads damsand resorts

In the Ryukyu Islands (a sub-tropical islandarchipelago south-west of mainland Japan)large expanses of coral reef habitats have beendestroyed due to agricultural chemical run-offriver improvement works and soil erosion fromconstruction sites mainly for resorts andairports (McGill 1992 NACSJ 2003) Forexample 95 per cent of the coral reefs ofOkinawa (part of the Ryukyu archipelago) havebeen reported to be dead or dying as a result ofheavy so i l runof fs caused by resor tdevelopment and the clearing of land foragriculture and in 2002 fewer than ten percent of coral communities in the waterssurrounding the Ryukyu Islands were classifiedas healthy (McGill 1992 OECD 2002 136) Thesituation has subsequently further deterioratedas illustrated by the case of the assault on theAwase Wetlands (Urashima 2009)

The second primary threat to wildlife is poorlyregulated or controlled hunting Animals arehunted (or culled) in Japan for a number ofreasons as agricultural or forestry pests toprotect human safety as game and for

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

2

basins bog vegetation predominatedconsisting of rushes grasses and small trees(Bowring amp Kornicki 1993 13ndash14) There was acomplex network of fast-flowing rivers acrossthe archipelago feeding into numerous lakes

Topographical map of Japan (sourceWikipedia Commons)

Japanrsquos geographical isolation diversetopography and climate has supported a highlevel of biological diversity About 200 mammalspecies have been identified in Japancompared to 67 in the United Kingdom andIreland an area roughly similar in size Over700 bird species including sub-species havebeen recorded again approximately double thenumber found in United Kingdom and Ireland(Environment Agency 2000 vol1 285 Kellert1991 298)

Mixed coniferous and regeneratingindigenous forest in Tohoku (Photo C

Knight)

Today about 67 per cent of Japanrsquos land area isforested however a large proportion ofthatmdashabout 40 per centmdashis coniferousplantation forest (Statistics Bureau of Japan2006 19 255) Of the remaining natural (non-plantation) forest only a small percentage isprimeval forest and the area of primeval forestcontinues to decrease (OECD 2002 135ndash136)Wetlands cover approximately 50000 hectares(013 per cent of Japanrsquos land area) but manyof these are threatened by water pollution andland reclamation projects (OECD 2002 149Nature Conservation Society of Japan (NACSJ)2003) Most major rivers have been modifiedwith dams dykes concrete embankments andstraightening works Nagara river the lastfree-flowing river in Honshu was dammed in1994 (McCormack 1996 46) Only 45 per centof the coastline of the four main islandsremains in an unmodified state ndash the rest hasbeen transformed by land reclamationdredging construction of port facilitiesseawalls breakwaters and other shorelineprotection works (OECD 2002 136 NatureConservation Society of Japan (NACSJ) 2003)Many of Japanrsquos lakes and rivers are pollutedfor example in 2005 the level of pollution of47 per cent of all lakes exceeded environmentalstandards (Ministry of the Environment 2007)

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

3

In the same year the level of pollution of 24per cent of Japanrsquos coastal waters exceededenvironmental standards and enclosed areas inparticular such as the Seto Inland Sea Ise Bayand Tokyo Bay are seriously polluted byhousehold and industrial waste (Ministry of theEnvironment 2007)

Concrete tetrapods on the Fukushimacoast used to minimise erosion (Mike

Beddall photograph)

Data from the ldquored data listsrdquo compiled by theJapanese Ministry of the Environment (MOE)provide an indication of the state of Japanrsquosnative flora and fauna The red data list a listof endangered species was first compiled bythe Environment Agency in 1991 andsubsequently updated according to IUCN(World Conservation Union) criteria3 Of theapproximately 200 mammal species the red listcurrently lists 4 as extinct and 48 as criticallyendangered endangered or vulnerable Ofabout 700 bird species it lists 14 as extinct orextinct in the wild and 89 as criticallyendangered endangered or vulnerable Ofabout 300 fresh or brackish water fish speciesit lists 3 as extinct and 76 as criticallyendangered endangered or vulnerable (MOE2006)

Threats to Japanrsquos natural environmentsand wildlife

The three primary threats to Japanrsquos natural

environments and wildlife are habitat loss anddegradation poorly-controlled hunting andintroduced species Habitat loss degradationand fragmentation is undoubtedly the mostserious threat to Japanrsquos wildlife and naturalenvironments There are two aspects to habitatloss in Japan failure to protect habitats(through legislative measures and conservationmanagement practice) and direct habitatdestruction such as deforestation landreclamation and pollution

One key problem in Japan is the level ofprotection provided for flora and fauna in areasdesignated as national or natural parks Japanhas 29 national parks covering 54 per cent ofits land area (MOE 2008a)4 To compare withcountries of similar size the United Kingdomhas 14 comprising nearly 8 per cent Korea has17 (66 per cent) and New Zealand 14 (11 5per cent) Therefore as a percentage of landarea this is less (though not significantly less)than in similarly sized nations (UnitedKingdom Korea and New Zealand) while morethan larger countries such as the United Statesand Canada whose national parks (but notnecessarily ldquoprotected areasrdquo comprise about 2per cent of their land areas

However little of the national park area inJapan is protected from environmentallydetrimental development or human activityThe Natural Parks Law which governs themanagement of these areas does not precludedevelopment construction or other humanactivities that may detrimentally impact on theparksrsquo environments In fact development oftourist facilities in national parks is explicitlyencouraged by the Resort Law (1987)Furthermore the designation of these areas asnational parks in i tsel f br ings aboutenvironmentally damaging impacts as aconsequence of high traffic volumes excessivenumbers of visitors and the construction oftourist facilities and roads

To date only a negligible proportion of natural

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

4

park area has been designated as reserves inwhich human activity is strictly controlled onlyfive areas totalling 5631 hectares (0015 percent of the total land area of Japan) have beendesignated as ldquowilderness areasrdquomdashareas whereldquoactivities entailing adverse effects onecosystems are strictly prohibitedrdquo In additionto these about 95000 hectares have beendesignated as national or prefecturalldquoconservation areasrdquomdashareas in which humanactivity is limited but not prohibited outright(Environment Agency 2000 vol2 144)Combined the total area of conservation landin which human activity is controlled makes up0 27 per cen t o f J apan rsquo s t o ta l l andarea 5 However even in these areasinadequate staffing and resourcing levelsmeans that there is not always effectivemonitoring to ensure that prohibited activitiesdo not take place

In addition to the failure to protect areas ofecological importance direct habitatdestruction is a major threat to naturalhabitats Habitat destruction has taken manyforms deforestation land reclamationconstruction of dams and other riparian worksuse of pesticides on agricultural landdevelopment projects and pollution

Red-crowned cranes of Hokkaidomdashthe last

remaining population in Japan

Deforestation had already taken a toll onJapanrsquos wi ld l i fe by the Mei j i per iod(1868ndash1912) particularly in Honshu pushing anumber of species such as the Japanese wolf(Canis lupus hodophylax) and the Japanese red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis) to extinctionor to the brink of extinction (Stewart-Smith1987 127 Knight 1997)6 Extensive logging ofindigenous forest and afforestation with single-species tree plantations has destroyed ordegraded the forest habitat for many forestdwelling species particularly in the post-warera When reforested with commercialplantations the monocultures of planted treesallow few indigenous plant species to coloniseand have little to offer animals such as themacaque (Macaca fuscata) Asiatic black bear(Ursus thibetanus) and the Japanese serow(Capricornis crispus an antelope-like ungulate)(Stewart-Smith 1987 Maita 1998 38ndash44Hazumi 1999 NACSJ 2003 Knight 200335ndash36 119ndash120 160) To adapt to theirdepleted habitat and food sources thesespecies have changed their behaviour toinclude eating shoots of young plantation treesand the raiding of farm crops (Hazumi 1999208 Knight 2003 191ndash192) This makes themvulnerable to being culled as agricultural andforestry pests

Land reclamation projects have claimed 60 percent of Japanrsquos tidal flats half of Japanrsquosseacoast and about one-third of its wetlandsmainly to reclamation for agriculturalindustrial and commercial use (NACSJ 2003Danaher 1996) Dams have been constructed inevery major river in mainland Japan causingdegradation of the river environment andimpacting on fish populations by obstructingwater and sediment flow impeding animalmovement fragmenting riverine habitats anddegrading water quality (McCormack 199645ndash48 McCormack 2007 448 Niikura ampSouter nd) By the late 1990s only 12 of 113major rivers surveyed were free of river

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

5

crossing structures or had facilities permittingsufficient fish passage As a result species offreshwater fish that need to migrate forbreeding purposes have declined significantly(OECD 2002 136)

Nagara River the last major river in Japanto be dammed - then and now Top Asportrayed by Eisen in the 19th century

Bottom Now - the ldquoestuary barragerdquo at themouth of the river (Wikipedia

(httpenwikipediaorg))

The intensive use of agricultural chemicalssince the Second World War has causedcontamination of soil and waterways and hasmade farmland marshland and other lowlandareas uninhabitable for a number of speciescausing the extinction of some including theJ a p a n e s e c r e s t e d i b i s ( N i p p o n i anippon)7 Fertiliser and pesticide application

levels in Japan are higher than those in almostall other OECD countries partly because of therelatively hot wet climate and intensivecropping although it has been decreasing inline with overall reduction of crop productionover the last decade (OECD 2002 139)

Development projects such as roads airportsresorts and exposition sites particularly inareas of ecological importance have destroyeddegraded or fragmented many naturalenv i ronments 8 For examp le r oadinfrastructure increased by almost 40 per centin area and 80 per cent in length in the 1980sand 1990s causing fragmentation andinterference with adjacent ecosystems (OECD2002 135) Further while about five per centof Japanrsquos total land area has been designatedas national parks much of this land is affectedby extensive development such as roads damsand resorts

In the Ryukyu Islands (a sub-tropical islandarchipelago south-west of mainland Japan)large expanses of coral reef habitats have beendestroyed due to agricultural chemical run-offriver improvement works and soil erosion fromconstruction sites mainly for resorts andairports (McGill 1992 NACSJ 2003) Forexample 95 per cent of the coral reefs ofOkinawa (part of the Ryukyu archipelago) havebeen reported to be dead or dying as a result ofheavy so i l runof fs caused by resor tdevelopment and the clearing of land foragriculture and in 2002 fewer than ten percent of coral communities in the waterssurrounding the Ryukyu Islands were classifiedas healthy (McGill 1992 OECD 2002 136) Thesituation has subsequently further deterioratedas illustrated by the case of the assault on theAwase Wetlands (Urashima 2009)

The second primary threat to wildlife is poorlyregulated or controlled hunting Animals arehunted (or culled) in Japan for a number ofreasons as agricultural or forestry pests toprotect human safety as game and for

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

3

In the same year the level of pollution of 24per cent of Japanrsquos coastal waters exceededenvironmental standards and enclosed areas inparticular such as the Seto Inland Sea Ise Bayand Tokyo Bay are seriously polluted byhousehold and industrial waste (Ministry of theEnvironment 2007)

Concrete tetrapods on the Fukushimacoast used to minimise erosion (Mike

Beddall photograph)

Data from the ldquored data listsrdquo compiled by theJapanese Ministry of the Environment (MOE)provide an indication of the state of Japanrsquosnative flora and fauna The red data list a listof endangered species was first compiled bythe Environment Agency in 1991 andsubsequently updated according to IUCN(World Conservation Union) criteria3 Of theapproximately 200 mammal species the red listcurrently lists 4 as extinct and 48 as criticallyendangered endangered or vulnerable Ofabout 700 bird species it lists 14 as extinct orextinct in the wild and 89 as criticallyendangered endangered or vulnerable Ofabout 300 fresh or brackish water fish speciesit lists 3 as extinct and 76 as criticallyendangered endangered or vulnerable (MOE2006)

Threats to Japanrsquos natural environmentsand wildlife

The three primary threats to Japanrsquos natural

environments and wildlife are habitat loss anddegradation poorly-controlled hunting andintroduced species Habitat loss degradationand fragmentation is undoubtedly the mostserious threat to Japanrsquos wildlife and naturalenvironments There are two aspects to habitatloss in Japan failure to protect habitats(through legislative measures and conservationmanagement practice) and direct habitatdestruction such as deforestation landreclamation and pollution

One key problem in Japan is the level ofprotection provided for flora and fauna in areasdesignated as national or natural parks Japanhas 29 national parks covering 54 per cent ofits land area (MOE 2008a)4 To compare withcountries of similar size the United Kingdomhas 14 comprising nearly 8 per cent Korea has17 (66 per cent) and New Zealand 14 (11 5per cent) Therefore as a percentage of landarea this is less (though not significantly less)than in similarly sized nations (UnitedKingdom Korea and New Zealand) while morethan larger countries such as the United Statesand Canada whose national parks (but notnecessarily ldquoprotected areasrdquo comprise about 2per cent of their land areas

However little of the national park area inJapan is protected from environmentallydetrimental development or human activityThe Natural Parks Law which governs themanagement of these areas does not precludedevelopment construction or other humanactivities that may detrimentally impact on theparksrsquo environments In fact development oftourist facilities in national parks is explicitlyencouraged by the Resort Law (1987)Furthermore the designation of these areas asnational parks in i tsel f br ings aboutenvironmentally damaging impacts as aconsequence of high traffic volumes excessivenumbers of visitors and the construction oftourist facilities and roads

To date only a negligible proportion of natural

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

4

park area has been designated as reserves inwhich human activity is strictly controlled onlyfive areas totalling 5631 hectares (0015 percent of the total land area of Japan) have beendesignated as ldquowilderness areasrdquomdashareas whereldquoactivities entailing adverse effects onecosystems are strictly prohibitedrdquo In additionto these about 95000 hectares have beendesignated as national or prefecturalldquoconservation areasrdquomdashareas in which humanactivity is limited but not prohibited outright(Environment Agency 2000 vol2 144)Combined the total area of conservation landin which human activity is controlled makes up0 27 per cen t o f J apan rsquo s t o ta l l andarea 5 However even in these areasinadequate staffing and resourcing levelsmeans that there is not always effectivemonitoring to ensure that prohibited activitiesdo not take place

In addition to the failure to protect areas ofecological importance direct habitatdestruction is a major threat to naturalhabitats Habitat destruction has taken manyforms deforestation land reclamationconstruction of dams and other riparian worksuse of pesticides on agricultural landdevelopment projects and pollution

Red-crowned cranes of Hokkaidomdashthe last

remaining population in Japan

Deforestation had already taken a toll onJapanrsquos wi ld l i fe by the Mei j i per iod(1868ndash1912) particularly in Honshu pushing anumber of species such as the Japanese wolf(Canis lupus hodophylax) and the Japanese red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis) to extinctionor to the brink of extinction (Stewart-Smith1987 127 Knight 1997)6 Extensive logging ofindigenous forest and afforestation with single-species tree plantations has destroyed ordegraded the forest habitat for many forestdwelling species particularly in the post-warera When reforested with commercialplantations the monocultures of planted treesallow few indigenous plant species to coloniseand have little to offer animals such as themacaque (Macaca fuscata) Asiatic black bear(Ursus thibetanus) and the Japanese serow(Capricornis crispus an antelope-like ungulate)(Stewart-Smith 1987 Maita 1998 38ndash44Hazumi 1999 NACSJ 2003 Knight 200335ndash36 119ndash120 160) To adapt to theirdepleted habitat and food sources thesespecies have changed their behaviour toinclude eating shoots of young plantation treesand the raiding of farm crops (Hazumi 1999208 Knight 2003 191ndash192) This makes themvulnerable to being culled as agricultural andforestry pests

Land reclamation projects have claimed 60 percent of Japanrsquos tidal flats half of Japanrsquosseacoast and about one-third of its wetlandsmainly to reclamation for agriculturalindustrial and commercial use (NACSJ 2003Danaher 1996) Dams have been constructed inevery major river in mainland Japan causingdegradation of the river environment andimpacting on fish populations by obstructingwater and sediment flow impeding animalmovement fragmenting riverine habitats anddegrading water quality (McCormack 199645ndash48 McCormack 2007 448 Niikura ampSouter nd) By the late 1990s only 12 of 113major rivers surveyed were free of river

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

5

crossing structures or had facilities permittingsufficient fish passage As a result species offreshwater fish that need to migrate forbreeding purposes have declined significantly(OECD 2002 136)

Nagara River the last major river in Japanto be dammed - then and now Top Asportrayed by Eisen in the 19th century

Bottom Now - the ldquoestuary barragerdquo at themouth of the river (Wikipedia

(httpenwikipediaorg))

The intensive use of agricultural chemicalssince the Second World War has causedcontamination of soil and waterways and hasmade farmland marshland and other lowlandareas uninhabitable for a number of speciescausing the extinction of some including theJ a p a n e s e c r e s t e d i b i s ( N i p p o n i anippon)7 Fertiliser and pesticide application

levels in Japan are higher than those in almostall other OECD countries partly because of therelatively hot wet climate and intensivecropping although it has been decreasing inline with overall reduction of crop productionover the last decade (OECD 2002 139)

Development projects such as roads airportsresorts and exposition sites particularly inareas of ecological importance have destroyeddegraded or fragmented many naturalenv i ronments 8 For examp le r oadinfrastructure increased by almost 40 per centin area and 80 per cent in length in the 1980sand 1990s causing fragmentation andinterference with adjacent ecosystems (OECD2002 135) Further while about five per centof Japanrsquos total land area has been designatedas national parks much of this land is affectedby extensive development such as roads damsand resorts

In the Ryukyu Islands (a sub-tropical islandarchipelago south-west of mainland Japan)large expanses of coral reef habitats have beendestroyed due to agricultural chemical run-offriver improvement works and soil erosion fromconstruction sites mainly for resorts andairports (McGill 1992 NACSJ 2003) Forexample 95 per cent of the coral reefs ofOkinawa (part of the Ryukyu archipelago) havebeen reported to be dead or dying as a result ofheavy so i l runof fs caused by resor tdevelopment and the clearing of land foragriculture and in 2002 fewer than ten percent of coral communities in the waterssurrounding the Ryukyu Islands were classifiedas healthy (McGill 1992 OECD 2002 136) Thesituation has subsequently further deterioratedas illustrated by the case of the assault on theAwase Wetlands (Urashima 2009)

The second primary threat to wildlife is poorlyregulated or controlled hunting Animals arehunted (or culled) in Japan for a number ofreasons as agricultural or forestry pests toprotect human safety as game and for

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

4

park area has been designated as reserves inwhich human activity is strictly controlled onlyfive areas totalling 5631 hectares (0015 percent of the total land area of Japan) have beendesignated as ldquowilderness areasrdquomdashareas whereldquoactivities entailing adverse effects onecosystems are strictly prohibitedrdquo In additionto these about 95000 hectares have beendesignated as national or prefecturalldquoconservation areasrdquomdashareas in which humanactivity is limited but not prohibited outright(Environment Agency 2000 vol2 144)Combined the total area of conservation landin which human activity is controlled makes up0 27 per cen t o f J apan rsquo s t o ta l l andarea 5 However even in these areasinadequate staffing and resourcing levelsmeans that there is not always effectivemonitoring to ensure that prohibited activitiesdo not take place

In addition to the failure to protect areas ofecological importance direct habitatdestruction is a major threat to naturalhabitats Habitat destruction has taken manyforms deforestation land reclamationconstruction of dams and other riparian worksuse of pesticides on agricultural landdevelopment projects and pollution

Red-crowned cranes of Hokkaidomdashthe last

remaining population in Japan

Deforestation had already taken a toll onJapanrsquos wi ld l i fe by the Mei j i per iod(1868ndash1912) particularly in Honshu pushing anumber of species such as the Japanese wolf(Canis lupus hodophylax) and the Japanese red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis) to extinctionor to the brink of extinction (Stewart-Smith1987 127 Knight 1997)6 Extensive logging ofindigenous forest and afforestation with single-species tree plantations has destroyed ordegraded the forest habitat for many forestdwelling species particularly in the post-warera When reforested with commercialplantations the monocultures of planted treesallow few indigenous plant species to coloniseand have little to offer animals such as themacaque (Macaca fuscata) Asiatic black bear(Ursus thibetanus) and the Japanese serow(Capricornis crispus an antelope-like ungulate)(Stewart-Smith 1987 Maita 1998 38ndash44Hazumi 1999 NACSJ 2003 Knight 200335ndash36 119ndash120 160) To adapt to theirdepleted habitat and food sources thesespecies have changed their behaviour toinclude eating shoots of young plantation treesand the raiding of farm crops (Hazumi 1999208 Knight 2003 191ndash192) This makes themvulnerable to being culled as agricultural andforestry pests

Land reclamation projects have claimed 60 percent of Japanrsquos tidal flats half of Japanrsquosseacoast and about one-third of its wetlandsmainly to reclamation for agriculturalindustrial and commercial use (NACSJ 2003Danaher 1996) Dams have been constructed inevery major river in mainland Japan causingdegradation of the river environment andimpacting on fish populations by obstructingwater and sediment flow impeding animalmovement fragmenting riverine habitats anddegrading water quality (McCormack 199645ndash48 McCormack 2007 448 Niikura ampSouter nd) By the late 1990s only 12 of 113major rivers surveyed were free of river

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

5

crossing structures or had facilities permittingsufficient fish passage As a result species offreshwater fish that need to migrate forbreeding purposes have declined significantly(OECD 2002 136)

Nagara River the last major river in Japanto be dammed - then and now Top Asportrayed by Eisen in the 19th century

Bottom Now - the ldquoestuary barragerdquo at themouth of the river (Wikipedia

(httpenwikipediaorg))

The intensive use of agricultural chemicalssince the Second World War has causedcontamination of soil and waterways and hasmade farmland marshland and other lowlandareas uninhabitable for a number of speciescausing the extinction of some including theJ a p a n e s e c r e s t e d i b i s ( N i p p o n i anippon)7 Fertiliser and pesticide application

levels in Japan are higher than those in almostall other OECD countries partly because of therelatively hot wet climate and intensivecropping although it has been decreasing inline with overall reduction of crop productionover the last decade (OECD 2002 139)

Development projects such as roads airportsresorts and exposition sites particularly inareas of ecological importance have destroyeddegraded or fragmented many naturalenv i ronments 8 For examp le r oadinfrastructure increased by almost 40 per centin area and 80 per cent in length in the 1980sand 1990s causing fragmentation andinterference with adjacent ecosystems (OECD2002 135) Further while about five per centof Japanrsquos total land area has been designatedas national parks much of this land is affectedby extensive development such as roads damsand resorts

In the Ryukyu Islands (a sub-tropical islandarchipelago south-west of mainland Japan)large expanses of coral reef habitats have beendestroyed due to agricultural chemical run-offriver improvement works and soil erosion fromconstruction sites mainly for resorts andairports (McGill 1992 NACSJ 2003) Forexample 95 per cent of the coral reefs ofOkinawa (part of the Ryukyu archipelago) havebeen reported to be dead or dying as a result ofheavy so i l runof fs caused by resor tdevelopment and the clearing of land foragriculture and in 2002 fewer than ten percent of coral communities in the waterssurrounding the Ryukyu Islands were classifiedas healthy (McGill 1992 OECD 2002 136) Thesituation has subsequently further deterioratedas illustrated by the case of the assault on theAwase Wetlands (Urashima 2009)

The second primary threat to wildlife is poorlyregulated or controlled hunting Animals arehunted (or culled) in Japan for a number ofreasons as agricultural or forestry pests toprotect human safety as game and for

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

5

crossing structures or had facilities permittingsufficient fish passage As a result species offreshwater fish that need to migrate forbreeding purposes have declined significantly(OECD 2002 136)

Nagara River the last major river in Japanto be dammed - then and now Top Asportrayed by Eisen in the 19th century

Bottom Now - the ldquoestuary barragerdquo at themouth of the river (Wikipedia

(httpenwikipediaorg))

The intensive use of agricultural chemicalssince the Second World War has causedcontamination of soil and waterways and hasmade farmland marshland and other lowlandareas uninhabitable for a number of speciescausing the extinction of some including theJ a p a n e s e c r e s t e d i b i s ( N i p p o n i anippon)7 Fertiliser and pesticide application

levels in Japan are higher than those in almostall other OECD countries partly because of therelatively hot wet climate and intensivecropping although it has been decreasing inline with overall reduction of crop productionover the last decade (OECD 2002 139)

Development projects such as roads airportsresorts and exposition sites particularly inareas of ecological importance have destroyeddegraded or fragmented many naturalenv i ronments 8 For examp le r oadinfrastructure increased by almost 40 per centin area and 80 per cent in length in the 1980sand 1990s causing fragmentation andinterference with adjacent ecosystems (OECD2002 135) Further while about five per centof Japanrsquos total land area has been designatedas national parks much of this land is affectedby extensive development such as roads damsand resorts

In the Ryukyu Islands (a sub-tropical islandarchipelago south-west of mainland Japan)large expanses of coral reef habitats have beendestroyed due to agricultural chemical run-offriver improvement works and soil erosion fromconstruction sites mainly for resorts andairports (McGill 1992 NACSJ 2003) Forexample 95 per cent of the coral reefs ofOkinawa (part of the Ryukyu archipelago) havebeen reported to be dead or dying as a result ofheavy so i l runof fs caused by resor tdevelopment and the clearing of land foragriculture and in 2002 fewer than ten percent of coral communities in the waterssurrounding the Ryukyu Islands were classifiedas healthy (McGill 1992 OECD 2002 136) Thesituation has subsequently further deterioratedas illustrated by the case of the assault on theAwase Wetlands (Urashima 2009)

The second primary threat to wildlife is poorlyregulated or controlled hunting Animals arehunted (or culled) in Japan for a number ofreasons as agricultural or forestry pests toprotect human safety as game and for

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

6

economic gain (often illegally as in the case ofbears illegally hunted for their gall bladdersand other parts) The hunting of larger animalssuch as the brown bear Asiatic black bear wildboar and Japanese macaque has increased overthe last decades in response to the increasedcompetition between humans and wildlife forspace and food This conflict has grown steadilythroughout the long twentieth centuryparticularly during and in the years followingthe Second World War when vast areas ofnatural forest were cut down and replaced bymonoculture plantation forest farms roads skiresorts and other development (Stewart-Smith1987 74ndash78 Anon 1994 30 3 Hazumi 1999208 Maita 1998 38ndash44 Knight 2003) In aneffort to find food in their rapidly declininghabitats animals increasingly encroach on tofarm and forestry land and rural villages ortowns leading to increased culling

Asiatic black bear (Photo Scott Schnell)

The situation of the Asiatic black bear (Ursusthibetanus (Japonicus)) illustrates thisrelationship between habitat destruction andincreased culling In the early 1900s it waswidely distributed throughout the three mainislands of Japan particularly in forested areasaway from human settlements Howeverhuman disturbance of many bear habitats grewmarked from the 1940s mainly in the form ofincreased forestry activity (Hazumi 1999 208)This has forced bears out into plantation forestor farming areas where they cause damage bystripping bark or feeding on fruit and other

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

7

crops with the result that they become morevulnerable to being targeted as pests Thisleads to culling of ldquonuisance bearsrdquo onaverage more than 2000 bears are culledannually (of an overall estimated population ofbetween 10000 and 15000) though in years ofhigh levels of bear damage a far greaternumber are culled In 2006 for example 4500were culled (Yomiuri Shinbun December 192006) Bear ldquoharvestrdquo rates (human-causedfatalities through either hunting or culling) arenot regulated according to biological data onthe species and in fact harvest numbers havebeen increasing despite a decreasing overallpopulation (Hazumi 1999 209)

The brown bear of Hokkaido (Ursos arctosyesoensis) one of the few remainingpopulations of brown bear in Europe and Asiais under similar pressure Its population isestimated at about 3000 and about 250 bearsare killed annually (Mano amp Moll 1999 129)The rapid decline of two localised bearpopulations has led to their designation asendangered subpopulationsmdashhowever thepopulation as a whole remains unlisted and thebear is considered a game species under theWildlife Protection and Hunting Law (Mano ampMoll 1999 128) The most urgent threat to theremaining population is excessive controlkillingmdashit has been predicted that if the currentlevel of control killing is sustained theHokkaido brown bear population will becomeextinct (Tsuruga Sato amp Mano 2003 4)Habitat fragmentation caused particularly bythe construction of forestry roads is anadditional pressure on the remainingpopulation

The law which regulates hunting in Japan is theWildlife Protection and Hunting Law whichtook its current form (revised from the HuntingLaw) in 1963 (See Table 1) The purpose of thelaw is ldquoto protect birds and mammals toincrease populations of birds and mammalsa n d t o c o n t r o l p e s t s t h r o u g h t h eimplementation of wildlife protection projects

and hunting controlsrdquo The law gives theMinistry of the Environment (MOE) theauthority to specify game species (which can besubject to hunting) of which there are 29 birdand 17 mammal species It also allows for thedesignation of areas in which hunting isprohibited hunting periods harvest limits andhunting methods Under the law hunters mustobtain a hunting license and register with theprefecture in which they intend to huntHowever monitoring compliance is largely theresponsibility of volunteers called chōju hogoiin(wildlife conservators) the majority of whomare selected from local hunting associations(ryōyūkai ) 9 (Yoshida 2004 personalcommunication) a system in which there isobvious potential conflict of interest

Overhunting is a problem for many speciesparticularly those which cause crop andforestry damage such as the bear due to theperception that the populations are increasingand culling is therefore necessary In fact it ismore likely that populations are decreasing(local and national population figures are onlyapproximate estimates) but the level of contactwith humans is increasing due to habitatfragmentation and degradation and theattendant changes in wildlife behaviourparticularly in feeding habits (Hazumi 1999210) In addition poaching is widespread inJapan especially for animals such as bearswhose parts command high value both onnational and international markets largely asmedicinal products (Mano amp Moll 1999129ndash131 Hazumi 1999 209) Howeverauthorities have made little attempt to controlpoaching (Hazumi 1999 209)

Invasion of natural habitats by alien species is afurther factor putting pressure on indigenousspecies particularly in unique islandenvironments Introduced species includingraccoon weasel marten common mongooseblack bass and bluegill disturb ecosystemsthrough predation occupation of habitats andhybridisation For example the black bass

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

8

which can grow to 87 centimetres in length andweigh up to 10 kilograms was introduced in1925 and has now spread throughout Japanrsquoswaterways A few bluegill introduced in 1960have also spread widely throughout thecountry These fish are putting pressure on thepopulations of native species such as thesouthern top-mouthed minnow deep cruciancarp and the northern and flat bitterling(OECD 2002 135 Watanabe 2002)

The risk of introduced species significantlychanging endemic biota and ecosystems isespecially high on islands such as Amami andOkinawa which are isolated from other regionsand are habitat to a large number of endemicspecies (OECD 2002 135) Several threatenedspecies are known or expected to be negativelyaffected by the introduction of predators(primarily for snake control) to these islandsOn the Izu Islands the introduction of theSiberian weasel (Mustela sibirica) to Miyake-jima in the 1970s and 1980s appears to havecaused significant declines in Japanese night-herons (Gorsachius goisagi) and Izu thrushes(Turdus celaenops) On Okinawa feral dogsand cats and the introduced Javan mongoose(Herpestes javanicus) and weasel (Mustelaitatsi) are predators of Okinawa rail (Gallirallusokinawae) Ryukyu woodcock (Scolopax mira)and Okinawa woodpecker (Sapheopiponoguchii) while feral pigs damage potentialground-foraging sites for Okinawa woodpecker(Birdlife International nd McGill 1992)

The role of government and legislation innature conservation in Japan

There have been few legislative measures forthe protection of wildlife and natural habitatsuntil recently and even today Japan iscriticised for the gap apparent between itsstated policy objectives and the general trendsover the past two decadesmdashthe ongoingdestruction of important habitats particularlynatural forests and wetlands and the continuedendangerment of many plants and animals

(OECD 2002 132) Recent decades have alsodemonstrated that even if a species isrecognised as severely threatened governmentpolicy and practice often falls well short ofproactive protection of these species and theirhabitats Indeed as will be seen latergovernment-sponsored development projectsfrequently act to increase the threat to wildlifeand their habitats There are also tensionsbetween the concerns and needs o f(particularly rural) citizens and the interests ofnature conservation as can be seen indevelopment projects aimed at ldquoregionalrejuvenationrdquo

Until recently there has been only a limitedlegislative framework for the protection ofthreatened species or their habitats andconservationists argue that the currentframework remains weak The first governmentagency solely concerned with environmentalmanagement the Environment Agency wasestablished in 1971 and in the following yearthe Nature Conservation Law was enactedwhich provided a basic framework forsubsequent legislative measures and policyrelating to nature conservation Subsequent tothe law being enacted a limited number ofareas were designated as ldquowilderness areasrdquoand ldquonature conservation areasrdquo affordingmore protection than national park areasHowever it was not until 1992 that the Law forthe Conservation of Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora Japanrsquos first domesticlaw for the protection of endangered andthreatened species was enacted The lawallows for the designation of natural habitatconservation areas sets limits on the captureand transport of endangered species andestablishes guidelines for the rehabilitation ofendangered natural habitats (OECD 2002 58)

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

9

Summary of lawsevents relating to natureconservation in Japan

While undoubtedly a positive step for wildlifeconservation the effectiveness of the law islimited by the fact that the MOE lacks sufficientpower to designate endangered species asprotected species or to designate importanthabitats as protected areas (Yoshida 2004personal communication) A further probleminherent in the law is that while reserves maybe established to protect entire habitats onlyfive small reservations have been established todate (as ldquowilderness areasrdquo as mentionedabove) owing to reluctance on the part of land-owners to cooperate with the MOE to protectendangered species on their land (Yoshida2004 personal communication) In additionthe law has been criticised by conservationistsfor putting excessive emphasis on protectingindividual species rather than ecosystems ingeneral (eg Yoshida 2004 personalcommunication Domoto 1997) This isreflected clearly in the nature and purpose ofthe reserves which focus on the managementof one species and its habitat rather than anecological system comprised of a complexnetwork of interacting organisms10

In 1995 subsequent to Japan becoming asignatory to the Convention on BiologicalDiversity in 1992 the National Biodiversity

Strategy which outlined the basic principlesfor conserving biodiversity was introducedHowever this too has been criticised for lackingquantitative targets and not adequatelyaddressing the management of wildlife andtheir habitats outside protected areas (OECD2002 29) In addition the preservation ofbiodiversity is not reflected in the managementof national parks in which development andhuman activity impacting on the natural parkenvironment is poorly controlled and regulatedand wildlife and their habitats are not wellmonitored and protected (Ishikawa 2001 201)

While recent legislation heightens the profile ofnature conservation and its importance itremains largely ineffective without adequatestaff skills and resources to carry out effectivewildlife management programmes Central andprefectural (regional) government budgets forwildlife management are limited and wildlifemanagement operations are significantlyunderstaffed Furthermore very few of thestaff employed by the MOE or prefecturalgovernments are specialists in wildlifeconservation or even trained in this field (MiyaiRoy 1998 Hazumi 2006) Thus there is asignificant gap between legislation andimplementation with regard to the natureconservation function

The function of national parks in natureconservation

It is generally expected that one of the keypurposes of national parks is to protect naturalenvironments of scenic and ecological valueand the wildlife within them However anumber of authors (eg McGill 1992 Natori1997 Ishikawa 2001) have suggested that inJapan the designation of areas of ldquoecologicalsignificancerdquo as a national or natural park farfrom affording areas increased protectionoften proves detrimental to the conservation ofthe area owing to such factors as thedevelopment of tourist facilities roadconstruction vehicle pollution and over-use

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

10

An overview of the history of national parks inJapan serves to provide context for thisapparently paradoxical situation Japanrsquos firstlaw establishing national parks was theNational Parks law which came into force in1931 with the first national parks beingestablished in March 1934 National parkswere established with the purpose of promotingrecreational activities and aiding thedevelopment of tourism particularly after theSecond World War As a result the definition ofldquonational parkrdquo became ambiguous as nationalparks included scenic areas tourist resortsand suburban recreational areas To deal withthis problem the National Parks Law wasrevised in 1949 and national parks weredesignated according to more rigorous criteriaAny area which did not meet the criteria wasdesignated as a quasi-national park In 1957the Natural Parks Law was enactedestablishing regulations for the various nationalparks and forming the basis of the currentnatural park system (see Table 1) From thelate 1950s onwards Japan entered a period ofhigh economic growth and as income percapita rose visitors to natural parks increasedsharply Requests from prefectural or localgovernments to designate scenic areas in theirregions as national or quasi-national parks alsointensified and areas designated as new quasi-national parks or incorporated into existingnational parks increased Currently there are29 national parks totalling an area of 209million hectares (55 per cent of the area of thecountry) and 56 quasi-national parksoccupying 136 million hectares (36 per cent ofthe area of the country) (MOE 2008a) Afurther characteristic of the national parksystem which does not lend itself to natureconservation is the system of jurisdiction overparks Unlike many countries where nationalparks are comprised of state-owned landdesignated solely for recreational andconservation purposes in Japan a significantproportion of the land in national (or natural)parks is either privately owned or under thejurisdiction of a government body other than

the MOE (MOE 2008b)

As noted the emphasis of the Natural ParksLaw is the stimulation of tourism and itexplicitly allows for the development of touristfacilities in areas designated as national ornatural parks (Natori 1997 552) Furtherexacerbating the lack of protection for naturalparks in 1987 The National Resort Law wasenacted as part of the governmentrsquos plan toencourage tourism development Clause 15 ofthe law specifically provides for the opening upof state-owned forests as resort areas (Yoshida2001 McCormack 1996 87ndash88) As a resultmuch of the area designated as natural parks isheavily developed with roads houses golfcourses and resorts (McGill 1992 Ishikawa2001 67ndash109) A park demonstrating theimpact of this process is Shiga Heights habitatto the famous snow monkeys Before it wasdesignated a national park tourist facilitiesconsisted of one hotel and a few natural skislopes By 1987 it had 22 ski resorts and 101hotels and attracted many times more visitorsthan previous to its designation (Stewart-Smith1987 68ndash69)

Furthermore the Natural Parks Law does notlimit visitor numbers to parks some nationalparks experience visitor numbers of more than10000 per day at popular times of the year(Ishikawa 2001 198) To facilitate tourismalpine tourist routes have been developedbeginning with the opening up of theTateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route in ChūbuSangaku National Park in 1971 Concomitantwith high visitor numbers is the risk of damageto the environment caused by the disposal oflarge volumes of human waste trampling offauna by visitors littering and vehicle exhaustemissions For example exhaust emissionsfrom the large number of tourist buses whichtravel the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route innorthern Honshu is reported to have causeddamage to the beech forest along the route(Ishikawa 2001 199) In addition authoritiesmay carry out additional development to

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

11

improve safety convenience or access fortourists An example is levee works in theAzusa River at the entrance to Chūbu SangakuNational Park The Ministry of Transportproceeded with the worksmdashdespite theirpotential impact on the surroundingenvironmentmdashin order to protect tourists in theevent of the river flooding (Ishikawa 2001198ndash199)

It has been suggested that Japanrsquos natural parkmanagement policy unduly emphasises thepreservation of scenic beauty with little regardfor ecological preservation (Natori 1997 552Ishikawa 2001 196ndash198 McCormack 199696) A case which exemplifies this emphasis onthe preservation of scenic beauty is that of theShihoro Kōgen road The local government ofHokkaido first proposed a plan to construct atourist highway through the DaisetsusanNational Park (the largest national park inJapan) in 1965 The construction initially wentahead but was halted in 1973 The project wasproposed again during the resort-boom of the1980s Opposition temporarily halted theproject but in 1995 the EnvironmentConservation Council accepted a modified planwhich involved digging a massive tunnelthrough the mountains The revised plan metthe criteria of the Natural Parks Law whichprohibits construction that damages the visuallandscape of a national park but does notprohibit projects which will cause ecologicaldamage which is ldquounseenrdquo Finally however in1999 following vigorous campaigning ofnational and local environmental organisationsthe Governor of Hokkaido announced that theproject would be shelved (Yoshida 2002)

A further weakness of the Japanese naturalpark system is that the Ministry of theEnvironment (formerly the EnvironmentalAgency) does not have sole jurisdiction overthese areas Twenty-six per cent of nationalpark land and 40 per cent of natural park landis privately owned In addition of the 62 percent of national park land and 46 per cent of

natural park land that is state-owned much ofthis is under the primary jurisdiction of theForestry Agency or other agencies withindustrial or economic interests in the landConflicts of interest between the Ministry ofthe Environment and agencies which have aneconomic interest in a park (for examplethrough mining and forestry) are notuncommon further compromising theconservation function of natural parks11 Anexample of this is the Shiretoko logging casewhere the Forestry Agencyrsquos core objective togenerate income from forestry clashed withthe interests of nature conservation12

Another problem relating to the management ofnational parks is inadequate staffing In Japanthere is approximately one full-time staffmember per 10000 hectares in comparison toone staff member per 1500 in the UnitedStates or one per 2000 hectares in the UnitedKingdom (Ishikawa 2001 203) This means thatwhile staff are in theory responsible forwildlife management duties such as protectionand breeding programmes for designatedspecies and the management of wildlifeprotection areas in accordance with the Lawfor the Conservation of Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora (1992) they are actuallypreoccupied predominantly with administrativeduties such as processing permits With staffoverburdened other dut ies such asenvironmental surveys monitoring activitiesand conservation education rely predominantlyon volunteers (Ishikawa 2001 199ndash200)

Exemplifying these problems is Izu nationalpark Although the Izu archipelago isdesignated as a national park with severalsites designated as ldquospecial protected areasrdquothere are few rangers and loss of habitatcontinues on many islands (Birdlife nd) Inaddition owing to low staff numbers staff arerarely able to ensure compliance with theconditions of use in park zones for exampleensuring that the public does not enterspecially protected zones or that prohibited

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

12

activities such as hunting lighting of fires andvehicle use do not occur Another caseexemplifying these issues is an area in theShirakami mountains in northern Honshuwhich encompasses the largest virgin beechforest in Japan and which has been designateda world heritage site by UNESCO owing to itsunique flora and fauna It is one of the tendesignated ldquonature conservationrdquo areas inJapan of which there are only 21500 hectaresin total (005 per cent of Japanrsquos land area)However owing to inadequate monitoring oreducation visitors leave garbage in the forestlight fires and enter specially protected areaswhere entry is prohibited (Kuroiwa 2002) Theinabi l i ty to monitor park use at th isfundamental level inevitably undermines theeffectiveness of parks as nature conservationareas

As can be seen an array of problemsundermines the conservation function ofnational parks in Japan A key weakness arisesfrom the fact that natural parks from the outsethave emphasised tourism development and thepreservation of areas for their scenic ratherthan ecological value Further theconservation function of parks is underminedby the fact that park lands are not exclusivelystate-owned and even in cases where they areunder the jurisdiction of the state this is oftenunder government bodies which have economicor industrial interests in the use of park landsThis leads to conflicts between natureconservation interests and developmentforestry and private interests Furthermoreuntil recently there has been no law requiringenvironmental impact assessments to becarried out before development occurs innational parks (or any other area of ecologicalsignificance for that matter)13 In the pastattempts have been made by the EnvironmentalAgency (now the MOE) to strengthen the lawgoverning the establishment and managementof national parks but these have been thwartedby the Forestry Agency and the former Ministryof Construction (now part of the Ministry of

Land Infrastructure and Transport) which didnot want their powers to manage the parksweakened (Natori 1997 555)

Conflict between development andconservation

A recurrent theme particularly during Japanrsquoshigh growth period but still apparent today isthe conflict between development andconservation Where there is a conflict betweenhabitat protection and development more oftenthan not the latter has prevailed This is due toa multitude of factors the relative power ofpro-development government bodies such asthe Ministry of Construction (now the Ministryof Land Infrastructure and Transport) whichhave close ties to financially influential privatecorporations the relative weakness of theMOE a weak legislative framework for theprotection of wildlife and their habitats arelatively small and uninfluential natureconservation lobby low public awareness ofconservation and ecological issues and adesire for development in order to stimulateregional rejuvenation

A case which exemplifies this conflict is that ofthe miyako tanago (metropolitan bitterling) afreshwater fish now found only in the waters ofthe Kanto plain In the early 1990s it wasreported that the freshwater brooks and pondsin which these fish spawn were drying up dueto the bu i l d ing o f r e so r t s and go l fcoursesmdashwhich diminish the landrsquos capacity tostore watermdashand the building of concreteoutflows on farmland (Anon 1994 14) Inaddition due to water pollution there has beena marked decline in the matsukasagai theshellfish in which the bitterling lays its eggsemploying it as an ldquoincubatorrdquo (Kondo 1996 9)However farmland improvement and thedevelopment of resorts and golf courses weredeemed important to local residents andpreserving the unique ecology of themetropolitan bitterling did not attractwidespread public support Finally in

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

13

December 1994 in accordance with the Lawfor the Preservation of Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora the Environment Agencydesignated the sole remaining bitterling habitatin Otawara as a protected sanctuary (Kondo1996 9) While undoubtedly this is a positivedevelopment the striking fact is that measuresto protect the bitterlingrsquos habitat were onlytaken when only one habitat remained

Another instance of the clash of developmentand conservation is the case of the Amamiblack rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi) The caseexemplifies problems which are common tomany rural areas in Japan where humanpopulations are both diminishing and agingand where the local economy and employmentopportunities are in decline The Amami blackrabbit is an endangered species endemic to thesouthern Amami Islands (there are estimated tobe only 1000 rabbits remaining) In the 1990sits habitat was threatened by the proposeddevelopment of a golf course which localshoped would reinvigorate the local economyFinally after much protest an environmentalorganisation successfully used the media todraw attention to the plight of the rabbit andthe Ministry of Culture subsequently halted thegolf course (Domoto 1997)

It is also common for development projects orcommercial activity to be pursued in areas ofknown ecological importance despitepotentially damaging ecological impacts This isin part due to a lack of effective environmentalimpact assessment procedures though perhapsmore critically it stems from the political andeconomic imbalance between pro-conservationand pro-development forces One such case isthat of the logging of the Shiretoko NationalPark in Hokkaido It was well documented thatthe area is habitat to seriously threatenedspecies such as Blakistonrsquos fish-owl the White-tailed eagle and the Pryerrsquos woodpecker aswell as being the sole remaining habitat ofseveral other species Nevertheless in 1986the Forestry Agency announced a plan to

selectively log 10000 trees in an area of 1700hectares in the park (Logging and othercommercial activities in national parks arepermissible under the Natural Park Law) Inspite of nation-wide opposition as a result of anorganised and well-publicised campaignopposing the logging the Forestry Agencyproceeded with the plan in 1987

The Isahaya Bay tidal-land reclamation projectin Nagasaki Prefecture is another example of aproject in which development objectives wereplaced ahead of environmental and perhapsmore ironically economic considerations Itwas carried out despite the fact that theoriginal reason for the project had lost allrelevancemdashto reclaim land for farming at atime when Japan was experiencing an over-production of rice and farmers were being paidto keep fields fallow (Lies 2001)mdashand in theface of widespread national and internationalopposition

The mutsugorō became emblematic of allthe creatures endangered by the Isahayareclamation project

Tidal-lands are vital buffers between the landand sea and are habitats supporting highbiological diversity The Isahaya Bay tidal land

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

14

was also an important stopover point for birdsmigrating between Siberia and Australasia Itmade up six per cent of Japanrsquos remaining tidal-land and was habitat to about 300 species ofmarine l i fe such as the mud-skipper(mutsugorō) and approximately 230 differentspecies of birds including a population ofChinese black-headed gulls of which only 2000are estimated to remain worldwide (Umehara2003)

A section of the 7 km long sluice-gateacross Isahaya Bay

The project entailed the construction of a sevenkilometre long dyke to cut off the tidal area inorder to create flood-pools and 1500 hectaresof farmland The government refused to reviewthe project despite repeated petitioning bylocal fishermen to halt the construction of thedyke and formal protests of over 250organisations both international and nationalIt was estimated that by the time the projectwas completed each hectare of reclaimed landwould have cost the tax-payer US $13 millionOn the other hand environmentalists claimthat the project has resulted in the localextinction of a number of species includingmany endangered species such as the mud-skipper in addition to destroying Japanrsquoslargest remaining tideland habitat (Anon 2002Watts 2001 Crowell amp Murakami 2001Fukatsu 1997 26ndash30 McCormack 2005)

In spite of the destruction already caused toisland and coastal ecologies in Japanparticularly in the Okinawan archipelago thegovernment has pursued further developmentprojects on other islands One proposalpromoted for over a decade by the TokyoMetropolitan Government (which hasadministrative jurisdiction over the Ogasawaraarchipelago) was to construct an airport onAnijima an island in the archipelago Theisland is often called the ldquoAsian Galapagosrdquoand is the home of primeval nature andOgasawaran biota remaining only on AnijimaThe airport was to include an 1800 metrerunway to service a burgeoning touristindustry Finally after an independentenvironmental review was completed whichclearly showed the extent of the environmentalimpact of the project the Tokyo Metropolitangovernment shelved the plan insteadproposing to build the airport elsewhere on thearchipelago (Tomiyama amp Asami 1998 Guo2009)

Conclusions

This paper provided an overview of the state ofnatural environments and wildlife in Japantoday and of the primary threats to theseHabitat destruction represents the greatestsingle threat to Japanrsquos wildlife and naturalenvironments and it continues in variousforms threatening to destroy more of Japanrsquoslast remaining wetlands and natural andprimeval forest In addition failure toadequately protect or monitor areas ofecological importance such as national parksexacerbates the problem

The paper examined the key factorscontributing to these threats to the naturalenvironment The first factor noted was thelimited and relatively weak legislativeframework and the gap between policy andimplementation with regard to natureconservation and wildlife management Thesecond factor was a natural park system which

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

15

emphasises tourism over the ecological value ofparks and a situation in which parks are notadequately monitored and protected againstdetrimental environmental impactsmdashwhetheras a result of tourism or development Thethird and possibly most critical factor is thecon f l i c t be tween deve lopment andconservation the imbalance in economic andpolitical power in Japan means that in generalwhere forces of development and conservationare at odds forces for development prevailMany of these factors exist in other countriesfacing challenges to the natural environmentThe combination of such factors in Japan hasnevertheless resulted in a far-reaching assaulton the environment

Given the pervasiveness of these underlyingfactors the outlook for Japanrsquos remainingnatural environments appears bleak Howeverrecent developments such as an economywhich has slowed considerably since the highgrowth period of the 1980s and early 1990swhen development projects were pursuedirrespective of the economic and environmentalcosts a long-term demographic downturn astrengthening environmental NGO (non-governmental organisation) sector a change ofgovernment from the long-serving traditionallypro-development Liberal Democratic Party tothe Democratic Party of Japan14 and anincreasing emphasis both nationally andinternationally on the preservation of theearthrsquos remaining biodiversity mean that thereshould be scope for (albeit restrained)optimism in regard to the prospects for thefuture of Japanrsquos natural heritage

Catherine Knight is an independent researcherwho is employed by day as an environmentalpolicy analyst Her research focuses on NewZealand and Japanese environmental historyHer doctoral thesis explored the humanrelationship with the Asiatic black bear through

J a p a n e s e h i s t o r y [ a v a i l a b l e h e r e(httpircanterburyacnzhandle10092991])]She is particularly interested in upland andlowland forest environments and how peoplehave interacted with these environmentsthrough history Her publications can bev i e w e d h e r e(httpenvirohistorynzwordpresscomarticles) Catherine also runs an online environmentalh i s t o r y f o r u m(httpenvirohistorynzwordpresscom) whichexplores New Zealandrsquos environmental history

Recommended citation Catherine KnightNatural Environments Wildlife andConservation in Japan The Asia-PacificJournal 4-2-10 January 25 2010

日本における自然環境野生動植物その保護

References

Anon 1994 Live and let diemdashThe sad story ofJapanrsquos endangered species The East 30(3)11ndash17

Anon 2002 WWF Japan urges restoration ofIsahaya Bay IndyMedia UK 9 August

Birdlife International nd Japanese forests R e t r i e v e d M a r c h 3 2 0 0 4 L i n k

( h t t p w w w b i r d l i f e n e t actionsciencespeciesasia_strategypdf_downloadsforestsFO2pdf)

Bowring R and Kornicki P eds 1993 Cambridge encyclopedia of Japan New YorkCambridge University Press

Crowell Todd amp Murakami Mutsuko 2001 Public works time bombs AsiaWeekcom 27(6) Retrieved August 1 2003 Link(httpwwwasiaweekcomasiaweekmagazinenations 087829844900html)

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

7

crops with the result that they become morevulnerable to being targeted as pests Thisleads to culling of ldquonuisance bearsrdquo onaverage more than 2000 bears are culledannually (of an overall estimated population ofbetween 10000 and 15000) though in years ofhigh levels of bear damage a far greaternumber are culled In 2006 for example 4500were culled (Yomiuri Shinbun December 192006) Bear ldquoharvestrdquo rates (human-causedfatalities through either hunting or culling) arenot regulated according to biological data onthe species and in fact harvest numbers havebeen increasing despite a decreasing overallpopulation (Hazumi 1999 209)

The brown bear of Hokkaido (Ursos arctosyesoensis) one of the few remainingpopulations of brown bear in Europe and Asiais under similar pressure Its population isestimated at about 3000 and about 250 bearsare killed annually (Mano amp Moll 1999 129)The rapid decline of two localised bearpopulations has led to their designation asendangered subpopulationsmdashhowever thepopulation as a whole remains unlisted and thebear is considered a game species under theWildlife Protection and Hunting Law (Mano ampMoll 1999 128) The most urgent threat to theremaining population is excessive controlkillingmdashit has been predicted that if the currentlevel of control killing is sustained theHokkaido brown bear population will becomeextinct (Tsuruga Sato amp Mano 2003 4)Habitat fragmentation caused particularly bythe construction of forestry roads is anadditional pressure on the remainingpopulation

The law which regulates hunting in Japan is theWildlife Protection and Hunting Law whichtook its current form (revised from the HuntingLaw) in 1963 (See Table 1) The purpose of thelaw is ldquoto protect birds and mammals toincrease populations of birds and mammalsa n d t o c o n t r o l p e s t s t h r o u g h t h eimplementation of wildlife protection projects

and hunting controlsrdquo The law gives theMinistry of the Environment (MOE) theauthority to specify game species (which can besubject to hunting) of which there are 29 birdand 17 mammal species It also allows for thedesignation of areas in which hunting isprohibited hunting periods harvest limits andhunting methods Under the law hunters mustobtain a hunting license and register with theprefecture in which they intend to huntHowever monitoring compliance is largely theresponsibility of volunteers called chōju hogoiin(wildlife conservators) the majority of whomare selected from local hunting associations(ryōyūkai ) 9 (Yoshida 2004 personalcommunication) a system in which there isobvious potential conflict of interest

Overhunting is a problem for many speciesparticularly those which cause crop andforestry damage such as the bear due to theperception that the populations are increasingand culling is therefore necessary In fact it ismore likely that populations are decreasing(local and national population figures are onlyapproximate estimates) but the level of contactwith humans is increasing due to habitatfragmentation and degradation and theattendant changes in wildlife behaviourparticularly in feeding habits (Hazumi 1999210) In addition poaching is widespread inJapan especially for animals such as bearswhose parts command high value both onnational and international markets largely asmedicinal products (Mano amp Moll 1999129ndash131 Hazumi 1999 209) Howeverauthorities have made little attempt to controlpoaching (Hazumi 1999 209)

Invasion of natural habitats by alien species is afurther factor putting pressure on indigenousspecies particularly in unique islandenvironments Introduced species includingraccoon weasel marten common mongooseblack bass and bluegill disturb ecosystemsthrough predation occupation of habitats andhybridisation For example the black bass

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

8

which can grow to 87 centimetres in length andweigh up to 10 kilograms was introduced in1925 and has now spread throughout Japanrsquoswaterways A few bluegill introduced in 1960have also spread widely throughout thecountry These fish are putting pressure on thepopulations of native species such as thesouthern top-mouthed minnow deep cruciancarp and the northern and flat bitterling(OECD 2002 135 Watanabe 2002)

The risk of introduced species significantlychanging endemic biota and ecosystems isespecially high on islands such as Amami andOkinawa which are isolated from other regionsand are habitat to a large number of endemicspecies (OECD 2002 135) Several threatenedspecies are known or expected to be negativelyaffected by the introduction of predators(primarily for snake control) to these islandsOn the Izu Islands the introduction of theSiberian weasel (Mustela sibirica) to Miyake-jima in the 1970s and 1980s appears to havecaused significant declines in Japanese night-herons (Gorsachius goisagi) and Izu thrushes(Turdus celaenops) On Okinawa feral dogsand cats and the introduced Javan mongoose(Herpestes javanicus) and weasel (Mustelaitatsi) are predators of Okinawa rail (Gallirallusokinawae) Ryukyu woodcock (Scolopax mira)and Okinawa woodpecker (Sapheopiponoguchii) while feral pigs damage potentialground-foraging sites for Okinawa woodpecker(Birdlife International nd McGill 1992)

The role of government and legislation innature conservation in Japan

There have been few legislative measures forthe protection of wildlife and natural habitatsuntil recently and even today Japan iscriticised for the gap apparent between itsstated policy objectives and the general trendsover the past two decadesmdashthe ongoingdestruction of important habitats particularlynatural forests and wetlands and the continuedendangerment of many plants and animals

(OECD 2002 132) Recent decades have alsodemonstrated that even if a species isrecognised as severely threatened governmentpolicy and practice often falls well short ofproactive protection of these species and theirhabitats Indeed as will be seen latergovernment-sponsored development projectsfrequently act to increase the threat to wildlifeand their habitats There are also tensionsbetween the concerns and needs o f(particularly rural) citizens and the interests ofnature conservation as can be seen indevelopment projects aimed at ldquoregionalrejuvenationrdquo

Until recently there has been only a limitedlegislative framework for the protection ofthreatened species or their habitats andconservationists argue that the currentframework remains weak The first governmentagency solely concerned with environmentalmanagement the Environment Agency wasestablished in 1971 and in the following yearthe Nature Conservation Law was enactedwhich provided a basic framework forsubsequent legislative measures and policyrelating to nature conservation Subsequent tothe law being enacted a limited number ofareas were designated as ldquowilderness areasrdquoand ldquonature conservation areasrdquo affordingmore protection than national park areasHowever it was not until 1992 that the Law forthe Conservation of Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora Japanrsquos first domesticlaw for the protection of endangered andthreatened species was enacted The lawallows for the designation of natural habitatconservation areas sets limits on the captureand transport of endangered species andestablishes guidelines for the rehabilitation ofendangered natural habitats (OECD 2002 58)

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

9

Summary of lawsevents relating to natureconservation in Japan

While undoubtedly a positive step for wildlifeconservation the effectiveness of the law islimited by the fact that the MOE lacks sufficientpower to designate endangered species asprotected species or to designate importanthabitats as protected areas (Yoshida 2004personal communication) A further probleminherent in the law is that while reserves maybe established to protect entire habitats onlyfive small reservations have been established todate (as ldquowilderness areasrdquo as mentionedabove) owing to reluctance on the part of land-owners to cooperate with the MOE to protectendangered species on their land (Yoshida2004 personal communication) In additionthe law has been criticised by conservationistsfor putting excessive emphasis on protectingindividual species rather than ecosystems ingeneral (eg Yoshida 2004 personalcommunication Domoto 1997) This isreflected clearly in the nature and purpose ofthe reserves which focus on the managementof one species and its habitat rather than anecological system comprised of a complexnetwork of interacting organisms10

In 1995 subsequent to Japan becoming asignatory to the Convention on BiologicalDiversity in 1992 the National Biodiversity

Strategy which outlined the basic principlesfor conserving biodiversity was introducedHowever this too has been criticised for lackingquantitative targets and not adequatelyaddressing the management of wildlife andtheir habitats outside protected areas (OECD2002 29) In addition the preservation ofbiodiversity is not reflected in the managementof national parks in which development andhuman activity impacting on the natural parkenvironment is poorly controlled and regulatedand wildlife and their habitats are not wellmonitored and protected (Ishikawa 2001 201)

While recent legislation heightens the profile ofnature conservation and its importance itremains largely ineffective without adequatestaff skills and resources to carry out effectivewildlife management programmes Central andprefectural (regional) government budgets forwildlife management are limited and wildlifemanagement operations are significantlyunderstaffed Furthermore very few of thestaff employed by the MOE or prefecturalgovernments are specialists in wildlifeconservation or even trained in this field (MiyaiRoy 1998 Hazumi 2006) Thus there is asignificant gap between legislation andimplementation with regard to the natureconservation function

The function of national parks in natureconservation

It is generally expected that one of the keypurposes of national parks is to protect naturalenvironments of scenic and ecological valueand the wildlife within them However anumber of authors (eg McGill 1992 Natori1997 Ishikawa 2001) have suggested that inJapan the designation of areas of ldquoecologicalsignificancerdquo as a national or natural park farfrom affording areas increased protectionoften proves detrimental to the conservation ofthe area owing to such factors as thedevelopment of tourist facilities roadconstruction vehicle pollution and over-use

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

10

An overview of the history of national parks inJapan serves to provide context for thisapparently paradoxical situation Japanrsquos firstlaw establishing national parks was theNational Parks law which came into force in1931 with the first national parks beingestablished in March 1934 National parkswere established with the purpose of promotingrecreational activities and aiding thedevelopment of tourism particularly after theSecond World War As a result the definition ofldquonational parkrdquo became ambiguous as nationalparks included scenic areas tourist resortsand suburban recreational areas To deal withthis problem the National Parks Law wasrevised in 1949 and national parks weredesignated according to more rigorous criteriaAny area which did not meet the criteria wasdesignated as a quasi-national park In 1957the Natural Parks Law was enactedestablishing regulations for the various nationalparks and forming the basis of the currentnatural park system (see Table 1) From thelate 1950s onwards Japan entered a period ofhigh economic growth and as income percapita rose visitors to natural parks increasedsharply Requests from prefectural or localgovernments to designate scenic areas in theirregions as national or quasi-national parks alsointensified and areas designated as new quasi-national parks or incorporated into existingnational parks increased Currently there are29 national parks totalling an area of 209million hectares (55 per cent of the area of thecountry) and 56 quasi-national parksoccupying 136 million hectares (36 per cent ofthe area of the country) (MOE 2008a) Afurther characteristic of the national parksystem which does not lend itself to natureconservation is the system of jurisdiction overparks Unlike many countries where nationalparks are comprised of state-owned landdesignated solely for recreational andconservation purposes in Japan a significantproportion of the land in national (or natural)parks is either privately owned or under thejurisdiction of a government body other than

the MOE (MOE 2008b)

As noted the emphasis of the Natural ParksLaw is the stimulation of tourism and itexplicitly allows for the development of touristfacilities in areas designated as national ornatural parks (Natori 1997 552) Furtherexacerbating the lack of protection for naturalparks in 1987 The National Resort Law wasenacted as part of the governmentrsquos plan toencourage tourism development Clause 15 ofthe law specifically provides for the opening upof state-owned forests as resort areas (Yoshida2001 McCormack 1996 87ndash88) As a resultmuch of the area designated as natural parks isheavily developed with roads houses golfcourses and resorts (McGill 1992 Ishikawa2001 67ndash109) A park demonstrating theimpact of this process is Shiga Heights habitatto the famous snow monkeys Before it wasdesignated a national park tourist facilitiesconsisted of one hotel and a few natural skislopes By 1987 it had 22 ski resorts and 101hotels and attracted many times more visitorsthan previous to its designation (Stewart-Smith1987 68ndash69)

Furthermore the Natural Parks Law does notlimit visitor numbers to parks some nationalparks experience visitor numbers of more than10000 per day at popular times of the year(Ishikawa 2001 198) To facilitate tourismalpine tourist routes have been developedbeginning with the opening up of theTateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route in ChūbuSangaku National Park in 1971 Concomitantwith high visitor numbers is the risk of damageto the environment caused by the disposal oflarge volumes of human waste trampling offauna by visitors littering and vehicle exhaustemissions For example exhaust emissionsfrom the large number of tourist buses whichtravel the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route innorthern Honshu is reported to have causeddamage to the beech forest along the route(Ishikawa 2001 199) In addition authoritiesmay carry out additional development to

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

11

improve safety convenience or access fortourists An example is levee works in theAzusa River at the entrance to Chūbu SangakuNational Park The Ministry of Transportproceeded with the worksmdashdespite theirpotential impact on the surroundingenvironmentmdashin order to protect tourists in theevent of the river flooding (Ishikawa 2001198ndash199)

It has been suggested that Japanrsquos natural parkmanagement policy unduly emphasises thepreservation of scenic beauty with little regardfor ecological preservation (Natori 1997 552Ishikawa 2001 196ndash198 McCormack 199696) A case which exemplifies this emphasis onthe preservation of scenic beauty is that of theShihoro Kōgen road The local government ofHokkaido first proposed a plan to construct atourist highway through the DaisetsusanNational Park (the largest national park inJapan) in 1965 The construction initially wentahead but was halted in 1973 The project wasproposed again during the resort-boom of the1980s Opposition temporarily halted theproject but in 1995 the EnvironmentConservation Council accepted a modified planwhich involved digging a massive tunnelthrough the mountains The revised plan metthe criteria of the Natural Parks Law whichprohibits construction that damages the visuallandscape of a national park but does notprohibit projects which will cause ecologicaldamage which is ldquounseenrdquo Finally however in1999 following vigorous campaigning ofnational and local environmental organisationsthe Governor of Hokkaido announced that theproject would be shelved (Yoshida 2002)

A further weakness of the Japanese naturalpark system is that the Ministry of theEnvironment (formerly the EnvironmentalAgency) does not have sole jurisdiction overthese areas Twenty-six per cent of nationalpark land and 40 per cent of natural park landis privately owned In addition of the 62 percent of national park land and 46 per cent of

natural park land that is state-owned much ofthis is under the primary jurisdiction of theForestry Agency or other agencies withindustrial or economic interests in the landConflicts of interest between the Ministry ofthe Environment and agencies which have aneconomic interest in a park (for examplethrough mining and forestry) are notuncommon further compromising theconservation function of natural parks11 Anexample of this is the Shiretoko logging casewhere the Forestry Agencyrsquos core objective togenerate income from forestry clashed withthe interests of nature conservation12

Another problem relating to the management ofnational parks is inadequate staffing In Japanthere is approximately one full-time staffmember per 10000 hectares in comparison toone staff member per 1500 in the UnitedStates or one per 2000 hectares in the UnitedKingdom (Ishikawa 2001 203) This means thatwhile staff are in theory responsible forwildlife management duties such as protectionand breeding programmes for designatedspecies and the management of wildlifeprotection areas in accordance with the Lawfor the Conservation of Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora (1992) they are actuallypreoccupied predominantly with administrativeduties such as processing permits With staffoverburdened other dut ies such asenvironmental surveys monitoring activitiesand conservation education rely predominantlyon volunteers (Ishikawa 2001 199ndash200)

Exemplifying these problems is Izu nationalpark Although the Izu archipelago isdesignated as a national park with severalsites designated as ldquospecial protected areasrdquothere are few rangers and loss of habitatcontinues on many islands (Birdlife nd) Inaddition owing to low staff numbers staff arerarely able to ensure compliance with theconditions of use in park zones for exampleensuring that the public does not enterspecially protected zones or that prohibited

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

12

activities such as hunting lighting of fires andvehicle use do not occur Another caseexemplifying these issues is an area in theShirakami mountains in northern Honshuwhich encompasses the largest virgin beechforest in Japan and which has been designateda world heritage site by UNESCO owing to itsunique flora and fauna It is one of the tendesignated ldquonature conservationrdquo areas inJapan of which there are only 21500 hectaresin total (005 per cent of Japanrsquos land area)However owing to inadequate monitoring oreducation visitors leave garbage in the forestlight fires and enter specially protected areaswhere entry is prohibited (Kuroiwa 2002) Theinabi l i ty to monitor park use at th isfundamental level inevitably undermines theeffectiveness of parks as nature conservationareas

As can be seen an array of problemsundermines the conservation function ofnational parks in Japan A key weakness arisesfrom the fact that natural parks from the outsethave emphasised tourism development and thepreservation of areas for their scenic ratherthan ecological value Further theconservation function of parks is underminedby the fact that park lands are not exclusivelystate-owned and even in cases where they areunder the jurisdiction of the state this is oftenunder government bodies which have economicor industrial interests in the use of park landsThis leads to conflicts between natureconservation interests and developmentforestry and private interests Furthermoreuntil recently there has been no law requiringenvironmental impact assessments to becarried out before development occurs innational parks (or any other area of ecologicalsignificance for that matter)13 In the pastattempts have been made by the EnvironmentalAgency (now the MOE) to strengthen the lawgoverning the establishment and managementof national parks but these have been thwartedby the Forestry Agency and the former Ministryof Construction (now part of the Ministry of

Land Infrastructure and Transport) which didnot want their powers to manage the parksweakened (Natori 1997 555)

Conflict between development andconservation

A recurrent theme particularly during Japanrsquoshigh growth period but still apparent today isthe conflict between development andconservation Where there is a conflict betweenhabitat protection and development more oftenthan not the latter has prevailed This is due toa multitude of factors the relative power ofpro-development government bodies such asthe Ministry of Construction (now the Ministryof Land Infrastructure and Transport) whichhave close ties to financially influential privatecorporations the relative weakness of theMOE a weak legislative framework for theprotection of wildlife and their habitats arelatively small and uninfluential natureconservation lobby low public awareness ofconservation and ecological issues and adesire for development in order to stimulateregional rejuvenation

A case which exemplifies this conflict is that ofthe miyako tanago (metropolitan bitterling) afreshwater fish now found only in the waters ofthe Kanto plain In the early 1990s it wasreported that the freshwater brooks and pondsin which these fish spawn were drying up dueto the bu i l d ing o f r e so r t s and go l fcoursesmdashwhich diminish the landrsquos capacity tostore watermdashand the building of concreteoutflows on farmland (Anon 1994 14) Inaddition due to water pollution there has beena marked decline in the matsukasagai theshellfish in which the bitterling lays its eggsemploying it as an ldquoincubatorrdquo (Kondo 1996 9)However farmland improvement and thedevelopment of resorts and golf courses weredeemed important to local residents andpreserving the unique ecology of themetropolitan bitterling did not attractwidespread public support Finally in

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

13

December 1994 in accordance with the Lawfor the Preservation of Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora the Environment Agencydesignated the sole remaining bitterling habitatin Otawara as a protected sanctuary (Kondo1996 9) While undoubtedly this is a positivedevelopment the striking fact is that measuresto protect the bitterlingrsquos habitat were onlytaken when only one habitat remained

Another instance of the clash of developmentand conservation is the case of the Amamiblack rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi) The caseexemplifies problems which are common tomany rural areas in Japan where humanpopulations are both diminishing and agingand where the local economy and employmentopportunities are in decline The Amami blackrabbit is an endangered species endemic to thesouthern Amami Islands (there are estimated tobe only 1000 rabbits remaining) In the 1990sits habitat was threatened by the proposeddevelopment of a golf course which localshoped would reinvigorate the local economyFinally after much protest an environmentalorganisation successfully used the media todraw attention to the plight of the rabbit andthe Ministry of Culture subsequently halted thegolf course (Domoto 1997)

It is also common for development projects orcommercial activity to be pursued in areas ofknown ecological importance despitepotentially damaging ecological impacts This isin part due to a lack of effective environmentalimpact assessment procedures though perhapsmore critically it stems from the political andeconomic imbalance between pro-conservationand pro-development forces One such case isthat of the logging of the Shiretoko NationalPark in Hokkaido It was well documented thatthe area is habitat to seriously threatenedspecies such as Blakistonrsquos fish-owl the White-tailed eagle and the Pryerrsquos woodpecker aswell as being the sole remaining habitat ofseveral other species Nevertheless in 1986the Forestry Agency announced a plan to

selectively log 10000 trees in an area of 1700hectares in the park (Logging and othercommercial activities in national parks arepermissible under the Natural Park Law) Inspite of nation-wide opposition as a result of anorganised and well-publicised campaignopposing the logging the Forestry Agencyproceeded with the plan in 1987

The Isahaya Bay tidal-land reclamation projectin Nagasaki Prefecture is another example of aproject in which development objectives wereplaced ahead of environmental and perhapsmore ironically economic considerations Itwas carried out despite the fact that theoriginal reason for the project had lost allrelevancemdashto reclaim land for farming at atime when Japan was experiencing an over-production of rice and farmers were being paidto keep fields fallow (Lies 2001)mdashand in theface of widespread national and internationalopposition

The mutsugorō became emblematic of allthe creatures endangered by the Isahayareclamation project

Tidal-lands are vital buffers between the landand sea and are habitats supporting highbiological diversity The Isahaya Bay tidal land

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

14

was also an important stopover point for birdsmigrating between Siberia and Australasia Itmade up six per cent of Japanrsquos remaining tidal-land and was habitat to about 300 species ofmarine l i fe such as the mud-skipper(mutsugorō) and approximately 230 differentspecies of birds including a population ofChinese black-headed gulls of which only 2000are estimated to remain worldwide (Umehara2003)

A section of the 7 km long sluice-gateacross Isahaya Bay

The project entailed the construction of a sevenkilometre long dyke to cut off the tidal area inorder to create flood-pools and 1500 hectaresof farmland The government refused to reviewthe project despite repeated petitioning bylocal fishermen to halt the construction of thedyke and formal protests of over 250organisations both international and nationalIt was estimated that by the time the projectwas completed each hectare of reclaimed landwould have cost the tax-payer US $13 millionOn the other hand environmentalists claimthat the project has resulted in the localextinction of a number of species includingmany endangered species such as the mud-skipper in addition to destroying Japanrsquoslargest remaining tideland habitat (Anon 2002Watts 2001 Crowell amp Murakami 2001Fukatsu 1997 26ndash30 McCormack 2005)

In spite of the destruction already caused toisland and coastal ecologies in Japanparticularly in the Okinawan archipelago thegovernment has pursued further developmentprojects on other islands One proposalpromoted for over a decade by the TokyoMetropolitan Government (which hasadministrative jurisdiction over the Ogasawaraarchipelago) was to construct an airport onAnijima an island in the archipelago Theisland is often called the ldquoAsian Galapagosrdquoand is the home of primeval nature andOgasawaran biota remaining only on AnijimaThe airport was to include an 1800 metrerunway to service a burgeoning touristindustry Finally after an independentenvironmental review was completed whichclearly showed the extent of the environmentalimpact of the project the Tokyo Metropolitangovernment shelved the plan insteadproposing to build the airport elsewhere on thearchipelago (Tomiyama amp Asami 1998 Guo2009)

Conclusions

This paper provided an overview of the state ofnatural environments and wildlife in Japantoday and of the primary threats to theseHabitat destruction represents the greatestsingle threat to Japanrsquos wildlife and naturalenvironments and it continues in variousforms threatening to destroy more of Japanrsquoslast remaining wetlands and natural andprimeval forest In addition failure toadequately protect or monitor areas ofecological importance such as national parksexacerbates the problem

The paper examined the key factorscontributing to these threats to the naturalenvironment The first factor noted was thelimited and relatively weak legislativeframework and the gap between policy andimplementation with regard to natureconservation and wildlife management Thesecond factor was a natural park system which

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

15

emphasises tourism over the ecological value ofparks and a situation in which parks are notadequately monitored and protected againstdetrimental environmental impactsmdashwhetheras a result of tourism or development Thethird and possibly most critical factor is thecon f l i c t be tween deve lopment andconservation the imbalance in economic andpolitical power in Japan means that in generalwhere forces of development and conservationare at odds forces for development prevailMany of these factors exist in other countriesfacing challenges to the natural environmentThe combination of such factors in Japan hasnevertheless resulted in a far-reaching assaulton the environment

Given the pervasiveness of these underlyingfactors the outlook for Japanrsquos remainingnatural environments appears bleak Howeverrecent developments such as an economywhich has slowed considerably since the highgrowth period of the 1980s and early 1990swhen development projects were pursuedirrespective of the economic and environmentalcosts a long-term demographic downturn astrengthening environmental NGO (non-governmental organisation) sector a change ofgovernment from the long-serving traditionallypro-development Liberal Democratic Party tothe Democratic Party of Japan14 and anincreasing emphasis both nationally andinternationally on the preservation of theearthrsquos remaining biodiversity mean that thereshould be scope for (albeit restrained)optimism in regard to the prospects for thefuture of Japanrsquos natural heritage

Catherine Knight is an independent researcherwho is employed by day as an environmentalpolicy analyst Her research focuses on NewZealand and Japanese environmental historyHer doctoral thesis explored the humanrelationship with the Asiatic black bear through

J a p a n e s e h i s t o r y [ a v a i l a b l e h e r e(httpircanterburyacnzhandle10092991])]She is particularly interested in upland andlowland forest environments and how peoplehave interacted with these environmentsthrough history Her publications can bev i e w e d h e r e(httpenvirohistorynzwordpresscomarticles) Catherine also runs an online environmentalh i s t o r y f o r u m(httpenvirohistorynzwordpresscom) whichexplores New Zealandrsquos environmental history

Recommended citation Catherine KnightNatural Environments Wildlife andConservation in Japan The Asia-PacificJournal 4-2-10 January 25 2010

日本における自然環境野生動植物その保護

References

Anon 1994 Live and let diemdashThe sad story ofJapanrsquos endangered species The East 30(3)11ndash17

Anon 2002 WWF Japan urges restoration ofIsahaya Bay IndyMedia UK 9 August

Birdlife International nd Japanese forests R e t r i e v e d M a r c h 3 2 0 0 4 L i n k

( h t t p w w w b i r d l i f e n e t actionsciencespeciesasia_strategypdf_downloadsforestsFO2pdf)

Bowring R and Kornicki P eds 1993 Cambridge encyclopedia of Japan New YorkCambridge University Press

Crowell Todd amp Murakami Mutsuko 2001 Public works time bombs AsiaWeekcom 27(6) Retrieved August 1 2003 Link(httpwwwasiaweekcomasiaweekmagazinenations 087829844900html)

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

8

which can grow to 87 centimetres in length andweigh up to 10 kilograms was introduced in1925 and has now spread throughout Japanrsquoswaterways A few bluegill introduced in 1960have also spread widely throughout thecountry These fish are putting pressure on thepopulations of native species such as thesouthern top-mouthed minnow deep cruciancarp and the northern and flat bitterling(OECD 2002 135 Watanabe 2002)

The risk of introduced species significantlychanging endemic biota and ecosystems isespecially high on islands such as Amami andOkinawa which are isolated from other regionsand are habitat to a large number of endemicspecies (OECD 2002 135) Several threatenedspecies are known or expected to be negativelyaffected by the introduction of predators(primarily for snake control) to these islandsOn the Izu Islands the introduction of theSiberian weasel (Mustela sibirica) to Miyake-jima in the 1970s and 1980s appears to havecaused significant declines in Japanese night-herons (Gorsachius goisagi) and Izu thrushes(Turdus celaenops) On Okinawa feral dogsand cats and the introduced Javan mongoose(Herpestes javanicus) and weasel (Mustelaitatsi) are predators of Okinawa rail (Gallirallusokinawae) Ryukyu woodcock (Scolopax mira)and Okinawa woodpecker (Sapheopiponoguchii) while feral pigs damage potentialground-foraging sites for Okinawa woodpecker(Birdlife International nd McGill 1992)

The role of government and legislation innature conservation in Japan

There have been few legislative measures forthe protection of wildlife and natural habitatsuntil recently and even today Japan iscriticised for the gap apparent between itsstated policy objectives and the general trendsover the past two decadesmdashthe ongoingdestruction of important habitats particularlynatural forests and wetlands and the continuedendangerment of many plants and animals

(OECD 2002 132) Recent decades have alsodemonstrated that even if a species isrecognised as severely threatened governmentpolicy and practice often falls well short ofproactive protection of these species and theirhabitats Indeed as will be seen latergovernment-sponsored development projectsfrequently act to increase the threat to wildlifeand their habitats There are also tensionsbetween the concerns and needs o f(particularly rural) citizens and the interests ofnature conservation as can be seen indevelopment projects aimed at ldquoregionalrejuvenationrdquo

Until recently there has been only a limitedlegislative framework for the protection ofthreatened species or their habitats andconservationists argue that the currentframework remains weak The first governmentagency solely concerned with environmentalmanagement the Environment Agency wasestablished in 1971 and in the following yearthe Nature Conservation Law was enactedwhich provided a basic framework forsubsequent legislative measures and policyrelating to nature conservation Subsequent tothe law being enacted a limited number ofareas were designated as ldquowilderness areasrdquoand ldquonature conservation areasrdquo affordingmore protection than national park areasHowever it was not until 1992 that the Law forthe Conservation of Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora Japanrsquos first domesticlaw for the protection of endangered andthreatened species was enacted The lawallows for the designation of natural habitatconservation areas sets limits on the captureand transport of endangered species andestablishes guidelines for the rehabilitation ofendangered natural habitats (OECD 2002 58)

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

9

Summary of lawsevents relating to natureconservation in Japan

While undoubtedly a positive step for wildlifeconservation the effectiveness of the law islimited by the fact that the MOE lacks sufficientpower to designate endangered species asprotected species or to designate importanthabitats as protected areas (Yoshida 2004personal communication) A further probleminherent in the law is that while reserves maybe established to protect entire habitats onlyfive small reservations have been established todate (as ldquowilderness areasrdquo as mentionedabove) owing to reluctance on the part of land-owners to cooperate with the MOE to protectendangered species on their land (Yoshida2004 personal communication) In additionthe law has been criticised by conservationistsfor putting excessive emphasis on protectingindividual species rather than ecosystems ingeneral (eg Yoshida 2004 personalcommunication Domoto 1997) This isreflected clearly in the nature and purpose ofthe reserves which focus on the managementof one species and its habitat rather than anecological system comprised of a complexnetwork of interacting organisms10

In 1995 subsequent to Japan becoming asignatory to the Convention on BiologicalDiversity in 1992 the National Biodiversity

Strategy which outlined the basic principlesfor conserving biodiversity was introducedHowever this too has been criticised for lackingquantitative targets and not adequatelyaddressing the management of wildlife andtheir habitats outside protected areas (OECD2002 29) In addition the preservation ofbiodiversity is not reflected in the managementof national parks in which development andhuman activity impacting on the natural parkenvironment is poorly controlled and regulatedand wildlife and their habitats are not wellmonitored and protected (Ishikawa 2001 201)

While recent legislation heightens the profile ofnature conservation and its importance itremains largely ineffective without adequatestaff skills and resources to carry out effectivewildlife management programmes Central andprefectural (regional) government budgets forwildlife management are limited and wildlifemanagement operations are significantlyunderstaffed Furthermore very few of thestaff employed by the MOE or prefecturalgovernments are specialists in wildlifeconservation or even trained in this field (MiyaiRoy 1998 Hazumi 2006) Thus there is asignificant gap between legislation andimplementation with regard to the natureconservation function

The function of national parks in natureconservation

It is generally expected that one of the keypurposes of national parks is to protect naturalenvironments of scenic and ecological valueand the wildlife within them However anumber of authors (eg McGill 1992 Natori1997 Ishikawa 2001) have suggested that inJapan the designation of areas of ldquoecologicalsignificancerdquo as a national or natural park farfrom affording areas increased protectionoften proves detrimental to the conservation ofthe area owing to such factors as thedevelopment of tourist facilities roadconstruction vehicle pollution and over-use

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

10

An overview of the history of national parks inJapan serves to provide context for thisapparently paradoxical situation Japanrsquos firstlaw establishing national parks was theNational Parks law which came into force in1931 with the first national parks beingestablished in March 1934 National parkswere established with the purpose of promotingrecreational activities and aiding thedevelopment of tourism particularly after theSecond World War As a result the definition ofldquonational parkrdquo became ambiguous as nationalparks included scenic areas tourist resortsand suburban recreational areas To deal withthis problem the National Parks Law wasrevised in 1949 and national parks weredesignated according to more rigorous criteriaAny area which did not meet the criteria wasdesignated as a quasi-national park In 1957the Natural Parks Law was enactedestablishing regulations for the various nationalparks and forming the basis of the currentnatural park system (see Table 1) From thelate 1950s onwards Japan entered a period ofhigh economic growth and as income percapita rose visitors to natural parks increasedsharply Requests from prefectural or localgovernments to designate scenic areas in theirregions as national or quasi-national parks alsointensified and areas designated as new quasi-national parks or incorporated into existingnational parks increased Currently there are29 national parks totalling an area of 209million hectares (55 per cent of the area of thecountry) and 56 quasi-national parksoccupying 136 million hectares (36 per cent ofthe area of the country) (MOE 2008a) Afurther characteristic of the national parksystem which does not lend itself to natureconservation is the system of jurisdiction overparks Unlike many countries where nationalparks are comprised of state-owned landdesignated solely for recreational andconservation purposes in Japan a significantproportion of the land in national (or natural)parks is either privately owned or under thejurisdiction of a government body other than

the MOE (MOE 2008b)

As noted the emphasis of the Natural ParksLaw is the stimulation of tourism and itexplicitly allows for the development of touristfacilities in areas designated as national ornatural parks (Natori 1997 552) Furtherexacerbating the lack of protection for naturalparks in 1987 The National Resort Law wasenacted as part of the governmentrsquos plan toencourage tourism development Clause 15 ofthe law specifically provides for the opening upof state-owned forests as resort areas (Yoshida2001 McCormack 1996 87ndash88) As a resultmuch of the area designated as natural parks isheavily developed with roads houses golfcourses and resorts (McGill 1992 Ishikawa2001 67ndash109) A park demonstrating theimpact of this process is Shiga Heights habitatto the famous snow monkeys Before it wasdesignated a national park tourist facilitiesconsisted of one hotel and a few natural skislopes By 1987 it had 22 ski resorts and 101hotels and attracted many times more visitorsthan previous to its designation (Stewart-Smith1987 68ndash69)

Furthermore the Natural Parks Law does notlimit visitor numbers to parks some nationalparks experience visitor numbers of more than10000 per day at popular times of the year(Ishikawa 2001 198) To facilitate tourismalpine tourist routes have been developedbeginning with the opening up of theTateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route in ChūbuSangaku National Park in 1971 Concomitantwith high visitor numbers is the risk of damageto the environment caused by the disposal oflarge volumes of human waste trampling offauna by visitors littering and vehicle exhaustemissions For example exhaust emissionsfrom the large number of tourist buses whichtravel the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route innorthern Honshu is reported to have causeddamage to the beech forest along the route(Ishikawa 2001 199) In addition authoritiesmay carry out additional development to

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

11

improve safety convenience or access fortourists An example is levee works in theAzusa River at the entrance to Chūbu SangakuNational Park The Ministry of Transportproceeded with the worksmdashdespite theirpotential impact on the surroundingenvironmentmdashin order to protect tourists in theevent of the river flooding (Ishikawa 2001198ndash199)

It has been suggested that Japanrsquos natural parkmanagement policy unduly emphasises thepreservation of scenic beauty with little regardfor ecological preservation (Natori 1997 552Ishikawa 2001 196ndash198 McCormack 199696) A case which exemplifies this emphasis onthe preservation of scenic beauty is that of theShihoro Kōgen road The local government ofHokkaido first proposed a plan to construct atourist highway through the DaisetsusanNational Park (the largest national park inJapan) in 1965 The construction initially wentahead but was halted in 1973 The project wasproposed again during the resort-boom of the1980s Opposition temporarily halted theproject but in 1995 the EnvironmentConservation Council accepted a modified planwhich involved digging a massive tunnelthrough the mountains The revised plan metthe criteria of the Natural Parks Law whichprohibits construction that damages the visuallandscape of a national park but does notprohibit projects which will cause ecologicaldamage which is ldquounseenrdquo Finally however in1999 following vigorous campaigning ofnational and local environmental organisationsthe Governor of Hokkaido announced that theproject would be shelved (Yoshida 2002)

A further weakness of the Japanese naturalpark system is that the Ministry of theEnvironment (formerly the EnvironmentalAgency) does not have sole jurisdiction overthese areas Twenty-six per cent of nationalpark land and 40 per cent of natural park landis privately owned In addition of the 62 percent of national park land and 46 per cent of

natural park land that is state-owned much ofthis is under the primary jurisdiction of theForestry Agency or other agencies withindustrial or economic interests in the landConflicts of interest between the Ministry ofthe Environment and agencies which have aneconomic interest in a park (for examplethrough mining and forestry) are notuncommon further compromising theconservation function of natural parks11 Anexample of this is the Shiretoko logging casewhere the Forestry Agencyrsquos core objective togenerate income from forestry clashed withthe interests of nature conservation12

Another problem relating to the management ofnational parks is inadequate staffing In Japanthere is approximately one full-time staffmember per 10000 hectares in comparison toone staff member per 1500 in the UnitedStates or one per 2000 hectares in the UnitedKingdom (Ishikawa 2001 203) This means thatwhile staff are in theory responsible forwildlife management duties such as protectionand breeding programmes for designatedspecies and the management of wildlifeprotection areas in accordance with the Lawfor the Conservation of Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora (1992) they are actuallypreoccupied predominantly with administrativeduties such as processing permits With staffoverburdened other dut ies such asenvironmental surveys monitoring activitiesand conservation education rely predominantlyon volunteers (Ishikawa 2001 199ndash200)

Exemplifying these problems is Izu nationalpark Although the Izu archipelago isdesignated as a national park with severalsites designated as ldquospecial protected areasrdquothere are few rangers and loss of habitatcontinues on many islands (Birdlife nd) Inaddition owing to low staff numbers staff arerarely able to ensure compliance with theconditions of use in park zones for exampleensuring that the public does not enterspecially protected zones or that prohibited

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

12

activities such as hunting lighting of fires andvehicle use do not occur Another caseexemplifying these issues is an area in theShirakami mountains in northern Honshuwhich encompasses the largest virgin beechforest in Japan and which has been designateda world heritage site by UNESCO owing to itsunique flora and fauna It is one of the tendesignated ldquonature conservationrdquo areas inJapan of which there are only 21500 hectaresin total (005 per cent of Japanrsquos land area)However owing to inadequate monitoring oreducation visitors leave garbage in the forestlight fires and enter specially protected areaswhere entry is prohibited (Kuroiwa 2002) Theinabi l i ty to monitor park use at th isfundamental level inevitably undermines theeffectiveness of parks as nature conservationareas

As can be seen an array of problemsundermines the conservation function ofnational parks in Japan A key weakness arisesfrom the fact that natural parks from the outsethave emphasised tourism development and thepreservation of areas for their scenic ratherthan ecological value Further theconservation function of parks is underminedby the fact that park lands are not exclusivelystate-owned and even in cases where they areunder the jurisdiction of the state this is oftenunder government bodies which have economicor industrial interests in the use of park landsThis leads to conflicts between natureconservation interests and developmentforestry and private interests Furthermoreuntil recently there has been no law requiringenvironmental impact assessments to becarried out before development occurs innational parks (or any other area of ecologicalsignificance for that matter)13 In the pastattempts have been made by the EnvironmentalAgency (now the MOE) to strengthen the lawgoverning the establishment and managementof national parks but these have been thwartedby the Forestry Agency and the former Ministryof Construction (now part of the Ministry of

Land Infrastructure and Transport) which didnot want their powers to manage the parksweakened (Natori 1997 555)

Conflict between development andconservation

A recurrent theme particularly during Japanrsquoshigh growth period but still apparent today isthe conflict between development andconservation Where there is a conflict betweenhabitat protection and development more oftenthan not the latter has prevailed This is due toa multitude of factors the relative power ofpro-development government bodies such asthe Ministry of Construction (now the Ministryof Land Infrastructure and Transport) whichhave close ties to financially influential privatecorporations the relative weakness of theMOE a weak legislative framework for theprotection of wildlife and their habitats arelatively small and uninfluential natureconservation lobby low public awareness ofconservation and ecological issues and adesire for development in order to stimulateregional rejuvenation

A case which exemplifies this conflict is that ofthe miyako tanago (metropolitan bitterling) afreshwater fish now found only in the waters ofthe Kanto plain In the early 1990s it wasreported that the freshwater brooks and pondsin which these fish spawn were drying up dueto the bu i l d ing o f r e so r t s and go l fcoursesmdashwhich diminish the landrsquos capacity tostore watermdashand the building of concreteoutflows on farmland (Anon 1994 14) Inaddition due to water pollution there has beena marked decline in the matsukasagai theshellfish in which the bitterling lays its eggsemploying it as an ldquoincubatorrdquo (Kondo 1996 9)However farmland improvement and thedevelopment of resorts and golf courses weredeemed important to local residents andpreserving the unique ecology of themetropolitan bitterling did not attractwidespread public support Finally in

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

13

December 1994 in accordance with the Lawfor the Preservation of Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora the Environment Agencydesignated the sole remaining bitterling habitatin Otawara as a protected sanctuary (Kondo1996 9) While undoubtedly this is a positivedevelopment the striking fact is that measuresto protect the bitterlingrsquos habitat were onlytaken when only one habitat remained

Another instance of the clash of developmentand conservation is the case of the Amamiblack rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi) The caseexemplifies problems which are common tomany rural areas in Japan where humanpopulations are both diminishing and agingand where the local economy and employmentopportunities are in decline The Amami blackrabbit is an endangered species endemic to thesouthern Amami Islands (there are estimated tobe only 1000 rabbits remaining) In the 1990sits habitat was threatened by the proposeddevelopment of a golf course which localshoped would reinvigorate the local economyFinally after much protest an environmentalorganisation successfully used the media todraw attention to the plight of the rabbit andthe Ministry of Culture subsequently halted thegolf course (Domoto 1997)

It is also common for development projects orcommercial activity to be pursued in areas ofknown ecological importance despitepotentially damaging ecological impacts This isin part due to a lack of effective environmentalimpact assessment procedures though perhapsmore critically it stems from the political andeconomic imbalance between pro-conservationand pro-development forces One such case isthat of the logging of the Shiretoko NationalPark in Hokkaido It was well documented thatthe area is habitat to seriously threatenedspecies such as Blakistonrsquos fish-owl the White-tailed eagle and the Pryerrsquos woodpecker aswell as being the sole remaining habitat ofseveral other species Nevertheless in 1986the Forestry Agency announced a plan to

selectively log 10000 trees in an area of 1700hectares in the park (Logging and othercommercial activities in national parks arepermissible under the Natural Park Law) Inspite of nation-wide opposition as a result of anorganised and well-publicised campaignopposing the logging the Forestry Agencyproceeded with the plan in 1987

The Isahaya Bay tidal-land reclamation projectin Nagasaki Prefecture is another example of aproject in which development objectives wereplaced ahead of environmental and perhapsmore ironically economic considerations Itwas carried out despite the fact that theoriginal reason for the project had lost allrelevancemdashto reclaim land for farming at atime when Japan was experiencing an over-production of rice and farmers were being paidto keep fields fallow (Lies 2001)mdashand in theface of widespread national and internationalopposition

The mutsugorō became emblematic of allthe creatures endangered by the Isahayareclamation project

Tidal-lands are vital buffers between the landand sea and are habitats supporting highbiological diversity The Isahaya Bay tidal land

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

14

was also an important stopover point for birdsmigrating between Siberia and Australasia Itmade up six per cent of Japanrsquos remaining tidal-land and was habitat to about 300 species ofmarine l i fe such as the mud-skipper(mutsugorō) and approximately 230 differentspecies of birds including a population ofChinese black-headed gulls of which only 2000are estimated to remain worldwide (Umehara2003)

A section of the 7 km long sluice-gateacross Isahaya Bay

The project entailed the construction of a sevenkilometre long dyke to cut off the tidal area inorder to create flood-pools and 1500 hectaresof farmland The government refused to reviewthe project despite repeated petitioning bylocal fishermen to halt the construction of thedyke and formal protests of over 250organisations both international and nationalIt was estimated that by the time the projectwas completed each hectare of reclaimed landwould have cost the tax-payer US $13 millionOn the other hand environmentalists claimthat the project has resulted in the localextinction of a number of species includingmany endangered species such as the mud-skipper in addition to destroying Japanrsquoslargest remaining tideland habitat (Anon 2002Watts 2001 Crowell amp Murakami 2001Fukatsu 1997 26ndash30 McCormack 2005)

In spite of the destruction already caused toisland and coastal ecologies in Japanparticularly in the Okinawan archipelago thegovernment has pursued further developmentprojects on other islands One proposalpromoted for over a decade by the TokyoMetropolitan Government (which hasadministrative jurisdiction over the Ogasawaraarchipelago) was to construct an airport onAnijima an island in the archipelago Theisland is often called the ldquoAsian Galapagosrdquoand is the home of primeval nature andOgasawaran biota remaining only on AnijimaThe airport was to include an 1800 metrerunway to service a burgeoning touristindustry Finally after an independentenvironmental review was completed whichclearly showed the extent of the environmentalimpact of the project the Tokyo Metropolitangovernment shelved the plan insteadproposing to build the airport elsewhere on thearchipelago (Tomiyama amp Asami 1998 Guo2009)

Conclusions

This paper provided an overview of the state ofnatural environments and wildlife in Japantoday and of the primary threats to theseHabitat destruction represents the greatestsingle threat to Japanrsquos wildlife and naturalenvironments and it continues in variousforms threatening to destroy more of Japanrsquoslast remaining wetlands and natural andprimeval forest In addition failure toadequately protect or monitor areas ofecological importance such as national parksexacerbates the problem

The paper examined the key factorscontributing to these threats to the naturalenvironment The first factor noted was thelimited and relatively weak legislativeframework and the gap between policy andimplementation with regard to natureconservation and wildlife management Thesecond factor was a natural park system which

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

15

emphasises tourism over the ecological value ofparks and a situation in which parks are notadequately monitored and protected againstdetrimental environmental impactsmdashwhetheras a result of tourism or development Thethird and possibly most critical factor is thecon f l i c t be tween deve lopment andconservation the imbalance in economic andpolitical power in Japan means that in generalwhere forces of development and conservationare at odds forces for development prevailMany of these factors exist in other countriesfacing challenges to the natural environmentThe combination of such factors in Japan hasnevertheless resulted in a far-reaching assaulton the environment

Given the pervasiveness of these underlyingfactors the outlook for Japanrsquos remainingnatural environments appears bleak Howeverrecent developments such as an economywhich has slowed considerably since the highgrowth period of the 1980s and early 1990swhen development projects were pursuedirrespective of the economic and environmentalcosts a long-term demographic downturn astrengthening environmental NGO (non-governmental organisation) sector a change ofgovernment from the long-serving traditionallypro-development Liberal Democratic Party tothe Democratic Party of Japan14 and anincreasing emphasis both nationally andinternationally on the preservation of theearthrsquos remaining biodiversity mean that thereshould be scope for (albeit restrained)optimism in regard to the prospects for thefuture of Japanrsquos natural heritage

Catherine Knight is an independent researcherwho is employed by day as an environmentalpolicy analyst Her research focuses on NewZealand and Japanese environmental historyHer doctoral thesis explored the humanrelationship with the Asiatic black bear through

J a p a n e s e h i s t o r y [ a v a i l a b l e h e r e(httpircanterburyacnzhandle10092991])]She is particularly interested in upland andlowland forest environments and how peoplehave interacted with these environmentsthrough history Her publications can bev i e w e d h e r e(httpenvirohistorynzwordpresscomarticles) Catherine also runs an online environmentalh i s t o r y f o r u m(httpenvirohistorynzwordpresscom) whichexplores New Zealandrsquos environmental history

Recommended citation Catherine KnightNatural Environments Wildlife andConservation in Japan The Asia-PacificJournal 4-2-10 January 25 2010

日本における自然環境野生動植物その保護

References

Anon 1994 Live and let diemdashThe sad story ofJapanrsquos endangered species The East 30(3)11ndash17

Anon 2002 WWF Japan urges restoration ofIsahaya Bay IndyMedia UK 9 August

Birdlife International nd Japanese forests R e t r i e v e d M a r c h 3 2 0 0 4 L i n k

( h t t p w w w b i r d l i f e n e t actionsciencespeciesasia_strategypdf_downloadsforestsFO2pdf)

Bowring R and Kornicki P eds 1993 Cambridge encyclopedia of Japan New YorkCambridge University Press

Crowell Todd amp Murakami Mutsuko 2001 Public works time bombs AsiaWeekcom 27(6) Retrieved August 1 2003 Link(httpwwwasiaweekcomasiaweekmagazinenations 087829844900html)

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

9

Summary of lawsevents relating to natureconservation in Japan

While undoubtedly a positive step for wildlifeconservation the effectiveness of the law islimited by the fact that the MOE lacks sufficientpower to designate endangered species asprotected species or to designate importanthabitats as protected areas (Yoshida 2004personal communication) A further probleminherent in the law is that while reserves maybe established to protect entire habitats onlyfive small reservations have been established todate (as ldquowilderness areasrdquo as mentionedabove) owing to reluctance on the part of land-owners to cooperate with the MOE to protectendangered species on their land (Yoshida2004 personal communication) In additionthe law has been criticised by conservationistsfor putting excessive emphasis on protectingindividual species rather than ecosystems ingeneral (eg Yoshida 2004 personalcommunication Domoto 1997) This isreflected clearly in the nature and purpose ofthe reserves which focus on the managementof one species and its habitat rather than anecological system comprised of a complexnetwork of interacting organisms10

In 1995 subsequent to Japan becoming asignatory to the Convention on BiologicalDiversity in 1992 the National Biodiversity

Strategy which outlined the basic principlesfor conserving biodiversity was introducedHowever this too has been criticised for lackingquantitative targets and not adequatelyaddressing the management of wildlife andtheir habitats outside protected areas (OECD2002 29) In addition the preservation ofbiodiversity is not reflected in the managementof national parks in which development andhuman activity impacting on the natural parkenvironment is poorly controlled and regulatedand wildlife and their habitats are not wellmonitored and protected (Ishikawa 2001 201)

While recent legislation heightens the profile ofnature conservation and its importance itremains largely ineffective without adequatestaff skills and resources to carry out effectivewildlife management programmes Central andprefectural (regional) government budgets forwildlife management are limited and wildlifemanagement operations are significantlyunderstaffed Furthermore very few of thestaff employed by the MOE or prefecturalgovernments are specialists in wildlifeconservation or even trained in this field (MiyaiRoy 1998 Hazumi 2006) Thus there is asignificant gap between legislation andimplementation with regard to the natureconservation function

The function of national parks in natureconservation

It is generally expected that one of the keypurposes of national parks is to protect naturalenvironments of scenic and ecological valueand the wildlife within them However anumber of authors (eg McGill 1992 Natori1997 Ishikawa 2001) have suggested that inJapan the designation of areas of ldquoecologicalsignificancerdquo as a national or natural park farfrom affording areas increased protectionoften proves detrimental to the conservation ofthe area owing to such factors as thedevelopment of tourist facilities roadconstruction vehicle pollution and over-use

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

10

An overview of the history of national parks inJapan serves to provide context for thisapparently paradoxical situation Japanrsquos firstlaw establishing national parks was theNational Parks law which came into force in1931 with the first national parks beingestablished in March 1934 National parkswere established with the purpose of promotingrecreational activities and aiding thedevelopment of tourism particularly after theSecond World War As a result the definition ofldquonational parkrdquo became ambiguous as nationalparks included scenic areas tourist resortsand suburban recreational areas To deal withthis problem the National Parks Law wasrevised in 1949 and national parks weredesignated according to more rigorous criteriaAny area which did not meet the criteria wasdesignated as a quasi-national park In 1957the Natural Parks Law was enactedestablishing regulations for the various nationalparks and forming the basis of the currentnatural park system (see Table 1) From thelate 1950s onwards Japan entered a period ofhigh economic growth and as income percapita rose visitors to natural parks increasedsharply Requests from prefectural or localgovernments to designate scenic areas in theirregions as national or quasi-national parks alsointensified and areas designated as new quasi-national parks or incorporated into existingnational parks increased Currently there are29 national parks totalling an area of 209million hectares (55 per cent of the area of thecountry) and 56 quasi-national parksoccupying 136 million hectares (36 per cent ofthe area of the country) (MOE 2008a) Afurther characteristic of the national parksystem which does not lend itself to natureconservation is the system of jurisdiction overparks Unlike many countries where nationalparks are comprised of state-owned landdesignated solely for recreational andconservation purposes in Japan a significantproportion of the land in national (or natural)parks is either privately owned or under thejurisdiction of a government body other than

the MOE (MOE 2008b)

As noted the emphasis of the Natural ParksLaw is the stimulation of tourism and itexplicitly allows for the development of touristfacilities in areas designated as national ornatural parks (Natori 1997 552) Furtherexacerbating the lack of protection for naturalparks in 1987 The National Resort Law wasenacted as part of the governmentrsquos plan toencourage tourism development Clause 15 ofthe law specifically provides for the opening upof state-owned forests as resort areas (Yoshida2001 McCormack 1996 87ndash88) As a resultmuch of the area designated as natural parks isheavily developed with roads houses golfcourses and resorts (McGill 1992 Ishikawa2001 67ndash109) A park demonstrating theimpact of this process is Shiga Heights habitatto the famous snow monkeys Before it wasdesignated a national park tourist facilitiesconsisted of one hotel and a few natural skislopes By 1987 it had 22 ski resorts and 101hotels and attracted many times more visitorsthan previous to its designation (Stewart-Smith1987 68ndash69)

Furthermore the Natural Parks Law does notlimit visitor numbers to parks some nationalparks experience visitor numbers of more than10000 per day at popular times of the year(Ishikawa 2001 198) To facilitate tourismalpine tourist routes have been developedbeginning with the opening up of theTateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route in ChūbuSangaku National Park in 1971 Concomitantwith high visitor numbers is the risk of damageto the environment caused by the disposal oflarge volumes of human waste trampling offauna by visitors littering and vehicle exhaustemissions For example exhaust emissionsfrom the large number of tourist buses whichtravel the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route innorthern Honshu is reported to have causeddamage to the beech forest along the route(Ishikawa 2001 199) In addition authoritiesmay carry out additional development to

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

11

improve safety convenience or access fortourists An example is levee works in theAzusa River at the entrance to Chūbu SangakuNational Park The Ministry of Transportproceeded with the worksmdashdespite theirpotential impact on the surroundingenvironmentmdashin order to protect tourists in theevent of the river flooding (Ishikawa 2001198ndash199)

It has been suggested that Japanrsquos natural parkmanagement policy unduly emphasises thepreservation of scenic beauty with little regardfor ecological preservation (Natori 1997 552Ishikawa 2001 196ndash198 McCormack 199696) A case which exemplifies this emphasis onthe preservation of scenic beauty is that of theShihoro Kōgen road The local government ofHokkaido first proposed a plan to construct atourist highway through the DaisetsusanNational Park (the largest national park inJapan) in 1965 The construction initially wentahead but was halted in 1973 The project wasproposed again during the resort-boom of the1980s Opposition temporarily halted theproject but in 1995 the EnvironmentConservation Council accepted a modified planwhich involved digging a massive tunnelthrough the mountains The revised plan metthe criteria of the Natural Parks Law whichprohibits construction that damages the visuallandscape of a national park but does notprohibit projects which will cause ecologicaldamage which is ldquounseenrdquo Finally however in1999 following vigorous campaigning ofnational and local environmental organisationsthe Governor of Hokkaido announced that theproject would be shelved (Yoshida 2002)

A further weakness of the Japanese naturalpark system is that the Ministry of theEnvironment (formerly the EnvironmentalAgency) does not have sole jurisdiction overthese areas Twenty-six per cent of nationalpark land and 40 per cent of natural park landis privately owned In addition of the 62 percent of national park land and 46 per cent of

natural park land that is state-owned much ofthis is under the primary jurisdiction of theForestry Agency or other agencies withindustrial or economic interests in the landConflicts of interest between the Ministry ofthe Environment and agencies which have aneconomic interest in a park (for examplethrough mining and forestry) are notuncommon further compromising theconservation function of natural parks11 Anexample of this is the Shiretoko logging casewhere the Forestry Agencyrsquos core objective togenerate income from forestry clashed withthe interests of nature conservation12

Another problem relating to the management ofnational parks is inadequate staffing In Japanthere is approximately one full-time staffmember per 10000 hectares in comparison toone staff member per 1500 in the UnitedStates or one per 2000 hectares in the UnitedKingdom (Ishikawa 2001 203) This means thatwhile staff are in theory responsible forwildlife management duties such as protectionand breeding programmes for designatedspecies and the management of wildlifeprotection areas in accordance with the Lawfor the Conservation of Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora (1992) they are actuallypreoccupied predominantly with administrativeduties such as processing permits With staffoverburdened other dut ies such asenvironmental surveys monitoring activitiesand conservation education rely predominantlyon volunteers (Ishikawa 2001 199ndash200)

Exemplifying these problems is Izu nationalpark Although the Izu archipelago isdesignated as a national park with severalsites designated as ldquospecial protected areasrdquothere are few rangers and loss of habitatcontinues on many islands (Birdlife nd) Inaddition owing to low staff numbers staff arerarely able to ensure compliance with theconditions of use in park zones for exampleensuring that the public does not enterspecially protected zones or that prohibited

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

12

activities such as hunting lighting of fires andvehicle use do not occur Another caseexemplifying these issues is an area in theShirakami mountains in northern Honshuwhich encompasses the largest virgin beechforest in Japan and which has been designateda world heritage site by UNESCO owing to itsunique flora and fauna It is one of the tendesignated ldquonature conservationrdquo areas inJapan of which there are only 21500 hectaresin total (005 per cent of Japanrsquos land area)However owing to inadequate monitoring oreducation visitors leave garbage in the forestlight fires and enter specially protected areaswhere entry is prohibited (Kuroiwa 2002) Theinabi l i ty to monitor park use at th isfundamental level inevitably undermines theeffectiveness of parks as nature conservationareas

As can be seen an array of problemsundermines the conservation function ofnational parks in Japan A key weakness arisesfrom the fact that natural parks from the outsethave emphasised tourism development and thepreservation of areas for their scenic ratherthan ecological value Further theconservation function of parks is underminedby the fact that park lands are not exclusivelystate-owned and even in cases where they areunder the jurisdiction of the state this is oftenunder government bodies which have economicor industrial interests in the use of park landsThis leads to conflicts between natureconservation interests and developmentforestry and private interests Furthermoreuntil recently there has been no law requiringenvironmental impact assessments to becarried out before development occurs innational parks (or any other area of ecologicalsignificance for that matter)13 In the pastattempts have been made by the EnvironmentalAgency (now the MOE) to strengthen the lawgoverning the establishment and managementof national parks but these have been thwartedby the Forestry Agency and the former Ministryof Construction (now part of the Ministry of

Land Infrastructure and Transport) which didnot want their powers to manage the parksweakened (Natori 1997 555)

Conflict between development andconservation

A recurrent theme particularly during Japanrsquoshigh growth period but still apparent today isthe conflict between development andconservation Where there is a conflict betweenhabitat protection and development more oftenthan not the latter has prevailed This is due toa multitude of factors the relative power ofpro-development government bodies such asthe Ministry of Construction (now the Ministryof Land Infrastructure and Transport) whichhave close ties to financially influential privatecorporations the relative weakness of theMOE a weak legislative framework for theprotection of wildlife and their habitats arelatively small and uninfluential natureconservation lobby low public awareness ofconservation and ecological issues and adesire for development in order to stimulateregional rejuvenation

A case which exemplifies this conflict is that ofthe miyako tanago (metropolitan bitterling) afreshwater fish now found only in the waters ofthe Kanto plain In the early 1990s it wasreported that the freshwater brooks and pondsin which these fish spawn were drying up dueto the bu i l d ing o f r e so r t s and go l fcoursesmdashwhich diminish the landrsquos capacity tostore watermdashand the building of concreteoutflows on farmland (Anon 1994 14) Inaddition due to water pollution there has beena marked decline in the matsukasagai theshellfish in which the bitterling lays its eggsemploying it as an ldquoincubatorrdquo (Kondo 1996 9)However farmland improvement and thedevelopment of resorts and golf courses weredeemed important to local residents andpreserving the unique ecology of themetropolitan bitterling did not attractwidespread public support Finally in

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

13

December 1994 in accordance with the Lawfor the Preservation of Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora the Environment Agencydesignated the sole remaining bitterling habitatin Otawara as a protected sanctuary (Kondo1996 9) While undoubtedly this is a positivedevelopment the striking fact is that measuresto protect the bitterlingrsquos habitat were onlytaken when only one habitat remained

Another instance of the clash of developmentand conservation is the case of the Amamiblack rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi) The caseexemplifies problems which are common tomany rural areas in Japan where humanpopulations are both diminishing and agingand where the local economy and employmentopportunities are in decline The Amami blackrabbit is an endangered species endemic to thesouthern Amami Islands (there are estimated tobe only 1000 rabbits remaining) In the 1990sits habitat was threatened by the proposeddevelopment of a golf course which localshoped would reinvigorate the local economyFinally after much protest an environmentalorganisation successfully used the media todraw attention to the plight of the rabbit andthe Ministry of Culture subsequently halted thegolf course (Domoto 1997)

It is also common for development projects orcommercial activity to be pursued in areas ofknown ecological importance despitepotentially damaging ecological impacts This isin part due to a lack of effective environmentalimpact assessment procedures though perhapsmore critically it stems from the political andeconomic imbalance between pro-conservationand pro-development forces One such case isthat of the logging of the Shiretoko NationalPark in Hokkaido It was well documented thatthe area is habitat to seriously threatenedspecies such as Blakistonrsquos fish-owl the White-tailed eagle and the Pryerrsquos woodpecker aswell as being the sole remaining habitat ofseveral other species Nevertheless in 1986the Forestry Agency announced a plan to

selectively log 10000 trees in an area of 1700hectares in the park (Logging and othercommercial activities in national parks arepermissible under the Natural Park Law) Inspite of nation-wide opposition as a result of anorganised and well-publicised campaignopposing the logging the Forestry Agencyproceeded with the plan in 1987

The Isahaya Bay tidal-land reclamation projectin Nagasaki Prefecture is another example of aproject in which development objectives wereplaced ahead of environmental and perhapsmore ironically economic considerations Itwas carried out despite the fact that theoriginal reason for the project had lost allrelevancemdashto reclaim land for farming at atime when Japan was experiencing an over-production of rice and farmers were being paidto keep fields fallow (Lies 2001)mdashand in theface of widespread national and internationalopposition

The mutsugorō became emblematic of allthe creatures endangered by the Isahayareclamation project

Tidal-lands are vital buffers between the landand sea and are habitats supporting highbiological diversity The Isahaya Bay tidal land

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

14

was also an important stopover point for birdsmigrating between Siberia and Australasia Itmade up six per cent of Japanrsquos remaining tidal-land and was habitat to about 300 species ofmarine l i fe such as the mud-skipper(mutsugorō) and approximately 230 differentspecies of birds including a population ofChinese black-headed gulls of which only 2000are estimated to remain worldwide (Umehara2003)

A section of the 7 km long sluice-gateacross Isahaya Bay

The project entailed the construction of a sevenkilometre long dyke to cut off the tidal area inorder to create flood-pools and 1500 hectaresof farmland The government refused to reviewthe project despite repeated petitioning bylocal fishermen to halt the construction of thedyke and formal protests of over 250organisations both international and nationalIt was estimated that by the time the projectwas completed each hectare of reclaimed landwould have cost the tax-payer US $13 millionOn the other hand environmentalists claimthat the project has resulted in the localextinction of a number of species includingmany endangered species such as the mud-skipper in addition to destroying Japanrsquoslargest remaining tideland habitat (Anon 2002Watts 2001 Crowell amp Murakami 2001Fukatsu 1997 26ndash30 McCormack 2005)

In spite of the destruction already caused toisland and coastal ecologies in Japanparticularly in the Okinawan archipelago thegovernment has pursued further developmentprojects on other islands One proposalpromoted for over a decade by the TokyoMetropolitan Government (which hasadministrative jurisdiction over the Ogasawaraarchipelago) was to construct an airport onAnijima an island in the archipelago Theisland is often called the ldquoAsian Galapagosrdquoand is the home of primeval nature andOgasawaran biota remaining only on AnijimaThe airport was to include an 1800 metrerunway to service a burgeoning touristindustry Finally after an independentenvironmental review was completed whichclearly showed the extent of the environmentalimpact of the project the Tokyo Metropolitangovernment shelved the plan insteadproposing to build the airport elsewhere on thearchipelago (Tomiyama amp Asami 1998 Guo2009)

Conclusions

This paper provided an overview of the state ofnatural environments and wildlife in Japantoday and of the primary threats to theseHabitat destruction represents the greatestsingle threat to Japanrsquos wildlife and naturalenvironments and it continues in variousforms threatening to destroy more of Japanrsquoslast remaining wetlands and natural andprimeval forest In addition failure toadequately protect or monitor areas ofecological importance such as national parksexacerbates the problem

The paper examined the key factorscontributing to these threats to the naturalenvironment The first factor noted was thelimited and relatively weak legislativeframework and the gap between policy andimplementation with regard to natureconservation and wildlife management Thesecond factor was a natural park system which

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

15

emphasises tourism over the ecological value ofparks and a situation in which parks are notadequately monitored and protected againstdetrimental environmental impactsmdashwhetheras a result of tourism or development Thethird and possibly most critical factor is thecon f l i c t be tween deve lopment andconservation the imbalance in economic andpolitical power in Japan means that in generalwhere forces of development and conservationare at odds forces for development prevailMany of these factors exist in other countriesfacing challenges to the natural environmentThe combination of such factors in Japan hasnevertheless resulted in a far-reaching assaulton the environment

Given the pervasiveness of these underlyingfactors the outlook for Japanrsquos remainingnatural environments appears bleak Howeverrecent developments such as an economywhich has slowed considerably since the highgrowth period of the 1980s and early 1990swhen development projects were pursuedirrespective of the economic and environmentalcosts a long-term demographic downturn astrengthening environmental NGO (non-governmental organisation) sector a change ofgovernment from the long-serving traditionallypro-development Liberal Democratic Party tothe Democratic Party of Japan14 and anincreasing emphasis both nationally andinternationally on the preservation of theearthrsquos remaining biodiversity mean that thereshould be scope for (albeit restrained)optimism in regard to the prospects for thefuture of Japanrsquos natural heritage

Catherine Knight is an independent researcherwho is employed by day as an environmentalpolicy analyst Her research focuses on NewZealand and Japanese environmental historyHer doctoral thesis explored the humanrelationship with the Asiatic black bear through

J a p a n e s e h i s t o r y [ a v a i l a b l e h e r e(httpircanterburyacnzhandle10092991])]She is particularly interested in upland andlowland forest environments and how peoplehave interacted with these environmentsthrough history Her publications can bev i e w e d h e r e(httpenvirohistorynzwordpresscomarticles) Catherine also runs an online environmentalh i s t o r y f o r u m(httpenvirohistorynzwordpresscom) whichexplores New Zealandrsquos environmental history

Recommended citation Catherine KnightNatural Environments Wildlife andConservation in Japan The Asia-PacificJournal 4-2-10 January 25 2010

日本における自然環境野生動植物その保護

References

Anon 1994 Live and let diemdashThe sad story ofJapanrsquos endangered species The East 30(3)11ndash17

Anon 2002 WWF Japan urges restoration ofIsahaya Bay IndyMedia UK 9 August

Birdlife International nd Japanese forests R e t r i e v e d M a r c h 3 2 0 0 4 L i n k

( h t t p w w w b i r d l i f e n e t actionsciencespeciesasia_strategypdf_downloadsforestsFO2pdf)

Bowring R and Kornicki P eds 1993 Cambridge encyclopedia of Japan New YorkCambridge University Press

Crowell Todd amp Murakami Mutsuko 2001 Public works time bombs AsiaWeekcom 27(6) Retrieved August 1 2003 Link(httpwwwasiaweekcomasiaweekmagazinenations 087829844900html)

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

10

An overview of the history of national parks inJapan serves to provide context for thisapparently paradoxical situation Japanrsquos firstlaw establishing national parks was theNational Parks law which came into force in1931 with the first national parks beingestablished in March 1934 National parkswere established with the purpose of promotingrecreational activities and aiding thedevelopment of tourism particularly after theSecond World War As a result the definition ofldquonational parkrdquo became ambiguous as nationalparks included scenic areas tourist resortsand suburban recreational areas To deal withthis problem the National Parks Law wasrevised in 1949 and national parks weredesignated according to more rigorous criteriaAny area which did not meet the criteria wasdesignated as a quasi-national park In 1957the Natural Parks Law was enactedestablishing regulations for the various nationalparks and forming the basis of the currentnatural park system (see Table 1) From thelate 1950s onwards Japan entered a period ofhigh economic growth and as income percapita rose visitors to natural parks increasedsharply Requests from prefectural or localgovernments to designate scenic areas in theirregions as national or quasi-national parks alsointensified and areas designated as new quasi-national parks or incorporated into existingnational parks increased Currently there are29 national parks totalling an area of 209million hectares (55 per cent of the area of thecountry) and 56 quasi-national parksoccupying 136 million hectares (36 per cent ofthe area of the country) (MOE 2008a) Afurther characteristic of the national parksystem which does not lend itself to natureconservation is the system of jurisdiction overparks Unlike many countries where nationalparks are comprised of state-owned landdesignated solely for recreational andconservation purposes in Japan a significantproportion of the land in national (or natural)parks is either privately owned or under thejurisdiction of a government body other than

the MOE (MOE 2008b)

As noted the emphasis of the Natural ParksLaw is the stimulation of tourism and itexplicitly allows for the development of touristfacilities in areas designated as national ornatural parks (Natori 1997 552) Furtherexacerbating the lack of protection for naturalparks in 1987 The National Resort Law wasenacted as part of the governmentrsquos plan toencourage tourism development Clause 15 ofthe law specifically provides for the opening upof state-owned forests as resort areas (Yoshida2001 McCormack 1996 87ndash88) As a resultmuch of the area designated as natural parks isheavily developed with roads houses golfcourses and resorts (McGill 1992 Ishikawa2001 67ndash109) A park demonstrating theimpact of this process is Shiga Heights habitatto the famous snow monkeys Before it wasdesignated a national park tourist facilitiesconsisted of one hotel and a few natural skislopes By 1987 it had 22 ski resorts and 101hotels and attracted many times more visitorsthan previous to its designation (Stewart-Smith1987 68ndash69)

Furthermore the Natural Parks Law does notlimit visitor numbers to parks some nationalparks experience visitor numbers of more than10000 per day at popular times of the year(Ishikawa 2001 198) To facilitate tourismalpine tourist routes have been developedbeginning with the opening up of theTateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route in ChūbuSangaku National Park in 1971 Concomitantwith high visitor numbers is the risk of damageto the environment caused by the disposal oflarge volumes of human waste trampling offauna by visitors littering and vehicle exhaustemissions For example exhaust emissionsfrom the large number of tourist buses whichtravel the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route innorthern Honshu is reported to have causeddamage to the beech forest along the route(Ishikawa 2001 199) In addition authoritiesmay carry out additional development to

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

11

improve safety convenience or access fortourists An example is levee works in theAzusa River at the entrance to Chūbu SangakuNational Park The Ministry of Transportproceeded with the worksmdashdespite theirpotential impact on the surroundingenvironmentmdashin order to protect tourists in theevent of the river flooding (Ishikawa 2001198ndash199)

It has been suggested that Japanrsquos natural parkmanagement policy unduly emphasises thepreservation of scenic beauty with little regardfor ecological preservation (Natori 1997 552Ishikawa 2001 196ndash198 McCormack 199696) A case which exemplifies this emphasis onthe preservation of scenic beauty is that of theShihoro Kōgen road The local government ofHokkaido first proposed a plan to construct atourist highway through the DaisetsusanNational Park (the largest national park inJapan) in 1965 The construction initially wentahead but was halted in 1973 The project wasproposed again during the resort-boom of the1980s Opposition temporarily halted theproject but in 1995 the EnvironmentConservation Council accepted a modified planwhich involved digging a massive tunnelthrough the mountains The revised plan metthe criteria of the Natural Parks Law whichprohibits construction that damages the visuallandscape of a national park but does notprohibit projects which will cause ecologicaldamage which is ldquounseenrdquo Finally however in1999 following vigorous campaigning ofnational and local environmental organisationsthe Governor of Hokkaido announced that theproject would be shelved (Yoshida 2002)

A further weakness of the Japanese naturalpark system is that the Ministry of theEnvironment (formerly the EnvironmentalAgency) does not have sole jurisdiction overthese areas Twenty-six per cent of nationalpark land and 40 per cent of natural park landis privately owned In addition of the 62 percent of national park land and 46 per cent of

natural park land that is state-owned much ofthis is under the primary jurisdiction of theForestry Agency or other agencies withindustrial or economic interests in the landConflicts of interest between the Ministry ofthe Environment and agencies which have aneconomic interest in a park (for examplethrough mining and forestry) are notuncommon further compromising theconservation function of natural parks11 Anexample of this is the Shiretoko logging casewhere the Forestry Agencyrsquos core objective togenerate income from forestry clashed withthe interests of nature conservation12

Another problem relating to the management ofnational parks is inadequate staffing In Japanthere is approximately one full-time staffmember per 10000 hectares in comparison toone staff member per 1500 in the UnitedStates or one per 2000 hectares in the UnitedKingdom (Ishikawa 2001 203) This means thatwhile staff are in theory responsible forwildlife management duties such as protectionand breeding programmes for designatedspecies and the management of wildlifeprotection areas in accordance with the Lawfor the Conservation of Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora (1992) they are actuallypreoccupied predominantly with administrativeduties such as processing permits With staffoverburdened other dut ies such asenvironmental surveys monitoring activitiesand conservation education rely predominantlyon volunteers (Ishikawa 2001 199ndash200)

Exemplifying these problems is Izu nationalpark Although the Izu archipelago isdesignated as a national park with severalsites designated as ldquospecial protected areasrdquothere are few rangers and loss of habitatcontinues on many islands (Birdlife nd) Inaddition owing to low staff numbers staff arerarely able to ensure compliance with theconditions of use in park zones for exampleensuring that the public does not enterspecially protected zones or that prohibited

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

12

activities such as hunting lighting of fires andvehicle use do not occur Another caseexemplifying these issues is an area in theShirakami mountains in northern Honshuwhich encompasses the largest virgin beechforest in Japan and which has been designateda world heritage site by UNESCO owing to itsunique flora and fauna It is one of the tendesignated ldquonature conservationrdquo areas inJapan of which there are only 21500 hectaresin total (005 per cent of Japanrsquos land area)However owing to inadequate monitoring oreducation visitors leave garbage in the forestlight fires and enter specially protected areaswhere entry is prohibited (Kuroiwa 2002) Theinabi l i ty to monitor park use at th isfundamental level inevitably undermines theeffectiveness of parks as nature conservationareas

As can be seen an array of problemsundermines the conservation function ofnational parks in Japan A key weakness arisesfrom the fact that natural parks from the outsethave emphasised tourism development and thepreservation of areas for their scenic ratherthan ecological value Further theconservation function of parks is underminedby the fact that park lands are not exclusivelystate-owned and even in cases where they areunder the jurisdiction of the state this is oftenunder government bodies which have economicor industrial interests in the use of park landsThis leads to conflicts between natureconservation interests and developmentforestry and private interests Furthermoreuntil recently there has been no law requiringenvironmental impact assessments to becarried out before development occurs innational parks (or any other area of ecologicalsignificance for that matter)13 In the pastattempts have been made by the EnvironmentalAgency (now the MOE) to strengthen the lawgoverning the establishment and managementof national parks but these have been thwartedby the Forestry Agency and the former Ministryof Construction (now part of the Ministry of

Land Infrastructure and Transport) which didnot want their powers to manage the parksweakened (Natori 1997 555)

Conflict between development andconservation

A recurrent theme particularly during Japanrsquoshigh growth period but still apparent today isthe conflict between development andconservation Where there is a conflict betweenhabitat protection and development more oftenthan not the latter has prevailed This is due toa multitude of factors the relative power ofpro-development government bodies such asthe Ministry of Construction (now the Ministryof Land Infrastructure and Transport) whichhave close ties to financially influential privatecorporations the relative weakness of theMOE a weak legislative framework for theprotection of wildlife and their habitats arelatively small and uninfluential natureconservation lobby low public awareness ofconservation and ecological issues and adesire for development in order to stimulateregional rejuvenation

A case which exemplifies this conflict is that ofthe miyako tanago (metropolitan bitterling) afreshwater fish now found only in the waters ofthe Kanto plain In the early 1990s it wasreported that the freshwater brooks and pondsin which these fish spawn were drying up dueto the bu i l d ing o f r e so r t s and go l fcoursesmdashwhich diminish the landrsquos capacity tostore watermdashand the building of concreteoutflows on farmland (Anon 1994 14) Inaddition due to water pollution there has beena marked decline in the matsukasagai theshellfish in which the bitterling lays its eggsemploying it as an ldquoincubatorrdquo (Kondo 1996 9)However farmland improvement and thedevelopment of resorts and golf courses weredeemed important to local residents andpreserving the unique ecology of themetropolitan bitterling did not attractwidespread public support Finally in

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

13

December 1994 in accordance with the Lawfor the Preservation of Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora the Environment Agencydesignated the sole remaining bitterling habitatin Otawara as a protected sanctuary (Kondo1996 9) While undoubtedly this is a positivedevelopment the striking fact is that measuresto protect the bitterlingrsquos habitat were onlytaken when only one habitat remained

Another instance of the clash of developmentand conservation is the case of the Amamiblack rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi) The caseexemplifies problems which are common tomany rural areas in Japan where humanpopulations are both diminishing and agingand where the local economy and employmentopportunities are in decline The Amami blackrabbit is an endangered species endemic to thesouthern Amami Islands (there are estimated tobe only 1000 rabbits remaining) In the 1990sits habitat was threatened by the proposeddevelopment of a golf course which localshoped would reinvigorate the local economyFinally after much protest an environmentalorganisation successfully used the media todraw attention to the plight of the rabbit andthe Ministry of Culture subsequently halted thegolf course (Domoto 1997)

It is also common for development projects orcommercial activity to be pursued in areas ofknown ecological importance despitepotentially damaging ecological impacts This isin part due to a lack of effective environmentalimpact assessment procedures though perhapsmore critically it stems from the political andeconomic imbalance between pro-conservationand pro-development forces One such case isthat of the logging of the Shiretoko NationalPark in Hokkaido It was well documented thatthe area is habitat to seriously threatenedspecies such as Blakistonrsquos fish-owl the White-tailed eagle and the Pryerrsquos woodpecker aswell as being the sole remaining habitat ofseveral other species Nevertheless in 1986the Forestry Agency announced a plan to

selectively log 10000 trees in an area of 1700hectares in the park (Logging and othercommercial activities in national parks arepermissible under the Natural Park Law) Inspite of nation-wide opposition as a result of anorganised and well-publicised campaignopposing the logging the Forestry Agencyproceeded with the plan in 1987

The Isahaya Bay tidal-land reclamation projectin Nagasaki Prefecture is another example of aproject in which development objectives wereplaced ahead of environmental and perhapsmore ironically economic considerations Itwas carried out despite the fact that theoriginal reason for the project had lost allrelevancemdashto reclaim land for farming at atime when Japan was experiencing an over-production of rice and farmers were being paidto keep fields fallow (Lies 2001)mdashand in theface of widespread national and internationalopposition

The mutsugorō became emblematic of allthe creatures endangered by the Isahayareclamation project

Tidal-lands are vital buffers between the landand sea and are habitats supporting highbiological diversity The Isahaya Bay tidal land

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

14

was also an important stopover point for birdsmigrating between Siberia and Australasia Itmade up six per cent of Japanrsquos remaining tidal-land and was habitat to about 300 species ofmarine l i fe such as the mud-skipper(mutsugorō) and approximately 230 differentspecies of birds including a population ofChinese black-headed gulls of which only 2000are estimated to remain worldwide (Umehara2003)

A section of the 7 km long sluice-gateacross Isahaya Bay

The project entailed the construction of a sevenkilometre long dyke to cut off the tidal area inorder to create flood-pools and 1500 hectaresof farmland The government refused to reviewthe project despite repeated petitioning bylocal fishermen to halt the construction of thedyke and formal protests of over 250organisations both international and nationalIt was estimated that by the time the projectwas completed each hectare of reclaimed landwould have cost the tax-payer US $13 millionOn the other hand environmentalists claimthat the project has resulted in the localextinction of a number of species includingmany endangered species such as the mud-skipper in addition to destroying Japanrsquoslargest remaining tideland habitat (Anon 2002Watts 2001 Crowell amp Murakami 2001Fukatsu 1997 26ndash30 McCormack 2005)

In spite of the destruction already caused toisland and coastal ecologies in Japanparticularly in the Okinawan archipelago thegovernment has pursued further developmentprojects on other islands One proposalpromoted for over a decade by the TokyoMetropolitan Government (which hasadministrative jurisdiction over the Ogasawaraarchipelago) was to construct an airport onAnijima an island in the archipelago Theisland is often called the ldquoAsian Galapagosrdquoand is the home of primeval nature andOgasawaran biota remaining only on AnijimaThe airport was to include an 1800 metrerunway to service a burgeoning touristindustry Finally after an independentenvironmental review was completed whichclearly showed the extent of the environmentalimpact of the project the Tokyo Metropolitangovernment shelved the plan insteadproposing to build the airport elsewhere on thearchipelago (Tomiyama amp Asami 1998 Guo2009)

Conclusions

This paper provided an overview of the state ofnatural environments and wildlife in Japantoday and of the primary threats to theseHabitat destruction represents the greatestsingle threat to Japanrsquos wildlife and naturalenvironments and it continues in variousforms threatening to destroy more of Japanrsquoslast remaining wetlands and natural andprimeval forest In addition failure toadequately protect or monitor areas ofecological importance such as national parksexacerbates the problem

The paper examined the key factorscontributing to these threats to the naturalenvironment The first factor noted was thelimited and relatively weak legislativeframework and the gap between policy andimplementation with regard to natureconservation and wildlife management Thesecond factor was a natural park system which

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

15

emphasises tourism over the ecological value ofparks and a situation in which parks are notadequately monitored and protected againstdetrimental environmental impactsmdashwhetheras a result of tourism or development Thethird and possibly most critical factor is thecon f l i c t be tween deve lopment andconservation the imbalance in economic andpolitical power in Japan means that in generalwhere forces of development and conservationare at odds forces for development prevailMany of these factors exist in other countriesfacing challenges to the natural environmentThe combination of such factors in Japan hasnevertheless resulted in a far-reaching assaulton the environment

Given the pervasiveness of these underlyingfactors the outlook for Japanrsquos remainingnatural environments appears bleak Howeverrecent developments such as an economywhich has slowed considerably since the highgrowth period of the 1980s and early 1990swhen development projects were pursuedirrespective of the economic and environmentalcosts a long-term demographic downturn astrengthening environmental NGO (non-governmental organisation) sector a change ofgovernment from the long-serving traditionallypro-development Liberal Democratic Party tothe Democratic Party of Japan14 and anincreasing emphasis both nationally andinternationally on the preservation of theearthrsquos remaining biodiversity mean that thereshould be scope for (albeit restrained)optimism in regard to the prospects for thefuture of Japanrsquos natural heritage

Catherine Knight is an independent researcherwho is employed by day as an environmentalpolicy analyst Her research focuses on NewZealand and Japanese environmental historyHer doctoral thesis explored the humanrelationship with the Asiatic black bear through

J a p a n e s e h i s t o r y [ a v a i l a b l e h e r e(httpircanterburyacnzhandle10092991])]She is particularly interested in upland andlowland forest environments and how peoplehave interacted with these environmentsthrough history Her publications can bev i e w e d h e r e(httpenvirohistorynzwordpresscomarticles) Catherine also runs an online environmentalh i s t o r y f o r u m(httpenvirohistorynzwordpresscom) whichexplores New Zealandrsquos environmental history

Recommended citation Catherine KnightNatural Environments Wildlife andConservation in Japan The Asia-PacificJournal 4-2-10 January 25 2010

日本における自然環境野生動植物その保護

References

Anon 1994 Live and let diemdashThe sad story ofJapanrsquos endangered species The East 30(3)11ndash17

Anon 2002 WWF Japan urges restoration ofIsahaya Bay IndyMedia UK 9 August

Birdlife International nd Japanese forests R e t r i e v e d M a r c h 3 2 0 0 4 L i n k

( h t t p w w w b i r d l i f e n e t actionsciencespeciesasia_strategypdf_downloadsforestsFO2pdf)

Bowring R and Kornicki P eds 1993 Cambridge encyclopedia of Japan New YorkCambridge University Press

Crowell Todd amp Murakami Mutsuko 2001 Public works time bombs AsiaWeekcom 27(6) Retrieved August 1 2003 Link(httpwwwasiaweekcomasiaweekmagazinenations 087829844900html)

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

11

improve safety convenience or access fortourists An example is levee works in theAzusa River at the entrance to Chūbu SangakuNational Park The Ministry of Transportproceeded with the worksmdashdespite theirpotential impact on the surroundingenvironmentmdashin order to protect tourists in theevent of the river flooding (Ishikawa 2001198ndash199)

It has been suggested that Japanrsquos natural parkmanagement policy unduly emphasises thepreservation of scenic beauty with little regardfor ecological preservation (Natori 1997 552Ishikawa 2001 196ndash198 McCormack 199696) A case which exemplifies this emphasis onthe preservation of scenic beauty is that of theShihoro Kōgen road The local government ofHokkaido first proposed a plan to construct atourist highway through the DaisetsusanNational Park (the largest national park inJapan) in 1965 The construction initially wentahead but was halted in 1973 The project wasproposed again during the resort-boom of the1980s Opposition temporarily halted theproject but in 1995 the EnvironmentConservation Council accepted a modified planwhich involved digging a massive tunnelthrough the mountains The revised plan metthe criteria of the Natural Parks Law whichprohibits construction that damages the visuallandscape of a national park but does notprohibit projects which will cause ecologicaldamage which is ldquounseenrdquo Finally however in1999 following vigorous campaigning ofnational and local environmental organisationsthe Governor of Hokkaido announced that theproject would be shelved (Yoshida 2002)

A further weakness of the Japanese naturalpark system is that the Ministry of theEnvironment (formerly the EnvironmentalAgency) does not have sole jurisdiction overthese areas Twenty-six per cent of nationalpark land and 40 per cent of natural park landis privately owned In addition of the 62 percent of national park land and 46 per cent of

natural park land that is state-owned much ofthis is under the primary jurisdiction of theForestry Agency or other agencies withindustrial or economic interests in the landConflicts of interest between the Ministry ofthe Environment and agencies which have aneconomic interest in a park (for examplethrough mining and forestry) are notuncommon further compromising theconservation function of natural parks11 Anexample of this is the Shiretoko logging casewhere the Forestry Agencyrsquos core objective togenerate income from forestry clashed withthe interests of nature conservation12

Another problem relating to the management ofnational parks is inadequate staffing In Japanthere is approximately one full-time staffmember per 10000 hectares in comparison toone staff member per 1500 in the UnitedStates or one per 2000 hectares in the UnitedKingdom (Ishikawa 2001 203) This means thatwhile staff are in theory responsible forwildlife management duties such as protectionand breeding programmes for designatedspecies and the management of wildlifeprotection areas in accordance with the Lawfor the Conservation of Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora (1992) they are actuallypreoccupied predominantly with administrativeduties such as processing permits With staffoverburdened other dut ies such asenvironmental surveys monitoring activitiesand conservation education rely predominantlyon volunteers (Ishikawa 2001 199ndash200)

Exemplifying these problems is Izu nationalpark Although the Izu archipelago isdesignated as a national park with severalsites designated as ldquospecial protected areasrdquothere are few rangers and loss of habitatcontinues on many islands (Birdlife nd) Inaddition owing to low staff numbers staff arerarely able to ensure compliance with theconditions of use in park zones for exampleensuring that the public does not enterspecially protected zones or that prohibited

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

12

activities such as hunting lighting of fires andvehicle use do not occur Another caseexemplifying these issues is an area in theShirakami mountains in northern Honshuwhich encompasses the largest virgin beechforest in Japan and which has been designateda world heritage site by UNESCO owing to itsunique flora and fauna It is one of the tendesignated ldquonature conservationrdquo areas inJapan of which there are only 21500 hectaresin total (005 per cent of Japanrsquos land area)However owing to inadequate monitoring oreducation visitors leave garbage in the forestlight fires and enter specially protected areaswhere entry is prohibited (Kuroiwa 2002) Theinabi l i ty to monitor park use at th isfundamental level inevitably undermines theeffectiveness of parks as nature conservationareas

As can be seen an array of problemsundermines the conservation function ofnational parks in Japan A key weakness arisesfrom the fact that natural parks from the outsethave emphasised tourism development and thepreservation of areas for their scenic ratherthan ecological value Further theconservation function of parks is underminedby the fact that park lands are not exclusivelystate-owned and even in cases where they areunder the jurisdiction of the state this is oftenunder government bodies which have economicor industrial interests in the use of park landsThis leads to conflicts between natureconservation interests and developmentforestry and private interests Furthermoreuntil recently there has been no law requiringenvironmental impact assessments to becarried out before development occurs innational parks (or any other area of ecologicalsignificance for that matter)13 In the pastattempts have been made by the EnvironmentalAgency (now the MOE) to strengthen the lawgoverning the establishment and managementof national parks but these have been thwartedby the Forestry Agency and the former Ministryof Construction (now part of the Ministry of

Land Infrastructure and Transport) which didnot want their powers to manage the parksweakened (Natori 1997 555)

Conflict between development andconservation

A recurrent theme particularly during Japanrsquoshigh growth period but still apparent today isthe conflict between development andconservation Where there is a conflict betweenhabitat protection and development more oftenthan not the latter has prevailed This is due toa multitude of factors the relative power ofpro-development government bodies such asthe Ministry of Construction (now the Ministryof Land Infrastructure and Transport) whichhave close ties to financially influential privatecorporations the relative weakness of theMOE a weak legislative framework for theprotection of wildlife and their habitats arelatively small and uninfluential natureconservation lobby low public awareness ofconservation and ecological issues and adesire for development in order to stimulateregional rejuvenation

A case which exemplifies this conflict is that ofthe miyako tanago (metropolitan bitterling) afreshwater fish now found only in the waters ofthe Kanto plain In the early 1990s it wasreported that the freshwater brooks and pondsin which these fish spawn were drying up dueto the bu i l d ing o f r e so r t s and go l fcoursesmdashwhich diminish the landrsquos capacity tostore watermdashand the building of concreteoutflows on farmland (Anon 1994 14) Inaddition due to water pollution there has beena marked decline in the matsukasagai theshellfish in which the bitterling lays its eggsemploying it as an ldquoincubatorrdquo (Kondo 1996 9)However farmland improvement and thedevelopment of resorts and golf courses weredeemed important to local residents andpreserving the unique ecology of themetropolitan bitterling did not attractwidespread public support Finally in

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

13

December 1994 in accordance with the Lawfor the Preservation of Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora the Environment Agencydesignated the sole remaining bitterling habitatin Otawara as a protected sanctuary (Kondo1996 9) While undoubtedly this is a positivedevelopment the striking fact is that measuresto protect the bitterlingrsquos habitat were onlytaken when only one habitat remained

Another instance of the clash of developmentand conservation is the case of the Amamiblack rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi) The caseexemplifies problems which are common tomany rural areas in Japan where humanpopulations are both diminishing and agingand where the local economy and employmentopportunities are in decline The Amami blackrabbit is an endangered species endemic to thesouthern Amami Islands (there are estimated tobe only 1000 rabbits remaining) In the 1990sits habitat was threatened by the proposeddevelopment of a golf course which localshoped would reinvigorate the local economyFinally after much protest an environmentalorganisation successfully used the media todraw attention to the plight of the rabbit andthe Ministry of Culture subsequently halted thegolf course (Domoto 1997)

It is also common for development projects orcommercial activity to be pursued in areas ofknown ecological importance despitepotentially damaging ecological impacts This isin part due to a lack of effective environmentalimpact assessment procedures though perhapsmore critically it stems from the political andeconomic imbalance between pro-conservationand pro-development forces One such case isthat of the logging of the Shiretoko NationalPark in Hokkaido It was well documented thatthe area is habitat to seriously threatenedspecies such as Blakistonrsquos fish-owl the White-tailed eagle and the Pryerrsquos woodpecker aswell as being the sole remaining habitat ofseveral other species Nevertheless in 1986the Forestry Agency announced a plan to

selectively log 10000 trees in an area of 1700hectares in the park (Logging and othercommercial activities in national parks arepermissible under the Natural Park Law) Inspite of nation-wide opposition as a result of anorganised and well-publicised campaignopposing the logging the Forestry Agencyproceeded with the plan in 1987

The Isahaya Bay tidal-land reclamation projectin Nagasaki Prefecture is another example of aproject in which development objectives wereplaced ahead of environmental and perhapsmore ironically economic considerations Itwas carried out despite the fact that theoriginal reason for the project had lost allrelevancemdashto reclaim land for farming at atime when Japan was experiencing an over-production of rice and farmers were being paidto keep fields fallow (Lies 2001)mdashand in theface of widespread national and internationalopposition

The mutsugorō became emblematic of allthe creatures endangered by the Isahayareclamation project

Tidal-lands are vital buffers between the landand sea and are habitats supporting highbiological diversity The Isahaya Bay tidal land

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

14

was also an important stopover point for birdsmigrating between Siberia and Australasia Itmade up six per cent of Japanrsquos remaining tidal-land and was habitat to about 300 species ofmarine l i fe such as the mud-skipper(mutsugorō) and approximately 230 differentspecies of birds including a population ofChinese black-headed gulls of which only 2000are estimated to remain worldwide (Umehara2003)

A section of the 7 km long sluice-gateacross Isahaya Bay

The project entailed the construction of a sevenkilometre long dyke to cut off the tidal area inorder to create flood-pools and 1500 hectaresof farmland The government refused to reviewthe project despite repeated petitioning bylocal fishermen to halt the construction of thedyke and formal protests of over 250organisations both international and nationalIt was estimated that by the time the projectwas completed each hectare of reclaimed landwould have cost the tax-payer US $13 millionOn the other hand environmentalists claimthat the project has resulted in the localextinction of a number of species includingmany endangered species such as the mud-skipper in addition to destroying Japanrsquoslargest remaining tideland habitat (Anon 2002Watts 2001 Crowell amp Murakami 2001Fukatsu 1997 26ndash30 McCormack 2005)

In spite of the destruction already caused toisland and coastal ecologies in Japanparticularly in the Okinawan archipelago thegovernment has pursued further developmentprojects on other islands One proposalpromoted for over a decade by the TokyoMetropolitan Government (which hasadministrative jurisdiction over the Ogasawaraarchipelago) was to construct an airport onAnijima an island in the archipelago Theisland is often called the ldquoAsian Galapagosrdquoand is the home of primeval nature andOgasawaran biota remaining only on AnijimaThe airport was to include an 1800 metrerunway to service a burgeoning touristindustry Finally after an independentenvironmental review was completed whichclearly showed the extent of the environmentalimpact of the project the Tokyo Metropolitangovernment shelved the plan insteadproposing to build the airport elsewhere on thearchipelago (Tomiyama amp Asami 1998 Guo2009)

Conclusions

This paper provided an overview of the state ofnatural environments and wildlife in Japantoday and of the primary threats to theseHabitat destruction represents the greatestsingle threat to Japanrsquos wildlife and naturalenvironments and it continues in variousforms threatening to destroy more of Japanrsquoslast remaining wetlands and natural andprimeval forest In addition failure toadequately protect or monitor areas ofecological importance such as national parksexacerbates the problem

The paper examined the key factorscontributing to these threats to the naturalenvironment The first factor noted was thelimited and relatively weak legislativeframework and the gap between policy andimplementation with regard to natureconservation and wildlife management Thesecond factor was a natural park system which

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

15

emphasises tourism over the ecological value ofparks and a situation in which parks are notadequately monitored and protected againstdetrimental environmental impactsmdashwhetheras a result of tourism or development Thethird and possibly most critical factor is thecon f l i c t be tween deve lopment andconservation the imbalance in economic andpolitical power in Japan means that in generalwhere forces of development and conservationare at odds forces for development prevailMany of these factors exist in other countriesfacing challenges to the natural environmentThe combination of such factors in Japan hasnevertheless resulted in a far-reaching assaulton the environment

Given the pervasiveness of these underlyingfactors the outlook for Japanrsquos remainingnatural environments appears bleak Howeverrecent developments such as an economywhich has slowed considerably since the highgrowth period of the 1980s and early 1990swhen development projects were pursuedirrespective of the economic and environmentalcosts a long-term demographic downturn astrengthening environmental NGO (non-governmental organisation) sector a change ofgovernment from the long-serving traditionallypro-development Liberal Democratic Party tothe Democratic Party of Japan14 and anincreasing emphasis both nationally andinternationally on the preservation of theearthrsquos remaining biodiversity mean that thereshould be scope for (albeit restrained)optimism in regard to the prospects for thefuture of Japanrsquos natural heritage

Catherine Knight is an independent researcherwho is employed by day as an environmentalpolicy analyst Her research focuses on NewZealand and Japanese environmental historyHer doctoral thesis explored the humanrelationship with the Asiatic black bear through

J a p a n e s e h i s t o r y [ a v a i l a b l e h e r e(httpircanterburyacnzhandle10092991])]She is particularly interested in upland andlowland forest environments and how peoplehave interacted with these environmentsthrough history Her publications can bev i e w e d h e r e(httpenvirohistorynzwordpresscomarticles) Catherine also runs an online environmentalh i s t o r y f o r u m(httpenvirohistorynzwordpresscom) whichexplores New Zealandrsquos environmental history

Recommended citation Catherine KnightNatural Environments Wildlife andConservation in Japan The Asia-PacificJournal 4-2-10 January 25 2010

日本における自然環境野生動植物その保護

References

Anon 1994 Live and let diemdashThe sad story ofJapanrsquos endangered species The East 30(3)11ndash17

Anon 2002 WWF Japan urges restoration ofIsahaya Bay IndyMedia UK 9 August

Birdlife International nd Japanese forests R e t r i e v e d M a r c h 3 2 0 0 4 L i n k

( h t t p w w w b i r d l i f e n e t actionsciencespeciesasia_strategypdf_downloadsforestsFO2pdf)

Bowring R and Kornicki P eds 1993 Cambridge encyclopedia of Japan New YorkCambridge University Press

Crowell Todd amp Murakami Mutsuko 2001 Public works time bombs AsiaWeekcom 27(6) Retrieved August 1 2003 Link(httpwwwasiaweekcomasiaweekmagazinenations 087829844900html)

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

12

activities such as hunting lighting of fires andvehicle use do not occur Another caseexemplifying these issues is an area in theShirakami mountains in northern Honshuwhich encompasses the largest virgin beechforest in Japan and which has been designateda world heritage site by UNESCO owing to itsunique flora and fauna It is one of the tendesignated ldquonature conservationrdquo areas inJapan of which there are only 21500 hectaresin total (005 per cent of Japanrsquos land area)However owing to inadequate monitoring oreducation visitors leave garbage in the forestlight fires and enter specially protected areaswhere entry is prohibited (Kuroiwa 2002) Theinabi l i ty to monitor park use at th isfundamental level inevitably undermines theeffectiveness of parks as nature conservationareas

As can be seen an array of problemsundermines the conservation function ofnational parks in Japan A key weakness arisesfrom the fact that natural parks from the outsethave emphasised tourism development and thepreservation of areas for their scenic ratherthan ecological value Further theconservation function of parks is underminedby the fact that park lands are not exclusivelystate-owned and even in cases where they areunder the jurisdiction of the state this is oftenunder government bodies which have economicor industrial interests in the use of park landsThis leads to conflicts between natureconservation interests and developmentforestry and private interests Furthermoreuntil recently there has been no law requiringenvironmental impact assessments to becarried out before development occurs innational parks (or any other area of ecologicalsignificance for that matter)13 In the pastattempts have been made by the EnvironmentalAgency (now the MOE) to strengthen the lawgoverning the establishment and managementof national parks but these have been thwartedby the Forestry Agency and the former Ministryof Construction (now part of the Ministry of

Land Infrastructure and Transport) which didnot want their powers to manage the parksweakened (Natori 1997 555)

Conflict between development andconservation

A recurrent theme particularly during Japanrsquoshigh growth period but still apparent today isthe conflict between development andconservation Where there is a conflict betweenhabitat protection and development more oftenthan not the latter has prevailed This is due toa multitude of factors the relative power ofpro-development government bodies such asthe Ministry of Construction (now the Ministryof Land Infrastructure and Transport) whichhave close ties to financially influential privatecorporations the relative weakness of theMOE a weak legislative framework for theprotection of wildlife and their habitats arelatively small and uninfluential natureconservation lobby low public awareness ofconservation and ecological issues and adesire for development in order to stimulateregional rejuvenation

A case which exemplifies this conflict is that ofthe miyako tanago (metropolitan bitterling) afreshwater fish now found only in the waters ofthe Kanto plain In the early 1990s it wasreported that the freshwater brooks and pondsin which these fish spawn were drying up dueto the bu i l d ing o f r e so r t s and go l fcoursesmdashwhich diminish the landrsquos capacity tostore watermdashand the building of concreteoutflows on farmland (Anon 1994 14) Inaddition due to water pollution there has beena marked decline in the matsukasagai theshellfish in which the bitterling lays its eggsemploying it as an ldquoincubatorrdquo (Kondo 1996 9)However farmland improvement and thedevelopment of resorts and golf courses weredeemed important to local residents andpreserving the unique ecology of themetropolitan bitterling did not attractwidespread public support Finally in

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

13

December 1994 in accordance with the Lawfor the Preservation of Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora the Environment Agencydesignated the sole remaining bitterling habitatin Otawara as a protected sanctuary (Kondo1996 9) While undoubtedly this is a positivedevelopment the striking fact is that measuresto protect the bitterlingrsquos habitat were onlytaken when only one habitat remained

Another instance of the clash of developmentand conservation is the case of the Amamiblack rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi) The caseexemplifies problems which are common tomany rural areas in Japan where humanpopulations are both diminishing and agingand where the local economy and employmentopportunities are in decline The Amami blackrabbit is an endangered species endemic to thesouthern Amami Islands (there are estimated tobe only 1000 rabbits remaining) In the 1990sits habitat was threatened by the proposeddevelopment of a golf course which localshoped would reinvigorate the local economyFinally after much protest an environmentalorganisation successfully used the media todraw attention to the plight of the rabbit andthe Ministry of Culture subsequently halted thegolf course (Domoto 1997)

It is also common for development projects orcommercial activity to be pursued in areas ofknown ecological importance despitepotentially damaging ecological impacts This isin part due to a lack of effective environmentalimpact assessment procedures though perhapsmore critically it stems from the political andeconomic imbalance between pro-conservationand pro-development forces One such case isthat of the logging of the Shiretoko NationalPark in Hokkaido It was well documented thatthe area is habitat to seriously threatenedspecies such as Blakistonrsquos fish-owl the White-tailed eagle and the Pryerrsquos woodpecker aswell as being the sole remaining habitat ofseveral other species Nevertheless in 1986the Forestry Agency announced a plan to

selectively log 10000 trees in an area of 1700hectares in the park (Logging and othercommercial activities in national parks arepermissible under the Natural Park Law) Inspite of nation-wide opposition as a result of anorganised and well-publicised campaignopposing the logging the Forestry Agencyproceeded with the plan in 1987

The Isahaya Bay tidal-land reclamation projectin Nagasaki Prefecture is another example of aproject in which development objectives wereplaced ahead of environmental and perhapsmore ironically economic considerations Itwas carried out despite the fact that theoriginal reason for the project had lost allrelevancemdashto reclaim land for farming at atime when Japan was experiencing an over-production of rice and farmers were being paidto keep fields fallow (Lies 2001)mdashand in theface of widespread national and internationalopposition

The mutsugorō became emblematic of allthe creatures endangered by the Isahayareclamation project

Tidal-lands are vital buffers between the landand sea and are habitats supporting highbiological diversity The Isahaya Bay tidal land

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

14

was also an important stopover point for birdsmigrating between Siberia and Australasia Itmade up six per cent of Japanrsquos remaining tidal-land and was habitat to about 300 species ofmarine l i fe such as the mud-skipper(mutsugorō) and approximately 230 differentspecies of birds including a population ofChinese black-headed gulls of which only 2000are estimated to remain worldwide (Umehara2003)

A section of the 7 km long sluice-gateacross Isahaya Bay

The project entailed the construction of a sevenkilometre long dyke to cut off the tidal area inorder to create flood-pools and 1500 hectaresof farmland The government refused to reviewthe project despite repeated petitioning bylocal fishermen to halt the construction of thedyke and formal protests of over 250organisations both international and nationalIt was estimated that by the time the projectwas completed each hectare of reclaimed landwould have cost the tax-payer US $13 millionOn the other hand environmentalists claimthat the project has resulted in the localextinction of a number of species includingmany endangered species such as the mud-skipper in addition to destroying Japanrsquoslargest remaining tideland habitat (Anon 2002Watts 2001 Crowell amp Murakami 2001Fukatsu 1997 26ndash30 McCormack 2005)

In spite of the destruction already caused toisland and coastal ecologies in Japanparticularly in the Okinawan archipelago thegovernment has pursued further developmentprojects on other islands One proposalpromoted for over a decade by the TokyoMetropolitan Government (which hasadministrative jurisdiction over the Ogasawaraarchipelago) was to construct an airport onAnijima an island in the archipelago Theisland is often called the ldquoAsian Galapagosrdquoand is the home of primeval nature andOgasawaran biota remaining only on AnijimaThe airport was to include an 1800 metrerunway to service a burgeoning touristindustry Finally after an independentenvironmental review was completed whichclearly showed the extent of the environmentalimpact of the project the Tokyo Metropolitangovernment shelved the plan insteadproposing to build the airport elsewhere on thearchipelago (Tomiyama amp Asami 1998 Guo2009)

Conclusions

This paper provided an overview of the state ofnatural environments and wildlife in Japantoday and of the primary threats to theseHabitat destruction represents the greatestsingle threat to Japanrsquos wildlife and naturalenvironments and it continues in variousforms threatening to destroy more of Japanrsquoslast remaining wetlands and natural andprimeval forest In addition failure toadequately protect or monitor areas ofecological importance such as national parksexacerbates the problem

The paper examined the key factorscontributing to these threats to the naturalenvironment The first factor noted was thelimited and relatively weak legislativeframework and the gap between policy andimplementation with regard to natureconservation and wildlife management Thesecond factor was a natural park system which

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

15

emphasises tourism over the ecological value ofparks and a situation in which parks are notadequately monitored and protected againstdetrimental environmental impactsmdashwhetheras a result of tourism or development Thethird and possibly most critical factor is thecon f l i c t be tween deve lopment andconservation the imbalance in economic andpolitical power in Japan means that in generalwhere forces of development and conservationare at odds forces for development prevailMany of these factors exist in other countriesfacing challenges to the natural environmentThe combination of such factors in Japan hasnevertheless resulted in a far-reaching assaulton the environment

Given the pervasiveness of these underlyingfactors the outlook for Japanrsquos remainingnatural environments appears bleak Howeverrecent developments such as an economywhich has slowed considerably since the highgrowth period of the 1980s and early 1990swhen development projects were pursuedirrespective of the economic and environmentalcosts a long-term demographic downturn astrengthening environmental NGO (non-governmental organisation) sector a change ofgovernment from the long-serving traditionallypro-development Liberal Democratic Party tothe Democratic Party of Japan14 and anincreasing emphasis both nationally andinternationally on the preservation of theearthrsquos remaining biodiversity mean that thereshould be scope for (albeit restrained)optimism in regard to the prospects for thefuture of Japanrsquos natural heritage

Catherine Knight is an independent researcherwho is employed by day as an environmentalpolicy analyst Her research focuses on NewZealand and Japanese environmental historyHer doctoral thesis explored the humanrelationship with the Asiatic black bear through

J a p a n e s e h i s t o r y [ a v a i l a b l e h e r e(httpircanterburyacnzhandle10092991])]She is particularly interested in upland andlowland forest environments and how peoplehave interacted with these environmentsthrough history Her publications can bev i e w e d h e r e(httpenvirohistorynzwordpresscomarticles) Catherine also runs an online environmentalh i s t o r y f o r u m(httpenvirohistorynzwordpresscom) whichexplores New Zealandrsquos environmental history

Recommended citation Catherine KnightNatural Environments Wildlife andConservation in Japan The Asia-PacificJournal 4-2-10 January 25 2010

日本における自然環境野生動植物その保護

References

Anon 1994 Live and let diemdashThe sad story ofJapanrsquos endangered species The East 30(3)11ndash17

Anon 2002 WWF Japan urges restoration ofIsahaya Bay IndyMedia UK 9 August

Birdlife International nd Japanese forests R e t r i e v e d M a r c h 3 2 0 0 4 L i n k

( h t t p w w w b i r d l i f e n e t actionsciencespeciesasia_strategypdf_downloadsforestsFO2pdf)

Bowring R and Kornicki P eds 1993 Cambridge encyclopedia of Japan New YorkCambridge University Press

Crowell Todd amp Murakami Mutsuko 2001 Public works time bombs AsiaWeekcom 27(6) Retrieved August 1 2003 Link(httpwwwasiaweekcomasiaweekmagazinenations 087829844900html)

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

13

December 1994 in accordance with the Lawfor the Preservation of Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora the Environment Agencydesignated the sole remaining bitterling habitatin Otawara as a protected sanctuary (Kondo1996 9) While undoubtedly this is a positivedevelopment the striking fact is that measuresto protect the bitterlingrsquos habitat were onlytaken when only one habitat remained

Another instance of the clash of developmentand conservation is the case of the Amamiblack rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi) The caseexemplifies problems which are common tomany rural areas in Japan where humanpopulations are both diminishing and agingand where the local economy and employmentopportunities are in decline The Amami blackrabbit is an endangered species endemic to thesouthern Amami Islands (there are estimated tobe only 1000 rabbits remaining) In the 1990sits habitat was threatened by the proposeddevelopment of a golf course which localshoped would reinvigorate the local economyFinally after much protest an environmentalorganisation successfully used the media todraw attention to the plight of the rabbit andthe Ministry of Culture subsequently halted thegolf course (Domoto 1997)

It is also common for development projects orcommercial activity to be pursued in areas ofknown ecological importance despitepotentially damaging ecological impacts This isin part due to a lack of effective environmentalimpact assessment procedures though perhapsmore critically it stems from the political andeconomic imbalance between pro-conservationand pro-development forces One such case isthat of the logging of the Shiretoko NationalPark in Hokkaido It was well documented thatthe area is habitat to seriously threatenedspecies such as Blakistonrsquos fish-owl the White-tailed eagle and the Pryerrsquos woodpecker aswell as being the sole remaining habitat ofseveral other species Nevertheless in 1986the Forestry Agency announced a plan to

selectively log 10000 trees in an area of 1700hectares in the park (Logging and othercommercial activities in national parks arepermissible under the Natural Park Law) Inspite of nation-wide opposition as a result of anorganised and well-publicised campaignopposing the logging the Forestry Agencyproceeded with the plan in 1987

The Isahaya Bay tidal-land reclamation projectin Nagasaki Prefecture is another example of aproject in which development objectives wereplaced ahead of environmental and perhapsmore ironically economic considerations Itwas carried out despite the fact that theoriginal reason for the project had lost allrelevancemdashto reclaim land for farming at atime when Japan was experiencing an over-production of rice and farmers were being paidto keep fields fallow (Lies 2001)mdashand in theface of widespread national and internationalopposition

The mutsugorō became emblematic of allthe creatures endangered by the Isahayareclamation project

Tidal-lands are vital buffers between the landand sea and are habitats supporting highbiological diversity The Isahaya Bay tidal land

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

14

was also an important stopover point for birdsmigrating between Siberia and Australasia Itmade up six per cent of Japanrsquos remaining tidal-land and was habitat to about 300 species ofmarine l i fe such as the mud-skipper(mutsugorō) and approximately 230 differentspecies of birds including a population ofChinese black-headed gulls of which only 2000are estimated to remain worldwide (Umehara2003)

A section of the 7 km long sluice-gateacross Isahaya Bay

The project entailed the construction of a sevenkilometre long dyke to cut off the tidal area inorder to create flood-pools and 1500 hectaresof farmland The government refused to reviewthe project despite repeated petitioning bylocal fishermen to halt the construction of thedyke and formal protests of over 250organisations both international and nationalIt was estimated that by the time the projectwas completed each hectare of reclaimed landwould have cost the tax-payer US $13 millionOn the other hand environmentalists claimthat the project has resulted in the localextinction of a number of species includingmany endangered species such as the mud-skipper in addition to destroying Japanrsquoslargest remaining tideland habitat (Anon 2002Watts 2001 Crowell amp Murakami 2001Fukatsu 1997 26ndash30 McCormack 2005)

In spite of the destruction already caused toisland and coastal ecologies in Japanparticularly in the Okinawan archipelago thegovernment has pursued further developmentprojects on other islands One proposalpromoted for over a decade by the TokyoMetropolitan Government (which hasadministrative jurisdiction over the Ogasawaraarchipelago) was to construct an airport onAnijima an island in the archipelago Theisland is often called the ldquoAsian Galapagosrdquoand is the home of primeval nature andOgasawaran biota remaining only on AnijimaThe airport was to include an 1800 metrerunway to service a burgeoning touristindustry Finally after an independentenvironmental review was completed whichclearly showed the extent of the environmentalimpact of the project the Tokyo Metropolitangovernment shelved the plan insteadproposing to build the airport elsewhere on thearchipelago (Tomiyama amp Asami 1998 Guo2009)

Conclusions

This paper provided an overview of the state ofnatural environments and wildlife in Japantoday and of the primary threats to theseHabitat destruction represents the greatestsingle threat to Japanrsquos wildlife and naturalenvironments and it continues in variousforms threatening to destroy more of Japanrsquoslast remaining wetlands and natural andprimeval forest In addition failure toadequately protect or monitor areas ofecological importance such as national parksexacerbates the problem

The paper examined the key factorscontributing to these threats to the naturalenvironment The first factor noted was thelimited and relatively weak legislativeframework and the gap between policy andimplementation with regard to natureconservation and wildlife management Thesecond factor was a natural park system which

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

15

emphasises tourism over the ecological value ofparks and a situation in which parks are notadequately monitored and protected againstdetrimental environmental impactsmdashwhetheras a result of tourism or development Thethird and possibly most critical factor is thecon f l i c t be tween deve lopment andconservation the imbalance in economic andpolitical power in Japan means that in generalwhere forces of development and conservationare at odds forces for development prevailMany of these factors exist in other countriesfacing challenges to the natural environmentThe combination of such factors in Japan hasnevertheless resulted in a far-reaching assaulton the environment

Given the pervasiveness of these underlyingfactors the outlook for Japanrsquos remainingnatural environments appears bleak Howeverrecent developments such as an economywhich has slowed considerably since the highgrowth period of the 1980s and early 1990swhen development projects were pursuedirrespective of the economic and environmentalcosts a long-term demographic downturn astrengthening environmental NGO (non-governmental organisation) sector a change ofgovernment from the long-serving traditionallypro-development Liberal Democratic Party tothe Democratic Party of Japan14 and anincreasing emphasis both nationally andinternationally on the preservation of theearthrsquos remaining biodiversity mean that thereshould be scope for (albeit restrained)optimism in regard to the prospects for thefuture of Japanrsquos natural heritage

Catherine Knight is an independent researcherwho is employed by day as an environmentalpolicy analyst Her research focuses on NewZealand and Japanese environmental historyHer doctoral thesis explored the humanrelationship with the Asiatic black bear through

J a p a n e s e h i s t o r y [ a v a i l a b l e h e r e(httpircanterburyacnzhandle10092991])]She is particularly interested in upland andlowland forest environments and how peoplehave interacted with these environmentsthrough history Her publications can bev i e w e d h e r e(httpenvirohistorynzwordpresscomarticles) Catherine also runs an online environmentalh i s t o r y f o r u m(httpenvirohistorynzwordpresscom) whichexplores New Zealandrsquos environmental history

Recommended citation Catherine KnightNatural Environments Wildlife andConservation in Japan The Asia-PacificJournal 4-2-10 January 25 2010

日本における自然環境野生動植物その保護

References

Anon 1994 Live and let diemdashThe sad story ofJapanrsquos endangered species The East 30(3)11ndash17

Anon 2002 WWF Japan urges restoration ofIsahaya Bay IndyMedia UK 9 August

Birdlife International nd Japanese forests R e t r i e v e d M a r c h 3 2 0 0 4 L i n k

( h t t p w w w b i r d l i f e n e t actionsciencespeciesasia_strategypdf_downloadsforestsFO2pdf)

Bowring R and Kornicki P eds 1993 Cambridge encyclopedia of Japan New YorkCambridge University Press

Crowell Todd amp Murakami Mutsuko 2001 Public works time bombs AsiaWeekcom 27(6) Retrieved August 1 2003 Link(httpwwwasiaweekcomasiaweekmagazinenations 087829844900html)

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

14

was also an important stopover point for birdsmigrating between Siberia and Australasia Itmade up six per cent of Japanrsquos remaining tidal-land and was habitat to about 300 species ofmarine l i fe such as the mud-skipper(mutsugorō) and approximately 230 differentspecies of birds including a population ofChinese black-headed gulls of which only 2000are estimated to remain worldwide (Umehara2003)

A section of the 7 km long sluice-gateacross Isahaya Bay

The project entailed the construction of a sevenkilometre long dyke to cut off the tidal area inorder to create flood-pools and 1500 hectaresof farmland The government refused to reviewthe project despite repeated petitioning bylocal fishermen to halt the construction of thedyke and formal protests of over 250organisations both international and nationalIt was estimated that by the time the projectwas completed each hectare of reclaimed landwould have cost the tax-payer US $13 millionOn the other hand environmentalists claimthat the project has resulted in the localextinction of a number of species includingmany endangered species such as the mud-skipper in addition to destroying Japanrsquoslargest remaining tideland habitat (Anon 2002Watts 2001 Crowell amp Murakami 2001Fukatsu 1997 26ndash30 McCormack 2005)

In spite of the destruction already caused toisland and coastal ecologies in Japanparticularly in the Okinawan archipelago thegovernment has pursued further developmentprojects on other islands One proposalpromoted for over a decade by the TokyoMetropolitan Government (which hasadministrative jurisdiction over the Ogasawaraarchipelago) was to construct an airport onAnijima an island in the archipelago Theisland is often called the ldquoAsian Galapagosrdquoand is the home of primeval nature andOgasawaran biota remaining only on AnijimaThe airport was to include an 1800 metrerunway to service a burgeoning touristindustry Finally after an independentenvironmental review was completed whichclearly showed the extent of the environmentalimpact of the project the Tokyo Metropolitangovernment shelved the plan insteadproposing to build the airport elsewhere on thearchipelago (Tomiyama amp Asami 1998 Guo2009)

Conclusions

This paper provided an overview of the state ofnatural environments and wildlife in Japantoday and of the primary threats to theseHabitat destruction represents the greatestsingle threat to Japanrsquos wildlife and naturalenvironments and it continues in variousforms threatening to destroy more of Japanrsquoslast remaining wetlands and natural andprimeval forest In addition failure toadequately protect or monitor areas ofecological importance such as national parksexacerbates the problem

The paper examined the key factorscontributing to these threats to the naturalenvironment The first factor noted was thelimited and relatively weak legislativeframework and the gap between policy andimplementation with regard to natureconservation and wildlife management Thesecond factor was a natural park system which

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

15

emphasises tourism over the ecological value ofparks and a situation in which parks are notadequately monitored and protected againstdetrimental environmental impactsmdashwhetheras a result of tourism or development Thethird and possibly most critical factor is thecon f l i c t be tween deve lopment andconservation the imbalance in economic andpolitical power in Japan means that in generalwhere forces of development and conservationare at odds forces for development prevailMany of these factors exist in other countriesfacing challenges to the natural environmentThe combination of such factors in Japan hasnevertheless resulted in a far-reaching assaulton the environment

Given the pervasiveness of these underlyingfactors the outlook for Japanrsquos remainingnatural environments appears bleak Howeverrecent developments such as an economywhich has slowed considerably since the highgrowth period of the 1980s and early 1990swhen development projects were pursuedirrespective of the economic and environmentalcosts a long-term demographic downturn astrengthening environmental NGO (non-governmental organisation) sector a change ofgovernment from the long-serving traditionallypro-development Liberal Democratic Party tothe Democratic Party of Japan14 and anincreasing emphasis both nationally andinternationally on the preservation of theearthrsquos remaining biodiversity mean that thereshould be scope for (albeit restrained)optimism in regard to the prospects for thefuture of Japanrsquos natural heritage

Catherine Knight is an independent researcherwho is employed by day as an environmentalpolicy analyst Her research focuses on NewZealand and Japanese environmental historyHer doctoral thesis explored the humanrelationship with the Asiatic black bear through

J a p a n e s e h i s t o r y [ a v a i l a b l e h e r e(httpircanterburyacnzhandle10092991])]She is particularly interested in upland andlowland forest environments and how peoplehave interacted with these environmentsthrough history Her publications can bev i e w e d h e r e(httpenvirohistorynzwordpresscomarticles) Catherine also runs an online environmentalh i s t o r y f o r u m(httpenvirohistorynzwordpresscom) whichexplores New Zealandrsquos environmental history

Recommended citation Catherine KnightNatural Environments Wildlife andConservation in Japan The Asia-PacificJournal 4-2-10 January 25 2010

日本における自然環境野生動植物その保護

References

Anon 1994 Live and let diemdashThe sad story ofJapanrsquos endangered species The East 30(3)11ndash17

Anon 2002 WWF Japan urges restoration ofIsahaya Bay IndyMedia UK 9 August

Birdlife International nd Japanese forests R e t r i e v e d M a r c h 3 2 0 0 4 L i n k

( h t t p w w w b i r d l i f e n e t actionsciencespeciesasia_strategypdf_downloadsforestsFO2pdf)

Bowring R and Kornicki P eds 1993 Cambridge encyclopedia of Japan New YorkCambridge University Press

Crowell Todd amp Murakami Mutsuko 2001 Public works time bombs AsiaWeekcom 27(6) Retrieved August 1 2003 Link(httpwwwasiaweekcomasiaweekmagazinenations 087829844900html)

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

15

emphasises tourism over the ecological value ofparks and a situation in which parks are notadequately monitored and protected againstdetrimental environmental impactsmdashwhetheras a result of tourism or development Thethird and possibly most critical factor is thecon f l i c t be tween deve lopment andconservation the imbalance in economic andpolitical power in Japan means that in generalwhere forces of development and conservationare at odds forces for development prevailMany of these factors exist in other countriesfacing challenges to the natural environmentThe combination of such factors in Japan hasnevertheless resulted in a far-reaching assaulton the environment

Given the pervasiveness of these underlyingfactors the outlook for Japanrsquos remainingnatural environments appears bleak Howeverrecent developments such as an economywhich has slowed considerably since the highgrowth period of the 1980s and early 1990swhen development projects were pursuedirrespective of the economic and environmentalcosts a long-term demographic downturn astrengthening environmental NGO (non-governmental organisation) sector a change ofgovernment from the long-serving traditionallypro-development Liberal Democratic Party tothe Democratic Party of Japan14 and anincreasing emphasis both nationally andinternationally on the preservation of theearthrsquos remaining biodiversity mean that thereshould be scope for (albeit restrained)optimism in regard to the prospects for thefuture of Japanrsquos natural heritage

Catherine Knight is an independent researcherwho is employed by day as an environmentalpolicy analyst Her research focuses on NewZealand and Japanese environmental historyHer doctoral thesis explored the humanrelationship with the Asiatic black bear through

J a p a n e s e h i s t o r y [ a v a i l a b l e h e r e(httpircanterburyacnzhandle10092991])]She is particularly interested in upland andlowland forest environments and how peoplehave interacted with these environmentsthrough history Her publications can bev i e w e d h e r e(httpenvirohistorynzwordpresscomarticles) Catherine also runs an online environmentalh i s t o r y f o r u m(httpenvirohistorynzwordpresscom) whichexplores New Zealandrsquos environmental history

Recommended citation Catherine KnightNatural Environments Wildlife andConservation in Japan The Asia-PacificJournal 4-2-10 January 25 2010

日本における自然環境野生動植物その保護

References

Anon 1994 Live and let diemdashThe sad story ofJapanrsquos endangered species The East 30(3)11ndash17

Anon 2002 WWF Japan urges restoration ofIsahaya Bay IndyMedia UK 9 August

Birdlife International nd Japanese forests R e t r i e v e d M a r c h 3 2 0 0 4 L i n k

( h t t p w w w b i r d l i f e n e t actionsciencespeciesasia_strategypdf_downloadsforestsFO2pdf)

Bowring R and Kornicki P eds 1993 Cambridge encyclopedia of Japan New YorkCambridge University Press

Crowell Todd amp Murakami Mutsuko 2001 Public works time bombs AsiaWeekcom 27(6) Retrieved August 1 2003 Link(httpwwwasiaweekcomasiaweekmagazinenations 087829844900html)

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

16

Danaher Michael 1996 What price theenvironment An analysis of Japanese publicawareness of environmental issues Paperpresented at the 1996 Asian Studies on thePacific Coast (ASPAC) Conference Universityof Alberta Edmonton Canada June 21ndash231996

Domoto Akiko 1997 Report on biodiversitysubmitted to Rio+5 Summit Retrieved March1 8 2 0 0 4 L i n k(httpwwwglobeinternationalorgarchivesearthsummitearth5rio-biodiversityhtml)

Environment Agency (Japan) 2000 Kankyōhakushō 1999 (Environmental white paper1999) (vols 1ndash2) Tokyo Environment Agency

Fukatsu Hiroshi 1997 Tideland projectbrings waves of controversy Japan QuarterlyOctoberndashDecember

Nanyan Guo 2009 Environmental Cultureand World Heritage in Pacific Japan Saving theOgasawara Islands The Asia-Pacific JournalV o l 1 7 - 3 - 0 9 A p r i l 2 6 2 0 0 9 L i n k(httpsapjjf org-Nanyan-Guo3130)

Hazumi Toshihiro 1999 Status andmanagement of the Asiatic black bear in Japan In Bears Status survey and conservationaction plan eds C Servheen H Herrero amp BPeyton Retrieved March 23 2004 Link(httpwwwiucnorgthemessscactionplansbearsbearsAP_chapter10_Japanpdf)

Hazumi Toshihiro 2006 Submission to theCommittee of the Environment Diet of Japan(in Japanese) From the transcription ofproceedings of the 10th meeting of theCommittee of the Environment 164th sessionof the National Diet May 8 2006 RetrievedMay 9 2006 f rom the Die t Meet ingP r o c e e d i n g s d a t a b a s e(httpwwwshugiingojpindexnsfhtmlindex_kaigirokuhtm)

Ishikawa Tetsuya 2001 Nihon no shizen-

hogo (Nature conservation in Japan) TokyoHeibonsha

Kellert Stephen 1991 Japanese perceptionsof wildlife Conservation Biology 5(3)297ndash308

Knight John 1997 On the extinction of theJapanese wolf Asian folklore studies 56(1) R e t r i e v e d M a r c h 1 9 2 0 0 4 L i n k

(httpwwwwolfologycomid147htm)

Knight John 2003 Waiting for wolves inJapan An anthropological study of people-wildlife relations Oxford New York OxfordUniversity Press

Kondo Hisashi 1996 Preserving Japanrsquosendangered animal species Pacific Friend 23(9) 2ndash9

Kuroiwa Takeshi November 5 2002 Preserving the nationrsquos virgin forests YomiuriShinbun Retrieved March 28 2004 Link(httpforestsorgarticlesreaderasplinkid=17282) (Forestsorg Forest Conservation Portal)

Lies Elaine 2001 Japan ocean sluice gateproject stirs controversy PlanetArk 5 JuneRetr ieved November 12 2003 L ink(httpwwwplanetarkcomdailynewsstorycfmnewsid11066newsDate5-Jun-2001storyhtm)

Maita Kazuhiko 1998 Ikashite fusegu kumano gai (Preventing bear damage) TokyoNōbunkyō

Mano Tsutomu amp Moll Joseph 1999 Statusand management of the Hokkaido brown bearin Japan In Bears Status Survey andConservation Action Plan eds C Servheen SHerrero and B Peyton Retrieved May 20 Link(httpwwwiucnorgthemessscactionplansbearsbearsAP_chapter10_Japanpdf)

McCormack Gavan 1996 The emptiness ofJapanese affluence St Leonards NSW Allenamp Unwin

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

17

McCormack Gavan 2005 Tide Change inSaga Japan The Asia-Pacific Journal D e c e m b e r 1 7 2 0 0 5 L i n k(httpsapjjforg-Gavan-McCormack1681)

McCormack Gavan 2007 Modernity Waterand the Environment in Japan in William MTsutsui ed A Companion to Japanese HistoryBlackwell Companions to World HistoryMalden Ma USA Oxford UK CarltonAustralia Blackwell Publishing 443-459

McGill Douglas C 1992 Nature in the mindof Japan The Sunday New York TimesMagazine October 4

Ministry of the Environment 2006 AnnualReport on the Environment in Japan RetrievedJ u n e 2 0 2 0 0 8 L i n k(httpwwwenvgojpenwpaper2006indexhtml)

Ministry of the Environment 2007 Kankyohakusho Junkangata Shakai Hakusho 2007(Environmental White Paper White Paper for aCyclical Society 2007) Retrieved June 202 0 0 8 L i n k(httpwwwenvgojppolicyhakusyoh19htmlhj07030301html3_3_1_1)

Ministry of the Environment 2008a Summarytable of area figures for Natural Parks

R e t r i e v e d J u l y 4 2 0 0 8 L i n k(httpwwwenvgojpennaturenpsparkdocfilesnp_3pdf)

Ministry of the Environment 2008b Summarytable of area figures by land ownership atNatural Parks Retrieved July 4 2008 Link(httpwwwenvgojpennaturenpsparkdocfilesnp_5pdf)

Miyai Roy Mina 1998 Evolving humanattitudes and management policy in Japanesewildlife management a case study of theAsiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus japonicus) MSc diss University of Montana

Natori Yoji 1997 Shiretoko loggingcontroversy A case study in Japaneseenvironmentalism and nature conservationsystem Society amp Natural Resources 1551ndash565

Nature Society of Japan (Nihon Shizen Kyōkai) 2003 Diverse nature An outline of Japanrsquosnatural ecosystems Retrieved December 42 0 0 3 L i n k(httpwwwnacsjorjpenglishe-diversehtml)

Niikura Toshiko amp Souter Heather nd Thecitizens campaign to save the Nagara Riverraising consciousness and concern regardingpublic works projects A paper from theEnvironmental NGOsrsquo International Symposiumon Dams Retrieved June 16 2003 Link(http wwwkfemor kr engkfem issuedamsympodamsympo_e6html)

Organisation for Economic Cooperation andDevelopment ed 2002 Environmentalperformance reviews Japan Paris OECD

Statistics Bureau of Japan 2003 Chapter 5Agriculture forestry and fisheries StatisticalHandbook of Japan Retrieved May 18 2004L i n k(httpwwwstatgojpenglishdatahandbookc05conthtmcha5_2)

Stewart-Smith Jo 1987 In the shadow ofFujisan Japan and its wildlife HarmondsworthViking

Tomiyama Kiyonori amp Asami Takahiro 1998 Victory Ogasawaran land snails will surviveon Anijima Tentacle July 8 Retrieved August1 2 0 0 3 L i n k(httpbamauaedu~clydeardIUCN-SSC_htmlTENTACLEPDF)

Tsuruga H Sato Y amp Mano T 2003 Management of brown bears in HokkaidoJapan Retrieved May 20 2004 Link(httpwwwnorthernforumorgwordBrown_bears_in_Hokkaidodoc)

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

18

Umehara Takeshi 2003 Revenge of theMutsugoro The Asia-Pacific Journal Link(httpsapjjforgarticlesshow_list11120)

Urashima Etsuko 2009 Opting for theIrrational Tokyo Brushes Aside OkinawanCourt Order to End Awase Wet landsReclamation Project The Asia-Pacific JournalLink (httpsapjjforg-Urashima-Etsuko3025)

Watanabe Chisaki 2002 Indigenous fishvanishing in Japan as invasion of Americanspecies spreads Environmental NewsN e t w o r k R e t r i e v e d M a y 2 5 L i n k(httpwwwenncomnewswire-stories20020101182002ap_46175asp)

Watts Jonathan 2001 Seaweed dries up inJapan Guardian Unlimited 8 FebruaryR e t r i e v e d 1 2 D e c e m b e r L i n k(httpwwwguardiancoukelsewherejournaliststory0779243548900html)

Yomiuri Shinbun December 19 2006 Kumahokaku 5000-tō kosu 30-nenkan de saikō 9-wari wa satsushobun (Captured bears numberover 5000mdashhighest on record for 30 years 90per cent culled) Retrieved December 21 2006L i n k(httpheadlinesyahoocojphla=20061219-00000094-jij-soci)

Yoshida Fumikazu 2001 Environmentalpolitics in Japan In Yoshida F The economicsof waste and pollution management in Japan R e t r i e v e d M a r c h 2 6 2 0 0 4 L i n k

(httpwwweconhokudaiacjp ~yoshidaepeWAS2_c8pdf)

Yoshida Masahito 2002 Reformation ofnatural parks law in Japan past seventy yearsand the future Paper presented at theIUCNWCPA-EA-4 Taipei Conference March18-23 2002 Taipei Taiwan Retrieved August1 2 0 0 3 L i n k(httpwwwcnpsorgtwpark-03WPC-EA4-2002420Session 20DD06pdf)

Yoshimi Shunya 2006 A drifting world faircultural politics of environment in thelocalglobal context of contemporary Japan InJapan after Japan Social and cultural life fromthe recessionary 1990s to the present edsTomiko Yoda Harry Harootunian DurhamLondon Duke University Press 315ndash414

Notes

1 The term ldquonatural environmentrdquo requiresdefinition This is an ambiguous and impreciseterm but for the purpose of this discussion itrefers to environments such as wetlands riversor forests which support ecological systems offlora and fauna Some areas may be partially orsubstantially modified (such as a river withconcrete embankments) but still supportsignificant biological diversity

2 For an in-depth discussion of Japanrsquos natureconservation movement focusing on its post-war history see ldquoThe nature conservationmovement in post-war Japanrdquo EnvironmentalHistory Vol16 (2010) (forthcoming)

3 The Environment Agency was restructuredand renamed the Ministry of the Environmentin 2001

4 The distinction between ldquonational parkrdquo andldquonatural parkrdquo should be made clear The latteris a category which includes any type of parkprovided for under the Natural Parks Law ienational parks quasi-national parks orprefectural natural parks When these othercategories of park are included the percentageof total land covered by such parks is 14 percent

5 In comparison in New Zealand humanactivity in all national parks (which constitute14 per cent of total land area) is restricted as isnecessary for the preservation of native plantsand animals or for the welfare of the parks ingeneral Limited commercial activity (such as

APJ | JF 8 | 4 | 2

19

the building or operation of ski facilities) ispermitted on a concessionary basis by theadministering body the Department ofConservation

6 Though the extinction of the Honshu wolf wasprecipitated by a combination of factorsincluding human eradication and rabies it wasdeforestation that brought the wolf intocontact and conflict with humans and thus ledto their persecution as pests

7 Paddy fields in particular are importanthabitats for fauna and flora especially insects(over 400 species) fish amphibians and birds(OECD 2002)

8 In a recent example the 2005 Aichi Expowhich somewhat ironically boasted the themeldquoNaturersquos Wisdomrdquo was criticised for thedamage it caused to the forests on the site onwhich it was developed (Yoshimi 2006395ndash414)

9 All hunters must join a local branch of theHunting Association (ryōyūkai) whichdisseminates information holds regularmeetings and elects officials who liaise withmunicipal prefectural and police authorities(Knight 2003 37)

10 The five reservations are a 606 hectarereserve for fresh water fish in TochigiPrefecture a 31 hectare reserve forsalamanders in Hyōgo Prefecture a 153hectare reserve for dragonflies in KagoshimaPrefecture a 600 hectare reserve for snakes inOkinawa Prefecture a 385 hectare reserve foralpine plants in Yamanashi Prefecture and tworeserves for grassland plants in KumamotoPrefecture (13 and 705 ha respectively)

11 See Ishikawa Tetsuya Nihon no shizen-hogo[Nature Conservation in Japan] Tokyo 200158ndash66 Cath Knight Veneration or DestructionJapanese Ambivalence Towards Nature withspecial reference to Nature Conservation MAthesis University of Canterbury 2004 56ndash9 fora discussion of this issue

12 The Forestry Agency has been a self-fundingagency since 1947 Critics suggest that this hasmeant that the Agencyrsquos priority has beenprofits generated from logging with littleregard for environmental impact (Natori 1997561) For example at the time of the Shiretokologging controversy the Forestry Agencyrsquosdeficit stood at more than 15 trillion yen(Japan Lawyerrsquos Association 1991 cited inNatori 1997 558) and the logging project atShiretoko was seen as an attempt to reducethis deficit

13 The Environmental Impact Assessment Lawenacted in 1997 makes environmental impactassessments compulsory for all large-scaleprojects carried out by the central governmentand provides increased opportunities for publicparticipation in the assessment process (OECD2002 58)

14 Though it is too early to tell what implicationsthis will have for nature conservation policy inJapan the early signals in terms of the newgovernmentrsquos position on environmentallydestructive construction projects been positiveIn September 2009 on its first day in office theDPJ announced its decision to halt the YambaDam a highly controversial project that hasbeen promoted by the LDP government since1952