Ebook: Handbook of Environmental History in Japan

Japan: a land plagued by volcanoes, earthquakes and typhoons, yet blessed with a climate suitable for all manner of agriculture and forestry, and positioned where ocean currents collide and bring an abundance of the ocean’s resources to its people; a country which moved quickly from an agrarian pre-industrial society to become one of the world’s great economic powerhouses in only a few decades, spoiling water, air and land in the process, bringing misery to many of its people; a country with expansionist desires, colonizing neighboring lands, leading to war, defeat, destruction and, for the first time in history, nuclear devastation and its aftermath; a land and its people which share a remarkable resilience and ability to evaluate and correct their mistakes and renew their trajectory towards a better future.
The sixteen chapters of the Handbook of Environmental History in Japan) take a critical look at the environmental history of Japan, reviewing lessons learned and offering ideas that may provide solutions to at least some of the existential environmental problems faced by people all around the globe. Divided into five sections which examine topology, pollution, the relationship shared by humans and nature, water resources and forestry, this handbook is a valuable resource for students and scholars who want to discover and understand the role humans play not just in the destruction of resources but also in their preservation.