Improving the Air for All: Tokyo, Japan

As we have seen from the industrial revolutions of Europe and North America, developing a nation has grave environmental costs, especially during the initial development stage. Along with an inherent population boom, comes the issue of controlling pollution and production so that the limited resources of the nation are not depleted or damaged. Tokyo, Japan is one city that not only has to deal with these same issues as it develops, but also faces geographical challenges and limitations that exacerbate theses issues. Although Tokyo is a developing city that must deal with the daunting environmental implications of industrializing as well as rapid population growth, the city has been able to implement some effective measures to improve the air quality and the overall quality of life for its inhabitants while developing the city in a way that will sustain its current population boom and populations to come.
Tokyo, Japan is one of the most densely populated areas in Japan with a total population of 12.79 million people or 5,847 persons per sq. kilometer as of 2007. These numbers suggest that Tokyo houses about 10% of Japan’s population on 0.6% of Japan’s total land area (Tokyo Metropolitan Government). Tokyo’s population has been increasing steadily since 1997 and has seen a great increase in immigrant population as well as natural population growth. The United Nations estimates that by the year 2015, Tokyo will remain the city in the world with the largest urban population at 27.2 million inhabitants, more than doubling its current population (The UN). Economically, Tokyo has been in a recovering stage since the mid 1990’s. After experiencing a burst in its economic bubble in the late 80’s, Tokyo has been working to recover economically by creating more jobs and cutting taxes for struggling workers. Although Tokyo, Japan is known for its automobile industry, it experienced a slight lull at the beginning of 2000, causing a major resurgence in recent years. But as the rise of automated assembly of cars came about, this still left many workers in Japan looking for jobs.
Because of Tokyo’s large population (and the population boom predicted for the future) and its need to expand economically to support this population, it is increasingly becoming one of the world’s largest air polluters. It is estimated that the Tokyo region of Japan alone emits 60 million tons of green house gases per year (Kubota). The city remains 5th on the list of biggest greenhouse gas emitters as it struggles to meet regulations set out by the Kyoto Protocol. The main causes for Tokyo’s inability to completely curb air pollution in the city include geography, increased industry, and increased use of the automobile.
One of the main components of Tokyo’s air pollution problem is its natural geography. Tokyo is situated on the mountainous island-nation of Japan. Although most people would assume that, since Tokyo is off the coast, the ocean breeze from the Pacific blows away some of the emissions and pollution, this is not the case. The high mountains on the island act as buffers and cause air pollution to become trapped in the basin area where the city lies. It is also is key to note that the mere fact that Tokyo is located on an island makes it more susceptible to air pollution due to the fact that all of the countries industry, resource extraction, and land use must be done in on a very finite amount of land. Although Tokyo has taken part in massive land reclamation efforts, we can see from the sheer number of office building and factories in the city that too much industry is taking place on a small amount of land.
It is estimated that there are hundreds of thousands of factories and office buildings in Tokyo that emit a large percentage of the world’s green house gasses and pollutants. These factories and other businesses are emitting large amounts of sulfur oxides into the air, the main cause of acid rain. Acid rain is a natural phenomenon where pollutants such as sulfur oxides get into the air and mix with rain water. When the rain water falls and comes into contact with plants and other natural resources it can seriously damage them as well as the natural water supply. This is a huge problem for the agricultural sector of Tokyo’s economy as well as for the health and safety of its inhabitants. The government has also recently faced multiple class action law suits against its citizens who have faced grave and irreversible health problems due to the amount of air pollution in the city. It is estimated the government has issued over $55.2 million in settlements for wrongful death and injury suits due to air pollution. Although Tokyo has tried to encourage limited emissions and less industry in the city, opponents argue that Tokyo cannot afford to limited its economic industries no matter what the environmental costs are because doing so would damage its economy to a point where it is no longer a contender in the global market.
Lastly, when discussing air pollution, it is inevitable that the role of automobile use be looked at. As the automobile becomes cheaper to buy for personal consumption, more and more people are compelled to buy it for not only transportation but for status symbols. It is estimated that total passenger car consumption in Japan reached 50 million units in 2000 (Associated Press). Apparently this many cars on the road cannot be good for the environment or the health of the citizenry. Shintaro Ishihara, the Governor of Tokyo, was quoted in a speech in 2002 stating that “over 20% of all lung cancer fatalities in Tokyo are attributed to particulate matter released from diesel cars” (Tokyo Metropolitan Government). In tests done by the Japanese government, only 47% of the automobile emission testing sites achieved acceptable environmental quality standards (Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Bureau of Environment). The governments of Japan and Tokyo recognize the problems faced by not only automobile use, but also green house gas emissions from factories and other polluters.
Tokyo has, in recent years taken many measures to curb air pollution in the city, although some might argue that these efforts have not been very effective. In 2000 Tokyo began its wave of air pollution policy reforms with a completely amended version of the Pollution Control Ordinance introduced that year in late December. The city also passed the Municipal Environment Protection Ordinance of Tokyo that year. Both aimed to curb pollution from big business and an influx in car use in the city (Tsunoda). Governor Shintaro, Ishihara in 2002 that the government of Tokyo was working to accelerate measures already taken to curb air pollution. His statements were followed a few months later by regulation to limit emissions from diesel vehicles and a new program for small businesses where they could access government loans to help with the costs of complying with the new laws (Tokyo Metropolitan Government). The government of Tokyo has also agreed to implement a new cap and trade system in the city so that any violators of the new emissions regulations will be fined for any over emissions of green house gases.
Aside from policy efforts the government of Tokyo has taken other measures to reduce air pollution. The government has participated in purchasing carbon offsets, which are supposed to cancel the negative effects of pollution by planting greenery to absorb it. They have also built a highly efficient transit system to help reduce automobile usage in the city (Tsunoda). In 2002 the road system was expanded to alleviate some of the traffic congestion in the city, however, some might argue that expanding roads only encourages car use rather than getting more people to use public transportation, a more environmentally viable solution (Associated Press). The government has also spent money on the promotion of higher quality fuels in automobiles and the development of a 24 hour air pollution monitoring system that will track the city’s progress in reducing air pollution and pin point problem areas (Tokyo Metropolitan Government).
To supplement the efforts of limiting air pollution and jointly cope with the increasing population of the area, Tokyo has been the world leader in developing sustainable living and building plans. In a National Geographic documentary, the leading architects of Japan show their plans to develop the city upwards rather than sprawling into the limited space that they already have. This plan relates to air pollution because the new city development will decrease the need for cars and will and will limited future need for additional residential and commercial development. The main sustainability features of the plan include a bullet train linking the entire project together, a super elevator, and over 100 stories of residential and commercial development.
The successfulness of the government’s efforts is arguable at best. Although it has been stated that clear progress has been made in reducing air pollution and can be seen in the fact that the far mountains of Japan can be seen on a clear day from Tokyo, the statistics still show Japan as one of the major air polluters of the world. The government of Tokyo reports that its tests show that automobile emissions have decreased after the implementation of stricter regulations on diesel fueled cars. However, other resources point out that the amount of nitrogen oxides emitted has been steady over the last decade. These figures are clearly inconsistent and require further scrutiny if the real data is to be found, but I am willing to assume that the figures from the government are skewed due to personal bias. It has also been noted that Tokyo still accounts for over 5% of the nations green house gas emissions, even after all the regulations and reforms passed. However, all sources agree that the amount of particulate matter in Tokyo’s air has steadily decreased in the past decade, which accounts for the amount of clearness noted in the Tokyo skies.
The US and Japan both have similar outlooks on pollutions and it is my opinion that they are both very naïve to the reality of it. Tokyo’s government clearly believes that it is doing what it can to protect the environment just as the US does. But it is clear that one solution that neither has tried is to limit the amount of industry in the area. Neither is willing to take the economic hit. The economy is important but if 100 or 200 years down the line there is no environment or supply of natural resources to support life I think that people will begin to realize that the economy isn’t as important as they thought it was. Since the US has a large amount of land compared to the limited amount of land that an island-nation has, I think that planning and land use do not factor in the same way in these two areas. Tokyo is limited in land area which explains why it has so much industry concentrated into one area. The United States, however, doesn’t really have an excuse as to why it has so many dense population centers when that really isn’t necessary. I think if there is one lesson that the US can learn from the city of Tokyo, Japan, it is that if it continues to sprawl the way it has in areas such as Southern California it could face some of the very same environmental problems that Tokyo has in the future.
The air quality in densely populated urban areas has a tendency to be poor. However, the best way to limit the pollution that causes poor air quality without limiting industry is highly debatable. In Tokyo, Japan poor air quality and pollution due to industry and automobile usage is worsened by the area’s natural geography and limited land area. Because of this the government has made numerous efforts to try to curb air pollution for the health and safety of the environment and its inhabitants. These efforts, however, have had mixed results. It is important for a country to sustain itself economically and environmentally. The developing cities of the world, however, are having a tougher time find a good balance of both as natural resources and more scarce and environmental protections become more urgent.

Saturday, March 21, 2009