The 6th workshop of History Project

Date：18.March.2005　19:00-21:00
Place：Main Meeting Room, 7F, '80 Building, Ichigaya Campus, Hosei Univ.

Building banks for Japan's river : Which comes first, beauty or the beasts?
Paul Waley
Japan had built many dams during the period between the 1950s and the 70s as a construction state, while waterfront landscapes were being gradually replaced by razor-shaped concrete dikes or embankments. Many rivers have also been covered for road construction. However, in the middle 80s and the 90s, the value of waterfront which provides closeness to water was reevaluated, resulting to the construction of affection for Water Parks in cities, including the high-standard (super) dike of Tsukuda-jima (island). Such spaces have provided amities to the city; however, they also entailed many environmental problems. In addition, for the river development based on the natural diversity focusing on protection of nature and ecology, traditional Japanese method, and Swiss or German methods have been introduced; such type of river development is also facing several problems. For example, the restoration of the nature is fundamentally impossible; lack of specialists, and the issue of scale and cost, etc. However I have to admit that the river developments of the 90s yielded significant results: general recognition of importance of waterfront. Currently, the river development is mainly based on participation of the inhabitants of surrounding regions. From the viewpoint of administration, the link of several groups with a focus on river development, spanning municipalities or districts along the river, has been organized. Such groups for large rivers can be found throughout the Japan.
The small groups centering on rivers which have developed environmental activities, show one of the significant characteristics of Japanese society. Japan is said to be a strong nation or a nation led by major companies. Then, what role does civil society occupy in such nation? In Europe and the United States, the civil society and the administration are completely separated. However in Japan, the positions of civil society and the administration seem to be closer regarding the environmental issues. The administration in Japan does not have a great influence on the civil society; instead, the existence of "soft elites" is important. They act following the practice of civil society, retaining the standpoint of administration. This group consists of officers of national or local governments, intellectuals including professors, and specialists such as architects, landscape architects, etc., and operates near the administration, but cannot be completely included in the administration. Such soft elites often serve major roles in environmental activities of the civil society including the river development. On the other hand, there are also "hard elites" in the administration and the construction industry, who show an indifference to the river development; we will not be able to continue the environmental activities without considering their presence. They can be a major hurdle in harmonizing nature and landscape.