Japan (Lonely Planet, 11th Edition) - Chris Rowthorn [62]
The Cool Biz campaign has made Japan’s torrid summers more bearable. Spearheaded by the central government, it runs from early June through September. Office workers are encouraged to leave their suits and neckties at home in favour of short-sleeved shirts and other light garments. This allows for office thermostats to be set at 28°C instead of the average 26.2°C, cutting air-conditioner use and saving electricity.
Launched in 2005 by then Environment Minister Yuriko Koike, Cool Biz was also taken up by Japan’s private sector, famous for its hidebound ‘salarymen’ workers. The change was shocking for these corporate warriors, whose ubiquitous dark suits are an essential part of Japanese business protocol. But Koike had charismatic former prime minister Koizumi Junichirō as an ally. They convinced the establishment that dressing down isn’t impolite and it promotes the greater good, something inherently supported in Japan. They were so persuasive that Supreme Court judges and the president of Toyota Motor Corporation were also seen unbuttoned. The powerful Keidanren business lobby reported that 70% of its member companies set their thermostats to 28°C.
Koike organised Cool Biz fashion shows to spread the message. Clothing makers responded by producing a greater variety of lightweight suits and business attire. Salarymen found themselves getting ‘global-warming underwear’ and Cool Biz haircuts; retailers profited from a boom in sales. Necktie makers, though, were singing the blues.
In winter, the government has promoted the Warm Biz campaign. Offices are encouraged to lower thermostats and workers are asked to wear sweaters and warmer clothing to reduce electricity used for heating. According to a 2007 survey by the Ministry of the Environment, 52% of respondents used heating less, up 21 percentage points from 2005. Sales of hot-water bottles and blankets, some featuring stylish designs, have jumped.
After four summers of Cool Biz, energy-saving wardrobes seem to have become conventional wisdom for doing business. It’s an example of Japanese environmental leadership that has inspired similar campaigns in South Korea and Britain and at the United Nations. Japan can be environmentally cool, after all.
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Toyota Motor Corporation topped the 2008 ranking of Nikkei Inc’s greenest manufacturers for the third straight year for its pollution and recycling measures. Toyota has sold over 1.67 million hybrid vehicles worldwide.
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ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Japan was the first Asian nation to industrialise. It has also been one of the most successful at cleaning up the resulting mess.
In the early postwar years, there was widespread public ignorance of the problems of pollution, and Japan was more concerned with rebuilding its infrastructure and economy. Industrial pollution was at its worst from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s. But public awareness of the issue had already been awakened by an outbreak in 1953 of what came to be called Minamata disease, after the town of the same name, in which up to 6000 people were affected by mercury poisoning. It was not until 1968 that the government officially acknowledged the cause of the ‘disease’.
In the 1960s laws were passed to curb air and water pollution. These have been reasonably successful, though critics are quick to point out that while toxic matter has been mostly removed from Japanese waters, organic pollution remains a problem. Photochemical smog emerged as a problem in Tokyo in the early 1970s; it remains a problem and also affects other cities.
In 1972 the government passed the Nature Conservation Law, which aimed to protect the natural environment and provide recreational space for the public. National parks, quasi-national parks and prefectural parks were established,