Introduction: Perspectives of Environmental History in Japan

Summary

Structure of this book

The arc-shaped Japanese archipelago, which is dotted along the eastern coast of the Eurasian Continent, stretches 3,000 kilometers from north to south. It has a total area of about 377,900 square kilometers, almost all of which belongs to the humid and temperate zone. Mountainous areas account for 70 percent of the land area, and farmland and residential land spread out in the narrow plains. Volcanic activities have continued unchanged since ancient times, typhoons repeatedly hit from the southern oceans in autumn, and there are many earthquakes and floods. We can easily characterize the archipelago as a disastrous one.

On the other hand, the Kuroshio current, a warm current from the south, and the Oyashio current, a cold current from the north, collide off the coast of Japan, and there are abundant fishery resources. In autumn, the whole country is ablaze with colored leaves; in winter, it snows mainly on the Sea of Japan side, and in spring, flowers bloom all at once and rice fields are planted. The so-called rainy season begins, and when the rainy season ends, hot summer comes.

This book is about the history of such an environment. The 16 contributors’ specialties include environmental sociology, human geography, history of science, medicine, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, cities and the like. They do not necessarily specialize only in environmental history, but they are all researchers who have been deeply involved in the history of the environment in a broad sense and the history of environmental change in Japan.

As the editor, I asked each author to convey both a general story that is easy for readers to learn and the detailed content of their own research. In this way, it was my intention that both those who are new to Japan's environmental history and those who have experience in the field would find this handbook a valuable resource. By selecting topics which span multiple fields and disciplines and balancing these with authors who can address the issues deeply, I can divide the book into five sections.

In Part 1 “Topology of Environmental History” three contributors discuss the importance of “topography” in the environmental history in Japan.