Environmental Policy in Japan

Edited by Hidefumi Imura, Professor, Department of Urban Environment, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Japan and Miranda A. Schreurs, Lehrstuhl für Environmental and Climate Policy, Hochschule für Politik München an der Technischen Universität München, Germany

The book introduces Japan’s environmental history, its key environmental regulations and the forces that have driven Japan to introduce these environmental regulations and programs. It also examines the various formal and informal institutional mechanisms and policy instruments that have been introduced over the past several decades to implement pollution control and energy conservation. The authors conclude by putting Japan’s environmental policy experiences in comparative perspective and considering what useful lessons can be drawn from the Japanese experience for developing nations.

‘This book is a must; it is best reading for all interested in or working on environmental policy formulation and implementation, be it in a polluted industrial country or in a polluting developing country.’
– Environmentalist

‘. . . a well-conceptualized analysis of the evolution of Japan’s environmental policies and programmes. . . The quality of integration from chapter to chapter is much superior to that of most multiple-author texts.’
– International Sociology Review of Books

‘The eleven contributors to this book provide profound retrospective view son the fearsome damage inflicted on the environment of Japan and on its people during the rapid economic growth period from late 1950s to the early 1970s. The book also presents a clear vision of how developing countries might draw lessons from Japan’s experiences in overcoming some of its pollution problems.’
– Hiroshi Ohta, Pacific Affairs

‘This is, I’m sure, the most comprehensive and the best book ever on Japan’s environmental policy. This book is a must; it is best reading for all interested in or working on environmental policy formulation and implementation, be it in a polluted industrial country or in a polluting developing country.’
– Udo E. Simonis, Internationales Asienforum

‘The volume is a great source to explain what factors have made Japanese pollution control policy so successful. . . Imura and Schreurs have unveiled the intricacies of Japanese pollution control policy in this volume. The book can be used at the undergraduate and graduate level, particularly as a stepping stone in projects focused on minimization of contaminant emissions and on Japanese environmental policy and politics.’
– Raul Pacheco-Vega, Global Environmental Politics

‘A gold mine of information, this book gives a balanced, comprehensive, and authoritative analysis of Japan’s environmental policy and candidly covers both its considerable achievements and persistent limitations. Although this volume focuses on issues of policy implementation, it impressively addresses most aspects of environmental issues in Japan. . . This is indeed a superb book that provides encyclopedia-like information about environmental issues in Japan and is unmatched, especially in its emphasis on policy implementation.’
– Lam Peng Er, Journal of Japanese Studies