Summer Workshop
When I was in the 5th grade a ski slope was opened in Kabanosawa, Shiozawa where I was born. Our town became quite prosperous, but trees were cut from the mountainsides and animals decreased. Having seen this happen, I have always felt the paradox of development and the environment. Snowfall has decreased over the past few years and so have the number of skiers. Every time I come home it seems like the town has less and less energy. As I watch from a distance, I really want to reinvigorate the town. There are many communities in the same situation all over Japan and they are trying to reactivate themselves. I want everyone to know about their efforts. I would like to think with all of you about how we can create a community where we are all happy while taking our childrenﾕs and grandchildrenﾕs generations into consideration.
Modern Society is Unsustainable
Today, in society we are experiencing a myriad of problems on both local and global levels. For example, on the local level, communities face problems with an aging population, welfare issues, the nuclearization of families, children's education and their futures, etc. On a global level, we face problems of the environment, development, population, food supply, natural resources, energy, water, poverty, human rights, gender (social equality), peace, democracy, etc.
First, let's look at environmental problems. Two weeks ago I visited Okinawa. There has been almost no rain this year, which is quite unusual. On the other hand, in Aomori the rainy season has yet to end. They are having a cool summer. The entire globe is experiencing unusual climate change and global warming. Food supply and population are also problems. Currently the world's population is 6.3 billion. Every year this figure increasing by 90 million. In the year 2050 the world's population is estimated to be 9 billion. However there is no prospect of the food supply increasing. Water is also a problem. Currently, one fifth of the world's population (1.2 billion people) does not have access to safe drinking water. In some parts of the world one cannot acquire safe water without purchasing it. The commercialization of water is beginning all over the world. Water, food and production have vast impact on issues of poverty.
Problems with poverty are deeply interrelated with peace and globalization. If the environment is destroyed, "environmental refugees" will emerge. People are forced into refuge because they can no longer survive on their land. When peace is destroyed, again, refugees emerge. Until recently, these problems have been isolated. Now we see how connected they are.
A society in which the environment is degraded and peace destroyed lies right before our eyes. This means that a society that cannot sustain itself is before us. How many young people are in your community? Or, what is the current situation of drinking water? If we think about the situation from our own immediate surroundings, it is easy to understand. Concerning this situation, there are three problems concerning justice, impartiality and equality that we need to think about.
The first problem is an inequality within generations. Even though we are all the same human beings, some of us are born as Japanese, which is quite a different departure from people in developing regions. People say the economy is in a slump in Shiozawa but if we compare this to developing countries the situation is very different. Both developing and developed countries hope for financial wealth. However, if people in developing countries achieve financial wealth similar to Japan or the United States, future generations will not be able to survive. Advanced countries need to reduce material wealth and developing countries need to raise theirs. This is not easy.
The second problem is impartiality between generations. If we seek further material wealth, the next generation will not be able to survive.
The third problem we face is the issue of humans and nature. Right now, species all over the world are going extinct at a rapid pace due to human activity. In spite of the fact that our livelihood relies on a diversity of life, we destroy species after species.
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