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Trash in Tochigi
This isn't a reflection of the clouds. Murky white water fills an irrigation canal alongside the road. 00.01.02/ Temperature: 4C/ Weather: Partly cloudy/ Wind Direction: E
Current Location Tochigi City, 36 22 27 N 139 43 51 E
Distance Traveled: 0 km (Rest day)Today was another rest filled day for me in Tochigi City. Japan's Emperor made his first public address to the country, magic shows and the equivalent of American cowbay western television programs, Jidaigeki, were on the Television. Another day of the year 2000 passed with no major catastrophes caused by the Y2K bug. Though my stay in Tochigi has been filled with the wisdom of locals working to make use of scars left by the Ashio Mine, utilizing natural features of charcoal, and trying to reconcile city living with nature preservation, I must comment on some of the darker side of Tochigi which I have encountered.
Starting on the 28th of December and leading up just until I have holed up in Tochigi City for the holidays, I have been surprised by the amount of trash and pollution I have come across.
Trash found in fields has been unheard for most of my journey thus far. A hub cap and empty cans dirty a local daikon (Japanese radish) field. Entering Tochigi Prefecture just east of Kiryu City I was immediately taken aback by the cloudy white color of what I learned is an irrigation ditch. "Yeah, I think run-off from hospital laundry is the source of the problem," said one local I spoke with. "Since there is limited water now, things seem worse than normal, but in the spring when more water is necessary for rice crops we irrigate more water in from the Watarase River." After visiting the Ashio Mine and learning a little bit about the history of pollution in Tochigi Prefecture, I found it hard to believe my eyes and ears. Will suffering from pollution repeat itself? I also feared what effects the white swamp of water might have on crops grown in the spring.
Thus far in our travels from Hokkaido, I have come across concentrated areas of trash, however, I couldn't turn my eyes from the overwhelming amount of trash along the roadside and in fields. What was even more disconcerting was the amount of large trash thrown-out up in the rural area of Sano City. Nothing I have seen so far comes close to matching what I have seen in Tochigi.
Refrigerator, washing machine, microwave, you name it, I found it all on my way to Tochigi City. Since I started keeping track of trash when I was in Hokkaido, I have discovered several trends. 1) Trash is rarely discarded in front of fields, rice paddies, or houses. 2) City streets are fairly tidy. 3) Roads with high amounts of tourist and construction traffic generally have more trash. 4) Rest areas along roadsides have high concentrations of trash. Oddly enough, trash problems over the area I have traversed show that observations 1) and 2) do not always apply. City streets along the outskirts of some cities in Tochigi would require quite a clean-up team to return them to cleanliness. I even came across several fields with discarded cans and even a hubcap.
Even industrial waste can be found in a site abandoned by a bankrupt construction company. Not only have I made observations with my own eyes. I also heard from a newspaper reporter that Tochigi Prefecture has one of the highest arrest rates for illegal dumping of industrial waste.
Though the absurd amount of trash which has crossed my path is not a clever foot print of human progress, it may take a fair amount of wisdom to reverse its effects.
First of all, why do you think Tochigi of all places seems to have such trash problems? Secondly, can you lend any of your experience and knowledge to think of solutions to such dumping?
Greg
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