Environmental Policy and Impact Assessment in Japan - Routledge Natural Environment. Problems and Management Series

Japanese attitudes to pollution and environmental protection are distinctly equivocal. The Japanese are a nature-loving people, yet they are responsible for widespread environmental destruction; Japan has some of the world's strictest environmental quality standards, but the country also has some of the world's most environmentally damaged areas. In this book the authors present a broad and detailed analysis of contemporary policy and process.;Brendan Barrett and Riki Therivel, who both have extensive research experience in Japan, describe interest group participation in Japan's environmental policy-making and give an historical review of the relationship between economic growth and environmental problems. They look at the framework for environmental policy-making and outline the contemporary system for environmental management. This is complemented by a discussion of Environmental Impact Assessment, and by five case studies of the practical realities of EIA in Japan.;With environmental problems reaching global proportions, countries all over the world have much to learn from the experience of Japan, and the book will be extremely useful to national government officials, to local planning officers responsible for EIA and to environmental consultants working for commercial and industrial companies. It will also be of benefit to students of geography, environmental science, Japanese studies, planning and economics.