Well, it has been some time since I posted on this blog, but I have some things to write about now, so thought I would dig back in. I have been on a trip to Japan for the last several weeks, and will continue here for a bit more time while I do some research for my dissertation, and my kids are in school, and my wife visits relatives. In all, it has been an interesting trip.
Today, I am interested in energy and the environment, and the growing cultural participation, here in Japan, in preserving both. I find it very interesting that public awareness of, and participation in, environmentally conscious and energy preservation related behavior seems, at least on the superficial level, to be more pervasive than it is in the United States.
Of course, hotels here are doing the same thing that hotels have been doing in the states for some time – that is, making it possible for guests to choose to use the same towels and sheets during all or part of their stay, rather than taking clean ones each day, thus, the claim is, saving water, soap, and the disposal of the mixture of those two after washing, as well as, of course, saving hotel costs. This has always seemed like a sensible thing to me, though I have done no research into the actual effectiveness at preserving energy and the environment. It is a small gesture, but real savings comes in small steps. So Japanese hotels are, and have been, doing this, and surprisingly, most guests participate by not having towels and bedding washed every day – even at hot springs resorts.
Another interesting observation I was able to make this time is the frequent use by hotels of rainwater for toilets. The claim of course, is that the use of rainwater means less use of well water for such things, and this saves water for drinking and agriculture, thus drawing down aquifers to a lesser degree. Again, I have done no research into the real-world effectiveness of this, and it seems to me, having grown up thinking of the water cycle as a closed system, that water used, whatever its source, is water used, and it still needs to be cleaned, etc. However, there is probably something to be said in an urban environment where run-off does not easily sink into the soil. Perhaps it preserves aquifers by siphoning off rainwater from the streets and rooftops. Since urban rainwater would seem to be less pure than purified well-drawn drinking water, it stands to reason that it is probably lower-cost, can be stored on rooftops, and may in fact benefit the environment by its efficiency alone.
My main point is, though, in Japan, the public seems to want to know that this is the case, and everyone I talk to is familiar with this measure. Its effectiveness as an environmental and energy-saving measure seems less important here than its usefulness in creating public awareness of the issue, and driving voluntary participation in other more useful measures.
Everywhere I go, people are interested in preserving water and energy. Of course, this has always been a part of Japanese daily life, at least since I first came here in 1989. Partly I think this is due to the fact that everything is relatively expensive here (though Hawaii now gives Japan a serious run for its money in that department). Another reason might be the relatively compact nature of most urban and suburban areas – with high population density, small homes, and close walls, what you throw out the window, into the garbage, or wash down your driveway very quickly becomes your neighbor’s business.
My mother-in-law was explaining this to me the other day when my wife and I were asking about the usefulness of the “amado” – the aluminum gate doors on all the windows in her house, which she, like everyone in the neighborhood, closes every night. She told us that it wasn’t really necessary any more to keep out storms, as it had been in older Japanese homes. It wasn’t really necessary to keep out burglars, she said, because if they want to get in, they’ll get in. She acknowledges that mostly they are a holdover from a different time, but now it is the privacy that, for her, makes them worthwhile. Certainly, we are within easy view of other neighbors from any window.
This living in a crowd kind of thinking seems to be related to saving energy and preserving the environment. When we were cleaning moss off the driveway a couple of weeks ago, I asked for soap. She said she didn’t want to do that because it would wash into the street and be a problem for her neighbors and the water supply. I definitely notice fewer people out washing their cars now than there were a dozen years ago. My wife says it is for the same reason. People don’t want to be seen washing soap and chemicals into the wastewater drain. Whatever the case, it seems that lack of privacy may be partly responsible for environmental awareness. Certainly, like Hawaii, there are strict laws about what you can and can’t wash down the storm drains with the hose, too. Can’t discount the law as a way to discourage unwanted behavior.
In Japan there have long been commentaries on the contemporary “tsukai-ste bunka”- the “disposable culture”. This has always manifested itself in the pervasive use of waribashi – break-apart chopsticks (which are pervasive in Hawaii, too). Well, the wari-bashi are disappearing, even from the tables of ramen shops, to be replaced with chopsticks that are provided, then washed as silverware, by the restaurant. This is a significant increase in cost, but because customers are demanding it, restaurants are responding. In corporate lunch rooms and school lunches, as well as take-out lunches at convenience stores (bento), people regularly now use their own chopsticks, which they carry with them in a special case to keep them clean, and the lunches no longer provide the waribashi taped to the side or lid. This tsukai-ste culture also was visible in disposable cameras and use of batteries in electronic devices.
The other day, I saw a commercial for batteries that really made me think. It said – “how long are you going to remain in the tsukai-ste culture? Join the modern world, and use rechargeable batteries.” Of course, it was a corporate commercial – for Toshiba batteries, I believe. The point is, the sale was being pitched based on a perception that Japanese customers now desire to avoid tsukai-ste products. Like most popular culture, the question is whether the commercial is being driven by consumer demand, or trying to drive it. Probably a little of both. This shows an interest in preventing waste, caring for the environment, and reducing energy use in both the consumer and corporate mindset. I see new examples of this every day.
It is simply a willingness to go to some new habit, whether it be active participation in curbside recycling, which Americans do, reduction of water use, which Americans do, reduction of electricity usage, which Americans do, or reduction in travel miles and gasoline usage, which Americans do, to some extent, that I see here. In Japan it is combined with a popular culture presence – a kind of expectation that everyone is doing it, and a sense that it is cool not to waste – that I don’t see in American popular culture. I find that to be an interesting difference.