Abstract
Japan’s Ogasawara (or Bonin) Islands are a site from which to observe the changing Japanese balance between bio-diversity and single-minded development, between the desire to save native species and the desire to satisfy human convenience, and between the modesty and creativity of local peoples and the arrogance and insensitivity bred of massive public works funding. This paper looks at the history of natural environment, the process of human settlement and depletion of bio-diversity, the present state of nature, the planned airport, local alternative proposals and recent shifts in bureaucratic thinking about it. The Ogasawara Islands are peripheral and economically 'backward', but they are now at the forefront of the struggle to re-negotiate the balance between humanity and nature in Japan.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 177-193 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | Japan Forum |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Sept 2001 |