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Environmental restoration of Minamata: new thinking brings new advances

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Abstract

This paper discusses the idea of environmental restoration and the creation of sustainable cities of industry and culture by spotlighting how the city of Minamata, Japan, which was severely affected by environmental damage, is rejuvenating itself by means of a unique strategy based on a new way of thinking and the fostering of human resources. Taking its lead from the concept of environmental capacity building, this paper focuses on environmental restoration as (1) a mending process for the social environment and human relationships, (2) a strategy of actor participation, particularly citizen participation, in environmental restoration, and (3) a role for human resource development.

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References

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Acknowledgments

I am grateful for the support of Kumamoto Prefecture (Takayuki Kumamoto), the City of Minamata (Tetsuro Yoshimoto), Masazumi Yoshii, Soshia (Kunio Endo), Hotto House (Takeko Kato), Chisso Minamata Factory, Act-be Recycling, Tanaka Company, RBS, Replatech, Shin’ichiro Kogata, Kiyota Kogata, Toshio Yoshinaga, Asari Ori, Hajime Sugimoto, Kiyokata Maruta, Toru Sawahata, and Haruyo Yoshida.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Policy, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0809, Japan

    Fumikazu Yoshida

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  1. Fumikazu Yoshida
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Correspondence to Fumikazu Yoshida.

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Yoshida, F. Environmental restoration of Minamata: new thinking brings new advances. Sustain Sci 2, 85–93 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-006-0017-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-006-0017-2

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