2010 Volume 22 Pages 47-62
Environmental problems are commonly understood as environmental pollution or the increased ecological footprint caused by industrial mass production, regional disparity and the like. However, there also exist somewhat different types of environmental problems such as environmental constraints on everyday life, caused by de-population, an aging society and poor traffic conditions among others. This latter type of environmental problem concerns the phenomenon of a “shrinking society", rather than industrial systems. In disadvantaged areas such as remote islands, both types of environmental problems tend to occur simultaneously and are inextricably interwoven. For this reason, the problems faced on these islands can be uniquely difficult to resolve. In this paper, I discuss these matters concretely, referring to research date on Teshima jiken-the illegal dumping of toxic industrial waste on Teshima, Kagawa Prefecture.
