In this paper, we estimate the short-term impact of carbon tax and feed-in tariff on the industry and household expenditure, using an input-output analysis. We use the 2011 input-output table to estimate the change in commodity prices using a price model. As for the impact on the household expenditure, we use the data from the “Family Income and Expenditure Survey” (Statistics Bureau) and link the price change determined from the input-output model to the quantity listed in the survey.

We find that the feed-in tariff increases commodity prices more than the carbon tax, while the carbon tax increases household expenditure more than the feed-in tariff. As for households, the analysis revealed that the burden is higher for low income households, households living in colder regions, and senior households. Furthermore, we analyze the cases where mitigation policies are introduced to specific industries. The results show that the policy alleviates the burden in both industry and households, while not reducing the regressivity.

For dealing with a large amount of disaster waste generated by the Great East Japan Earthquake, municipal governments have developed various plans and wide-area structures for disaster waste disposal. Meanwhile, countermeasures have not been sufficiently enhanced for rubble processing at each disaster site since there are problems such as the difficulty of self-help efforts due to aging and the shortage of volunteers. This research focuses on waste disposal at initial response phase, especially at primary processing stage, and analyzes on regional response capabilities according to the characteristics of the households in each region. Specifically, by the questionnaire survey on the disaster waste disposal at flood disasters conducted for 400 inhabitants in the Tamagawa River basin, possibilities and expectation for support, and response capabilities of the region to disaster waste were analyzed. The results indicate that 1) the support expected by the residents for municipal governments or volunteers at initial response phase is mainly the logistics such as preparation of cleaning equipment and transportation of disaster waste, 2) in households consisting only of elderly people, it is difficult to handle rubbing by self-help, and 3) even in young people, households of couple only tend to have fewer expectation for support.

The prevailing westerlies that blow from China across the Japanese archipelago carry acidic wet depositions to higher mountains and solitary islands in Japan face the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan. These mountains and islands receive much of the long-range air pollutant load. The water quality of mountain streams can be considered an indicator of an “output” from the surface zone of a mountain watershed that receives an “input” of acidic depositions and sea salts. The wet deposition of NO₃⁻ on Oki Island and Rishiri Island increased annually in the period from 1991 to 2016. On yakushima, the annual wet deposition of NO₃⁻+NH₄⁺-N and the average concentration of NO₃⁻ in mountain streams increased annually in the period from 1996 to 2013.

For three areas the NO₃⁻-N concentrations in mountain streams are highest in the west, becoming lower towards the east. For Myokou-san, Ihide-san, Asahi-dake, Gassann and Chokai-san, the NO₃⁻-N concentrations become lower from south to north. For Tsushima, Fukuejima, Amakusa-shimojima and Yakushima, those concentrations become lower from north to south. Mountain ridges on the Noto Peninsula, in the Ryohaku Mountains and in the Ibuki Mountains of central Honshu Island are oriented north-south, and the concentrations of SO₄²⁻ and NO₃⁻ are higher in streams in the west of each of these regions than in streams in the east of each of these regions.

Since the Paris Agreement of November 4, 2016, which was instrumental in bringing together all nations to share in the responsibility of combatting climate change, there have been widespread discussions about carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology because CCS represents a promising approach to achieve meaningful reductions in CO₂ emissions. Presently, a key challenge is to fully understand this technology and its benefits, and governments now have the responsibility of preparing relevant legal and policy frameworks for CCS, with the aim of implementing such technology practically and successfully at the regional and global levels. During the past two decades, a number of governmental reports have clearly indicated that greenhouse gas emissions from the Asian region, particularly CO₂, have dramatically increased in response to the rapid industrialization and population growth.

The objectives of this paper are to discuss our research findings on key issues regarding the roles and barriers for a policy and legal framework for CCS in Japan as well as in Asian region, and also to make recommendations for a policy and legal framework in Japan while considering the possibilities of achieving a common understanding and basis regarding the implementation of CCS laws and policies in the Asian region.