I'd like to offer a slightly different take on the lack of climate strikes and relative lack of green party politics in Japan.



Given the truly pathetic attempts of liberal parties in Japan to get their act together, I too have long been surprised that a green party hasn't turned into a national force, or even a local force, in Japan. The configuration of issues that coalesce around environmental justice concerns could easily unseat, or at least weaken, the LDP. I don't really know why they haven't been able to copy Germany or other European models to advocate for social and environmental issues. I don't think that it is because of lack of commitment to abstract causes (most politics everywhere is concerned with every day issues that effect every day lives--and environmental justice issues do exactly that) but rather some kind of organizational problem that appears to be endemic to left politics in Japan.



As to the relative lack of climate protests, I agree with Jeff Broadbent that the dearth of national environmental organization is one of the main reasons that we don't see many climate strikes. I don't agree that Japan is lacking in environmental organizations in general, and I have found little evidence that "most" of their groups have somehow been co-opted by amakudari retired ministers. To the contrary, my research suggests that for the small number of organizations that manage to do it, hiring amakudari ministers has been an exceptionally effective tool through which organizations gain policy access and influence (not just in Japan, but everywhere).



To my thinking most Japanese, and, indeed counterparts across East Asia and much of the world (excepting South Korea), have decided that protests aren't particularly effective in gaining policy change. If you think about Japan's biggest protest-generating issues of late--such as anti-nuclear protests, which were large and sustained, or anti-security bill protests, which were also very large if not quite as sustained--they didn't have much effect on policy. While it might have been cathartic to hit the streets to express negative feelings, the policy didn't change much. Thus, there is no real reason for anyone in Japan to believe that policy would change just because they engaged in public protest. Japanese national politicians have been relatively useless in this regard.



However, to my thinking, just because people aren't filling the streets in emotive protests doesn't mean that they're not (a) aware that their house is on fire, and (b) organizing to do something about it.



To the contrary, we see thousands of grassroots organizations in Japan engaged in a huge range of environmental advocacy efforts that are having meaningful, positive impacts across the country. We also see a lot of Japanese corporations large and small also engage positively by reducing their own environmental impacts and developing green technologies to use themselves and share with others. The most impressive that I've seen is the incredibly CO2 intensive construction industry--nearly 100% of Japan cement is now recycled.



Finally, the real political action and progress in Japan--as is the case in the US and in much of the world--is below the national level. The folks inside nagatacho can't seem to get much done, but the mayors and governors around the country are building green infrastructure, promoting green businesses, expanding green spaces, supporting volunteer groups, teaching environmental education and conservation to their children, etc.



If you'd like to read more, please see: Environmental Advocacy: Insights from East Asia <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318639492_Environmental_advocacy_insights_from_East_Asia> (Asian Journal of Political Science 2017), Moving Forward with a Green New Deal: Lessons from East Asia <https://www.publicadministrationreview.com/2019/07/16/gndhaddad/> (Public Administration Review, July 2019). For the US--Americans Elected Mayors Who Care about Climate Change <http://theconversation.com/americans-elected-mayors-who-care-about-climate-change-104900> (The Conversation 2018), and China--China and global cities are rising to the climate change challenge: the world must follow <https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2178529/china-and-global-cities-are-rising-climate-change-challenge-world> (SCMP 2018).



Cheers,

Mary Alice


Mary Alice Haddad <http://mahaddad.faculty.wesleyan.edu/>

Chair, College of East Asian Studies

Professor of Government, East Asian Studies, and Environmental Studies

Wesleyan University

mahaddad@wesleyan.edu <mailto:mahaddad@wesleyan.edu>