Japan's Edo Culture Inspires a Sustainable Post-Industrial Future | Jared Braiterman. Could modern Tokyo have a tree canopy covering 80% of the city? Could Tokyo's rivers and bay provide free clams, fish and seaweed to its residents? Why do we have trouble even imagining urban agriculture or economic growth in harmony with the natural environment? These were all accomplishments of pre-industrial Edo Japan. Azby Brown's new book Just Enough: Lessons in Living Green from Traditional Japan (Kodansha International 2010) convincingly argues that the growing movement for sustainable living in the twenty-first century can learn from Edo's land and resource practices and its culture of restraint. Just Enough writes against conventional narratives of progress and the still prevailing consensus that the newest technology will cure the collateral damage of industrialization and consumer society.
The zero-emission automobile is just the latest dream of a magic bullet, or this decade's version of the fat-free potato chip. Edo-Period Recycling | Quirky Japan Blog. TEDxTokyo - Azby Brown - 05/15/10 - (English) Japan's sustainable society in the Edo period (1603-1867) Part 1: Reuse and Recycling Practices (from March 03 JFS newsletter) In the history of Japan, the 265-year period between 1603 (when Tokugawa Ieyasu became the generalissimo or great "shogun" of the Tokugawa shogunate) and 1867 (when Tokugawa Yoshinobu formally returned political authority to the emperor) is called the Edo Period. Edo is the former name for what is now Tokyo. This period was given its name because the feudal government at the time was headquartered in Edo, rather than in Kyoto where it was previously located. During most of the Edo Period, Japan was closed off to the world, suffered no invasion from the outside, and had virtually no exchange with other countries.
The first national census, conducted around 1720, indicates a population of approximately 30 million people, which remained relatively constant throughout the entire two and a half centuries of the Edo Period. Japan holds only small reserves of fossil fuels such as oil. Part 2: Energy Systems. Edo Period Japan: A Model of Ecological Sustainability | Museum of the City. Illustration of Bustling Edo, Japan The modern city of Tokyo, Japan was previously called Edo. The period between 1603 and 1867 is referred to as Japan’s Edo Period because the center of government was moved from Kyoto to the city of Edo in 1603. Japan’s Edo Period lasted 265 peaceful years, and to ensure this peace, most international trade was forbidden by the reigning Tokugawa shogunate. Because Japan was isolated by government decree during the Edo Period, resources were limited and therefore considered extremely valuable.
Since very little trade was allowed, Japan had to be self-sufficient. Night soil was carted from Edo to the outlying agricultural land (Illustration © Azby Brown). The society ran as a very efficient closed loop system where all waste was used to support production and previously produced items were repaired and reused. Farmers and peasant farmhands were an honored class ranked only below that of samurai Sifting rice in Edo Urban Edo U.S. Edo Period Market References. Living with Just Enough | Global Oneness Project. By now we are all extremely familiar with the litany of challenges we face as a global species, the threats of scarcity which pit state against state and community against community, problems manmade and visible in nature: growing population, increasing urbanization, deforestation, damaged watersheds, overconsumption of resources, energy shortages, waste, pollution.... All of us could easily add to this list. We know there will be no easy fixes, no panaceas, but nevertheless as we try to set priorities and search for the most promising ways to approach these problems, many of us find ourselves looking to different cultures and to earlier eras for inspiration.
In this regard, the Edo period of Japan has a lot to teach us. We could in fact use it as a model of how to flip impending environmental collapse into sustainability, primarily by allowing a rich and insightful mindset rooted in centuries of experience and wisdom to guide our decisions. There is more to it, however.