2.4 Japan
1 | Country Information
Table 2.4.1 Basic indicators
Land Area (km2)

377,977 (2020)

Total Population

125.9 million (2020)

GDP (current USD)

4,956.4 billion (2018)

GDP per capita (current USD)

35,280 (2018)

Average Precipitation (mm/year)

1,668 (2017)

Total Renewable Water Resources (km3)

430 (2017)

Total Annual Freshwater Withdrawals(billion m3)

79.3(2017)

Annual Freshwater
Withdrawals
by Sector

Agriculture

68% (2017)

Industry

14% (2017)

Municipal(including domestic)

18% (2017)(Source: See References)

Moreover, most of the available water is discharged tothe ocean unused due to the steep topography, very
short streams as well as intensive rainfall in rainy andtyphoon seasons.

3 | State of Ambient Water Quality
The main objectives of protecting the water environment
in Japan are human health and environmental
conservation, for which environmental standards forambient water quality have been established in the
Basic Environment Law as the acceptable levels of water
quality to be maintained in public waters. As such, there
are two related Environmental Quality Standards (EQS)
for water– one for human health, which are uniform
standards applicable to all public water bodies nationally,
and the other for conservation of the living environment,
which is applied to all public water bodies.
In most locations, EQS for human health have been
attained with a 99.1% compliance rate in fiscal year
2018. EQS for conservation of the living environment
have been achieved, with an 89.6% rate of compliancefor biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) or chemical
oxygen demand (COD), the representative water quality
indicators of organic contamination (Figure 2.4.2).
100Compliance rate (％)

90

Japan is located in the eastern monsoon region of Asiaand noted for having one of highest accumulations in theworld. The annual mean precipitation is 1,668 mm, about
1.4 times the global annual mean (inland area, 1,171mm). On the other hand, on a per capita basis (annual
mean precipitation × land area ÷ total population) thisis about 5,000 m3/person/year, about a quarter of theworld amount. In terms of available water resources
per capita, it is about 3,400 m3/person/year, which isless than half of the world average (about 7,300m3).

54

60
50
40
30
20
10

OverallRiversLakes andreservoirs

Coastal
areas

0

74
19
77
19
80
19
83
19
86
19
89
19
92
19
95
19
98
20
01
20
04
20
07
20
10
20
13
20
16

2 | State of Water Resources

70

19

Figure 2.4.1 Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, Japan80

Fiscal Year

Figure 2.4.2 Shift in environmental standard compliance
rate (BOD and COD)
(Source: MoEJ 2020)

3.1 Rivers
The compliance rate for rivers is 94.6%, the highest
among the different types of water bodies. A trend ofrising compliance was observed until 2015, after which
it plateaued for a few years, but in general a high water
quality has been maintained.

Chapter 2: Country Profiles of Water Environmental Management in WEPA Countries

The compliance rate for coastal waters is 79.2%, and for
total nitrogen and total phosphorus in coastal waters was

3.4 Groundwater
Of the 3,206 wells tested in 2018, 181 (or 5.6%) exceeded
standards for some EQS. Among others, values for nitrate
nitrogen and nitrite nitrogen exceeded the standards(Figure 2.4.3), the main causes of which are considered
to be nitrogen load from excessive fertilization,
inappropriate livestock excreta treatment facilities anddomestic wastewater.

Indonesia

3.3 Coastal Water

92.1%, which is higher than the previous year’s record.

China

The compliance rate for lakes and reservoirs recorded is
54.3%. While the rate has improved compared to before
2000, it has hovered around 55% in recent years. The
compliance rate for total nitrogen and total phosphorus
for lakes and reservoirs was low at 48.8%.

Cambodia

3.2 Lakes and Reservoirs

Environmental standard excess rate (%)

Japan

7

5
4

Republic of Korea

Nitrate nitrogen and nitrite nitrogen
Arsenic
Flourine
Tetrachloroethylene
Trichloroethylene
Lead

6

3
2
1
89 990 991 992 993 994 995 996 997 998 999 000 001 002 003 004 005 006 007 008 009 010 011 012 013 014 015 016 017 018
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2Survey year

19

4 | State of Wastewater Treatment

Sri Lanka
Thailand
Viet Nam*1: Domestic wastewater treatment facilities do not include facilities that treat only black water and discharge grey water into the environment
without treatment.
*2: A decentralized domestic wastewater treatment system widely used in rural areas of Japan. It can treat both black and grey water and obtain highquality effluent with aeration (less than BOD 20 mg/L according to the structural standard). Advanced types of Johkasou that can remove nitrogenor phosphorus are becoming increasingly prevalent recently. The Johkasou Law modified in 2005 defines the effluent water quality standard forJohkasou.
*3: Tandoku-shori Johkasou is an older-type Johkasou that treats only black water, and not grey water, and has therefore low effluent removal rates
and higher pollution loads (eight times) than the newer gappei-shori Johkasou. Under the Johkasou Law, Johkasou indicates gappei-shori
Johkasou that treats both black and grey water. Tandoku-shori Johkasou that does not treat grey water is, consequently, regarded as deemed
Johkasou. New installations of the older type have been forbidden since 2000 based on the modified Johkasou Law of the same year. Althoughnumbers of older tandoku-shori Johkasou are dropping, about 3.8 million are still in existence as of end of FY 2018. The issue of how to convert
the older type to the newer type is very urgent.

Philippines

domestic wastewater treatment systems, or Johkasou*2
are suitable, based on which Johkasou systems are
expected to play a larger role in domestic wastewater
treatment in the near future of Japan. Moreover,considering future social conditions anticipated in Japansuch as low birth rate and longevity, and population
decrease, it is assumed that both installations of new
Johkasou as well as conversions of older-type(“tandokushori ”) Johkasou*3 into newer-type (“gappeishori ”) Johkasou will increase.

Nepal

Access to domestic wastewater treatment facilities*1 inJapan stood at 91.7% for the population as a whole, asof the end of FY 2019 (except for some municipalities inFukushima, which lacked survey data due to the Great
East Japan Earthquake).
As shown in Figure 2.4.4, rates for those with accessto domestic wastewater treatment facilities are low inmunicipalities with small populations. Further, for areasof low population density, it is noted that decentralized(Source: MOEJ 2021)

MyanmarFigure 2.4.3 Environmental standard excess rates for groundwater (by item)

Malaysia

Note 1. Wells measured in general survey differ by year.
Note 2. Environmental standards related to groundwater contamination were established in 1997. Standards preceding this year are
considered evaluation criteria. In addition, the evaluation criteria for arsenic was revised from “under 0.05 mg/L” to “under 0.01
mg/L”, and for lead from “under 0.1 mg/L” to “under 0.01 mg/L” in 1993, and for trichloroethylene from “under 0.03 mg/L” to“less than 0.01 mg/L” in 2014.
Note 3. Nitrate nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen and fluorine were added to environmental standard items in 1999.

Lao PDR

055

Percentage of people with access to domes�c wastewater treatment facili�e (%)

With regards to installation of Johkasou, several
subsidy programmes are provided by the MoEJ, such as
the Johkasou Installation Promotion Programme, inwhich municipalities provide financial support tohomeowners installing Johkasou, and the Municipal
Johkasou Installation Programme, in which thegovernment subsidizes municipalities installing Johkasou.
In addition to installation subsidies, the government
provides financial support for the removal of older-style(tandoku-shori) Johkasou to promote conversion to the

100

99.6%

newer-type (gappei-shori) Johkasou.
Regarding the various sewerage treatment systems,
rural sewerage systems and Johkasou systems, it isimportant not only to develop domestic wastewater
treatment facilities effectively and appropriately,
corresponding to changing social conditions, but also torenovate, renew and operate existing facilities effectively,
considering technological and financial aspects of thesesystems for the sustainable management of domestic
wastewater treatment facilities.
At the End of FY 2019

94.9%

93.8%

90

91.6%
86.6%

80

81.1%

70
60

S:99.3%50

S:88.5%

S:85.7%

S:79.3%

S:66.3%

S:55.5%

Domes�cWastewater Treatment System (Total)

40

Percentage of people
with access todomes�c wastewater
treatment facili�esNa�onal Average:
91.7 %

30

R:7.8%

20
10
0Popula�on

J:0.3%
More than 1 million

R:4.3%

R:0.5%

R:0.9%

R:2.4%

J:5.8%

J:7.1%

J:9.7%

0.5–1
million

0.3–0.5
million

0.1–0.3
millionJ:15.5%50–100thousands

J:20.4%
Under 50thousands*S: Sewerage system, C: Community sewerage treatement system, R: Rural sewerage system, J: Johkasou sysytem

Figure 2.4.4 Percentage of people with access to domestic wastewater treatment facilities(Source: MoEJ 2019)by size of municipality

5 | Frameworks for Water
Environmental Management
5.1 Legislation
The purpose of the Basic Environmental Law is to “ensure
healthy and cultured living for both the present andfuture generations of the nation as well as to contributeto the welfare of mankind” (Article 1 of the Basic
Environmental Law). The EQS for water were establishedby the Basic Environmental Law as the administrative
targets for ambient water quality.
The Water Pollution Control Law, enacted in order toprotect human health and preserve the living
environment sets provisions for water quality

56

conservation such as effluent regulations from factories
and business establishments, continuous monitoring ofwater quality and the total pollutant load control system.
Other laws related to conservation of public water bodies
are shown in Figure 2.4.5.
As a measure related to domestic wastewater
management, the Sewerage Law was enacted in order toconstruct sewerage systems. In addition, the Johkasou
Law for on-site packaged household wastewater
treatment plants for areas without access to seweragetreatment was established, to define regulations relating
to their installation, inspection, desludging andmanufacturing.

Chapter 2: Country Profiles of Water Environmental Management in WEPA Countries

General Measures

Basic Environment Law
Environmental Quality Standards for
Water Pollutants

Law Concerning Special Measures for
Preserva�on of Lake Water Quality
Planning of Plan for the Preserva�on of
Lake Water Quality, Special Regula�ons

Estuaries

Water Pollu�on Control Law
Control of total pollutant load, andcountermeasures against eutrophica�on

Main Activities in charge

Ministry of theEnvironment

Formulating and implementing a wide range ofwater environment management policies such as
formulation of ambient water quality standards,
water quality monitoring of public water andpublication of the results, effluent standard,
Johkasou maintenance, etc.

Ministry of
Health, Labourand Welfare

Formulating and implementing policies related
to water supply system development andmaintenance, water quality standards for drinking
water, and security of drinking water quality.

Ministry ofAgriculture,
Forestry and
Fisheries

Formulating and implementing policies related tothe conservation and management of agriculturalland and water contributing to the conservationof the rural environment, and the development of
sewage treatment facilities in rural areas.

Biwa Lake
The Law Concerning Special Measures for the Restora�on of
the Biwa Lake
Potable Water Sources

Groundwater Quality
Conserva�on

Water Pollu�on Control Law
Regula�ons for toxic substances fromfactories, purifying orders for polluted
groundwater, and con�nuous monitoring

Basic Law on Water Cycle
Holis�c and integrated implementa�on of policies on water cycle

Other Laws Related to Water Environment

Nationwide uniform standard values were set for 27
items as the EQS for water related to protection ofhuman health (health items). In 1971, the EQS forwater were established. Meanwhile, the EQS for water
related to conservation of the living environment (living
environment items) include environmental standards

ThailandFigure 2.4.5 Scheme of legal system for water(Source: MoEJ 2009)environmental management in Japan

Ambient water quality standards

Sri Lanka

Law Concerning Special Measures against Dioxins
River Law
Drinking Water Sources Law
Water Supply Law
Law Rrela�ng to the Preven�on of Marine Pollu�on andMari�me Disaster

5.3 Ambient Water Quality Standards

Philippines

Sound Water Cycle

The Basic Law on Water Cycle was enacted in 2014
to promote integrated and comprehensive measuresrelated to the water cycle. According to this act, theHeadquarters for Water Cycle Policy, headed by thePrime Minister, was established in the Cabinet.

Nepal

General Measures

Basic Environment Law
Environmental Quality Standards for
Groundwater

Ministry of
Formulating and implementing policies such
Economy, Trade as industrial water supply development andand Industry
wastewater treatment in the mining industry
through the implementation of mine pollution
prevention projects.

MyanmarLaw Concerning Special Measures for the Protec�on of Water
Quality in Water Resources Areas for the Purpose of Preven�ng
Speciﬁc Trouble

Malaysia

Ariake Sea/Yatsushiro Sea
The Law Concerning Special Measures for the Restora�on of
the Ariake and Yatsushiro seas

Lao PDR

Seto Inland Sea
The Law Concerning Special Measures for Conserva�on of the
Seto Inland Sea

Ministry of Land, Promoting sustainable river management throughpreparation of river-related development andInfrastructure,
management plans, disseminating sewerage
Transport andpolicies and formulating and implementing policies
Tourism
related to the development and management ofwater resources.

Republic of Korea

Lakes and Reservoirs

Name

Japan

Special Measures in Enclosed Water Bodies

Table 2.4.2 Institutional arrangement ofwater environmental management

Indonesia

Johkasou Law
Installa�on of Johkasou, regula�on ofdesludging and produc�on,registra�on system of Johkasou
installa�on worker, licence system ofJohkasou desludging technician, etc

Since water is involved in many aspects of our lives, fivemain ministries (Ministry of the Environment; Ministryof Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; Ministryof Health, Labour and Welfare; Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries; Ministry of Economy, Tradeand Industry) play key roles and collaborate in water
environment management in Japan.

China

Water Pollu�on Control Law
Factory eﬄuent control, no�ﬁca�on offactory establishment, monitoring orders,con�nuous monitoring.
Measures for household wastewater
Sewerage Law
Construc�on of sewerage

5.2 Institutional Arrangement

Cambodia

Conserva�on of Water
Quality in Public Water

Viet Nam

57

for 13 items, such as BOD, COD, and DO, as well as
total nitrogen and total phosphorus, for prevention ofeutrophication in lakes and coastal waters.
Moreover, as indicators of ambient water quality
standards for the conservation of aquatic living
resources, total zinc, nonylphenol and linear alkylbenzene
sulfonic acid and its salt were registered in 2003, 2012
and 2013, respectively.

Monitoring framework
According to the Water Control Law, prefectural

governors are required to conduct regular monitoringof public water bodies and groundwater, and report to
MoEJ as well as inform the public on the state of waterpollution in public water bodies and groundwater.
Prefectural governments prepare monitoring plans andcarry out regular water quality monitoring in cooperation
with relevant national government organizations basedon monitoring methods specified by MoEJ. Monitoring
results at approximately 7,000 locations in public water
bodies nationwide are publicly released on the MoEJ
website (Figure 2.4.6).

Figure 2.4.6 Comprehensive information site on the water environment

5.4 Effluent Standards
Effluent standards

Based on the Water Pollution Control Law, uniform
effluent standards were established for 28 items related
to protection of human health, which are applicableto factories and business establishments. Meanwhile,
effluent standards for 15 items related to the living
environment target only those factories and businessestablishments with daily effluent volumes exceeding
50m 3 per day. Local governments (prefectures andordinance-designated cities) may establish stricter
effluent standards than the national uniform standards
when the national standards are considered insufficientto achieve water quality targets.
The total pollutant load control system is a discharge
control mechanism to improve water quality by reducing
total pollutant loads flowing into certain enclosed coastal
waters, namely Tokyo Bay, Ise Bay, and the Seto InlandSea, where due to the presence of populated andindustrialized areas it is difficult to achieve EQS for water

58(Source: MoEJ 2020)

by regulating discharge based on only concentrations ofregulated substances. Under the system, the national
government sets targets for pollutant loads and periods,
and the relevant prefectures stipulate the tangible
methods required to meet the targets.
To date, COD loads have been steadily reduced intarget water bodies since 1979 (Figure 2.4.7). Figure
2.4.8 shows the improvement in COD concentrations inTokyo Bay, for example. Nitrogen and phosphorus loads
have also been reduced since their addition as designateditems under the system in 2001. In September 2016,
Japan set forth its basic policy with the 8th phase of total
reduction, with the target year of 2019.

Effluent inspection procedure
The Water Pollution Control Law stipulates monitoring
and recording of the quality of effluent from factories
and business establishments. Factories and businessestablishments located in total pollutant load control
target areas are required to measure and record

Chapter 2: Country Profiles of Water Environmental Management in WEPA Countries

1,012
95

Others800

Industrial

Cambodia

COD generated loads (tons/day)
1,000

Seto inland Sea
900

429 89 838

Domes�c

82 746

China

367

356 72 672
309 67600
Tokyo Bay400

55 468Ise Bay444

115 40 355
307

286 272
35 34 246 221
29
119
27
101 978376
151 150 141 134
118

200

193

400

9 4 9 4 0 5 9 4 9197 198 198 199 200 200 200 201 201 t)
rge(ta

Osaka Bay

319
186
158 141
22
133
20
65
18 18
57 54 52
99 81
69 63

9 4 9 4 0 5 9 4 9197 198 198 199 200 200 200 201 201 t)
rge
(ta

261

173 190
221
180

163

9 4 9 4 0 5 9 4 9197 198 198 199 200 200 200 201 201 t)
rge
(ta

144
118
10
91
32 9 10
26
18
102
83 63

85
7
18
60

5 9 4 9200 200 201 201 t)
rge(ta

Republic of Korea

Fiscal year

404 404
51 51

365

37

76

54

Figure 2.4.7 Challenges in pollution load and target value (in terms of COD) (Source: provided by MoEJ)

Tokyo

6.1

5.2

5.2
5.3

Kanagawa

5.0
4.6

3.9

3.9

3.8

4.0

Chiba

3.7

3.3
3.3

3.1

3.0

2.4 2.3
2.2
2.3

1.4

1.2

1.2

1.3

1.2
1.3
1.2

1.5 - 2.0
2.0 - 2.5
2.5 - 3.0
3.0 - 3.5
3.5 - 4.0
4.0 - 4.5
4.5 - 5.0
5.0 - 6.0
6.0 <2016 – 2018 (average)

Figure 2.4.8 COD concentrations in Tokyo Bay (Source: provided by MoEJ)of violations, such as issuing orders for improvements
according to the outcomes of reports and inspections.

If it is judged that the water discharged from factories andbusiness establishments is unlikely to meet the effluent
standard (or will exceed the standard), administrative

Viet Nam

Measures against non-compliance

Thailandpollution loads in discharged wastewater. Governorsof prefectures and mayors of ordinance-designatedcities can require reports to be submitted and conduct
inspections of factories and business establishments on
wastewater treatment methods and the quality/amountof wastewater in order to prevent violations, and are also
authorized to take administrative measures in the event

Sri Lanka

1982 – 1984 (average)

1.9

Legend(mg/L)

Philippines

1.5 - 2.0
2.0 - 2.5
2.5 - 3.0
3.0 - 3.5
3.5 - 4.0
4.0 - 4.5
4.5 - 5.0
5.0 - 6.0
6.0 <

Chiba

Nepal

Legend(mg/L)

2.6

3.8

2.5

2.7

3.7

Myanmar

2.3

3.5
3.3
3.6

2.9

3.2
3.1

2.4

4.2

2.8

3.1

3.7

3.8
4.0

4.0

2.9

3.2

3.2

3.0

3.7

4.0
4.5
3.6

Malaysia

4.4

4.8

4.5

4.1

4.2

3.1

7.3

3.6

4.5

3.8

5.4
4.4

4.0

Lao PDR

5.2

6.0
5.4 6.5 5.1
8.9
5.8
3.9
5.0 4.8 4.7 4.1 3.7
4.3 3.8
3.9
4.9
4.3 3.46.7 3.3
5.0
8.3 4.0 8.9 5.93.3
3.7 3.7
3.9
3.3 3.8
Kanagawa
4.1 3.8
3.7
3.3
4.9
3.8
3.9
3.1
4.0
3.8

Tokyo

Japan

36 28630 247
211
290
59 28
183
163 155
52 25
243
42 23 19 19
197
36 34
33
167
144
124 110
103
83

324

245

488

Indonesia

38 413

0

561

286
477

59

measures such as operational improvement orders andbusiness suspension orders are implemented. Penalties
such as imprisonment or fines are additionally appliedin cases where effluent standards are not met (or are
exceeded) (in the case of standard violations).

6 | Recent Developments inWater Environmental Management
The various revisions of the laws related with water
environmental management have taken place
according to the times and demands of society. Recent
developments of water environmental management aresummarized below.

Proactive measures to prevent groundwaterpollution (2011 revision of the Water Pollution
Control Law)
In general, groundwater is widely used as valuable
freshwater resources in Japan owing to its good water
quality and low variation in water temperature. However,groundwater pollution cases due to the leakage ofharmful substances such as trichlorethylene fromfactories and business sites are continuously confirmed
each year. Such groundwater pollution is caused byaging production facilities and storage facilities used inindustry, as well as leakage of harmful substances due tooperational errors during the use of production facilities.
Given these circumstances, in order to effectively
prevent groundwater contamination, obligations to not
only report on establishment of facilities that store
hazardous substances but also to comply with structural
standards as well as monitor and record periodic
inspections of facilities that use and store hazardous
substances were implemented (Figure 2.4.9).

Monitoring of radioactive materials (2013revision of the Water Pollution Control Law)
Based on the serious environmental pollution resulting
from leakage of radioactive materials from the Fukushima
Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant during the Great East Japan
Earthquake of March, 2011, monitoring of radioactive
materials in public water bodies and groundwater
was implemented. Results from such monitoring areevaluated and disclosed periodically by trusted sources.

Ambient water quality standards (2016)
Ambient water quality standards consist of items forprotection of human health (health items) and items
for conservation of the living environment (living
environment items). Regarding health items, 27 items
are set for public waters, including heavy metals suchas cadmium and lead, organochlorine compounds
and agricultural chemicals, and 28 items are set forgroundwater. Standards for living environment items
have been set for BOD, COD, total nitrogen, total
phosphorus, total zinc, etc. The types of environmental
standards for each water area are being designatedbased on these standards in accordance with the
purpose of water usage. A study on levels of dissolved
oxygen concentrations in lake bottom water, added tothe standards in March 2016, is underway for water
areas the type designation of which is to be specified by
the national government.

Regulation of the discharging of effluent(partial amendment of effluent standards) (2019)
According to the Water Pollution Control Law, nationwide
uniform effluent standards are set for water discharged
from factories or workplaces with Specified Facilities(including the Specified Facilities in Designated Areas)
into areas of public waters, to preserve water quality.
In view of the challenges related to achieving uniform
effluent standards immediately, of the substances forwhich standards have been set, values for boron,
fluorine, nitrate nitrogen, and cadmium were reviewed.
As a result, new provisional effluent standards went
into effect from July 2019 for boron, fluorine, nitrate
nitrogen, etc., and from December 2019 for cadmium.

Johkasou Law (partial amendment ofeffluent standards) (2019)
Figure 2.4.9 Underground infiltration of hazardous
substances from production facilities (Source: provided by MoEJ)

60

As part of the development of sewage treatment
facilities, Johkasou maintenance activities are being
promoted in each municipality by utilizing national

Chapter 2: Country Profiles of Water Environmental Management in WEPA Countries

Lao PDR
Malaysia
Myanmar
Nepal
Philippines
Sri Lanka
Thailand
Viet Nam

Although the water quality of lakes is gradually
improving, the actual achievement rate of environmental
standards is low at around 50%. Many issues haveemerged such as low oxygenation at lake bottoms,
occurrence of water plants, decreased native species anda decline in hauls of fish due to changes in ecosystems,
as well as a weakening of the relationship between
people and lakes due to decreased contact. There areplans to adopt various regulatory measures related towater quality improvement, as well as comprehensively
promote the development of sewerage treatment andJohkasou in the future. Lakeside environments are also

Taking advantage of experiences in overcoming serious
water pollution, it is quite important that Japan
contributes to the preservation and improvement of
the water environment in other countries including
developing countries. As such, Japan will utilize its
technologies and knowledge to promote initiatives ininternational cooperation and partnerships, such as
institutional transfer and technology support. After theend of the global pandemic of the new coronavirus
infection occurred in 2019, it could be required to createa society focusing on global environment and publichealth more than ever.
Considering these situations, it could be also crucial
that the Japanese government will continue to conduct
the “Water Environmental Partnership in Asia (WEPA)” aswell as public-private partnerships for the promotion ofJapanese wastewater treatment technologies in othercountries.

Republic of Korea

Improvement of water quality of lakes

Initiatives on global water issues

Japan

7 | Challenges and Future Plans

Water quality is preserved by human interventions inharmony with nature. Bountiful seas, rich in biodiversity
and productivity, are known as “satoumi” and it isimportant to promote the creation of satoumi in inlandseas and bays close to where people live.
In addition to conventional efforts to improve water
quality and conserve natural seashore, the Ministry of
the Environment, Japan promotes policies combining
meticulous nutrient management, and the preservation,
restoration and creation of tidal flats and seaweed beds.
The policies are based on a report issued in March 2020
entitled “Environmental conservation measures of the
Seto Inland Sea in the future”, as well as the statement of
opinion issued in January 2021 on “Direction of reviewing
the measures on environmental conservation of thedesignated water in the Seto Inland Sea”.

Indonesia

The Basic Act on Water Cycle was enacted in 2014 as a
new act aimed at advancing policies related to the water
recycle in a unified manner. In 2015, based on this act,a Basic Plan on Water Cycle was prepared. In the plan,
river basin management was established as a measure
aimed at a healthy water cycle, under which the various
stakeholders concerned are to collaborate in eachriver basin to ensure a healthy water cycle. Based on
the results of the evaluation of changes in the situation
regarding the water cycle and the effects of measuresrelated thereto, The Basic Act on the Water Cycle calls
for the Basic Plan on Water Cycle to be reviewed and, as
necessary, modified every five years or so. The new Basic
Plan on Water Cycle, formulated in June 2020, includes
three main priorities: (1) Water-cycle innovation throughriver basin management, (2) Realization of a safe andsecure society through sound water cycle initiatives, and(3) Passing on an abundant society to future generations
through a sound water cycle.

Restoring Bountiful Seas

China

Enactment of the new Basic Plan on
Water Cycle (2020)

to be preserved, such as through the conservation ofvegetation and aquatic life in lakeside areas from theviewpoint of conservation and restoration of purification
and biodiversity.

Cambodiatreasury subsidies, etc., based on the "Regional Plan for
Establishing a Recycling-based Society". In particular,
regarding the conversion from tandoku-shori Johkasou(single treatment septic tanks) to gappei-shori Johkasou(dual treatment septic tanks), the subsidy rate has
been raised for projects of municipalities that promote
in-house plumbing work in conjunction with theintroduction of energy-saving septic tanks. To further
support this movement, a partial amendment to theJohkasou Law was enacted and issued in June 2019, andwent into effect in April 2020.

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