proposal was subsequently adopted by the UN. Starting in 2006, Japan undertook initiatives based on an action plan for the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (the ESD Action Plan). Thus far, the Ministry of the Environment has advanced ESD initiatives in fourteen model areas, as well as undertaken other initiatives, such as incorporating a focus on creating a sustainable society into the National Curriculum Standards. The ESD Action Plan was revised in June 2011 to extend it to 2014. When the affected areas are stabilized, discussions will be restarted on how to incorporate the lessons of the disaster and the thinking behind the post-disaster reconstruction into ESD promotion, in light of the experience of the Great East Japan Earthquake, and from a recognition of the need to be thoroughly prepared for natural disasters, to reassess energy distribution and usage, and to build new communities in the affected areas.

In addition to local residents, it is important to incorporate volunteers, families, and educational settings into community-wide initiatives aimed at promoting the sustainable use of local natural resources.

## (3) Renewing Communities through Strengthening Interpersonal Connections (Moyai-naoshi in Minamata City)

Japan's amazing post-war economic growth came at a cost of great suffering for many people throughout the country due to tragic incidents of environmental pollution. One of the most infamous of these was the outbreak of Minamata disease, which occurred in Minamata City, Kumamoto Prefecture. This example of environmental pollution is known throughout the world. The company responsible, Chisso Corporation, had a plant in Minamata. It was on the leading edge of Japan's tremendous growth and was the leading driver of the local economy. At the same time, however, it caused tremendous damage to the local community in the form of Minamata disease. Following the official recognition of Minamata disease in 1956, Minamata City faced a variety of problems and challenges, such as how to help sufferers, how to address the stereotypes and discrimination they faced, and how to deal with the friction and strife that arose among residents. As a result, the entire community suffered. Furthermore, the company responsible for the disease, Chisso, was one of the drivers of the local economy, meaning that the victimizer and the victim were both in the same community. It was hard for the community at large to confront the reality of Minamata disease head on; the government, patients, and residents were of different minds on the issue.

In this context, Kumamoto Prefecture and Minamata City jointly undertook the Minamata Environmental Advancement Initiative between 1990 and 1998 with the aim of renewing interpersonal connections in the community. At the start of this initiative there was a strong reluctance to address the issue of Minamata disease; however, as the years went by, the residents became increasingly focused on revitalizing the Minamata community, and the initiative became more and more resident-led. Various moyai-naoshi efforts aimed at restoring bonds within the community have been held to directly confront the issue of Minamata disease and foster true and mutual understanding, jointly involving patients, citizens, members of the government, and the Chisso Corporation. Moyai-naoshi is a Japanese word that literally means to re-secure a mooring line holding two ships together. In this case it represents the mutual efforts to restore the connections that once existed in the Minamata community by directly confronting the issue of Minamata disease through dialog and cooperation.

This effort is symbolized in the city’s Fire Festival, which began in 1994. In this festival, participants light votive candles that represent prayers for those who fell victim to Minamata disease as well as prayers for the renewal of the community. The festival originated with the citizens of the community who wanted to do something for Minamata disease sufferers, and it is held each year through the cooperation of the government and residents. This festival also encourages everyone to think about the environment. The votive candles are made from used vegetable oil and are held in containers made from recycled glass bottles. Moreover, homes and offices turn off their lights during the festival to reduce $ CO_{2} $ emissions (Photo 3-2-1).

In addition to this gradual reconnection of community bonds fostered by moyai-naoshi, the experiences and lessons of the unprecedented pollution that occurred in Minamata are incorporated into community-building efforts. In 1992,

## Photo 3-2-1 Moyai-naoshi Initiatives in Minamata City

Fire festival

Photos: Minamata City

Thorough trash separation

Acceptance of research students through JICA

Minamata City pledged itself to become an environmental model city, the first in the nation to do so, and since that time the whole community has come together for a variety of initiatives, such as thorough trash separation and recycling efforts. In 2001, Minamata City was recognized as an Eco Town for its efforts to attract recycling facilities as well as to promote resource recycling both within its own area and in other cities. In 2008, the city was recognized as a Model Environmental city by the Cabinet Secretariat, and currently it is actively working to become a low-carbon community. Minamata is also proactively involved in international environmental efforts. Under the auspices of JICA, the city has welcomed research students from Asian countries every year since 2000; these students engage in research initiatives that utilize the experiences and lessons of Minamata disease to promote environmental renewal and conservation.

The efforts of the residents of Minamata City, such as the community-wide thorough trash separation and recycling drives and ISO campaigns, are carried out in concert with moyai-naoshi activities aimed at strengthening bonds in the community. These efforts have earned the city high praise both within Japan and overseas; they are seen throughout the world as a model, and as leading examples worthy of emulation.

# Wisdom from NPOs toward Reconstruction

The Great East Japan Earthquake caused people to think about the fury of nature and at the same time how the Earth lets us live on it. Also, the shortage of electricity and the collapse of transportation systems in the immediate aftermath of the disaster reinforced people's sense of the scarcity and importance of energy and resources. This is a valuable opportunity to change the thinking of the Japanese people, sharing the experience of the recovery process implemented by the people living in affected areas, whose livelihood has been based on nature.

“The sea is alright,” says Shigeatsu Hatakeyama, the director of NPO “Mori wa Umi no Koibito” (Forests are Lovers of the Sea) NPO and fisherman in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture. He says that, for a month following the tsunami, all signs of life were missing from the ocean. Gradually, though, these signs have been returning. Schools of young Japanese anchovies have appeared offshore from Kesennuma; the oyster farms that had been destroyed are being rehabilitated.

He says that the mountain forests are important for the ocean's recovery from the damage it sustained in the earthquake disaster. Oyster cultivation depends on iron and nutrient salts from the land, and abundant cedar forests play an extremely important role in replacing the rafts that were lost, and which make oyster farming possible. These sorts of realizations appear to have struck home with a great many people, including students who have traveled from other regions and who are taking part in volunteer efforts. Hatakeyama's assurance that "The sea is alright," surely comes from insight that is the product of daily direct interaction with nature.

Next, there is the example of the Kiri-kiri region of Otsuchi Town, Iwate Prefecture, which suffered tremendous devastation as a result of the earthquake and tsunami. The Kiri-kiri Koku (mini-independent country) NPO and other like-minded people in the Kiri-kiri district started the Rejuvenation Firewood Project in order to honor the memory of the dead by restoring a sense of energy and vitality to residents. This project collected wood rubble, such as the wooden timbers from destroyed homes, worked them into usable firewood and then sold them. Orders for firewood came in not only from surrounding prefectures, but also from prefectures throughout Japan and even from overseas. The firewood went on sale in May, and by September no wood rubble remained that could be sold as firewood.

The participants in the Rejuvenation Firewood Project live in the Kiri-kiri district, which is surrounded on three sides by mountains, and the sea, like an open window, serves as the fourth side. As a result of the disaster, the people of the region have a renewed sense of fear and awe in the face of nature as well as wisdom for living harmoniously with nature. Thus, the Rejuvenation Firewood Project was initiated out of a desire to make effective use of the forest resources that nurture the local environment and are ultimately connected to the ocean's recovery, and to ensure that these resources are maintained for future generations. This community-based initiative, which is geared towards creating jobs and facilitating economic recovery, has the goal of restoring the ocean to a state of abundance even greater than it had been before the tsunami. It goes into sections of forest that have hitherto gone untended, thins them in order to improve their health, and then makes use of the timber taken through forest thinning. The project is receiving widespread attention, as it demonstrates how efforts to promote independent communities can also be connected with promoting sustainable usage of local natural resources.

Local initiatives do not have to be contained