128_”Garbage Island” in Japan_日本の「ゴミの島」
豊島という島を知っていますか？日本の香川県にある、人口わずか760人ほどの小さい島です。日本人でも知っている人は多くないかもしれませんが、棚田が広がる美しいところなんだそうです。今は豊かな自然が広がるこの豊島ですが、かつて、なんと呼ばれていたか知っていますか？「ゴミの島」です。今日は、そんなゴミの島だった豊島が、どうやって今の豊かな自然を取り戻したのかを紹介します。
もともと、豊島は自然が豊かな場所で、農業や漁業も盛んでした。しかし、70年代に観光会社が県知事に申請し「産業廃棄物処理業」ができるようになったことで、たくさんの産業廃棄物がこの島に持ち込まれることになったんです。最初は木くずや生ゴミだけだったのが、だんだん有害なゴミも増えてきました。こうして豊島はマスクを着けなければ外を歩けないような「ごみ処理の島」になってしまったんです。
ところが、物語はここでは終わりません。島の住民たちが団結して、大気汚染防止運動を始めます。最初は動かなかった政治家や行政も、島民の熱心さと問題の深刻さに気がつき、県知事を罰したり、観光会社を捜査したりしはじめました。こうして何十年もの時間をかけて、少しずつ豊島は再生してきたそうです。
高齢化が進むこの島では、大気汚染防止運動を始めた住人のほとんどが亡くなってしまいました。美しい豊島を取り戻すために努力してきた人たちが今の島を見る前にこの世を去ってしまったのは、残念なことですね。豊島は、環境問題に人々が立ち上がり、成功したいい例だと思います。私達も、たとえ百年後の未来を見ることはできなくても、「政府が動かないから」と諦めるのではなく、今より美しい地球を残すために行動してみませんか？
Have you ever heard of an island called Teshima? It is a small island in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan, with a population of only 760 people. Not even many Japanese people know this island, but it is a beautiful place with terraced rice paddies. Teshima is now an island with abundant nature, but do you know what it used to be called? It was called "Garbage Island.” Today, I would like to explain how Teshima, once an island of garbage, has regained its rich natural environment.
Originally, Teshima was a place with abundant nature, as well as a thriving agriculture and fishing industry. But in the 1970s, a tourism company applied to the prefectural governor to be allowed to operate an industrial waste disposal business, and a lot of industrial waste was brought to this island. At first only wood chips and kitchen waste were disposed of, but gradually more and more harmful waste was brought in. Thus, Teshima became a "waste disposal island" where one could not walk outside without wearing a mask.
But the story does not end here. The residents of the island banded together to campaign against air pollution. Politicians and government officials, at first not responding, started to understand the enthusiasm of the people of the island and the seriousness of the problem, and they began punishing the prefectural governor as well as investigating the tourism company. In this way, over a period of decades, Teshima has gradually been restored.
On this island, with its aging population, most of the residents who started the campaign have died. It is a pity that the people who worked so hard to restore the beauty of Teshima have passed away before seeing the island as it is today. I think Teshima is a good example of people standing up and succeeding in solving environmental issues. Even if we cannot see the future one hundred years from now, why don't we also take action to leave a more beautiful earth behind, instead of giving up because "the government won't act"?
