Modern Japanese discourse on nature: literature, ccience, and politics

Abstract

This paper challenges the common perception that the Japanese have cultivated a harmonious coexistence with nature since ancient times. By tracing the history of Japanese discourse on nature, it reveals that the purported Japanese love for nature is merely a romanticized myth. Paradoxically, human exploitation of nature has persisted throughout Japan's history. In modern Japan, the ambition to match Western strength led to excessive industrialization and urbanization, subsequently triggering the most severe environmental degradation the nation has ever experienced. From the Meiji period to the end of World War II, most Japanese supported the exploitation of nature for resources to bolster militarism and imperialism. Only a small group of intellectuals expressed concern over the environmental issues brought about by industrialization and urbanization. Through literature, they conveyed their aesthetic appreciation for nature, their nostalgia for a traditional past before nature was replaced by urban infrastructure, and their emerging sense of ecological consciousness.