Environmental policy and Japanese society: part II. lessons about Japan and about policy

This paper analyzes Japanese environmental policy to draw lessons about Japanese society and about environmental policy. It critically examines three myths about Japan: the myth of consensus, the myth of centralization, and the myth of rational policy. The paper then discusses the implications of Japan's experiences for the relationship between environmental quality and economic growth, the problems of an administrative system to compensate pollution victims, and the difficulties in establishing a system for environmental impact assessment. Part I of the essay, appears on p. 191 of this journal, examined successes and failures of Japanese environmental policy.