Sustainability in Japan's Edo Period--300 Years Ago!

On this page, we introduce the translation of "Japan in the Edo Period - An Ecologically-Conscious Society",("O-edo ecology jijo," published in 2000, Kodansha Publishing Company) by Eisuke Ishikawa.

We received much feedback from our readers on articles "Japan's Sustainable Society in the Edo Period (1603-1867)” in our March and April 2003 newsletters which drew upon Mr. Ishikawa's research.

The requests for more information on the sustainable society in the Edo period were overwhelming, which prompted us to contact the author for his permission to translate the book for this website. The group of JFS volunteers including native speakers together worked on the translation originally done by Mr. Oki.

• Chapter One - The Sun and Petroleum
• Chapter 2 - Darker Side of Convenience
• Chapter 3 - Unpaved Roads Play as a Natural Air Conditioner
• Chapter 4 - Living with Nature's Cycle
• Chapter 5 - The Sun and the Forests
• Chapter 6 - Know when you have enough
• Chapter 7 - Starting Out Slowly
• Chapter 8 - The Principle of Nishiki-e
• Chapter 9 - Made to Last (Part 1 : The life of a yukata)
• Chapter 9 - Made to Last (Part 2 : Anathema to Economic Growth)
• Chapter 9 - Made to Last (Part 3 : Do We Need Economic Growth?)
• Chapter 9 - Made to Last (Part 4 : Making things easy to repair)
• Chapter 9 - Made to Last (Part 5 : Re-use is better than recycle)
• Chapter 10 - Amazing Diversity in Local Specialization
• Chapter 11 - The Value of Time-consuming Efforts
• Chapter 12 - From Outside to Inside
• Chapter 13 - Nothing Comes out of Nothing
• Chapter 14 - Recognizing Our Mistakes

About the Author:

Copyright JFS

Eisuke Ishikawa is a writer who specializes in the environmental and ecological issues in the Edo period (1603-1867). He is also a lecturer at Musashino Art University. His recent books introduce wisdom of sustainable living in the Edo period from the angles of technology, energy, resource management, and recycling systems of the period.