New Role of Common Spaces for Environmental Conservation in Japan

Abstract

"The purpose of this paper is two folds. The first task is to clarify five major types of common spaces including water surfaces in the present day Japan. They are (1) iriai-gyojou (common fishery grounds), (2) iriai-rinya (common forests/grasslands), (3) uotsuki-rin (fish breeding forests), (4) tameike (irrigation ponds), and (5) ridou and suiro (non designated hamlet roads and water courses). The number of commons in Japan after the WWII has decreased. But that is not all. Many of them are alive in their own manners in many localities.

"The second task of the paper is to show that some commoners are very active for resource management toward environmental conservation in their own localities in spite of many socio-economic difficulties. The paper presents several cases of the common spaces which have been performing crucial roles of preventing environmental destruction in local communities. Some cases Cooperation between commoners and people outside of commons are also discussed."