RSSASHIO, Japan (UCAN) — Eight bishops have visited the still-tainted site where Japan’s first environmentalist took on a mining company over the pollution it caused.
The members of the Catholic bishops’ Committee for Social Issues attended a workshop held in Gunma and Tochigi prefectures Jan. 14-16, during which they visited places connected with Shozo Tanaka (1841-1913) and sites polluted by toxic substances from mining.
Tanaka, a Diet (parliament) member, was not a Christian, but obtained spiritual support from the Bible as he struggled alongside poor farmers.
He blew the whistle on toxic substances leaking from a copper mine in Ashio. The Ashio Copper Mine, 110 kilometers north of Tokyo, was Japan’s largest mine in the mid-19th century.
Serious floods in 1890 washed poisonous minerals from Ashio into the Watarase River, polluting agricultural land along the banks and adversely impacting the lives of farmers.
Tanaka and the farmers demanded that authorities close down the industry. Though their activities were suppressed, it was the first movement against environmental pollution in Japan.
‘One does not live on bread alone’
The bishops listened to an address at the Tatebayashi Church in Gunma by Satoru Nunokawa, honorary director of a museum that commemorates Tanaka and the Ashio incident.
“Tanaka learned from the farmers who suffered from the erroneous flood prevention policy of the government. Though they had not enough to eat, they built small simple houses to continue their protest. Tanaka realized the meaning of ‘one does not live on bread alone,’” Furukawa said.
Late in his life, though many of his friends left the cause, Tanaka still maintained his efforts to fight against environmental problems.
The bishops visited the former site of the polluted village, the museum, the place where Tanaka died and the now-closed refinery.
Upon finding the remains of toxic minerals still exposed on the ground, Bishop Masahiro Umemura of Yokohama said, “It is astounding. I now realize that the problem of toxic minerals still exists, while the government still works on a budget.”
Tanaka died at the home of a supporter in 1913 at the age of 72. His entire fortune was used to fund his protest against environmental problems. He left behind only three pebbles from the Watarase River, a copy of the Imperial Constitution, a New Testament and the Gospel according to Saint Matthew.
Archbishop Mitsuaki Takami of Nagasaki said he was inspired and moved by something Tanaka had said, “The Bible is not for reading, it is for practicing.”
He added that “The attitude of sacrificing one’s life for vulnerable people is an example of the spirit of service” and that “the Church also needs this kind of spirit.”
JA08658.1586 January 28, 2010 45 EM-lines (431 words)
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