This book provides one of the first systematic introductions to the Japanese concept of life-environmentalism, Seikatsu-Kankyo Shugi. This concept emerged in the 1980s as a shared research framework among Japanese social scientists studying the adverse consequences of postwar industrialization on everyday life in communities.
Life-environmentalism offers a lens through which the agency of small communities in sustaining their everyday life and living environment can be understood. The book provides an overview of this approach, including intellectual backgrounds and foundational concepts, along with a variety of empirical case studies that examine environmental and sustainability issues in Japan and other parts of Asia. It also includes critical reflections on the approach in light of contemporary sustainability challenges. The empirical topics covered in the book include local community responses to development projects, resource governance, disaster response and recovery, and historical environmental preservation. The chapters are contributed by researchers working at the forefront of the field. It provides only a glimpse into the vast literature that awaits further exploration and engagement in the future.
The book is suitable for upper undergraduate students, graduate students, and researchers interested in environmental problems, sustainability and resilience, disaster mitigation and response, and regional development in Asian contexts, particularly Japan. It is well-suited for courses in anthropology, geography, sociology, urban and regional planning, political science, Asian studies, and environmental studies.
Daisaku Yamamoto is Associate Professor of Geography and Asian Studies at Colgate University, U.S.A. He holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Minnesota. His recent published works include: Unravelling the Fukushima Disaster (2016) and Rebuilding Fukushima (2017) (co-edited with Mitsuo Yamakawa); “Nuclear-to-Nature Land Conversion” (Geographical Review, 2020); “Cursed Forever? Exploring Socio-Economic Effects of Nuclear Power Plant Closures Across Nine Communities in the United States” (Geoforum, 2022).
Hiroyuki Torigoe is Professor at Otemae University, Japan, specialized in environmental sociology and folk cultural studies. He holds a PhD from the Tokyo University of Education, and has taught at Kwansei Gakuin University, the University of Tsukuba, and Waseda University. He was the President of the Japan Sociology Society and the President of Otemae University. He is best known for his pioneering work on life-environmentalism based on his extensive fieldwork in Japan and overseas. He has published over 20 single-authored books, 17 co-authored or edited books, and numerous articles.
