ABSTRACT
Japan is the paragon post-industrial economy and the first industrialized democracy in the non-Western world. Environmental attitudes in Japan, as elsewhere, have been influenced by an array of social, cultural, geographical and climatic factors. Looking into the history of Japanese philosophy, religion and literature, it is possible to trace the evolution of a distinct intellectual tradition concerned with the relationship between humanity and the natural world (Davenport 1998). For instance, the Kojiki (written in AD 712) describes how the heavens and the earth came into existence, emerging from a state of chaos over a period of millions and millions of years. It explains how the heavens gave birth to deities and how two of them, Izanagi and Izanami, were sent forth with the sacred spear, Ama-no-Nuboko, charged with the task of creating and ruling over the land. The world they beheld from heaven appeared as a fog-bound sea. Izanagi placed the spear into sea and drawing it up observed how great drops fell from it coagulating to form the island known as Onokoro. The two gods descended to this island and began their next task of creating a country. First, they created the island of Awaji, next Shikoku and then the island of Oki. Following this, Kyushu, and after that the island Tsushima, were created. Lastly, Honshu, the main island of Japan was created. The name Oya-shima-kuni (country of eight great islands) was given to the island chain.
