A Closer Look at Communities in Tokyo
Is this need being met? How?:
- Natural disasters: Although it's been almost ten years, the trauma of the Touhoku Earthquake and devastation from its tsunami is still strong in the minds of all Japanese citizens. Japan is always trying to improve technology to detect natural disasters, reinforcing architecture to prevent a building collapse and developing alert systems to help people prepare or find safety faster. For example, you can download apps for earthquake and tsunami warnings in Japan. I once received an earthquake alert on my phone about 30 seconds before I felt any shaking. Unfortunately, however, you cannot change the location of Japan and you cannot prevent natural diasters from happening. Japanese people realize their country is prone to natural disasters, so the best they can do is anticipate what might happen, try to prepare, and rebuild afterwards.
- Waste management & recycling: To manage waste, garbage is sorted into several categories: plastic bottles, metal, glass, and paper. What can’t be recycled is sorted as burnable (like food waste or clothes) and non-burnable trash (like styrofoam or other synthetic materials). In addition, Tokyo is using the ashes and particles from trash mixed with concrete to build artificial islands in Tokyo bay. Once these artificial islands have been filled to capacity, they are eventually planted with trees and turned into parks. Despite these positive measures, there will have to be a major shift in Japanese thought about the ethics of plastics before change takes place. As an individual, I did my part by bringing a reusable bag everytime I went shopping.
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