Prosperity and pollution
By 1964, 90 percent of Japanese households owned a refrigerator,
television and washing machine. People called them the "three
treasures". They symbolized the new-found prosperity. But there
were side effects to Japan’s success. Industry was growing without
any thought for the environment. Air pollution was so bad that in
some highly industrialized areas the rain was black. In the 1950s,
in a village called Minamata, people developed mercury poisoning
from eating fish polluted byfactory waste.
Japan’s rapid growth was interrupted in 1973 when the
Arab-Israeli War led to a huge rise in oil prices. Japan responded
by moving away from heavy industries, which used large quantities of
imported raw materials and fuels, to modern, high technology
industries such as electronics. In the second oil shock of 1979,
Japan was scarcely affected.
