Day two of our field study began with us leaving Huis ten bosch. The park is nothing like Disneyland, which has characters and theme rides, nor does it have the kind of thrill rides that characterize many other parks found around the United States – no vomit-inducing roller coaster or spinning rides. In fact, it appears to struggle to lease the space it has. So many buildings are simply vacant, looking like homes with the residents on permanent vacation (perhaps at Disneyland).

Despite the lack of planned things to do, I leave the park with a heavy heart, wanting to linger for a few more hours in its narrow brick streets. I enjoy seeing the facades change in the shifting light, and I like watching the swans paddle in the canal. If not for the continuous music playing throughout the park, one would call Huis ten bosch incredibly peaceful, almost meditative.

Morning at the Forest Villas.

Leaving the Forest Villas.

Crossing the bridge toward the train station.

Our group.

We left by train at 9:45 and traveled to Isahaya, a small city of 140,000 located in the center of Nagasaki Prefecture. Isahaya is not particularly beautiful, nor is it historically important. In fact, it would not likely appear on anyone’s 10-day itinerary to Japan. However, it now lies at the center of a controversy that is over 50 years in the making. And like all of the best controversies, this one has more than two sides, involves government waste and corruption, incorporates parties at a range of geographic scales, is not easily resolved, and threatens to tear the community apart.

There is a helpful layer in Google Earth that shows a United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) summary of the land reclamation project that is at the heart of the Isahaya controversy. The UNEP mark is located at (32°57’34.90″N, 130°13’4.22″E); however, this explanation is only a fraction of the larger story.

My interest in Isahaya is fairly recent and began with a passing curiosity in large public works projects that have been used for over a century by the Japanese government as a way to spur economic and social development. This has especially been the case in the postwar era, when a need for land, water, power and other infrastructure for industrial growth led to the reclamation of land in relatively shallow bays and coastlines, as well as the construction of hundreds of dams, roads, bridges, and tunnels. In many cases, the construction projects themselves have been used as economic drivers, bringing jobs to rural areas during building phases.

Construction projects have been the cornerstone of numerous redevelopment and revitalization projects, whether it be building a theme park to attract visitors or a new port to help villages improve their fishing industries. Another main reason given for construction projects is risk prevention, such as weirs and other works to regulate the shape and flow of rivers, with the desire to reduce the loss of life in the case of a natural disaster. Whatever the aim, these various projects all involve the pouring of concrete, which many (most notably Alex Kerr and Gavan McCormack) have complained have despoiled Japan’s natural landscapes.

Isahaya has been in the news lately because the Fukuoka District Court ruled in December 2010 that the huge reclamation project completed several years ago was done without adequate environmental assessment. Now, the court has ruled that two gates of a dike separating the Ariake Sea from the new farmland must be opened. In a major change from previous administrations, Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced that the government would not appeal the court’s decision, meaning that after three years of preparatory work, the gates must be opened and remain open for five years.

In much of the Japanese news media, this court ruling has been presented as a victory for the fishermen from around the Ariake Sea, who complained that the construction of the 7-km dike in Isahaya Bay damaged the water quality in the sea and led to decreased catches. In a country becoming more “green”, the court ruling appears to show that Japan’s new concern for the environment can even upend long-standing collusive ties between politicians, bureaucrats, and the immense construction industry. The media has also hailed the decision as a referendum on the scale and number of now-questionable public works projects proposed and carried out by the state. In a similar vein, a dam under construction in Kumamoto Prefecture was recently scrapped because of the high costs and questionable reasons for its construction.

We visited Isahaya City Hall to hear from members of the land reclamation division. After a short lecture, they drove us to the site of the reclaimed land, then onto the dike that is at the center of the controversy.

Lecture on the Isahaya Bay Land Reclamation Project.

Explanation at the wall protecting the newly-created wetlands from the farmland.

Students learning about the farmlands created by land reclamation, some of the most productive and highly-efficient lands in Japan.

The wetlands created by the project. They are within the freshwater that is used for agriculture.

The dike separating the Ariake Sea (left) from the new freshwater reservoir (right). The mountains of Unzen are in the distance.

More to come from Isahaya.