Toxic Archipelago: A History of Industrial Disease in Japan (Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books)

Contents 8 Foreword: the pain of a poisoned world by William Cronon 10 Preface 14 Prologue 18 Introduction: Knowing Nature 22 1. The Agency of Insects 41 2. The Agency of Chemicals 64 3. Copper Mining and Ecological Collapse 90 4. Engineering Pain in the Jinzū River Basin 127 5. Mercury’s Offspring 156 6. Hell at the Hojo Colliery 195 Conclusion 230 Notes 244 Works Cited 270 Index 290 Every Person On The Planet Is Entangled In A Web Of Ecological Relationships That Link Farms And Factories With Human Consumers. Our Lives Depend On These Relationships - And Are Imperiled By Them As Well. Nowhere Is This Truer Than On The Japanese Archipelago. During The Nineteenth Century, Japan Saw The Rise Of Homo Sapiens Industrialis, A New Breed Of Human Transformed By An Engineered, Industrialized, And Poisonous Environment. Toxins Moved Freely From Mines, Factory Sites, And Rice Paddies Into Human Bodies. Toxic Archipelago Explores How Toxic Pollution Works Its Way Into Porous Human Bodies And Brings Unimaginable Pain To Some Of Them. Brett Walker Examines Startling Case Studies Of Industrial Toxins: Deaths From Insecticide Contaminations; Poisonings From Copper, Zinc, And Lead Mining; Congenital Deformities From Methylmercury Factory Effluents; And Lung Diseases From Sulfur Dioxide And Asbestos. This Powerful, Probing Book Demonstrates How The Japanese Archipelago Has Become Industrialized Over The Last Two Hundred Years - And How People And The Environment Have Suffered As A Consequence--jacket. Introduction: Knowing Nature -- The Agency Of Insects -- The Agency Of Chemicals -- Copper Mining And Ecological Collapse -- Engineering Pain In The Jinzu River Basin -- Hell At The Hōjō Colliery. Brett L. Walker ; Foreword By William Cronon. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 225-269) And Index.

Every person on the planet is entangled in a web of ecological relationships that link farms and factories with human consumers. Our lives depend on these relationships -- and are imperiled by them as well. Nowhere is this truer than on the Japanese archipelago.

During the nineteenth century, Japan saw the rise of Homo sapiens industrialis, a new breed of human transformed by an engineered, industrialized, and poisonous environment. Toxins moved freely from mines, factory sites, and rice paddies into human bodies.

Toxic Archipelago explores how toxic pollution works its way into porous human bodies and brings unimaginable pain to some of them. Brett Walker examines startling case studies of industrial toxins that know no boundaries: deaths from insecticide contaminations; poisonings from copper, zinc, and lead mining; congenital deformities from methylmercury factory effluents; and lung diseases from sulfur dioxide and asbestos.

This powerful, probing book demonstrates how the Japanese archipelago has become industrialized over the last two hundred years -- and how people and the environment have suffered as a consequence.

Every person on the planet is entangled in a web of ecological relationships that link farms and factories with human consumers. Our lives depend on these relationships — and are imperiled by them as well. Nowhere is this truer than on the Japanese archipelago. During the nineteenth century, Japan saw the rise of Homo sapiens industrialis, a new breed of human transformed by an engineered, industrialized, and poisonous environment. Toxins moved freely from mines, factory sites, and rice paddies into human bodies. Toxic Archipelago explores how toxic pollution works its way into porous human bodies and brings unimaginable pain to some of them. Brett Walker examines startling case studies of industrial toxins that know no boundaries: deaths from insecticide contaminations; poisonings from copper, zinc, and lead mining; congenital deformities from methylmercury factory effluents; and lung diseases from sulfur dioxide and asbestos. This powerful, probing book demonstrates how the Japanese archipelago has become industrialized over the last two hundred years — and how people and the environment have suffered as a consequence. This fascinating environmental history of Japan examines how traditions and practices in several industries--from raising silkworms to mining lead and coal to refining petroleum--have affected the health of workers and those who have lived in these toxic landscapes. Explores the relationship between the causes of colossal toxic pollution and the manner in which pain caused by pollution insults porous human bodies