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Yokohama leads in resources management
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AT the 50th Asian Development Bank (ADB) Annual Meeting (May 4-7) in Yokohama, Japan, one brochure showed a list of no less than “50 Things to Do in Yokohama.”
I never thought of so many while covering the 90 minutes journey from Narita Airport to Yokohama on a bus.
As the limousine turned and mounted, descended, going through tunnels or bridges along the bay area, the sea of luminous emerald green was sometimes out of sight, but never out of mind.
But the constant presence of factories, cranes, or even smokestacks spoke of its past as an industrial heartland. Yokohama, capital of Kanagawa Prefecture, had turned from a small fishing village into a bustling trade center after the port was forced open in 1859.
The city today is eager to be remembered for more than its industrial capacity. This is not easy for a city that had been destroyed by the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, and bombing during World War II. The narrow horse carriage lanes (Bashamichi) and the old buildings flanking them are vestiges of the past and recreate the sense of life at the slow lane. The iconic Red Brick Warehouse used to be a government’s customs inspection facility, and today houses many shops and restaurants in its two buildings built more than a century ago.
But as a reporter I am more interested in things governing their mundane life.
Chinese visitors generally find Japanese food expensive. But when I chatted with a Japanese civil servant, he observed that for the past couple of decades, the prices here have been very stable.
We have chances to visit Yokohama Disaster Risk Reduction Center. As with most other Japanese cities, Yokohama takes disaster prevention seriously, on the belief that in an emergency, being prepared can mean a world of difference.
Established in 1983, the center aims to promote responsiveness to disasters in the Yokohama Station area, disseminate disaster risk knowledge, and awareness of emergency supplies and materials.
On a quake simulator visitors can experience what it might be like when a disaster strikes. In a disaster mitigation training room, visitors were first told to find the exit and to identify the emergency bags, so they know how to act in the case of power outage and how to use a fire extinguisher to put out a fire. A fire simulator can teach visitors exactly how to use a fire extinguisher.
It was surprising some did not know how to handle the device even after being instructed before hand.
In the case of a fire, first shout “Fire!” loudly, and then dial 119. When the fire reaches the ceiling, there is need for immediate evacuation, and in doing so, be aware of the risk of inhaling smoke.
Visitors were also warned of the dangers of ground sinking, liquefaction, tsunami, Mount Fuji eruption, or tornado.
Then we visited Kawai Purification Plant, which was first built in 1901 and, after being upgraded in 1963, has been producing drinking water to local citizens. Redevelopment started in 2009 after it was found that ageing made it necessary to make the plant more quake-resistant. This is one of the three water plants in Yokohama which together service this city of 3.7 million people (next to Tokyo only).
Visitors were alerted to several characteristics of the facility: raw water is fed into fine pores (about a ten-thousandth of a millimeter) in ceramic membranes to remove small contaminants.
Instead of using pumps, the water can flow through the membrane filters on the strength of gravity. The use of this potential energy, together with 1,400 solar panels installed at the facility, significantly reduces the energy consumption.
My attention was also directed to upstream where water originates, at Doshi Village, where Yokohama takes a host of measures to protect the city’s water source. Water conservation forests at Doshi River, one of the best in the country, plays a significant role in storing and purifying water and at preventing floods. In 1997, Yokohama and Doshi Village established a charitable trust to protect the environment of the village, and to improve the life of local people. Volunteers organization are involved in maintaining the forests.
Since 1996, work began to replace old pipes with earthquake-resistant lines, which are more durable and flexible. There is also a circular network which enables one water plant to supply water from other plants in the case of disruption following a disaster.
I am also impressed by their attitude towards waste. One day I took a lunch box to the hotel and, after consuming the food, was confronted with the difficulty of how to deal with the plastic containers. They were too big for the miniature trash can in the hotel.
I decided to take it to the trash can on the streets, and then realized there were no garbage disposal units on the streets at all. This was obviously quite a rude awakening for someone who somehow mistook visibility of a bin as a mark of urban progress.
When we are still grappling with the challenge of rubbish sorting, the attention there has already turned to reduction of waste at its source.
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