1. What person, group or organization is being profiled, and why are they of interest to this project? The Aozora Foundation (translates to “blue sky”) is a Japanese NGO working to help and redevelop areas in Japan that have been damaged by pollution. Their goal is to work from the “standpoint of pollution victims.” 2. What have they done – through research, or a public health program or education forum, for example-- that illustrates how they have worked to improve air pollution governance and environmental public health? The Aozora Foundation works through a series of goals: 1. Developing Pollution-Free Communities: the foundation provides recommendations and classes on automobile pollution and strategies to combat it. They also promote “environmental impact assessments.” 2. Relating the Experience of Severe Pollution: this organization has taken up the responsibility of archiving documents about citizen movements and court cases revolving around pollution. They have also catalogued educational materials about pollution in general. 3. Learning about Nature and the Environment: the foundation has organized local citizens and children to engage in gathering information about the environment. There have been surveys of particular indicators (dandelions, cicada skins, and Yagura coast mud flat organisms). As result of these surveys, the foundation develops recommendations on how to protect these things in nature. 4. Making Life Worthwhile for Pollution Victims: the victims of air pollution related health issues can attend classes in horticulture, water relaxation, etc provided by the Aozora Foundation. The foundation is also doing research on patient convalescence, to help better understand it and then what assistance these patients require. 3. What timeline of events illustrates how this way of addressing environmental public health has developed? 1978- A lawsuit over air pollution in Osaka's Nishiyodogawa area (part of city of Kawasaki) is started. The plaintiffs included local citizens, looking to prosecute nine companies. 1995- The '78 lawsuit finally comes to a settlement in which the plaintiffs defendants agree to “work together to redevelop pollution-stricken areas.” 1996- A portion of the settlement goes into creating the Center for the Redevelopment of Pollution-damaged Areas in Japan (Aozora Foundation) under the jurisdiction of the Environment Ministry. 4. Does this person, group or organization claim to have a new or unique way of addressing environmental public health? Does this approach point to or suggest problems with other approaches? This organization is the “first of its kind in Japan.” The fact that this type of environmental health development came so late to Japan is both unsurprising and yet concerning. Clearly, Japan has room to improve on air quality legislature, and NGO development. 5. What data have they collected or used to support their approach to environmental public health? What visualizations of this data have been created? The foundation has used information from member-completed environmental indicator surveys. 6. What research has the organization produced or drawn on in their initiatives – in the last year, and over the last decade? Past initiatives included interviews with elder members of the Nishiyodogawa community to analyze how the area, and subsequently the environment, has changed throughout the past 50 years. These memoirs have been organized onto the foundation's website. The foundation has hosted a number of events, including symposia and exhibits, and created educational materials, such as maps and pamphlets. Aozora is archiving, preserving, and recording information of the affected areas and pollution victims. For instance, the foundation has had to work to preserve blast furnaces, which are seen as a significant piece of Japanese industrial history. 7. What kinds of technology and infrastructure do they rely on in the production of environmental health care? The foundation works closely with a number of groups and organization members, so must rely on communications infrastructure. Also, the research they do, including archiving, must all be kept somewhere to be catalogued. This would require technology, technology adeptness, and digital infrastructure. 8. What social ecology does this person, group or organization work within, and how did it shaped their way of conceiving and engaging asthma? The state of Osaka has been influenced by natural disaster and war. After both the Great Kanto Earthquake and each World War, Osaka faced massive population growth. This lead to rapid economic growth, which eventually tapered off and began to drop as the average population age shifted out of working positions. After the earthquake, many homeless people fled to Osaka, so many parts of the state, such as the city of Kamagasaki, are slums compared to their neighbors. Since Japan went through a rapid industrialization period and massive population growth, pollution has continued to be an issue simply due to the population density of the area. 9. What events or data seem to have motivated their ways of thinking about and engaging environmental health? This organizations seems to look at how the Nishiyodogawa area has changed throughout time, and especially how air pollution has affected the area. After the 1978 court case, and the 1996 formation of the group, Aozora has been dedicated to redeveloping after pollution, but doing so in a way that doesn't bring up too much turmoil. There obvious boundaries set in place so as to not “disturb the peace.” 10. What funding enables their work and possibly shapes their way of thinking about environmental health? The organization was originally established and funded with money from the lawsuit settlement. Now, Aozora seems to operate on a donation basis, but may very well be using grant or stipend money from the government agencies they are supervised by. 11. What in the history of this person, group or organization likely shaped the way they conceived or and engage environmental health? Aozora was founded after a lawsuit case which revolved around air pollution and fair government compensation, so has clearly been influenced by that as it still works to get the best for victims of pollution caused illnesses. Be it through water relaxation or simply through educational resources, the foundation stick to the idea of redeveloping after, of through, pollution. 12. What does this person, group or organization seem to find methodologically challenging or concerning in dealing with environmental health? Since this organization is supposedly the first of its kind in Japan, it doesn't have anything to go off of, so must perform any baseline research they want done themselves. Even though the establishment is a rather extensive organization, managing all the different parts of “air pollution” is an unavoidably difficult task. 13. What kinds of governance are (implicitly or explicitly) called for in the way they think about environmental health? Aozora is under the jurisdiction of the Environment Ministry, so is technically supervised by this agency. So, they rely on competency in that section of their government. Also, Aozora can write out as many pamphlets they want about how to reduce your CO2 footprint, but without legislature to support it, the change will not be able to be executed on a larger scale. 14. How can The Asthma Files enable or supplement this way of thinking about environmental health, and the work of this person, group or organization? The Aozora Foundation is managing a large network, and archiving a fair amount of information, newsworthy events, and memoirs so a comparison between the two digital infrastructures used on both projects might be interesting. Of course, the Aozora project might not either have that all public, or it might be in an eternal scrolling format on some webpage.
The Aozora Foundation (translates to “blue sky”) is a Japanese NGO working to help and redevelop areas in Japan that have been damaged by pollution. Their goal is to work from the “standpoint of pollution victims.”
2. What have they done – through research, or a public health program or education forum, for example-- that illustrates how they have worked to improve air pollution governance and environmental public health?
The Aozora Foundation works through a series of goals:
1. Developing Pollution-Free Communities: the foundation provides recommendations and classes on automobile pollution and strategies to combat it. They also promote “environmental impact assessments.”
2. Relating the Experience of Severe Pollution: this organization has taken up the responsibility of archiving documents about citizen movements and court cases revolving around pollution. They have also catalogued educational materials about pollution in general.
3. Learning about Nature and the Environment: the foundation has organized local citizens and children to engage in gathering information about the environment. There have been surveys of particular indicators (dandelions, cicada skins, and Yagura coast mud flat organisms). As result of these surveys, the foundation develops recommendations on how to protect these things in nature.
4. Making Life Worthwhile for Pollution Victims: the victims of air pollution related health issues can attend classes in horticulture, water relaxation, etc provided by the Aozora Foundation. The foundation is also doing research on patient convalescence, to help better understand it and then what assistance these patients require.
3. What timeline of events illustrates how this way of addressing environmental public health has developed?
1978- A lawsuit over air pollution in Osaka's Nishiyodogawa area (part of city of Kawasaki) is started. The plaintiffs included local citizens, looking to prosecute nine companies.
1995- The '78 lawsuit finally comes to a settlement in which the plaintiffs defendants agree to “work together to redevelop pollution-stricken areas.”
1996- A portion of the settlement goes into creating the Center for the Redevelopment of Pollution-damaged Areas in Japan (Aozora Foundation) under the jurisdiction of the Environment Ministry.
4. Does this person, group or organization claim to have a new or unique way of addressing environmental public health? Does this approach point to or suggest problems with other approaches?
This organization is the “first of its kind in Japan.” The fact that this type of environmental health development came so late to Japan is both unsurprising and yet concerning. Clearly, Japan has room to improve on air quality legislature, and NGO development.
5. What data have they collected or used to support their approach to environmental public health? What visualizations of this data have been created?
The foundation has used information from member-completed environmental indicator surveys.
6. What research has the organization produced or drawn on in their initiatives – in the last year, and over the last decade?
Past initiatives included interviews with elder members of the Nishiyodogawa community to analyze how the area, and subsequently the environment, has changed throughout the past 50 years. These memoirs have been organized onto the foundation's website. The foundation has hosted a number of events, including symposia and exhibits, and created educational materials, such as maps and pamphlets.
Aozora is archiving, preserving, and recording information of the affected areas and pollution victims. For instance, the foundation has had to work to preserve blast furnaces, which are seen as a significant piece of Japanese industrial history.
7. What kinds of technology and infrastructure do they rely on in the production of environmental health care?
The foundation works closely with a number of groups and organization members, so must rely on communications infrastructure. Also, the research they do, including archiving, must all be kept somewhere to be catalogued. This would require technology, technology adeptness, and digital infrastructure.
8. What social ecology does this person, group or organization work within, and how did it shaped their way of conceiving and engaging asthma?
The state of Osaka has been influenced by natural disaster and war. After both the Great Kanto Earthquake and each World War, Osaka faced massive population growth. This lead to rapid economic growth, which eventually tapered off and began to drop as the average population age shifted out of working positions. After the earthquake, many homeless people fled to Osaka, so many parts of the state, such as the city of Kamagasaki, are slums compared to their neighbors. Since Japan went through a rapid industrialization period and massive population growth, pollution has continued to be an issue simply due to the population density of the area.
9. What events or data seem to have motivated their ways of thinking about and engaging environmental health?
This organizations seems to look at how the Nishiyodogawa area has changed throughout time, and especially how air pollution has affected the area. After the 1978 court case, and the 1996 formation of the group, Aozora has been dedicated to redeveloping after pollution, but doing so in a way that doesn't bring up too much turmoil. There obvious boundaries set in place so as to not “disturb the peace.”
10. What funding enables their work and possibly shapes their way of thinking about environmental health?
The organization was originally established and funded with money from the lawsuit settlement. Now, Aozora seems to operate on a donation basis, but may very well be using grant or stipend money from the government agencies they are supervised by.
11. What in the history of this person, group or organization likely shaped the way they conceived or and engage environmental health?
Aozora was founded after a lawsuit case which revolved around air pollution and fair government compensation, so has clearly been influenced by that as it still works to get the best for victims of pollution caused illnesses. Be it through water relaxation or simply through educational resources, the foundation stick to the idea of redeveloping after, of through, pollution.
12. What does this person, group or organization seem to find methodologically challenging or concerning in dealing with environmental health?
Since this organization is supposedly the first of its kind in Japan, it doesn't have anything to go off of, so must perform any baseline research they want done themselves. Even though the establishment is a rather extensive organization, managing all the different parts of “air pollution” is an unavoidably difficult task.
13. What kinds of governance are (implicitly or explicitly) called for in the way they think about environmental health?
Aozora is under the jurisdiction of the Environment Ministry, so is technically supervised by this agency. So, they rely on competency in that section of their government. Also, Aozora can write out as many pamphlets they want about how to reduce your CO2 footprint, but without legislature to support it, the change will not be able to be executed on a larger scale.
14. How can The Asthma Files enable or supplement this way of thinking about environmental health, and the work of this person, group or organization?
The Aozora Foundation is managing a large network, and archiving a fair amount of information, newsworthy events, and memoirs so a comparison between the two digital infrastructures used on both projects might be interesting. Of course, the Aozora project might not either have that all public, or it might be in an eternal scrolling format on some webpage.