This authoritative study of Japan's environmental problems is by the country's leading environmental economist, Shigeto Tsuru. The author places environmental issues within a socio-economic context. In providing an historical account of environmental disruption in Japan, Professor Tsuru cites a number of key cases of industrial pollution in the pre-war and post-war periods and illustrates the effectiveness of such a strategy not only for Japan but any developed country. Finally, the author proposes a set of countermeasures against environmental problems, applicable to all developed countries today, aimed at achieving a new and "quality of life. and "