In some parts of Europe now, people plant Miyawaki forests on small pieces of land to provide environments for insects, birds and plants.
But in Japan, the home of Akira Miyawaki, who pioneered the Miyawaki technique, enormous plastic sheets are being spread on top of the land to kill off all plants and insects.
Around our neighborhood in Kyoto, the city puts huge sheets of thick dark plastic on top of land. The want to stop grass from growing. They are killing many insects and plants that are necessary for the ecosystem and the planet.
The city of Kyoto put a huge plastic sheet on top of land beside a river here. This is perhaps 500 square meters of land — beside a river! This is land where water is abundant, where plants and bugs can thrive.
This is incredibly sad.
I would be happy to cut the grass, to work with volunteers to plant some trees or other plants on this public land. But the city just covers it with plastic sheets without asking for comment.
There used to be one little firefly on this land.
No more fireflies.
I am incredibly sad about this and so are many people here.
I would be so happy if The Japan Times could do a story on this and expose the city's cruel policies towards nature.
These small pieces of land, covered with plastic (I know of at least three near us) when added together across the city and across the country, must be vast.
Planetary services such as water filtration, mitigation of climate change, carbon sequestration, all are stopped by plastic.
The plastic degrades and becomes microfibers in the water.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.