Down with the Cities!

ls of t

us chapter. Yea, it would be verily the opposite: Just as most urbanites believe, the city is an ultimate good since it helps them achieve prosperity. We may even say, then, that urbanization m

ity is, in actuality, the very root of the evils t

e, turning into a future - yea, a present - evil, and we (the city dwellers first) will in time be exterminated by the city's poisons. So that the city can pursue conveni

's Endle

production; we must in fact regard this as the consumption of resources and energy. Since the city is therefore nonproductive and non-self sufficient it must either rob all needed

ble for others, and trashes the Earth is the process. Let us now t

il

evil is de

the city, in order to establish itself, cut the trees. And though it is the destroyer of trees, the city at the same time requires the oxygen produced by trees (for its overflowing p

inually plunders and destroys the forests in these other areas as well. If one goes to the port at Shimizu, one can see the shiploads of lumber an

ing drunk on its own extravagance and convenience, the city is cutting its own throat; it is carrying on activities that contribute to the reduction of

of the southern hemisphere it is not only bringing about a crisis there. It is us

il

l is the plund

t solely on the level, most fertile land. And other urbanized areas, such as those along rail lines and roads, or the centers of villages - though there are a few places which have been made by cutting into the moun

forget that the very farmland they contin

l T

in the previous chapter, the cov

, the city usually covers it with concrete

n dry times by means of the Land's regulatory and retaining capabilities. The Land also purifies all contaminants (except for things like heavy metals and chemicals). The

te) will not grow plants or absorb water, or give it forth in dry times. And contaminants on con

soil - may be said to form the main artery of Nature's cyclical function. If the earth is blocked off, the flow of blood will halt,

e, it will cover the earth, and the bottom of the ocean should also be considered earth. Whether a factory, an office building, or a paved road, once it is built we have condemned some part of the Land to be covered with it. The more you block o

l F

s the theft of th

other words the growth of those employed by the secondary and tertiary industries, and the gr

ontaminating agriculture using machines that run on petroleum. As long as the increased secondary and tertiary population tries to enjoy a modern lifestyle (convenience, extra

l F

ago the cities expropriated agricultural produce through the feudal lords and landlords, and in more recent times they forced the farmers to give it up by means of the Food Control Act. Now, however, they take mountains of food by means of money. These are necessary, desperate meas

landlords issued orders for rice to be sent to them. "Millet will not do. Such is for farmers to eat." Thus they ruled. And now the city dwellers

ow into the cities, while in the country we continue to satisfy

il

n of the seashore and the prodig

age pour into the water, destroying the fishing. In order to make things better for themselves, the cities have destroyed the natural seas

rine organisms live near the shores, so that as long as we do not cover them with concrete and fill the littoral

to an Asahi Shimbun feature entitled "Food"). Extravagant city dwellers will pay high prices for shrimp, but they will not pay much for other marine foods, and since the fisherme

charge that people in the country eat shrimp, too). And what is more, they so recklessly take shrimp that the shrimp are now

l S

convenience of the cities (like elevators, automatic doors, neon signs, transportation systems, heating, and air conditioning), and to make idiotic trinkets and gewgaws (like cars, cameras, televisions, and robots). The cities (indust

a money economy, of the competitive ideology of the city mind. Modern urban civilization - that is, the extravag

l E

e excessive consumpti

not be available. Oxygen is the most important thing in maintaining the functions of the cities, and they consume it with wild abandon. Oxygen decreases minute by

ney-making, for their flush toilets and their factories. The cities t

l N

forces sacrifices on others so it

ere turned out of the place that had been their home for generations, while the citizens of Tokyo, in their pursuit of convenience, extravagance, and ease (not to mention money-making), never even looked back. And the tragedy of such obscure villages is just like that of the villages ruined by nuclear power. Why don't the cities bui

s of Urb

he plundering, destructive acts that the cities

n others, all the while thinking it a perfectly natural thing to do. No matter that the cities have been so devilishly clever in devising a civilization

e various evils of the cities

rbon

on of similarly great amounts of carbon dioxide. Trees would be expected to consume this carbon dioxide and deliver oxygen to us, but since the cities are also destro

re was before industrialization. Because of the greenhouse effect the temperature at the surface of the Earth will rise two or three degrees, the glaciers will melt, an

ric Polluti

the skies (and even a little from all the cigarettes; I will answer later to the charge that we have cigarettes and cars in the country, too). Not only does all this pollute the atmosphere, it is also said that the particulate matter blocks the light of the sun, thus causing a dr

on of the

letion of the strato

and the nitrogen fertilizer that the city invented to dominate the farming v

the CFCs used in aerosol sprays, which rise to high altitudes upon their release, will, even if their use continues at the 1974 rate, cause a 14 percent loss of the ozone over the nex

that, if nothing is done about this - if the ozone layer continues to be destroyed - certain species will be faced with extinction. Since all species in their interactions work to maintain the ecosystem, the loss o

um from the earth, and their wonderful scientific achievement is to put us and the en

Sew

umping of sewag

of the great amounts of water it converts into sewage, and that sewage always ends up in

water flowing into the ocean contains, depending upon the substance, 10-60 percent of what it originally contained. In addition, most cities have a sewage system in which rain water is collected

e ocean by cleaning one's clothes. Flush toilets are no different. As long as I can live under sanitary co

s of Garbag

solid trash goes without saying, but burnable trash is no different: even after burning, the gaseous part disperses in the atmosphere, and the ashes still remain. And there is no proof th

the ocean. But do we tolerate it when someone dumps his garbage in his neighbor's house in order to keep his own clean? The beautiful cities and spic-and-span

n the way. And the place they discard this waste is (take for example Nagoya) farmland purchased for the purpose. Every bit of junk that the city produces in order to achieve even greater benefit and extravagance (even the wastes produced in one day could not be k

ome domestic wastes, and then those produced by the services (included are of course such poisonous substances as mercury, PCBs, an

ood of Me

flood of produc

city robs and wastes resources; how it spreads pollution everywhere; how it shoves its

heaps of records and tapes, which, like sonic narcotics, produce noise and dementia; for the weekly magazines and comic books that overflow with idiotic stories and pictures - one could go on without limit. It would not be an overstatement to say that all merchandise produced by the city is the same. And just as I mentioned before with jet planes and aerosols, they produce pollution not only when they are used, but, as outlined in section five, become pollution themselves after use, thus causing the utmost trouble for people in other places. No matte

e crushed under the load of th

Services Fo

e city forces excessi

with defeat when, in an effort to streamline the government, he ran up against the firm resistance of the bureaucrats, so there is no reason to believe that today'

vices" and getting their politico friends to appropriate money for them. It is the citizens who have to put up with thes

e days we see the emergence of strange, previously unheard-of services, and there

years of age are employed in primary industries (this figure has shown a steady yearly decline). This means that the other 99.1 percent are making a living in the spiffy secondary and

ity as W

that the city

made by the city. And nucle

be allowed an extreme statement, I would say that it is not an overstatement to say that those who engage in the secondary and tertiary industries are all merchants of death. For example, those who manu

innocent, are just as guilty as the merchants of death as long as they engage in any kind of education, for all

companies, dribbling, injecting, inserting, and popping huge quantities of drugs into their

ll plan ways to continue their idle and gluttonous [12] ways without dirtying their own hands; sitting back in their armchairs they force the small number of farmers to carry on labor-saving, high-yield agriculture, and contribute to poisoning by agricult

xception? Even if it is possible to demonstrate this, there is still no possible way to deny the fact that urban dwellers are livin

weapons is the city, let us in addition take note of

ty cannot clean itself, if it does not shove its garbage off on someone else), it cannot maintain its functions or continue its activities. Competition among cities then naturally arises, an

to keep oneself alive by self-sufficient practices and the blessings

first dismantle the city, which is both the hotbed and ringleader of war. If you do not d

O

esh is coarse, nothing gets through." Usually interpreted to mea

ensive, varieties of ric

s, impurities will be removed, but even if it flows through a tho

burn 100 tons of garbage, 15 tons of ashes remain." The project, which will destroy what little remains of Osaka Bay's natural seashore, was ironically named after the phoenix since, its promoters claim, though the ocean will b

production? This is, as I mentioned before, due to the magical power of money. In order to make more money - that

but is also the life blood of all industrial activities. Thus its role is to carry on by force the destruction and contamination of the natural environment, the robber

ection for the harm caused by money,

ily home in Japan is now said to

it leaves its hide, but when a man dies

ucts, but allow me to remind the reader that there is no denying t

s" (fukou donshoku)

thinker Ando Shoeki,

have borrowed the t

Translato

children playing on the school playgrounds would similarly be blown away in an instant, their flesh half melted; in this way the six million people within a 15 km radius of the explosion would all die instantly. This is bad, but I must take issue with the view that all these Tokyoites are just innocent, pitiful victims. There is absolutely no difference in this case between the attacked and the attacker, because both are destructive, rapac

just get rid of nuclear weapons then we are assured everla

ruction, contamination, waste) must the city perpetrate? What grea

on and destruction. If the city is destroyed (of course it will take the rest of us

al Ch

ity a

fficiency, and Imp

roblem of the city. Can there truly be a reason w

ses and shortages should be fussed over as i

Have No "F

ull impact of that lost half of the rice crop, so this must therefore be considered a big problem which completely controls the fate of the city. If on the other hand there is a bountiful harvest of rice the farmers have cause for celebratio

ely the consumers' problem. Thus it comes down to being simply a matter of the city securing its staple food from its own country or another country, and making the wrong choice could mean running out of food

it controls the destiny of the farmers, thereby trying to solve the entire food problem by sacrificing the farmers. This is nothing other than another one of the city's deceptive stratagems

, not increase, production. Help promote the rice shortage! Don't oppose rice imports! Until the authorities take action, voluntarily reduce your rice acreage! Produce

will decrease. It is a self-evident truth that, if supplies of the s

attained the zenith. Are they trying to bring about again that terrible past of plunder when our ancestors, in years of famine, had even their own stocks of rice taken from them as tax, and starved to death in shame? We must not be fooled by their demands to break out the stored rice. Even if you ha

he Hand th

is, the secondary and tertiary industries) changes a problem that completely controls its own destiny into one which controls that of the farmers, and through this deft trickery attempts to solve its food problem by sacrificing the farmers. And since this is blind faith, the farmers do not r

tifice invented by the city - which cannot live even a day without robbing food from the farmers - to take that food; such an unwri

is but a belief brought about as a result of your having fallen prey to the city's plundering stratagems, and is no different fro

ply food to the citizens," when, with sweat on your brow and mud on your hands, you are put on the run by your machines in order to ans

the root of all evil, that is, the city dwellers, the prodigal sons. In view of this situation, the "sacred

work yourself into the ground in order to feed the likes of those who make cigarettes, food additives, cars, and jet planes, thus spreading pollution all over the place; those who make guns, bullet

. If the city people do not have enough to eat they will realize their error, and this will engender the shrinkage of the cities, which will in turn bri

tives Press

ic farming is difficult for our arable land, which has been ruined by agricultural chemicals and chemical fertilizers, but if one lets the land lay idle and avails oneself of t

hem and then either let them lie as they are, or (if you have animals) feed them to your animals and return the weeds to the soil in the form of manure. If you continue this for one season you will find that the next year, even if you begin with no

switch to organic agriculture. Remember, the object here is not to produce great quantities of rice, but to produce he

for rice. But if we do not get rid of the pus, the sore will not heal. In the attempt to deal a blow to the powerful cities, we

gain happiness (extravagance and prosperity) now, it's all right if humanity perishes in the future," and "Even if we experience more unhappine

ties retreat and life becomes much more inconvenient and difficult than

terity) engenders hope. As long as, ensconced in the midst of plenty, we continue ou

Comment on "

t about the need to import rice) is the result of four continuous years

s" is nothing more than a kindergartner's idea for a solution. Is this the best idea that the elite bureaucrats in the Ministry of Agriculture could

worth of rice stored they still had shortages. So what i

orthless compared to rice. When the Pol Pot regime instituted the barter system, the capitol of Phnom Penh was instantly converted into an empty shell. This is because the former residents left the hotels and offices behind and went from farming villag

at they would all be eating, they should do the work for free. When it comes down to ac

ying the paddies tilled by generations of ancestors, and for that reason we are seeing a reduction in the rice harvests (let us not overlook the effect

ers of machines, fertilizers, and agricultural chemicals; the rice wholesalers; and the consumers, all of whom belong to the cities. What this means is that the city has created a system b

een able to achieve a system of rice production that suits its own purpose, that is, a system which makes full use of large machinery and agricultural chemicals, and which saddles the farmers with de

re and more "sasanishiki" and "koshihikari," strains that are particularly susceptible to frost, blight, and wind damage. On the other hand, strains that are

s meddled with the production of food that the farmers have lost their will to produce. Who was it that promoted the eating of bread (that considered eating rice bad) and increased the imports of wheat? It was not the farmers of Japan.

duce, which was accomplished by making the farmers busier than ever. The ability of the farmers to supply themselves with food - their independence - was completely lost at this time, and agriculture became highly dependent on the secondary and tertiary industries (chemical fertilizers, mach

. As the number of farmers shrank, the urban population burgeoned, and where the government was not successful in getting them off the farm, they at least managed to create many Sunday farmers and part-

tic animals with nothing but compound feed burdened the farmers with heavy debts, and this situation remains unchanged to the present day. [18] But an even greater problem is that the loss of domestic animals to the farmer has resulted in

rice-growing techniques by means of

earn standardized modern farming methods from a teacher that had never once held a hoe, and thus created an environment conducive to the acceptance of intrusion by the government and the co-ops (of course, most of the people who received this education became white collar workers, and so became those who also control agriculture and the farmers). In this way both Hokkaido and Kyushu now grow rice in the same way, and no longer have the diverse methods to

(or decrease in stores) does not find its only cause in unavoidable things l

tsc

wn with the Cities!", so I would like to mention here that by "Down with the cities!" I do

CHAPTE

The government suddenly discovered that it had no reserves of rice except for very old stores

uary, 1985 issue of Gendai Nogyo ("Modern Agriculture") published a photo story about some young farmers in Miy

pture of a frog is also a sacred occupation. There were orig

ll over the globe is eroding and being otherwise ruined, and the population is growing explosively, there is no doubt that food for human beings is heading for insufficiency. Though for Japan imports are still possible, it will become difficult to import in the future, a

pay back their loans, the farmers must work themselves i