In the first local government tax of its kind in Japan, Tokyo's Suginami Ward is pushing a plan to impose a 5 yen levy on each plastic bag handed out at shops and supermarkets.

The plan, initiated by Mayor Hiroshi Yamada in an effort to reduce household garbage, is now the subject of nationwide attention. Municipalities across the country -- whether driven by growing public awareness of environmental problems or a thirst for a new source of income -- are showing keen interest.

A bill to levy the new plastic bag tax has already been submitted to the ward assembly and local consumers are generally supportive.

The prospects of the bill becoming law, however, remain uncertain. Even if it is passed in the ongoing session through the end of this month, actual introduction of the new tax would take at least another two years.

The scheme is designed to curb the use of plastic bags, which accounted for 4 percent of the ward's 25,000 tons of garbage not suitable for incineration in fiscal 1999.

It is hoped the tax will reduce the volume of plastic bags by 60 percent in five years, while the ward intends to spend around 400 million yen in annual revenues from the new tax solely on environmental projects, such as planting trees and other vegetation on the roofs of buildings and on recycling programs, ward officials said.

Since it was first floated in September last year, the idea has been favorably received by an increasingly environmentally aware public, but the likelihood of the law being enacted in the near future is slim, because many members of the assembly are cautioning against acting too quickly.

Predictably, some of the staunchest opposition is from local mom-and-pop store owners, who have already been hit hard by the prolonged economic slump.

"Of course, we are against the new tax, as 5 yen is too much to pay for a plastic bag," said Kiyoshi Hayakawa, who runs a fish shop near JR Koenji Station.

"We dare not ask our customers to pay for plastic bags, which we have always given out for free. We have no choice but to shoulder the tax burden ourselves," said the 60-year-old fishmonger, who has seen his earnings plummet 40 percent in the last decade.

Etsuko Hoshino, who runs a nearby tofu store, agreed. For a shop that sells small, individual items costing less than 100 yen, it would be difficult to ask customers to pay an extra 5 yen just for a plastic bag, she said.

In its July 2001 report assessing the impact of the proposed new tax, however, the ward concluded that any negative impact on shopper behavior would be minimal, adding that 75.4 percent of the people questioned said they would simply take their own bags with them each time they went shopping.

"I think it's a good idea," said one 64-year-old woman shopping on a Suginami street. "It's a very effective way to curb the use of plastic bags, as 5 yen for each bag is quite a lot, since I shop at least at a couple of places every day."

The woman, an office worker who only identified herself as Ms. Hirasawa, said she would take her own shopping bag when the new tax goes into effect, just as most other shoppers would do.

Indeed, there is already at least one successful example of a fee being imposed on plastic bags. OK Corp., a supermarket chain operating mainly in Tokyo, began charging for plastic bags as early as 1989. Today, its customers must pay 6 yen for each bag.

"There was some confusion and a few complaints from customers when we first started . . . but the system has since been accepted," said Kaoru Kurihashi, manager of an OK supermarket in Koenji, adding that approximately 70 percent of customers now bring their own shopping bags.

He admitted, however, that his store had to persuade customers to accept the system and this was achieved most effectively by pointing out that they were still paying less after buying the bags than at other stores because of OK's big discounts.

But that won't work for mom-and-pop shops and convenience stores.

"At supermarkets, people tend to make bulk purchases, spending between 3,000 yen and 5,000 yen per visit (thus paying 5 yen charge for a plastic bag is fractional)," said Hideki Murayama, secretary general of the Japan Franchise Association, whose members include 185 convenience stores in Suginami Ward.

"A shopper at a convenience store spends an average of 500 yen per visit, and people often need several plastic bags, one for cold drinks and the other for a microwave-warmed 'bento' boxed lunch.

"If this tax is enacted in Suginami, other municipalities are likely to follow suit (and it may lead to a nationwide trend)," he added.

Tasusuke Tokuda, a representative of an umbrella organization for local store owners' associations in Suginami Ward, laid out the retailers' dilemma.

"The environmental awareness of consumers is a lot higher than many store owners think," he said. "If we continue to oppose the tax, we may disenchant customers."

The organization, to which the ward's 5,500 stores belong, last month consented to the bag tax bill, but only after the ward accepted the condition that collecting the tax would not start for at least a couple of years, even if the bill is passed sooner.

"It's not like they will introduce the tax next year. We need a preparatory period to avoid confusion," Tokuda said.

So has Mayor Yamada caved in to the lobbying of those opposed to the scheme and effectively shelved the tax plan by postponing its actual introduction indefinitely?

Absolutely not, said Yamada, but he added: "The aim of the tax is to reduce the use of plastic bags, not to introduce an additional source of revenues. . . . If we can achieve our goal without actual introduction of the tax, that's just fine."

A panel will be set up early next year to designate a numerical target for reducing the use of plastic bags, and the ward will start collecting a tax if it fails to achieve that target by a deadline, he said.

Despite strong opposition from local store owners, he expressed confidence that the general public will be won over.

"Suginami residents are very sensitive about garbage problems," he emphasized, adding that this is a result of bitter experiences with the disposal of household waste in the past.

Suginami Ward, a residential area that is home to half a million people, became the site of a notorious "garbage war" in the late 1960s when residents opposed the construction of a garbage disposal plant in the ward, triggering uproar among residents in Koto Ward, where a waste dump had long been accepting Suginami's garbage.

The incident, which led to Suginami residents' "not-in-my-backyard" attitude being fiercely criticized, eventually resulted in the construction of the Suginami plant, forcing local residents to realize the seriousness of the garbage problem.

More recently, there has been an outbreak of "Suginami disease." In April 1996, following construction of a garbage relay station where household waste is compressed for transfer, local residents began suffering eye and skin irritation, chest pains, respiratory problems, headaches and dizziness. It is believed the symptoms are caused by hydrogen sulfide emitted from the plant.

Its proponents hope the new tax plan will not only reduce the use of plastic bags but also make people rethink their lifestyles, in which convenience is given priority over all else.

"I believe Suginami citizens are wise enough to see what they are losing in return for the convenience," Yamada said.