International concern over the environmental damage done by the use of plastic in various forms is now the topic of political and economic discussions across the planet. Dealing with plastic waste, especially in the ocean, is one of the long-term issues that Japan has promised to address at this year's Group of 20 summits. In the meantime, local governments, NGOs and business groups from Hokkaido to Okinawa are hosting seminars, discussions and conducting public awareness campaigns on the dangers of plastic waste like never before.
But the kind of tough legislation that actually bans the use of certain types of plastic consumer products has long been a step too far for most local governments. However last month, Takahiro Katsuragawa, the mayor of Kameoka, a city of 89,000 in Kyoto Prefecture, announced plans for a local ordinance that would ban the use of those ubiquitous single-use plastic shopping bags at the check-out counters of local supermarkets.
What raised a lot of eyebrows, however, was that Katsuragawa also went a step further, calling on surrounding cities like Kyoto to pass a similar ordinance in order to battle the growing problem of discarded plastic bags that find their way into the rivers, streams, and waterways that connect Kameoka and Kyoto.