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•  Shintoism has long since been the major religious philosophy of Japan. Since its inception, it has held the belief that all living and non-living organisms descended from “kami” ( ), or gods (Herbert, 21). This belief has since created within the Japanese people, according to Jean Herbert, “a consanguineous kinship with plants and animals” (Herbert, 21). As such, I argue that the Japanese people who live by Shintoism react and perceive things as a result of their philosophical beliefs.

•  However, despite Shintoism’s influence on Japanese individuals, this argument has never been expressly stated. My research asks “What influence does Shintoism have on environmental management and perceptions?” In order to answer this question, my research will focus on Lake Biwa as a case study in Shinto beliefs and subsequent environmental actions and perceptions related to them.

Shintoism

Lake Biwa

•  Lake Biwa Day: Lake Biwa Day is a day dedicated to cleaning up Lake Biwa (Shiga Prefectural Government, 93). It is typically held on July 1st and occurs yearly (SPG, 93). As the SPG states, “Every year, Lake Biwa Day is marked by communal cleaning of Lake Biwa and has become a day that symbolizes the protection of Lake Biwa and a time for people to turn their thoughts to the lake” (SPG, 93). Thus, it has become a day for people to remember the importance of the lake for both their traditional values and their aesthetic beliefs. •  Chikubu-shima Island: Chikubu-shima Island is a small island situated within Lake Biwa (Ueno). On the island, there is a unique mixing of both Shintoism and Buddhism within the shrines placed around it. Since ancient times, it has been an island that has held sacred status as a pilgrimage site for Shinto followers (Kawanabe, 213). •  Soap Movement: The Soap Movement of the 1970s came about as a result of synthetic detergents causing eutrophication to occur within Lake Biwa (Takao, 58). Specifically, red tides were being seen with the use of these detergents, which caused great concern throughout the general public (Takao, 58). In an effort to reduce this environmentally damaging practice, the Women’s Organization Liaison Committee began to create a movement dedicated to the use of soap powder (Takao, 58). Soap powder had far less phosphorus within it and was better for the health of individuals who used it (Makino, 429). As such, it was a major movement to help protect and preserve Lake Biwa as well as the people who lived around and relied on it. •  Mother Lake 21 Plan: The Mother Lake 21 Plan is a plan that was implemented in 1999 by the Shiga Prefectural government and will end in 2020 (Shiga Prefecture, 18). The goal of this plan is to bring Lake Biwa back to a healthy status using various means including improving the relationship between the lake and local residents that surround it (Shiga Prefecture, 1). As this plan will take many years to implement, the SPG has stated “This fresh challenge is truly a “grand, cross-generational experiment in linking together people and nature” (Shiga Prefecture, 17).

Local Perspectives •  Bluegill: The origination of bluegill within Lake Biwa is difficult to discern. However, their discovery can be traced back to fisherman that caught them in the lake in 1965 (Uda, 240). It is thought that they were imported from Chicago as a sport fish species in order to increase recreational fishing throughout Japan (Uda, 240). According to a report made by Atsuhiko Ide and Shinsuke Seki, bluegill predominantly “feed on aquatic plants, zooplankton and insects, in addition to fish eggs and shrimp” (Ide and Seki, 80). Thus, they are dangerous to the ecosystem as a whole due to their diet as they are feeding on native species.

•  Great Cormorant: Great cormorants are native to Japan and are thus considered a nuisance species due to their feeding and nesting habits. Recently, they have caused the ayu count to drop significantly within Lake Biwa, which is rather concerning (Takahashi, 478). Ayu are a major food source to local individuals that live around Lake Biwa and are a large resource within the prefectural economy (Kameda, 494). As such, this damage to local fisheries from these cormorants combined with the reduction of native species as a result of invasive fish such as the largemouth bass and bluegill are putting fisherman’s livelihoods in jeopardy. Another issue posed by great cormorants is their nesting habits, which are causing regions to become deforested (Kameda, 495). Cormorant droppings are incredibly acidic and, as they nest in trees, the leaves become covered with fecal matter. These leaves subsequently fall to the ground and break down with the droppings to create a soil that cannot healthily sustain tree populations due to its acidity. As such, they are a species that are both a nuisance to the land and to the lake. •  Management strategies (fish species): Managing the reduction of aquatic invasive species such as the largemouth bass and bluegill has been difficult for Shiga Prefecture. Sport fishermen were greatly against the idea of an ordinance (Ordinance of Normalization of Leisure Use of Lake Biwa, Shiga Prefecture) to help reduce invasive species within Lake Biwa (Nishizawa, 450). These anglers believe that invasive species such as the largemouth bass and bluegill have great economic benefits for the prefecture and that there is not enough evidence to support the idea that these species are harming the native ecosystem (Nishizawa, 450). However, despite the opposition, the Shiga Prefectural government has been continuing to work on projects in order to eliminate invasive species within Lake Biwa (Nishizawa, 449). Their target goal currently is 2018 as being the year when all aquatic invasive fish species are entirely removed from the lake (Nishizawa, 449).

Invasive/Nuisance Species Management

Discussion •  Given that Shintoism is never directly expressed within literature

as having an influence on the way individuals manage and perceive Lake Biwa, it cannot be said that the two directly correlate with one another. However, this research has brought to light a complex relationship between environmental management and Shintoism.

•  Realistically, a number of things affect management strategies and perceptions surrounding Lake Biwa including, but not limited to: economic gains and losses, modernization and progress, current cultural beliefs, and western influences. As such, it cannot be said that Shintoism is the only potential influence in regards to managing the lake and perceiving it in a particular light.

•  In exploring this complex relationship between Shintoism and environmental management in Lake Biwa, this research has helped add more dimensions to the influence Shintoism has had on people’s perceptions surrounding Lake Biwa and opens avenues for future research.

Citations Herbert, Jean. Shintô: At the Fountain-Head of Japan. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1967. Print. Ide, Atsuhiko, and Shinsuke Seki. Countermeasures against Alien Fishes (Largemouth Bass and Bluegill) in Lake Biwa (n.d.): 79-84. Shiga Prefectural Fisheries Experimental Station, 10 Aug. 2009. Web. Kamai, Toshitaka, Hiromichi Hayashi, and Tsuyoshi Haraguchi. "The Sub-Bottom Archaeological Sites of Lake Biwa (Japan) -Lessons for the Modern Water-Front Region on Earthquake Disaster-." International Symposium on Geoinformatics for Spatial Infrastructure Development in Earth and Allied Sciences, 2008. Web. Kameda, Kayoko, and Jun-ichi Tsuboi. "Cormorants in Japan: Population Development, Conflicts and Management." EU Cormorant Platform(2013): 1-6. Web. Kameda, Kayoko. "Population Increase of the Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax Carbo and Measures to Reduce Its Damage to the Fisheries and Forests of Lake Biwa." Lake Biwa: Interactions Between Nature and People. London: Springer, 2012. 491-96. Print. Kawanabe, Hiroya. "Cultural Associations in an Ancient Lake: Gods of Water in Lake Biwa and the River Yodo Basin, Japan." Hydrobiologia 500.1-3 (2003): 213-16. Web. Kitagawa, Zen-Ichiro. "Measures for the Conservation of Water Quality in Lake Biwa and the Akanoi Bay Initiative." Lakes & Reservoirs: Research & Management 16.3 (2011): 211-14. Web. Nishizawa, Eiichiro, Tetsuji Kurokawa, and Mitsuyasu Yabe. "Policies and Resident's Willingness to Pay for Restoring the Ecosystem Damaged by Alien Fish in Lake Biwa, Japan." Environmental Science & Policy 9.5 (2006): 448-56. Web. Shiga Prefecture. "Mother Lake 21 Plan." Shiga Prefecture. Web. <http://www.pref.shiga.lg.jp/biwako/koai/mother21-e/>. Takahashi, Tetsumi, Kayoko Kameda, Megumi Kawamura, and Tsuneo Nakajima. "Food Habits of Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax Carbo Hanedae at Lake Biwa, Japan, with Special Reference to Ayu Plecoglossus Altivelis Altivelis." Fisheries Science 72.3 (2006): 477-84. Web. Uda, Shuhei. "The Behavior of Fishers After Implementation of the Project to Exterminate Nonindigenous Fish in Lake Biwa, Japan." Human Ecology 38.2 (2010): 237-49. Web. Ueno, Hideko. "Chikubu Island (Chikubushima)." Go.biwako. Biwako Visitors Bureau, 12 Mar. 2014. Web. <http://en.biwako-visitors.jp/explore/chikubu-island-chikubushima/>.

Figures Background: Kazephoto. “ - / Landscape of Japan.” YouTube. YouTube, 31 Jan. 2016. Web. Figure 1: Isozaki Shrine, Isozaki Shrine, Maibara, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. Personal photograph by author. 2015. Figure 2: Hero Travel Support and Rental Cars. Biwako-Hakkei (The Eight Scenery around Lake Biwa). Digital image. Hero Travel Support. Hero Travel Support and Rental Cars, n.d. Web. https://www.hero-travel-spt.jp/driveway_shiga_biwakohakkei.html. Figure 3: Chikubu-shima Island, Chikubu-shima Island, Lake Biwa, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. Personal photograph by author. 2015. Figure 4: Dissected Largemouth Bass, University of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. Personal photograph by author. 2015. Figure 5: Parnell, James F. Bluegill. Digital image. Fairfax County Public Schools. Fairfax County Public Schools, n.d. Web. http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/bluegill.htm. Figure 6: Laitche. Great Cormorant. Digital image. Wikipedia, 26 Sept. 2015. Web. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Great_Cormorant_(26_September_2015),_Osaka_Japan.jpg.

•  Lake Biwa is the largest and oldest freshwater lake in Japan (Kitagawa, 211). Supplying water to over 14 million people, the lake also serves as a biodiversity hotspot for over 50 native endemic species (Kitagawa, 211; Kamai, 1).

•  It is one of the many places throughout the world where “sense-of-place” plays a major role in how local individuals treat and perceive it. According to the Shiga Prefectural Government, “Lake Biwa embodies a confluence of many diverse values, a composite living culture forged over the eons through symbiosis between man and nature” (Shiga Prefecture, 13). In extrapolating this belief, I hypothesize that local individuals all feel some sense of symbiosis with the lake. As such, Lake Biwa is perceived as having great value to local people, both for its traditional and aesthetic values.

•  Unfortunately, modern issues such as urbanization along the shoreline and invasive species are currently threatening the lake. With these issues comes a need for new management strategies to combat growing concerns surrounding Lake Biwa.

Environmental Science, SUNY Oneonta, Oneonta, NY 13820 Gwendolyn Temple

Influence of Shintoism on Environmental Management and Perceptions of Lake Biwa, Japan

Figure 1: Isozaki Shrine across from the shores of Lake Biwa in Maibara, Shiga Prefecture, Japan.

Figure 4: Stomach content analysis of largemouth bass shows that they are eating

native species.

Figure 6: Great Cormorant drying its wings out after hunting.

•  Management strategies (avian species): Within recent years, the Shiga Prefectural government has launched a plan titled the “Specified Shiga Wildlife Management Plan” in order to combat cormorants causing problems for both fisheries and forested areas (Kameda and Tsuboi, 4). Within this plan are ideas for controlling cormorant populations, including shooting a designated number in order to decrease their impact on the environment (Kameda and Tsuboi, 4). This plan relies heavily on adaptive management strategies, as the government’s end goal is not to completely eradicate this species.

•  Largemouth Bass: Largemouth bass, a native species within the United States, has recently become an invasive species within Lake Biwa (Uda, 239-240). This fish was discovered as having been introduced to Lake Biwa around the early 1970s, when fisherman caught them off the shores of Hikone in Shiga Prefecture (Uda, 239-240). Concerns surrounding this species are well founded, as they can greatly impact both the ecosystem and the native endemic species that reside within the lake. Given that largemouth bass are incredibly aggressive and territorial, they can easily outcompete native species by both reducing their major food sources and by eating their eggs to reduce population sizes. As such, they are an incredibly important species to consider when noting management strategies to reduce their impact on Lake Biwa’s ecosystem.

Figure 2: Map of Lake Biwa, Japan.

Figure 3: Chikubu-shima Island.

Figure 5: Bluegills are

notably omnivorous and will eat

almost anything they can fit in their

mouth.