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Monday, August 27, 2007

mottainai!

"Mottainai" is a word that we use that means "wasteful" or "what a waste". In Hawaii, we would say "poho". I didn't realize this but the prized waterfall in Minoo is actually "fake".

I was saddened to find out that when the city of Minoo or the Osaka prefecture (I'm not sure which) built a tunnel which now saves drivers 17 minutes to get from point a to b, apparently cut off several natural rivers and springs, including the one that supplies the falls. To remedy this, the city is now paying 34 million yen (about US $300,000) a year to run electrical pumps to pump in the water for the falls.

Many communities that were affected by this tunneling now say that their natural well water was contaminated and that they cannot drink from it anymore.

We don't own a car, so we don't know what value tunnels or roads have here. But, I can tell you it isn't worth saving 17 minutes to destroy something that was there hundreds of years before we were.

(Photo taken from the Minoo city website)
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7 comments:

  1. ilingc4:58 PM, August 28, 2007

    Kat, I wouldn't have known it was a fake if you didn't mention it.

    It's such a pity that they would rather appeal to the public's demands than care for the environment.

    ReplyDelete
  2. K and S7:14 PM, August 28, 2007

    Thanks Ilingc! It is really sad.

    Thanks for stopping by. Take care.
    Kat

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous4:59 PM, August 30, 2007

    that IS mottainai! -bourgogne

    ReplyDelete
  4. K and S5:17 PM, August 30, 2007

    I think it was a really unnecessary tunnel, Bourgogne.

    Thanks for stopping by. Take care.
    Kat

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous9:37 AM, September 06, 2007

    It happened quite recently-- this winter, maybe? My husband caught a tiny article while reading the news online. And that's it. You'd think something like that would make for a bigger news story, but that's Japan for you.

    It's a project of Osaka prefecture, by the way. Apparently it was an accident, and there is no way to fix it. So the pumping will continue forever, at taxpayers' expense.

    The tunnel happens to start really close to my in-law's place (near Carrefour) and when I was there this summer I hardly ever saw cars entering or exiting.

    Very mottanai, and a perfect example of Japan's addiction to massive, short-sighted construction projects.

    ReplyDelete
  6. sam1:50 PM, September 06, 2007

    I have a nice blog on Japan too. Check it out if you have time.
    http://japanipon.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  7. K and S1:40 PM, September 08, 2007

    Thanks Sam, I'll check your blog out!

    Thanks for the info Amy, it is sad that the tax payers have to upkeep this wasteful project! Sometimes I wish I could vote here.

    Take care you two.
    Kat

    ReplyDelete

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