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The Political Ecology of the Japanese Paper Industry

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The Political Ecology of the Japanese Paper Industry The Political Ecology of the Japanese Paper Industry Ian William Penna Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Anthropology, Geography and Environmental Studies The University of Melbourne November 2002 ii Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of Peter Rawlinson and Gordon Robinson iii iv Declaration This is to certify that this dissertation: • comprises only my original work; • contains no material that has been used for the award of any other degree to myself from any university or institution and no material that has been previously published or written by any other person except where acknowledgment is given in the text; and • is less than 100,000 words in length, exclusive of appendices, bibliographies, figures and tables. Ian William Penna v vi Abstract The Japanese paper and paperboard industry has grown to be one of the largest in the world. It manufactures a range of products for sale primarily within Japan, and consumes organic fibre for these products from dispersed domestic and foreign forests, plantations and cities. This dissertation examines the links between the development and structure of the industry and its use of papermaking fibre. It takes a political ecology perspective and uses an industrial structure/consumption-production chain approach to show how the industry’s development and structure continue to depend on company control over fibre flows and the restructuring of products, product distribution and manufacture, the fibre supply chain and fibre resources. As with the modern global paper/board industry, the recent growth of the Japanese industry has been characterised by cycles of capacity expansion, market collapse, excess capacity and low prices and profits. Manufacturers and general trading companies involved in the industry have tried to support growth in the use of paper/board and counter these cycles by restructuring production, distribution, ownership and fibre supply. This restructuring helps protect the flow of fibre through the industry and concentrated it in particular companies. Obtaining increasing quantities of suitably-priced fibre has been at the base of the industry’s development. Control by manufacturers and general trading companies over prices and fibre supply chains has been central to the exploitation of different fibre resources. Much of the industry’s growth has depended on increasing the use of native forests and waste paper/board. It is now expanding its use of plantation wood. The transnational flow of fibre through the Japanese paper industry links dispersed economies and environments. The dissertation emphasises the importance of all the dimensions of the characteristics of the resources – physical, political, economic, ecological – in determining how fibre is exploited and the interactions between these economies, environments and communities. It argues that the expanding and diversified fibre supply integral to the industry’s growth has relied on significant restructuring of social and natural environments to suit the interests of pulp and paper capital. The rapid restructuring of forests to supply large volumes of vii pulpwood has been at the expense of many non-wood values. Increasing the supply of recovered fibre involved restructuring Japan’s waste paper/board collection sector to shift costs out of the fibre supply chain. Similar restructurings are occurring with the establishment and use of plantation wood. Case studies explain the processes involved. The industry’s fibre sourcing strategies are directed by ‘shallow’ environmental philosophies that are concerned primarily with maintaining fibre supplies. This is reflected in the ‘environmental charters’ of paper manufacturers and general trading companies. Environmental benefits resulting from these strategies are primarily produced by the pursuit of economic objectives. The ability and desire of these companies to develop and implement more environmentally-benign strategies are limited by the political economies in which they operate and the priorities and philosophies that dominate within the industry. viii Acknowledgements The preparation of this dissertation taught me many lessons about things other than Japan’s paper industry. In particular, it showed me how, even though the task of preparing a PhD dissertation is very personal and can consume much of one’s life, it is ultimately a cooperative effort and depends on the goodwill, knowledge and skills of many other people. First, I want to express my gratitude and loving thanks to my parents and brother for their love and support, not only through the years it took in preparing the dissertation, but also through the life that led me to it. I hope they find satisfaction and relief in seeing the dissertation finally completed. Also, I am most grateful to Professor Michael Webber, my supervisor, who welcomed me into the University of Melbourne, supported my decision to write this dissertation and gave me invaluable assistance over the years I took to complete it. Mark Wang, Peter Christoff and Geoff Missen also provided advice and encouragement, personally and through my progress review committee. All other staff of the School of Anthropology, Geography and Environmental Studies were generous in their help. During 1997, I was an Invited Guest Researcher at Kokugakuin University, Tokyo. The financial and organisational support of Kokugakuin University allowed me to gather much information and make important contacts. Staff were always most helpful. Special thanks go to Furusawa Koyu for his personal support of my research and Shimoyama Nobukatsu and other staff of the University’s International Exchange Center for their kind assistance while I was living there. I interviewed many employees of Japanese paper and trading companies as well as people employed in, or close to, the paper and wood products industry in Japan and elsewhere. Many of these people preferred to remain anonymous, so I do not directly acknowledge them by name. They know who they are, and here I extend my grateful thanks for allowing me to meet with them. However, I would particularly like to thank Nakano Shogo and staff of Daishowa Paper Manufacturing Co. in Japan and its associated companies in North America and Australia who made time available in their busy schedules to meet me and respond to my requests. ix Kondo Tadahiro and other staff of the Japan Paper Association provided me with introductions, interviews and copies of regular publications that supplied much statistical data and policy information on the Japanese paper industry. Oe Reizaburo, Emeritus Professor at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, and the staff of the Paper Recycling Promotion Center, particularly Ono Mikio, helped me gain information on recycling of used paper/board in Japan. Iida Kiyoaki of Japan TAPPI also directed me to useful information on a variety of issues related to paper production in Japan. Robert Johnston of the Australian Pulp and Paper Institute and Morita Tsuneyuki of Japan’s National Institute for Environmental Studies kindly provided references for the questionnaire that I sent to Japanese paper/board manufacturers and general trading companies. Allan Jamieson of AOK Innovations and Noel Clark of CSIRO unfailingly responded to all my requests for assistance, and provided valuable support and advice that improved my understanding of the paper industry. Sugimura Ken, Ryukoh Hiroto, Sawanobori Yoshihide and Narita Masami answered my various questions, and the comments and information they provided were extremely important in helping me understand the forestry scene in Japan. The interpreting and translating skills of my friends Takeguchi Ryu, Ikeda Mariko and Watanabe Masako were crucial for my interviews in Japan. Also, the help of Matsuoka Tomohiro, Yamane Akiko and Hashimoto Yoji with translations in Australia was very important. Michelle Hall in the University of Melbourne’s library tracked down Japanese references for me, and Justin Wejak translated letters into Indonesian. My travels through North America were facilitated by the welcomes and continuing support of old and new friends - thanks to Susan Grigsby, Sabrina Huang, Denny Haldeman, Cielo Sand, and Ian and Theresa Urquhart who provided accommodation, transport, introductions and good times during this period. Harriett Swift, Keith Hughes, Peter Morgan and Judy Clark provided support, information and ideas during the research process in Australia. My thanks and appreciation also go to all other people listed in Appendix 4.1 whom I met or helped me in some way. My apologies to any that I have inadvertently omitted. The friendships I made with other students while studying at the University of Melbourne are not only valuable to me in their own right, but helped me handle the x frustration and angst that accompany the PhD task. In particular, my thanks go to Terri Chala, Jenny Newton, Lesley Rigg, David Goldblum, Christina Jarvis, Ben Miller, Paul Reich and all occupants of Rooms 414 and 415 during my stay. The encouragement of friends around the Pacific helped me persevere – thanks to Gail James, Susan Grigsby, Morita Tsuneyuki, Allan Jamieson, Maureen Smith, Claire Day, Moriyama Tae, Bob and Reiko Gavey, Jonathan Holliman, Kanazawa Mutsumi, Stephen McKay, Michael Bjorn and Randy Helton. ‘Sabah’, ‘Nigah’ and the platypus family in the Moorabool River provided great companionship too. The real beginnings of a task like a PhD can be found well before
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