So, on this week’s installment of “places to visit in Japan thanks to manga”, this is the first I’ve heard of Tanaka Shozo 田中正造 and his contributions to Japanese conservationism - but it’s an important one. When it came to the past enviro incidents Japanese textbooks tend to reference the
Minamata mercury poisonings in the proverbial boonies of Kumamoto and Niigata or the sulfurous
petroleum distillate runoff cases in Yokkaichi 四日市.
The emphasis was that it happens in desperate backwaters far away from governmental oversight, and not at the proverbial backyards of Tokyo - the Ashio mine and its real impact was considered a real embarrassment for the Taisho/early Showa ruling classes who would rather see it swept under the rug.
A reason why Tanaka Shozo protested against building the dam wasn’t entirely because it’ll displace the residents…he don’t think the collection pond will contain the red runoff, or even if it does, the dam will still impact the area quite negatively. The areas around Saitama were naturally agriculturally productive because occasional flooding will replenish nutrients downstream from the Yamanote plateau west of Kanto, and the dam will end the periodic enrichment cycles. He would rather see the Ashio copper mine shut down, the red stuff dredged out and for nature to continue its cycle of flooding (the mine didn’t close until 1973, 60 years after Tanaka-sensei’s passing).
Anyways, here are the locations cited…
Shozo Tanaka Memorial Hall 田中正造記念館 - 6-50 Otamachi, Tatebayashi, Gunma 374-0003
Sano City (folk ways) Museum
佐野市郷土博物館 - 2047 Ohashicho, Sano, Tochigi 327-0004
The museum has a
dedicated chamber for Tanaka Shozo in their permanent collection.
Menya Yousuke 麺屋 ようすけ (the noodle shop with gentle Sano flavor mentioned at the end of the chapter)
232 Tajimacho, Sano, Tochigi 327-0031.
Ramen adventures has a very high opinion of the place, and Tablelog’s rating is 3.75, which is high considering that most “good” places are only at 3.5. It’s next to the Tajima station
田島駅 on the Tobu Sano line.
Bonus location(s):
Sano was locally famous for ramen due to the area’s role on Japanese agri-industrial history. The Japanese flour milling giant Nisshin Seifun 日清製粉 (no relations to Nissan Motors 日産自動車 in Yokohama or Nissin Foods 日清食品 in Osaka) was founded in the area, and their first offices are in Tatebayashi. The
Nisshin Seifun Flour Milling museum 日清製粉ミュージアム(6-1 Sakaecho, Tatebayashi, Gunma 374-0052) is open to the public and based on their first office complex featurng historical artifacts and a Japanese garden. it is right next to the Tobu Tatebayashi station 東武館林駅.
Another nearby place to visit? The Asahi Brewery
Calpis Future museum カルピス みらいのミュージアム
(166 Oshindencho, Tatebayashi, Gunma 374-0072). This is a guided factory tour of their Gunma location which supplies the northern half of the Kanto plain. Unfortunately, no Calpico product tasting are offered, which isn’t like most Japanese food facility tours (look up Kewpie’s Machida factory museum for contrast).