Translator: Kayoko Shiomi Reviewer: Denise RQ
Four and a half years ago,
20,000 precious lives were lost.
At that time, what was essential for survival?
The morning after the disaster,
people who escaped the tsunami got together in a community center.
For what?
People brought rice stockpiled in each house,
drew water from a mountainside well,
carried firewood from the forest, and cooked rice.
They made 10,000 "onigiri", rice balls per day,
and delivered them to the shelters for one week.
The hungry, frightened, cold people in the shelters were so grateful.
During the hard days, the vital things for people to survive
were food, water, energy,
and good human relations.
Just one month after the disaster, I visited Minamisanriku-town.
There I met a fisherman.
He said to me,
"I am eager to rebuild my home town
and pass it to our descendants with pride.
I wish the future of this town would be sustainable."
Actually, he has lost his house and friends.
In spite of such a severe situation,
he had already been considering the future of his home town.
I was moved by his words.
I made a firm resolution to realize a sustainable community there.
The aim was to create a sustainable community
which has a basic self-support system to get food, energy, and resources.
Minamisanriku is rich in various natural resources
from forest and farmland to ocean.
If these resources can be effectively utilized in a circular way,
they'll be able to make their community more resilient,
and to activate the local economy.
Also, waste could be turned into useful resources.
As you know, only human-beings generate waste.
Ecosystems never create waste.
So, it should be feasible to realize no waste,
no incinerator, no landfill society by learning from Nature.
My challenge has begun.
In Japan, two-thirds of the country is covered by forest.
However, a lot of forest is abandoned and devastated.
That causes degradation of the watershed conserving function of the forests,
and raises the risk of landslides.
So, we properly thinned out the forest,
and made wood pellets from the trees.
One day, an older worker of the plant said to me,
"I am very happy to be able to get fuel from abandoned parts in our mountain.
This is really our own fuel."
We delivered wood pellet stoves
to houses, offices, and shelters.
In the shelters,
the pellet stoves made people feel relieved and brought smiles.
I was so happy to see them.
Another "mottainai" in the community is food waste.
So, we asked residents to separate their waste
so some of it could be converted into biogas
through the methane fermentation process.
In this trial, my greatest concern was people would complain
that waste segregation is very time-consuming and bothersome.
However, we got no complaints.
My concern was needless after all.
After the two-month trial,
we held a gathering with people who participated in the trial.
Then, I could hardly believe my ears.
They were saying one after another, "It was a wonderful trial."
"Why are you stopping now? Please keep going."
And, "Please expand this trial throughout the community."
After the waste separation trial,
we gave the liquid fertilizer back to the community.
The liquid fertilizer is a by-product of the biogas process.
Then, I was so surprised to find
the tank empty only after one week.
It became so popular among residents.
They said with a smile,
"This is very good for our vegetables in our kitchen gardens."
"It is very delightful to get this fertilizer
in return for my efforts to separate waste."
"It's surely a great reward."
This chart shows our vision of the future of Minamiwanriku Town.
I dream of a community where everything is linked with each other,
every possible resource is utilized, and nothing becomes waste.
Last month, a permanent biogas facility was completed in Minamisanriku.
At the same time, food waste collection has been started in all areas of the town.
A new history toward the development of a sustainable community has begun.
I thought this Minamisanriku model
would be effective in small island countries.
So, I flew to the Republic of Palau,
a tropical paradise with a small population.
Palau is surrounded by an inexpressively beautiful ocean.
And it is a very popular resort island.
However, this is another reality.
All the waste goes to this dumping site.
In Palau, they face vital environmental and social problems.
First, the waste problem.
Second, marine pollution.
The leakage from the dumping site
and the sewer sludge is polluting the beautiful ocean.
Third, food security.
They depend on imports-- more than 80% of their daily food.
Fourth, energy security.
Almost all the energy resources come from abroad.
Lastly, community breakdown.
Lots of land in community is purchased by developers,
and relationships in community have been damaged.
Please look at this chart.
We are now aiming to solve all these problems
at the same time by this integrated circulation system.
This is an advanced system based on the Minamisanriku model.
Within this circular system,
fast-growing energy crops will be one of the key elements.
I believe this circulation system will contribute
to restoring the community relations
through concrete cooperative actions.
This Palao project is currently underway.
Now I am quite certain
this kind of self-supporting sustainable community
is universally needed
because natural resources in the world are limited
and because excessive globalization
is making regional community unstable and people uneasy.
It is my dream to create
sustainable communities all over the world.
And furthermore,
I'd like to build a global network
of sustainable communities beyond nations.
Cultural, technical, and educational human exchanges
never cause scrambling for limited natural resources
but bring about a sharing of priceless values.
Here, I'd like to tell you the latest news.
Last Wednesday, the governor of the largest state in Palao
visited Minamisanriku and met the mayor of the town.
They exchanged ideas
for sustainable community and for future friendships.
Four and a half years ago, facing a terrible disaster,
we, the Japanese, showed a noble spirit of cooperation.
Our wish ought to be to move forward from community breakdown,
from scrambling for natural resources, and from loneliness,
and to move forward happiness,
cooperative relations, and sharing of smiles.
Thank you so much.
(Japanese) Thank you.
(Applause)