Japan's "Water Day" events focus on finiteness of water for today's daily life

August 30, 2017

Japan's "Water Day" events focus on finiteness of water for today's daily life

August is the hottest month of the year in most parts of Japan, and Japanese people get attracted to rivers, lakes, waterfalls and other water-cooled locations to dodge from the heat of the summer.

Japanese have seen themselves surrounded with abundant fresh water, notably river water, underground water and subterranean stream water, as the greater part of Japan's national land is occupied with mountains and forests in the Asian monsoon zone.
Japanese had so far felt that drinking water is not exhaustible, just like air, and free of charge, but they have come to believe that the supply of water is not unlimited any more. This reflects the years of urbanization since the 1960s and the influence of environmental pollution. They think that they have to adopt a water-saving lifestyle now.
The first day of August is designated as the "Water Day" in Japan. Various kinds of events and campaigns, mainly led by public organizations,  are held across the country in order to increase people's awareness about the finiteness of water for people's daily life.
The Water Day campaigns call for, in part, actively using rain water and recycled water for domestic use.
As of 2010, the use of rain water and recycled water at major facilities came to 260 million cubic meters a year. This accounted for 0.3 percent of the total amount of water supplied for domestic use across Japan.
A government-organized event for the Water Week, the week from August 1, calls for reviving the centuries-old custom of sprinkling water on the road in front of the house and elsewhere.
The custom, called "uchimizu," is expected to contribute to appeasing the effects of the heat island phenomenon and reducing the emission of ozone-depleting greenhouse gas from air conditioners during the summer time.
At a time when Japanese believe drinking water is not free any more, the consumption of mineral water is increasing steadily year by year. The per capita consumption of bottled mineral water grew to 19.6 liters in 2007, an increase of about 12 times from 1.6 liters for 1990. Today, water has become "a thing to buy" for them.
The use of mineral water is expected to increase further in the years ahead, but at the same time, Japanese are also becoming aware of the need to preserve precious water resources across the country.