==JAPAN: Tokyo==

his is a letter to inhabitants living on the Earth at the end of the 20th Century, especially to young people. In this age, many countries and people work hard, groping towards both social and individual prosperity and safety, whereas some still remain encumbered with lasting conflicts or severe poverty. The whole tendency of the world seems to be on the right road in general to a peaceful and cooperative world. However, there is one thing to be transmitted over a long flow of time and space to all people who are living now on behalf of humans who will live in the distant future. The message is that the planet is already beset with many a grave environmental crisis, such as air and water pollution, planetary warming and the spread of desertification, which are reportedly becoming beyond human reach little by little, and also that those issues necessitate not merely worldwide cooperation but the improvement of the individual attitude toward nature.
Since the late 19th Century, various strange warning signs concerning the environment have been seen and recognized in every part of the world, for instance, high density of greenhouse gases, wide spread of the sands and climatic change known as the EL Nino phenomenon, many of which are happening primarily because of the resounding disappearance of forests. They each involve potential jeopardy and some are already posing a great threat to everyday life. Several surveys conducted by scientific or ecological researchers successively prove the crucial fact that the self-productive capacity of nature is all but incapable of keeping up with the speed at which an increasing number of people proceed to exploit and destroy it, and also that without any human aid the situation will continue deteriorating.
All the contemporary people are, nevertheless, stalling on coping desperately with those environmental problems. Admittedly, some of the countries and people are cutting down forest trees for commercial purposes or as a means of daily living, and not a few people greatly profit from the fuel and materials the fallen timbers produce as well. Yet, given that fact, no delay is allowed any longer in those manifestly serious issues. It should be essential for all the countries to hold together at once and harmoniously make a global effort without any adherence to self-interest. However difficult it may be, any problems should be resolved in a rational and peaceful way with the united ed wisdom of the whole nation. In that way, there would be some possibility that such new business and plan as a worldwide reforestation program, the establishment of global media network on the environment or the foundation of the Nobel Greenery Prize could be created. Just those concrete measures are not sufficient to eradicate environmental problems permanently, though. There is in fact one more serious problem related to the human's polluted mind.
Aeons ago, human beings could live on the land with vast nature. The primitive people were able to enjoy a great benefit from it, but, at the same time, they suffered relentless disasters that arose spontaneously. Fearful of the inexorable power of mighty nature, they used to hold awesome veneration for it. Gradually, as they began to gain control of and triumph in a manner over the environment, the deep respect disappeared. Their concern toward the formerly sacred nature was only how to exploit it, and mankind proceeded to recklessly destroy it in the name of development. As a result, ironically, the more heavily the Earth is damaged, the more rapidly human races keep on thriving. Therefore, it is high time the symbiotic relationship with nature should be reconsidered.
As numerous kinds of religion or ideology exist in this world, so the perspective of the people toward all things in nature is never identical. However, all the people should at least conceive of nature as an existence to be preserved as well as controlled and harnessed. By way of example, many international or social contracts have been reached in order to create a good and cooperative human relation. So, likewise, every person should make a kind of gentleman's agreement in mind with nature. One of the provisions would go like this: In felling or burning a large number of trees for any reason, the equivalent amount of seed should be planted there or in some other places, instead of paying money. Those might seem to be next to impossible to conform to in reality, but those sincere if small inner voices in every heart should develop permanent respect and affection for all creatures.
Undoubtedly, this deplorable present-day state of affairs concerned with the environment is chiefly due to the existence of humans who continue to ignore, so to speak, the right of nature to life and disorder an otherwise well-balanced ecosystem. However, the other side of the coin is that the human species also faces the possible danger of annihilation. It is Mother Nature that produces refreshing oxygen, yields palatable fruits and vegetables, and creates paramountly beautiful scenery and atmosphere. It is fortunate that there is still some undeveloped land throughout the world. It would be better to ruminate again in a careful way on the cohabitation with nature and try to plant those lands with a seed germinating in the long run into fruitful effect, rather than with metallic objects crumbling in no time to only debris. If modern people try to do so right now, the descendants in the distant future would not need to abandon the completely devastated Earth in 20XX....