The voice of green sinking to the bottom of the lake--Teganuma and the challenge of Haruo Fujimoto (2000)

The voice of green sinking to the bottom of the lake--Teganuma and the challenge of Haruo Fujimoto (2000)

In 2000, Teganuma Lake in Chiba Prefecture was one of the "worst" lakes in Japan in terms of water quality. Rapid urbanization caused an influx of wastewater from everyday life, leading to eutrophication. In summer, blue-green algae covered the surface of the water, emitting a foul odor. However, there was a man who was quietly tackling the dirty lake. He is a foreign company employee, a karate instructor, and a weekend NGO representative.

The "Soft Energy Research Group" led by Fujimoto was a citizens' group that focused on technological development rather than enlightenment. He developed the "Blue-green algae buster," a handmade device that uses ultrasonic waves to destroy blue-green algae gas spores. It consumed little electricity and was designed with low-cost, reusable materials made from wooden pallets and PET bottles. The attempt was not just a simple removal of blue-green algae, but also a "farming on the lake" method that takes advantage of eutrophication. Using Teganuma Swamp as a liquid fertilizer, they have succeeded in growing kuwai and sugar beet, and the safety of the method has been confirmed by a university.

Behind these activities was the "relaxed lifestyle" he encountered in Spain. In his search for a change from the competitive and efficiency-driven lifestyle of Japan, he believed that environmental issues were the key to this change. At the time, several years had passed since the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol, and "sustainable society" and "circular economy" were becoming policy issues in Japan. Fujimoto's efforts embodied the leading edge of this trend at the citizen level.

Fujimoto's NGO is a small organization, but with flexibility and passion unbound by social systems, it is turning ideas into reality that neither large corporations nor the government can imitate. It is not only blue-green algae that sink to the bottom of the lake. There, questions about how we should live in the future are quietly reverberating.