Conflicts in a Small Bag - 18 Months of Suginami Plastic Bag Tax (March 2002)

Conflicts in a Small Bag - 18 Months of Suginami Plastic Bag Tax (March 2002)

In the early spring of 2002, a cold wind lingered in the conference room of the Suginami Ward Office in Tokyo, and a sense of tension was in the air. This ordinance is the first of its kind in Japan. We must be prepared to go ahead with it," said Hiroshi Yamada, the mayor of Suginami Ward, quietly. Suginami Ward's proposed "Suginami Environmental Purpose Tax," or "plastic bag tax," would be the first of its kind in Japan, levying a tax of 5 yen per plastic bag received by shoppers. Behind the proposal was the "Basic Law for Establishing a Recycling-based Society," which came into effect in 2000, and other social trends encouraging recycling and waste reduction, but the idea of "changing consumption behavior to reduce waste" had not yet penetrated the general public.

At the shopping district site, there were mixed feelings before the decision was made. At Yamaguchi Shoten, a fruit and vegetable store near Koenji Station, a conversation with a regular customer led to a voice asking, "Is it true that they are going to charge for bags?" one of the customers asked. Yamaguchi, the owner, replied, "The ward says so. But for a small store like ours, customers might not like it. Many individual stores were concerned about "losing customers," and were troubled by the reality that they could not pass on the cost of plastic bags to their prices. On the other hand, however, there was a manager of a natural food store who said, "We have always recommended eco-bags, so I would like to support it.

After a year and a half of repeated discussions in the ward assembly, the proposed ordinance was finally passed by a majority vote on March 18, 2002. At the moment of the vote, there was a mixture of applause and murmurs in the assembly hall. Opposition members argued that the ordinance would lead to price hikes and would be too burdensome, but proponents continued to persuade them that it was an attempt to change the public mindset. As an amendment, a supplementary resolution was included that the timing of implementation would be determined based on the understanding of citizens and the economic situation.

At the press conference, Mayor Yamada said, "We have finally come this far with the support of more than 70% of the public. The plastic bag tax is a purpose-built tax, and the tax revenue collected will be returned to environmental measures," he said. Furthermore, a "Council for Promotion of Plastic Bag Reduction (tentative name)" of citizens and merchants is scheduled to be launched in April, and a new mechanism to distribute "eco stickers" to customers who decline to use plastic bags was also discussed. These efforts at the intersection of government and citizen movements had a small but definite ripple effect on society.

In the early 2000s, at a time when the trend toward decentralization was intersecting with growing environmental awareness, the Suginami Ward experiment attracted nationwide attention as a major experiment born from a small municipality. The Suginami Ward experiment attracted nationwide interest as a major experiment from a small municipality.

The passage of the Suginami ordinance was more than just an introduction of a tax; it was an opportunity to change the lifestyles of citizens and gradually alter the shopping landscape in Japan as a whole. In 2002, one step before the custom of carrying one's own bag became the norm, a plastic bag was found to be filled with garbage. What was packed in the plastic bags was not garbage, but preparedness and dialogue for the future.