Tanaka Shōzō

Pioneering Japanese environmental activist who fought against industrial pollution in the Meiji era

Tanaka Shōzō (1841-1913) emerged as Japan's first prominent environmental crusader during its rapid industrialization. His decade-long campaign against the Ashio Copper Mine pollution (1890s-1900s) marked a radical shift in societal awareness about industrial accountability.

When the Watarase River turned toxic from mine waste, destroying farmland and causing "itai-itai disease" decades before official recognition, Tanaka organized mass petitions and confronted the Diet. His famous 1901 direct appeal to Emperor Meiji (though intercepted) became legendary.

What made Tanaka revolutionary was his concept of "nature's rights" – arguing rivers and mountains deserved legal protection. This 19th-century samurai-turned-politician evolved into a grassroots leader, walking 200km to Tokyo with victims' petitions. Though initially unsuccessful, his movement laid groundwork for Japan's environmental laws.