The Legislative Process of Automobile Exhaust Emissions Control in Japan—The 1966 Regulation and the Role of the Ministry of Transport

Akira Itagaki ()
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Akira Itagaki: Hokkai-Gakuen University

Chapter Chapter 2 in Micro-Performance During Postwar Japan’s High-Growth Era, 2016, pp 39-68 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This paper examines the process and significance of the enactment of exhaust emission control in Japan. In the 1960s, the health hazards caused by exhaust emissions became a serious social problem. The Ministry of Transport’s existing regulations had been based on insufficient research, and emissions were not regulated by numeric values. The Ministry therefore undertook another study and surveyed the effect of exhaust emissions on air pollution. It also took into account the views of automobile companies in drafting new regulations. The resulting regulations proved only transitional, however. Because the study of exhaust emissions was not thorough enough, controls were imposed only on CO, in effect reflecting the technical capabilities of the automobile companies and having only a limited effect on air pollution. But it did have some significance as it served as the foundation for subsequent exhaust emission control and reduced the CO emissions of individual cars. The regulation led automobile companies to question air pollution in Japan and improve their products. This was a typical case in which national opinion spurred the Ministry to take the initiative in issuing regulations.

Keywords: Exhaust emission control; The Ministry of Transport; Social regulation; The Ministry of International Trade and Industry; Air pollution; The Road Transport Vehicle Act; The Safety Standard; The long-term plan for the prevention of poisonous automobile exhaust emissions; Carbon monoxide; The Ship Research Institute; The four-testing method; The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association; The non-dispersive infrared gas analysis meters; Horiba Ltd; Nissan; Toyota; Tōyō Kōgyō; Fuji Heavy Industries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:msschp:978-981-10-0709-5_2

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DOI: 10.1007/978-981-10-0709-5_2

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