Really interesting read. Reminded me of The Expanse and how much effort and diligence was used in the effort to terraform Mars and here the Japanese basically did that to their island using their own biological waste and turning it into such a way of life. Need food? Here's my shit. Your house burned down and we lost all that excrement? Farms fail. Just wild the economics and rules around all of this and the end result from it. I'll never look at their scenery the same again.
Raising a Stink
21–28 of 28 posts
Re: Raising a Stink
#22I don't think cities providing manure for farming communities is unique to Japan, my understanding is it was standard for cities until modern era Bret Devereaux mentions it in his description of pre-modern cities https://acoup.blog/2019/07/12/collections-the-lonely-city-pa...
Isn't there a risk of disease transmission? Or is the waste heavily processed first?
Definitely. But at the time it was probably the least bad option.
Re: Raising a Stink
#23In the Boston metro area, a portion of the ‘sludge’ from the MWRA Deer Island water treatment plant gets piped underneath the Boston Harbor to Quincy, MA where it is turned into fertilizer pellets and sold to the public. Very popular for golf courses. https://www.mwra.com/03sewer/html/sewssc.htm
Same thing in Toronto:
https://www.planet.veolia.com/en/pellet-takes-nutrients-wwtp...
With the right processing, pathogens aren't an issue. Heavy metals are a bigger concern, but not as worrisome for a golf course.
There's not a lot of great options other than applying to fields. Other than dump it in a landfill or incinerate it
Re: Raising a Stink
#24> To us, this decision may seem unhygienic at best. Seems like an add presumption for the author to make. The output has to be removed, and the local people are making it. Plumbing and waste management are some of the most significant developments of every surviving society. It also seems like a strange comment to make from an author in a country that has sit-on toilets. Now that is unhygienic!
What’s the concern with sit-on toilets? I get that conceptually it’s kind of gross, but it’s not like germs will seep through your buttcheeks. Doorknobs seem worse since you’re likely to then touch your face.
Speaking from experience spending a lot of time cleaning public toilets, you would be surprised at how the general public uses them in practice. And probably a bit disgusted. Aim even while sitting is not necessarily a given is all I’ll say.
In comparison the public squat toilets in Japan look worse but leave you cleaner IMO.
Re: Raising a Stink
#25> shimogoe literally meant “fertilizer from the bottom of a person”
s = fertilizer
hi = from
m = the
o = bottom
go = of
e = a person
Re: Raising a Stink
#26"What do you do for living?" "I'm in the shit business."
Funny for some, disgusting for others but I can't see why excrement can't become something valuable. I've seen a documentary about a water treatment plant that transformed sewage into two products: clean drinking water and agricultural fertilizers.
Re: Raising a Stink
#27Seems to be reflected in the much more casual attitude to toilet humor in Japanese media.
Re: Raising a Stink
#28"What do you do for living?" "I'm in the shit business." Funny for some, disgusting for others but I can't see why excrement can't become something valuable. I've seen a documentary about a water treatment plant that transformed sewage into two products: clean drinking water and agricultural fertilizers.