Quote Originally Posted by Maciamo View Post
The strongest arguments that make me think that the Japanese do not cherish nature more than Westerners (and probably less) are : the relative lack of houses with garden, the little number of botanical and zoological gardens, the little number of nature documentaries on the main TV channels, the absence of elected Green Party, and the near absence of vegetarianism. These are all provable facts.
You mentioned you had some figures for the houses with gardens. I had a quick look and couldn't see them in the posts. It would be interesting to see them. If I missed them perhaps you could point me in the right direction. Also it would be useful to see the number of zoos and botanical gardens in Japan and the figures on vegetarianism, if possible.


Another thing that would be useful to see is your figures for the number of nature shows on Japanese TV. I saw your post about the French speaking channels and nature programmes but unless there is a comparison with Japanese TV, it holds less value in the argument. I had a look but things have moved around a bit recently, so if I missed it, my apologies.

Lastly, I'm not totally convinced of the strength of 'the absence of an elected Green Party' as one of your arguments. You even mention yourself that the same could be said of the US and other European countries. An elected Green party says more about the political and state funding system in the country than it does about normal everyday people's likes or dislikes.