If river water flows through 100 meters of rocks, sand, and plants, impurities will be removed, but even if it flows through a thousand-meter length of concrete channel, it will not be purified. 7 In an interview (Asahi Shimbun, July 24, 1985 evening edition) with one of the promoters of the "Phoenix Project," a land fill planned for the disposal of Osaka-area wastes, the interviewed person recognized the fact that "if we burn 100 tons of garbage, 15 tons of ashes remain." The project, which will destroy what little remains of Osaka Bay's natural seashore, was ironically named after the phoenix since, its promoters claim, though the ocean will be filled in, the area will be reborn as new land for Japan. Though the total planned volume of the landfill is a staggering 45 million cubic meters, it will serve the needs of the area for a mere six years. (Translator's note) 8 Though the cities are already overflowing with manufactured goods, why is it that the cities madly pursue increased production? This is, as I mentioned before, due to the magical power of money. In order to make more money -- that is, in the pursuit of profit -- people are manipulated by the magical strings of money, and thus increase production. No matter what the original purpose of money, it has always been used as a weapon to seize food. At present, however, it is used not only to bring food to the cities, but is also the life blood of all industrial activities. Thus its role is to carry on by force the destruction and contamination of the natural environment, the robbery and waste of resources, the overproduction of goods, and dumping of wastes on others ("As long as we pay money, no one will gripe even if we make a mess of things."). I could have established a separate section for the harm caused by money, but will let this note serve for now. 9 The average lifetime of a one-family home in Japan is now said to be 20-25 years. (Translator's note) 10 A play on the proverb "When a tiger dies it leaves its hide, but when a man dies he leaves his name." (Translator's note) 11 I am not especially trying to ignore the "good" of the city's products, but allow me to remind the reader that there is no denying the harm rendered to people by cigarettes, food additives, and cars. 12 "Idle and gluttonous" (fukou donshoku) is a term from the Japanese feudal-age thinker Ando Shoeki, whom Nakashima will introduce later. I have borrowed the translation from E. H. Norman. (Translator's note) 13