Coexistence without Consensus
Shusuke Murata · 2023
This chapter examines conflicts and partial resolutions over the controversy of a marina development in a coastal community in Japan. Kamogawa City, Chiba Prefecture, has been known for its strong waves among suffers since the 1960s. For the local fishing industry, however, the strong waves have long been a liability as they have caused various marine accidents in the past. While surfers, fishermen, and some local residents were against excessive touristification of the area, when a marina construction project surfaced in the 1980s, surfers and concerned citizens rallied against the project, while the fishermen strongly approved it. A series of open democratic forums held to seek resolutions ultimately failed to achieve meaningful consensuses, and conflicts continued. Partial resolutions to the conflicts eventually came as the local fishing organization of Teichi began embracing migrant surfers as its members. This chapter explicates how the local community creatively used the long-standing Teichi and the local practice of kuchi-kiki (word-of-mouth mediation) to resolve the everyday-life challenges of the fishermen and surfers without necessarily completely understanding each other’s views.