Pollution became widespread during the period of high-paced growth that began in 1955. From the mid-1960s on, Japan suffered serious air, water, soil, and noise pollution, as well as instances of food contamination. People who lived near factories that burn a lot of oil or coal, like chemical plants, steelworks, and electric power plants, developed respiratory ailments. The most prominent example was the bronchitis and asthma that those living near the industrial complex in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, came down with.

An example of factory waste polluting a body of water was the mercury poisoning in the city of Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture. At first the source of the poisoning couldn't be tracked down, and the ailments that people developed were referred to simply as Minamata disease. Scientists eventually discovered that mercury discharged by a factory had been leaking into Minamata Bay. People who ate the contaminated fish and shellfish from the area developed numbness and other disorders of the central nervous system.

To combat pollution, the Air Pollution Law was enacted in 1968 and the Water Pollution Control Law was passed two years later. And in July 1971 the Environment Agency was created under the Prime Minister's Office to implement antipollution and environmental preservation policies.

Over the years, new pollution-fighting technologies and products have been developed, including biodegradable plastic and clean emission systems. Local governments and other public bodies actively promote the development of such antipollution technologies, moreover, and as a result, the money spent by the private sector to curb industrial pollution has been growing year by year, totaling 435 billion yen (3.8 billion dollars at 116 yen to the dollar) in 1996.