Yokkaichi

Largest city in Mie prefecture, Japan, 42 km/26 mi southwest of Nagoya; population (1998 est) 285,700. It is located on the western shore of Ise Bay and was formerly a posting town on the Tokaido highway. It is now a major industrial city and port. Industries include petrol-refining, glass-making, and the manufacture of petrochemicals, fertilisers, caustic soda, cement, plate glass, and paper. Its leading exports are porcelain and refined oils.

The high concentration of chemical industries within the city has given rise to atmospheric pollution. ‘Yokkaichi asthma’, caused by petrochemical pollution, was a national scandal in the 1960s, alerting the nation to the overall problem of air pollution. Counter-measures drastically reduced local incidences by the 1980s.