The most significant difference between waste disposal in Japan and the West is that human excreta – or, ‘night soil’ – was viewed as a product with economic value rather than something to be paid for to be removed. As Japan is not abundant in fertile land for farm animals, manure as fertilisers was replaced with night soil. Parallel to gold mining in other countries, excrement collection in Japan became a booming business; contracts soon started to form between farmers and the urban families that created this ‘precious’ resource. Read full article here
