The Past, Present and Future of the Geo-Environment in Japan

This paper is an overview of the status in geo-environment research in the past, the present and the future in Japan as witnessed by the publications in “Soils and Foundations” over the years. The authors have paid special attention to the geotechnical researches concerning technologies of waste disposal, including radioactive waste disposal, the reuse and recycle of by-product and waste, the evaluation of the environmental impact of waste and by-product, and countermeasures and adaptations to the contamination of ground/groundwater. Some representative papers on the geo-environment published in “Soils and Foundations” have been drawn on heavily in this paper. The commentary provided by the authors is largely from a geoenvironmental perspective. In addition, the authors have also paid attention to geotechnical issues in the research.