日本在第二次世界大战后经济高速增长时期各地发生了严重的大气污染事件。初期政府和企业消极应对，而受害居民发起了反公害运动，借助媒体力量反公害舆论扩散到全国。国家层面优先经济发展，环保对策滞后，而以加强公害对策为口号当选的地方政府领袖发挥了引领作用，各地的公害诉讼中被告企业相继被判决支付高额赔偿金，迫使政府和企业转变态度。1970年日本一次性制定和修订了14部公害法律，次年成立了环境厅。此外，日本实施了奖励措施、人才培养与资格制度、损害赔偿补偿制度等综合性对策，企业的防止公害投资和适当的环境管理取得了重大成果。
尽管工厂的对策以及技术革新改善了汽车尾气排放，然而其效果由于汽车利用的增加被抵消了。各地相继发生公害诉讼，国家受到严肃问责。日本从东京开始加强了汽车大气污染总量控制，污染逐步得以改善。对公害预防费用与效益加以计算的日本事例表明，公害对策具有经济合理性。对于宏观经济的影响而言，公害防止投资具有创造新需求的正向影响，因而对于宏观经济整体的影响是有限的。人们对公害对策的议论往往过于关注眼前的成本，实际上它除了实现环境改善、保障人的健康之外，还具有创造就业、技术革新、增强国际竞争力等次生作用，促进了社会稳定，因而需要在更广的意义上对其加以理解。
During the post-war economic growth period，severe air pollution occurred all over Japan. Initially，government and enterprises responded negatively，but the victims launched an anti-pollution movement，and with the help of media power，the consensus of anti-pollution spread to all over the country. The nation gave priority to economy while environmental protection measures were lagging behind. Local government leaders who were selected because of the declaration to strengthen the pollution control measures played a leading role，and in the local public action lawsuit，defendants have been sentenced to pay high compensation，forcing governments and businesses to change their attitudes. In 1970，Japan enacted and revised 14 public hazard laws and established the Environment Department the following year. In addition，they implemented incentive measures，personnel training and qualification system，compensation system for damages and other comprehensive measures，and enterprises’ investment to prevent pollution and appropriate environmental management have made significant achievements.
Although the plant’s countermeasures and technological innovation reduced vehicle emissions，the effect was erased by the increase in vehicle utilization. Local accidents occurred successively，and the state has been seriously accountable. Tokyo began to strengthen the total control of vehicle air pollution，and pollution situation gradually improved. Japan’s case of calculating pollution prevention costs and benefits showed that the pollution control measures are economically rational. For the impacts to macroeconomic，pollution prevention has a positive impact on creating new demand，so the overall impact on the macroeconomic is limited. The discussion of pollution countermeasures is often too concerned about the immediate costs，but in addition to the realization of environmental improvement to protect the health of people，they also have secondary role of creating employment，innovating technology，enhancing international competitiveness and so on，which promoted social stability，and thus need to be understood in a broader sense.
| Keywords： | Residents MovementPollution LitigationPushing Down From Bottom To TopThe Comprehensive MeasuresBenefits and Economic Impact of Pollution Countermeasures |
