The Smoke and Soot Regulation Law was passed in Japan in 1962. Under pressure from both Mie Prefecture and Yokkaichi City to be nominated a designatedarea under the law, in the following year an investigation team was sent to Yokkaichi chaired by KurokawaMatake, the former chairmanof an industrial group.
The report on the investigation results, that was published in 1964,had ten recommendations including designating Yokkaichi as aparticularlyaffected area, raising stack heightto disperse and reduce the concentration ofemitted gases, and urban reconstruction aimed at preventing environmental pollution.