Just over a week ago, the last of Japan’s 54 nuclear power plants was shut down; a process that took almost 14 months.
Primarily they were taken offline to conduct safety tests, but huge public opposition also played its part. A role that will be even more of a factor in the future when it comes to deciding which, if any of the reactors, should be restarted.
Unusually rare and vocal protest that it’d be nice to think could next be aimed directly at Tepco, the corrupt culprit behind the meltdown. Then there’s the ageing and faceless suits that are running Japan, as well as running it into the ground. Not to mention the equally old men who provide jobs for the boys, and not the girls.
Unfortunately, however, it’s hard to see any of that happening, and this fist may sadly be the only one raised to fight the powers that be.
Great post; I am surprised as well how little protests are heard after the initial protest marches directly after the quake. There would be so much to get me to march: Prime ministers for a year, the political power resting with the bureaucrats and not with the politicians; the collusion between politicians and large companies which goes way beyond Tepco, etc. etc.
Sometime ago I picked up a copy of “Straitjacket Society: An Insider’s Irreverent View of Bureaucratic Japan” by Masao Miyamoto; maybe a bit old, but I doubt anything has really changed since it was published in ’95.
Thanks.
Never heard of that book before. I’ll have to get hold of a copy, as like you say, it’s hard to imagine much has changed.
Yes, there are so many more issues than just the nuclear one. Problems that have been going on for much longer too. But very few people seem to care…
Does that mean power hungry Japan is running exclusively on dirty fossil fuels now? Hardly a satisfactory alternative.
Mostly, yes. Hugely expensive imported fuel too.
In the long term, with an investment in cleaner and safer fuel, the move away from nuclear power will presumably prove to be the right one. But in the short term, it’s simply going to create a different set of problems…
I watched an interview the other day with the beloved Japanese composer Ryuchi Sakamoto… he noted how protesting had returned en-mass to Japan after a 40 year hiatus since the 60′s.
I found this a very interesting read in the context of your photo and it sort of confirms my suspicions that there is earlier and more accurate information about the Fukushima situation available outside than inside Japan: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20120108x3.html
Cheers for the link. Yes, the closeness of the news organisations and the powers that be is a disturbing one. Deciding as a group what to, and more importantly what not to cover, is hardly the way a free press should work.
It’s almost impossible to not feel that a lot of information was suppressed, or more likely simply covered up in the aftermath of the quake and tsunami. When and if that will ever see the light of day though, remains to be seen…
Sorry to come back to this old post, but I just found out that TEPCO is trying to pass on the costs of donations to local governments, which in many countries would smell like corruption, onto the consumer and therefore reached a staggering 10.28% price increase: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120704a3.html
Thankfully people pulled the plug and next year TEPCO will need to increase the donations and include the the people responsible for the panel to get away with it
Not at all. Thanks for the link. TEPCO really are an absolute disgrace. On so many levels too.
Thankfully since writing this attitudes have shifted somewhat. And fingers crossed they’ll continue to do so.
Well, let me top it off with one last link, no doubt it is all over the news in Japan today: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18718057
Great report, now it will be buried like they did with a similar report after the Great Hanshin earthquake. It’s just the Japanese Way and it is pointless to keep banging my head against it.
Yeah, all we can do is hope things will finally change, but that’s probably a big ask…