Nuclear Power Fuels Japan Election - Wall Street Journal

A local election in southern Japan pits a pro-nuclear-energy incumbent against an anti-nuclear-energy candidate in the first big electoral test for how far the country will go in pulling the plug on nuclear power. WSJ's James Simms explains.

KAMINOSEKI, Japan—This small fishing village has become the next front in Japan's battle over nuclear power, with an anti-nuke protester threatening to oust the pro-nuke mayor in an election Sunday.

At stake: the fate of a long-planned reactor for which ground-breaking is supposed to take place next year.

More broadly, the defeat of a mayor whose economic development strategy has centered around a controversial power plant could fuel the country's increasingly influential anti-nuclear movement.

"What's often said is that we need nuclear-power money to run Kaminoseki," challenger Sadao Yamato, 61 years old, told a few dozen supporters as he formally kicked off his campaign Tuesday. Standing on a beer crate at his campaign office in front of the Murotsu port, he went on, "Should we sacrifice the precious livelihoods and lives of our villagers for money?"

Mr. Yamato's answer is clear. His election poster, which shows him posed in front of solar panels and wearing a white polo shirt, is captioned "Graduate from Nuclear Power!"

James Simms/The Wall Street Journal Pro-nuclear Mayor Shigemi Kashiwabara, wearing a tie, versus anti-nuclear challenger Sadao Yamato, in a polo shirt in front of solar panels

Activists have been fighting Chugoku Electric Power Co.'s plan for a Kaminoseki plant since it was first broached in 1982, and all eight mayoral elections since then have been fought mainly over the issue. But all eight times, the pro-nuclear camp won.

This weekend's contest is the third between incumbent Shigemi Kashiwabara and a Yamato family member. Mr. Kashiwabara first took office in 2003 by besting Mr. Yamato, 59% to 41%. Four years ago, he beat Mr. Yamato's son, Takashi Yamato, 67% to 33%.

But that was before the March 11 Fukushima Daiichi accident eroded support for nuclear power all over the country. Polls show large majorities of the public want to curb Japan's dependence on atomic energy—and, at a minimum, halt construction of new reactors like the one planned in Kaminoseki. On Monday, tens of thousands of protesters flooded the streets of Tokyo to demand an end to nuclear power in Japan.

With the national government feeble and divided, the future of nuclear power now is being shaped more in communities where reactors are located or planned. Of the reactors down for maintenance at the time of the accident or shut down since, just one, which was undergoing test operations in March, has restarted. The restart of the rest has been stymied by local opposition, amid community fears that without stricter safety controls, another Fukushima-style accident is possible.

Still, many long-struggling towns continue to see the atom as crucial for economic development. In the first local post-Fukushima election to center around nuclear energy, a governor who strongly backs building a reactor handily won re-election in June in impoverished northern Aomori prefecture.

Kaminoseki's mayoral election is the second such test. The community was once strongly pro-nuclear, but local newspapers say the race appears closer this time.

In Kaminoseki, as in Aomori, the financial incentives are great, because of declining and aging populations and shrinking local economies and tax bases—issues that much of rural Japan faces.

Since the nuclear project was first proposed some three decades ago, the population has halved, to just 3,534, and the proportion of those age 65 or more has jumped to nearly half from a fifth. Because of the planned reactors, nuclear-related funding sources provide almost one-fourth of the village's nearly $60 million budget now, and Chugoku Electric has donated $32 million to village coffers since 2007.

A billboard on the island where the reactor is planned shows a couple and their baby having a picnic, the proposed twin reactors in the background. Set up by promoters of the plant, it reads, "A Vibrant Village With Nuclear Electricity."

James Simms/The Wall Street Journal Pro-plant billboard reads 'A Vibrant Village With Nuclear Electricity.'

Tsutomu Asami heads the Kaminoseki commerce and industrial cooperative, and owns a fish wholesaler. He said the local economy has been hurt by a lack of work for younger people, fewer people to take over fishing jobs and a drop in the catches of prized fish like snapper and flounder. "Nuclear power is the only option," he said.

Chugoku Electric, after three decades of struggle to clear political and legal hurdles, finally appeared close to breaking ground for the plant before the Fukushima Daiichi accident. The utility began full-time work at the site on Feb. 21, when a Yamaguchi District Court issued an order preventing demonstrators from interfering with the project. But protesters continued working to block construction, converging on the site from land and sea.

Little progress had been made by March 11, when the tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Five days later, the governor of Yamaguchi prefecture asked the utility to suspend site-preparation work. But Chugoku Electric says it plans to go forward with construction, a resolve the utility's president repeated at a news conference just last Friday.

A supportive mayor is crucial for those plans.

Mayor Kashiwabara, 62, hasn't revoked his backing for the reactor. But he does appear to be playing it down in his campaign. His official poster, showing him in a dark suit, carries the slogan "Connecting to the Future"—but no mention of nuclear energy.

In one of his opening rallies, speaking to several dozen supporters, Mr. Kashiwabara didn't argue for or against the plant, saying the decision ultimately rests with the national government in Tokyo. He seemed to suggest that if the plug does get pulled, the community should get compensation.

"The main thing is that I want the government to acknowledge the 30 years of anguish" villagers have suffered over the nuclear issue, Mr. Kashiwabara said.

—Chester Dawson
contributed to this article.

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Tepco to raise power charges up to 15% for three years

Tokyo Electric Power Co. plans to raise electricity charges 10 to 15 percent for three years starting next April in an attempt to turn around its business, which has been rocked by the Fukushima nuclear crisis, sources said Wednesday.

The firm also intends to cut charges some 10 percent from the fourth year if it can eliminate an extra fee on fossil fuel power generation by resuming the reactors at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture, the sources said.

Tepco has informally explained the plan to a government committee that has been assessing the utility's assets and costs in a bid to find financial resources for damages payments over the nuclear disaster.

The utility will have to pay massive damages to people and entities affected by the nuclear accident.

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Japan to Boost LNG Imports From U.S. as Nuclear Power Declines - Bloomberg

Japan, the world’s largest importer of liquefied natural gas, plans to seek more U.S. cargoes to ensure adequate power supplies after its use of nuclear reactors fell to an all-time low.

Japan’s senior vice minister of trade and industry, Seishu Makino, asked U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu at a meeting yesterday in San Francisco to increase LNG exports, Akinobu Yoshikawa, deputy manager for the Petroleum and Natural Gas Division, told reporters today in Tokyo.

“I believe we gained the U.S.’s understanding to some extent,” said Yoshikawa. “We can’t buy LNG from the U.S. unless the Department of Energy approves LNG plant owners to export. There is one plant that recently won the approval and there are two others in progress.”

Cheniere Energy Inc. (LNG), the Blackstone Group LP-backed owner of Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana, got approval to ship LNG to Japan in May. The Freeport LNG terminal in Texas and the Lake Charles terminal in Louisiana are now seeking approval for exports, according to Yoshikawa. Japan imported 70,873 metric tons of LNG from the U.S. in the four-month period by July, down 60 percent from the same period last year, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Finance.

Annual LNG output at Sabine Pass is around 15 million tons, Yoshikawa said. “Not all of the 15 million tons will be exported to Japan, but I believe the impact for our imports will be big,” he said.

Tokyo Electric Corp. and Tokyo Gas Co., the first Asian buyers of LNG, had a joint contract to buy the fuel from a plant in Alaska owned by ConocoPhillips (COP) and Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) The contract, initially signed in 1969, expired at the end of March this year, Tokyo Electric’s spokesman Ryo Shimizu and Tokyo Gas spokesman Takeshi Ujiie said by phone today. They declined to comment whether the two companies still buy spot cargoes of LNG from the project.

Japan’s 10 regional power utilities’ imports of liquefied natural gas rose to a record for a second month in August. Of the 54 reactors in the country, 41 units were idled because of the meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, maintenance and other disruptions at the end of August, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.

To contact the reporter on this story: Yuji Okada in Tokyo at yokada6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net

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Japan plans floating wind power plant to help rebuild Fukushima

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Japan plans to build floating wind power turbines off the Fukushima coast to help reconstruct the region devastated by this year's earthquake and tsunami.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will spend as much as 20 billion yen ($260 million) on a pilot project of six 2-megawatt wind turbines, Masanori Sato, an official in charge of promoting clean energy, said by phone. The feasibility study will run through March 2016 before a possible larger wind farm.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., IHI Corp. and Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding Co. are among companies the ministry expects to take part, Sato said.

“Floating wind power generation is still in the developing stage, so it is good to get Japanese companies involved,” he said today. “Offshore wind power is going to be important.”

Japan plans to build as many as 80 floating wind turbines off Fukushima by 2020, the Sankei newspaper said yesterday. Sato said details haven't been decided. The project cost is part of a supplementary budget that requires approval from parliament.

The March quake and tsunami left about 20,000 people dead or missing and led to a nuclear crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, the worst since Chernobyl.

--Editors: Tony Barrett, Alex Devine

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New PM: Japan should aim to reduce nuclear power (AP)

TOKYO – Japan's new prime minister has promised to restart nuclear plants following safety checks ordered after the crisis at the tsunami-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda also said Tuesday in his first policy speech since taking office two weeks ago that the country should reduce its reliance on atomic energy over the long term, but offered no specifics.

More than 30 of Japan's 54 reactors have been idled, causing electricity shortages amid sweltering summer temperatures.

Noda also said he would press ahead with the recovery of the tsunami-battered northeastern region, calling on his fellow citizens not to forget "the spirit of dignity of all Japanese" in the face of disaster.

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Switch from nuclear power would cost Japan $280 bln-Greenpeace - Reuters Africa

TOKYO, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Shifting away from nuclear power and replacing it with wind and solar energy would cost Japan around $280 billion in new investment by 2020, Greenpeace said on Monday, calling on Tokyo to ensure safety for future power generations.

The report comes as Japan debates the future of nuclear energy after the March quake and tsunami triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who took office early this month, has said the government wants to restart off-line nuclear reactors once safety checks were cleared, with the understanding of local communities.

Some 70 percent of people in Japan oppose nuclear energy and think it is necessary to pursue alternative sources of power despite its potential cost.

Currently, only 11 out of 54 reactors are operating in Japan following maintenance checks due to heightened public worries. That means only 20 percent of the nation's total nuclear power capacity is in use. Solar and wind power account for about one percent of the country's electricity.

In a green energy scenario that includes a small increase in gas-fired power generation, the environmental lobby proposed raising generating capacity from wind turbines to 56 gigawatts from 2.1 GW and that from solar panels to 57 GW from 3.6 GW.

Greenpeace also says the cost of electricity from solar power, which is now higher than that from fossil fuels, should fall to competitive levels as technology advances.

"The price (of solar energy) dropped more than 50 percent in the last year in Europe and will go down another 20 percent in the next 12 months," said Sven Teske, senior energy expert at Greenpeace International.

"There are a lot of Chinese companies that manufacture solar panels and competition is enormous," he added.

Greenpeace wants Japan to cut its capacity for coal-fired energy by 60 percent to 19.3 GW within 10 years. Japan should also cut its capacity from oil-fired power stations by 16 percent, while increasing slightly the capacity of power generated from natural gas, it added. (Reporting By Natalia Konstantinovskaya; Editing by Yoko Nishikawa)

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Japan Power List: Suzuki Roars In - Wall Street Journal (blog)

ReutersSuzuki Motor Corp Chairman and Chief Executive Osamu Suzuki speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Sept. 12.

Osamu Suzuki topped Japan’s corporate newsmaker rankings for the seven days ending Sep. 12, according to data compiled by Dow Jones Insight and edited by The Wall Street Journal.

But not for the first time in the Japan Power List, not entirely for happy reasons: the chairman of auto maker Suzuki Motor Corp. rode to the top of the chart because of a fairly acrimonious bust-up with Germany’s Volkswagen AG over future strategy and control.

After less than two years, a partnership involving a nearly $3 billion investment by the German auto maker in Suzuki – giving it just under 20% of the Japanese firm – has unraveled to the point where Suzuki unilaterally pulled the plug and asked VW to sell its holdings. But VW appears in no rush to do so, meaning Mr. Suzuki may linger in the corporate newsmaker rankings for some time.

Rounding out the top three were more familiar faces: Nissan Motor Corp.’s Carlos Ghosn and Sony Corp.’s Howard Stringer, rarely far from the top.

View the original article here

Post-tsunami Japan sticking with nuclear power (AP)

MATSUYAMA, Japan – Takashi Yamada would prefer life without the nearby nuclear power plant. But the 66-year-old retired electronics retailer says, "It is also true we all need it."

Host communities such as this seaside city on the island of Shikoku need the jobs and financial subsidies the plants provide. And Japan's $5.5-trillion economy needs the energy.

Many Japanese have grown uneasy with nuclear power since the March 11 tsunami, which left more than 20,000 dead or missing and sent a plant in Fukushima into meltdown. Anti-nuke protesters took to the streets, and a heated debate ensued over the future of atomic energy. A recent Associated Press-GfK poll found that 55 percent of Japanese want to reduce the number of reactors in the country.

Six months later, though, the nation seems to be sticking with nuclear power, at least for now. Unlike Germany, which accelerated plans to phase out atomic energy after Fukushima, Japan shows no signs of doing so. In recent days, utilities began newly mandated earthquake and tsunami stress tests, a first step toward restarting reactors idled for maintenance.

"What is the alternative?" asks Fumiko Nakamura, a flower arrangement teacher in Tokyo. She worries about nuclear safety in earthquake-prone Japan but says it will take time to develop other types of energy. "Japan is a resource-poor nation, and we need electricity."

The world's third-largest economy lacks other sources such as coal. An island nation, it can't easily buy electricity from neighbors, as Germany can from France. Alternative energy is expensive. And nuclear technology is the nation's pride, even a lucrative export.

Moreover, consensus-oriented Japan doesn't have an outspoken public saying "No" to nuclear power. In a society that frowns upon defiance of the government, many Japanese are reluctant to join a movement that is often discredited as eccentric, even after Fukushima. That means Japan's leaders have no real need to reject an industry that has helped fuel the country's prosperity for decades.

"The everyday hasn't changed," said Haruki Tange, a professor of policymaking at Ehime University in Matsuyama. "There is this prevailing mood that makes it really difficult to voice any opposition to nuclear power."

March 11 may yet prove to be Japan's Three Mile Island moment. No new plants have been approved in the U.S. since the 1979 disaster, and Japan has canceled two new ones already and shelved plans to increase its reliance on nuclear power from 30 to 50 percent.

But Tange's resignation underscores a widespread acceptance of the status quo in Japan, home to 54 reactors speckling the coast.

Matsuyama, a city of 500,000, sits 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Ikata, one of the world's most seismologically risky plants. The government says there is a 70 percent probability of a major quake here in the next 30 years.

In an unprecedented protest, about 100 people took to the streets in July to demand Ikata be shut down. "I always thought protests were scary," said one marcher, 22-year-old university student Miwa Ozue. "But now, I want the world to know."

Most onlookers ignored the largely jovial crowd that banged on drums and chanted slogans. Two months later, Shikoku Electric Power Co. is moving forward with stress tests on one of Ikata's three reactors, which was stopped in April for routine inspections.

Fukushima has influenced the public's thinking. Six out of 10 respondents to the AP-GfK poll said they had little or no confidence in the safety of Japan's nuclear plants. Only 5 percent were very confident.

The telephone poll by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications surveyed 1,000 adults across Japan between July 29 and Aug. 10. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

Roughly a third said they want to keep the number of nuclear plants about the same, while 3 percent want to eliminate them completely.

Such thinking, though, has not been translated into action.

Power shortages since the tsunami, coupled with an unusually sweltering summer, have helped business and its backers in government win the argument that Japan can't afford to shut down its reactors.

The nuclear industry also benefits from close government ties. Bureaucratic ranks are packed with former utility executives. The same ministry both promotes and regulates nuclear power. Such relationships have endured, despite revelations of past cover-ups of radiation leaks and safety violations.

In the half year since the tsunami, commuter trains have often been dark inside, dizzyingly hot and more packed than usual because of reduced schedules. Neon lights disappeared from once-glitzy urban landscapes. Messages flashed on the Internet and electronic billboards, ominously warning about electricity use versus supply.

Manufacturers scrambled to cope. For automakers, the juggling included running assembly plants over the weekend and closing Thursday and Friday to reduce peak demand. "It has been totally exhausting," said Toshiyuki Shiga, chief operating officer of Nissan Motor Co.

Like many, Yoko Fujimura heeded government calls to conserve by going without air conditioning at her Yokohama home, despite outdoor temperatures that reached 100 degrees (38 degrees Celsius).

Clearly worried about shortages, the 32-year-old waitress thinks any move away from nuclear power could take decades. "I wonder what would happen if we didn't have electricity," she said. "Our entire lifestyles would change."

Before he resigned last month, Prime Minister Naoto Kan pledged to reduce Japan's reliance on nuclear power and develop solar, wind and other sources. But he later played that down as his personal view and has since been replaced by Yoshihiko Noda, who is expected to be more willing to go along with industry-friendly bureaucrats.

"The panic is starting to calm down," says Yoshito Hori, chief executive of management training company Globis Corp., who has been highly vocal about Japan's need for nuclear power.

He predicts all of Japan's reactors will eventually return to service, with the exception of Fukushima and possibly Hamaoka, a plant in central Japan that was shut down after the Fukushima crisis because of a 90 percent probability of a major quake in the area in the next 30 years.

"We want to restart them," Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoshio Hachiro said recently.

Host communities feel they have little choice. Relatively poor, they have come to embrace their nuclear plants, as initial doubts give way to gradual acceptance and financial dependence. Opposition becomes taboo.

Hiroshi Kainuma, a sociologist who has researched Fukushima, said residents of what he calls "nuclear villages" fear life without a plant. "Almost subconsciously, in their everyday, they have grown to support nuclear power," he said.

The persistence of such thinking worries Masakazu Tarumi, a Buddhist priest who has fought the Ikata plant for more than 20 years. He hopes foreign media coverage might help sway opinion.

"If this can't bring change, nothing will," he said of the Fukushima crisis, fingering a frayed pack of his newsletters warning of Ikata's dangers. "What has happened was worse than our worst fears."

Tange, the Ehime University professor, remains pessimistic. "We are responsible for having created this kind of society," he said with a sarcastic laugh, "a society that doesn't tolerate opposition."

___

Online:

http://www.ap-gfkpoll.com

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama

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Post-tsunami Japan sticking with nuclear power (AP)

MATSUYAMA, Japan – Takashi Yamada would prefer life without the nearby nuclear power plant. But the 66-year-old retired electronics retailer says, "It is also true we all need it."

Host communities such as this seaside city on the island of Shikoku need the jobs and financial subsidies the plants provide. And Japan's $5.5 trillion economy needs the energy.

Many Japanese have grown uneasy with nuclear power since the March 11 tsunami, which left more than 20,000 dead or missing and sent a plant in Fukushima into meltdown. Anti-nuke protesters took to the streets, and a heated debate ensued over the future of atomic energy. A recent Associated Press-GfK poll found that 55 percent of Japanese want to reduce the number of reactors in the country.

Six months later, though, the nation seems to be sticking with nuclear power, at least for now. Unlike Germany, which accelerated plans to phase out atomic energy after Fukushima, Japan shows no signs of doing so. In recent days, utilities began newly mandated earthquake and tsunami stress tests, a first step toward restarting reactors idled for maintenance.

"What is the alternative?" asks Fumiko Nakamura, a flower arrangement teacher in Tokyo. She worries about nuclear safety in earthquake-prone Japan but says it will take time to develop other types of energy. "Japan is a resource-poor nation, and we need electricity."

The world's third-largest economy lacks other sources such as coal. An island nation, it can't easily buy electricity from neighbors, as Germany can from France. Alternative energy is expensive. And nuclear technology is the nation's pride, even a lucrative export.

Moreover, consensus-oriented Japan doesn't have an outspoken public saying "No" to nuclear power. In a society that frowns upon defiance of the government, many Japanese are reluctant to join a movement that is often discredited as eccentric, even after Fukushima. That means Japan's leaders have no real need to reject an industry that has helped fuel the country's prosperity for decades.

"The everyday hasn't changed," said Haruki Tange, a professor of policymaking at Ehime University in Matsuyama. "There is this prevailing mood that makes it really difficult to voice any opposition to nuclear power."

March 11 may yet prove to be Japan's Three Mile Island moment. No new plants have been approved in the U.S. since the 1979 disaster, and Japan has canceled two new ones already and shelved plans to increase its reliance on nuclear power from 30 to 50 percent.

But Tange's resignation underscores a widespread acceptance of the status quo in Japan, home to 54 reactors speckling the coast.

Matsuyama, a city of 500,000, sits 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Ikata, one of the world's most seismologically risky plants. The government says there is a 70 percent probability of a major quake here in the next 30 years.

In an unprecedented protest, about 100 people took to the streets in July to demand Ikata be shut down. "I always thought protests were scary," said one marcher, 22-year-old university student Miwa Ozue. "But now, I want the world to know."

Most onlookers ignored the largely jovial crowd that banged on drums and chanted slogans. Two months later, Shikoku Electric Power Co. is moving forward with stress tests on one of Ikata's three reactors, which was stopped in April for routine inspections.

Fukushima has influenced the public's thinking. Six out of 10 respondents to the AP-GfK poll said they had little or no confidence in the safety of Japan's nuclear plants. Only 5 percent were very confident.

The telephone poll by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications surveyed 1,000 adults across Japan between July 29 and Aug. 10. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

Roughly a third said they want to keep the number of nuclear plants about the same, while 3 percent want to eliminate them completely.

Such thinking, though, has not been translated into action.

Power shortages since the tsunami, coupled with an unusually sweltering summer, have helped business and its backers in government win the argument that Japan can't afford to shut down its reactors.

The nuclear industry also benefits from close government ties. Bureaucratic ranks are packed with former utility executives. The same ministry both promotes and regulates nuclear power. Such relationships have endured, despite revelations of past cover-ups of radiation leaks and safety violations.

In the half year since the tsunami, commuter trains have often been dark inside, dizzyingly hot and more packed than usual because of reduced schedules. Neon lights disappeared from once-glitzy urban landscapes. Messages flashed on the Internet and electronic billboards, ominously warning about electricity use versus supply.

Manufacturers scrambled to cope. For automakers, the juggling included running assembly plants over the weekend and closing Thursday and Friday to reduce peak demand. "It has been totally exhausting," said Toshiyuki Shiga, chief operating officer of Nissan Motor Co.

Like many, Yoko Fujimura heeded government calls to conserve by going without air conditioning at her Yokohama home, despite outdoor temperatures that reached 100 degrees (38 degrees Celsius).

Clearly worried about shortages, the 32-year-old waitress thinks any move away from nuclear power could take decades. "I wonder what would happen if we didn't have electricity," she said. "Our entire lifestyles would change."

Before he resigned last month, Prime Minister Naoto Kan pledged to reduce Japan's reliance on nuclear power and develop solar, wind and other sources. But he later played that down as his personal view and has since been replaced by Yoshihiko Noda, who is expected to be more willing to go along with industry-friendly bureaucrats.

"The panic is starting to calm down," says Yoshito Hori, chief executive of management training company Globis Corp., who has been highly vocal about Japan's need for nuclear power.

He predicts all of Japan's reactors will eventually return to service, with the exception of Fukushima and possibly Hamaoka, a plant in central Japan that was shut down after the Fukushima crisis because of a 90 percent probability of a major quake in the area in the next 30 years.

"We want to restart them," Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoshio Hachiro said recently.

Host communities feel they have little choice. Relatively poor, they have come to embrace their nuclear plants, as initial doubts give way to gradual acceptance and financial dependence. Opposition becomes taboo.

Hiroshi Kainuma, a sociologist who has researched Fukushima, said residents of what he calls "nuclear villages" fear life without a plant. "Almost subconsciously, in their everyday, they have grown to support nuclear power," he said.

The persistence of such thinking worries Masakazu Tarumi, a Buddhist priest who has fought the Ikata plant for more than 20 years. He hopes foreign media coverage might help sway opinion.

"If this can't bring change, nothing will," he said of the Fukushima crisis, fingering a frayed pack of his newsletters warning of Ikata's dangers. "What has happened was worse than our worst fears."

Tange, the Ehime University professor, remains pessimistic. "We are responsible for having created this kind of society," he said with a sarcastic laugh, "a society that doesn't tolerate opposition."

___

Online:

http://www.ap-gfkpoll.com

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama

View the original article here

Nobel winner urges Japan to abandon nuclear power (AP)

TOKYO – Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe urged Japan's new prime minister on Tuesday to halt plans to restart nuclear power plants and instead abandon nuclear energy.

Oe cautioned Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda against prioritizing the economy over safety. Noda has said he will allow idled nuclear plants to resume operation when their safety is confirmed.

"The new prime minister seems to think that nuclear power plants are necessary for Japan's economy, and how to resume their operation is one of his key political agendas," Oe said. "We must make a big decision to abolish all nuclear plants."

Oe, who won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1994, said the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant six months ago caused the Japanese public to want to reduce their dependence on nuclear power, but that feeling seems to be fading.

He spoke at news conference Tuesday about an anti-nuclear petition drive, accompanied by other members of the campaign.

The group, which is demanding that the government decommission aging reactors and promote renewable energy, aims to collect 10 million signatures and submit them to the government next March.

Oe has actively supported pacifist and anti-nuclear campaigns and written books about the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.

Noda, who took office last Friday, becoming Japan's six prime minister in five years, has said he does not plan to build new nuclear plants and will decommission those that are aged. But he said he plans to restart plants whose safety is confirmed to relieve power shortages and help Japan's economic recovery. More than 30 of the country's 54 reactors are idled, forcing a nationwide conservation effort this summer.

The nuclear accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant was like "a third atomic bombing" that Japan inflicted on itself, Oe said. "We already faced the major threat of radiation from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Now, many children will have to live with radiation threats for 10, 20 or 30 years from now."

View the original article here

Nobel winner urges Japan to abandon nuclear power - Houston Chronicle (blog)

Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe speaks during a press conference about an anti-nuclear petition drive in Tokyo. Oe urged Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to halt plans to restart nuclear power plants and instead abandon nuclear energy. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

TOKYO — Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe urged Japan’s new prime minister today to halt plans to restart nuclear power plants and instead abandon nuclear energy.

Oe cautioned Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda against prioritizing the economy over safety. Noda has said he will allow idled nuclear plants to resume operation when their safety is confirmed.

“The new prime minister seems to think that nuclear power plants are necessary for Japan’s economy, and how to resume their operation is one of his key political agendas,” Oe said. “We must make a big decision to abolish all nuclear plants.”

Oe, who won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1994, said the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant six months ago caused the Japanese public to want to reduce their dependence on nuclear power, but that feeling seems to be fading.

He spoke at news conference today about an anti-nuclear petition drive, accompanied by other members of the campaign.

The group, which is demanding that the government decommission aging reactors and promote renewable energy, aims to collect 10 million signatures and submit them to the government next March.

Oe has actively supported pacifist and anti-nuclear campaigns and written books about the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.

Noda, who took office last Friday, becoming Japan’s six prime minister in five years, has said he does not plan to build new nuclear plants and will decommission those that are aged. But he said he plans to restart plants whose safety is confirmed to relieve power shortages and help Japan’s economic recovery. More than 30 of the country’s 54 reactors are idled, forcing a nationwide conservation effort this summer.

The nuclear accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant was like “a third atomic bombing” that Japan inflicted on itself, Oe said. “We already faced the major threat of radiation from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Now, many children will have to live with radiation threats for 10, 20 or 30 years from now.”

View the original article here

Atomic Power Needed to Save Japanese Economy: Noda - Bloomberg

Enlarge image Tatsuyuki Tayama/Pool via Bloomberg

Yoshihiko Noda, Japan's new prime minister.

Yoshihiko Noda, Japan's new prime minister. Photographer: Tatsuyuki Tayama/Pool via Bloomberg

Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Tobias Harris, author of the "Observing Japan" political blog and a former aide to ex-Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Keiichiro Asao, talks about the nation's government and political environment. Harris speaks from Tokyo with John Dawson on Bloomberg Television's "On the Move Asia." (Harris spoke before the announcement of members for a new cabinet. Source: Bloomberg)

Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- The port city of Ishinomaki in northern Japan’s Miyagi Prefecture was one of the most severely damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunamis. Its residents seek to rebuild their lives after 3,161 people were killed, and as the search for the 793 missing continues. Ishinomaki is the hometown of Jun Azumi, the nation's new finance minister. Bloomberg’s Kyoji Iwai reports. (Source: Bloomberg)

Japan’s new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in his first days in office started to deliver a difficult message to a public still in shock from the Fukushima nuclear disaster: Atomic power is needed to save the economy.

Nuclear power provided about 30 percent of the electricity in the world’s third biggest economy before the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Now, about 80 percent of Japan’s 54 reactors are offline with more shutting for scheduled maintenance in the months ahead.

With the majority of opinion polls showing the public oppose the use of atomic power, Noda needs to convince his electorate so-called stress tests on reactors will make them safer to restart. Industry leaders have said they may shift production overseas if power supplies aren’t stable, threatening an economic recovery.

“There will be very little reserve electricity for peak hours in the winter and summer if the operating rate of reactors keeps falling,” said Yugo Nakamura, an analyst for Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Noda is “trying to avoid economic disruptions by restarting reactors after safety checks.”

Noda’s predecessor, Naoto Kan, called for Japan to end its reliance on atomic power after the world’s worst nuclear accident in 25 years. Public concern about safety has meant that reactors closed for maintenance haven’t been allowed to restart, forcing Japan this year to impose power-savings measures for the first time since the 1970s.

Japan’s gross domestic product shrank at an annualized 1.3 percent rate in the three months ended June 30, marking three consecutive quarters of declines, the Cabinet office said last month.

The new premier seems in agreement with Kan that Japan’s energy future should shift focus to renewable power, while saying for the current economy to grow nuclear power is needed.

“It’s a realistic option to use existing plants to a certain extent and develop nuclear technology until at least 2030 while aiming to decrease our dependency on atomic power,” Noda said in an article for the Bungeishunju magazine published on Aug. 10.

“We will build a framework so we can restart reactors shut for maintenance after ensuring they are safe following stress tests and gaining the understanding of local residents,” Noda said on Sept. 2 after appointing his Cabinet.

“It’s important for us to prepare for restarts,” he said in comments on possible power shortages next year.

Sixty-eight percent of respondents to an Asahi newspaper poll published on Aug. 8 said they wanted Kan’s successor to continue the policy of phasing out atomic energy.

Noda’s approval rating was 65 percent, according to a poll published yesterday by the Yomiuri newspaper, the country’s biggest. The Nikkei newspaper and Kyodo News put his popularity rating at 67 percent and 63 percent respectively. None of the polls gave a margin of error.

Noda named Yoshio Hachiro, 63, to be Trade and Industry Minister in his Cabinet lineup, giving him the responsibility to rebuild the ministry that has played conflicting roles in both regulating nuclear energy and promoting its use.

The government in July said it would set up a regulator outside of the ministry and in August, the previous minister, Banri Kaieda, fired the country’s top energy bureaucrats in what he called “sweeping” changes.

To address public anxiety, the government in July said electricity companies must carry out the stress tests on all nuclear stations.

Japan may submit the results of the checks to the International Atomic Energy Agency for review, Hachiro said yesterday on NHK Television.

“The current review system of Japan’s nuclear governing body has failed to earn the trust of the people,” Goshi Hosono, the minister in charge of dealing with the Fukushima nuclear disaster, said on the same program.

Plans to build more reactors were also shelved after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami caused three reactor meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant.

Winning public support for extending reactor lives or building new ones won’t be easy Kan said on July 22, a comment repeated by Noda last week.

Kan also talked about the power of the so-called nuclear village, the nexus of the power companies, regulators and politicians supporting the industry, in highlighting the difficulties in moving away from atomic power.

“I did feel that I was subject to criticism,” Kan said on the day he stepped down when asked about his decision to shut a nuclear station near Tokyo to beef up quake and tsunami defense.

The powerful interests behind the nuclear industry, which powered Japan’s economic rise in the 1970s and 1980s, may make it harder to reform the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry for Hachiro, who has a background in agriculture.

“Hachiro is capable. But he isn’t strong enough to stand up to METI bureaucrats,” Minoru Morita, a Tokyo-based independent political analyst, said by phone on Sept. 2.

Japan’s parliament on Aug. 26 approved a bill to subsidize electricity from renewable sources, in one of the last acts of the Kan administration. The use of clean energy sources will improve the country’s energy security and create new industries, Noda has said.

Japan should increase clean energy supply to 20 percent of the total in the 2020’s from the current 9 percent, he said in the Bungeishunju article.

“This crisis has the potential to revive Japanese industries in the long run,” Noda said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chisaki Watanabe in Tokyo at cwatanabe5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Teo Chian Wei at cwteo@bloomberg.net

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Govt to allow industry to power up

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The government on Tuesday announced it will move forward the lifting of its mandatory curb on electricity consumption for large-lot electricity users that has been in place since July 1.

The removal of the restriction will be brought forward from Sept. 22 to Friday in areas devastated by the March 11 disaster, and those in Niigata and Fukushima prefectures that were hit with torrential rain in late July.

These areas are covered by Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Tohoku Electric Power Co.

In other areas served by the two utilities the curb will be lifted Sept. 9.

Under the restriction enforced in line with Article 27 of the Electricity Business Law, about 19,000 large-lot electricity users were required to cut their consumption by 15 percent from their peak-period demand last summer.

The government decided to lift the curb because power demand has remained lower than expected thanks to power-saving efforts by businesses and households.

The lifting of the restriction is also aimed at lessening the impact of the energy-saving measures on industrial production.

The government will continue to call for the 15 percent energy-saving efforts on the part of households and small-lot users.

The government enforced the curb in anticipation of power supply shortages this summer in the aftermath of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant that followed the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

TEPCO's service areas include Tokyo, six prefectures in Kanto, Yamanashi Prefecture and the eastern part of Shizuoka Prefecture. Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s service areas include six prefectures of the Tohoku region plus Niigata Prefecture.

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Anger in tsunami zone over Japan power games

Anger in tsunami zone over Japan power gamesBy Shingo Ito (AFP) – 1 day ago 

TOKYO — As Japan's political elite readies for yet another leadership showdown on Monday, there is widespread anger about the Tokyo power games among survivors of the March 11 quake and tsunami disaster.

Almost six months after the catastrophe, tens of thousands of people still live in crowded shelters and temporary homes, many mourning loved ones, fearful of radiation and without jobs, homes or a clear idea about their future.

The government's disaster response has drawn fierce criticism, forcing Prime Minister Naoto Kan to announce he will quit and setting off frantic jockeying among those eager to replace him at the ruling-party vote.

"I'm disgusted with things over there," said Ikuko Takita, who lives in a temporary home because the massive ocean wave took away her house in Ofunato, 420 kilometres (260 miles) northeast of Tokyo.

"I feel like I'm watching events in another country," said Takita, 60.

Two years after the centre-left Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) wrested power from the long-ruling conservatives promising a new style of people-first politics, she said: "I'm losing my hopes for the DPJ.

"It looks like nothing will change, whoever becomes the next prime minister," she told AFP by phone.

The winner of Monday's party ballot will become Japan's sixth premier in five years -- continuing a revolving-door leadership tradition where tearful resignations after about 12 months have become the rule.

In Japan's devastated northeast, many are crying out for a government that will take charge and change their lives for the better.

Much of the tsunami rubble has been cleared, leaving vast empty mud fields, and fishing boats have again set out from hurriedly repaired ports to bring in the season's first catches of tuna and other fish.

But full recovery is expected to take years, and a glum mood has settled over towns where the displaced, their homes gone, endure quake aftershocks and are left worrying about the ongoing radiation crisis.

"I feel like I'm still standing in the dark," said Akio Ikuhashi, 61, who was forced to flee to Aizu, western Fukushima, because his house was located only three kilometres away from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

"I didn't do anything wrong, but I lost everything," said Ikuhashi, who was made unemployed after the disaster and has since separated from his wife after the post-disaster stress took its toll on their marriage.

"What will happen after Prime Minister Kan resigns?" he asked rhetorically, a sense of resignation in his voice. "Whatever happens will happen."

Shinji Sakuma, a Fukushima dairy farmer whose cows had to be slaughtered due to radioactive contamination fears, was furious about the politicians he sees as distant and disconnected from the reality of the disaster zone.

"No way! Is this really the time for them to change the leadership without hearing from us?" said the 61-year-old.

"I don't care about who will be the next prime minister. Whoever it will be, please bring an end to the nuclear crisis and let us go home as soon as possible. That's everybody's view around here."

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved. More »

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The feudal lords of power

The inherently arrogant nature of the electric power industry in Japan came to light recently when Kyushu Electric Power Co. tried to influence a public hearing on whether to allow the company to resume operation of its Genkai nuclear power stations in Saga Prefecture. Kyushu Electric urged its employees and subcontractors to submit a large number of emails in support of resumption.

Observers view this as a typical example of the power industry boasting of its ability to manipulate public opinion.

The incident also revealed how naive the industry is, as the utility failed to take any precaution to prevent its tactics from becoming publicly known. One critic drew an analogy between the actions of Kyushu Electric and the plot in "Emperor's New Clothes," Hans Christian Andersen's famous short story.

One factor behind such arrogance is the fact that each of the 10 companies of the power utility industry occupies a prominent position in the commerce of its respective region, where it enjoys a monopoly of supplying electric power.

Indeed, except in the three metropolitan areas around Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, where major companies are concentrated, the utility companies are usually the largest corporations in terms of gross sales in their respective regions. One notable exception is Chugoku Electric Power Co., whose turnover lags that of Mazda Motor Corp. headquartered in Hiroshima.

The typical power structure in each of Japan's 47 prefectures is an "iron triangle" composed of the prefectural government, regional banks and local newspapers. Beneath this triangle are groups of corporations, such as general contractors, that are linked to politicians.

It is noteworthy that, except in Hokkaido and Okinawa, the regional electric company transcends this powerful triangle because it monopolizes the power supply in two or more prefectures. For example, Tohoku Electric Power Co. covers seven prefectures in northeastern Japan, and even Hokuriku Electric Power Co., with sales of less than ¥500 billion a year, serves three prefectures. This fact has led the utilities to think that they are above the prefectural governments.

In prefectures where nuclear power plants are located, tense relationships exist between governors and power companies. Governors often try to prevent power companies from doing as they like concerning the operation of nuclear power plants. At the same time, governors want to avoid confrontations with companies because of their vote-generation potential.

A bitter confrontation took place in the gubernatorial election in Fukushima Prefecture in 1988. In his first bid to become prefectural governor, Eisaku Sato (not the former prime minister by the same name) faced a candidate backed by Tokyo Electric Power Co. After Sato won, severe conflicts ensued between him and Tepco, which has nuclear power stations in Fukushima Prefecture that supply electricity to the areas it serves.

Sato sought to impose rigid conditions on the operation of the Fukushima Nos. 1 and 2 nuclear power plants and on the use of mixed oxide fuel, which contains plutonium, amid local residents' fears of nuclear power generation.

Although Sato also won subsequent elections, he resigned following his arrest in 2006 in a scandal related to dam construction. Tepco did not come out as the ultimate winner either, as its ranking officials were investigated over their alleged involvement in the same scandal.

Confrontations between power companies and governors have various roots, but the main one is that the former are far more powerful than the latter. This overwhelming influence stems primarily from the enormous investments that power companies make to build or renew facilities to generate, transform or distribute electricity. Such investments have been necessary to keep up with the growing demand for electricity.

During the peak year of 1993, capital investment by Japan's 10 electric power companies exceeded ¥5 trillion, with ¥1.7 trillion coming from Tepco alone. In 2009, Tohoku Electric Power Co., which serves the seven prefectures in the Tohoku region, invested ¥274.7 billion, which accounted for 24.4 percent of total capital investment in the region, according to statistics compiled by the Development Bank of Japan.

Comparable figures were 25.5 percent from Kyushu Electric Power, which serves seven prefectures on Kyushu; 22.5 percent from Chugoku Electric Power, serving the five prefectures in the western part of Honshu; and 27.6 percent from Shikoku Electric Power, which supplies power to the four prefectures on Shikoku.

Officials of power companies occupy the top positions of eight major regional business lobbies, except the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren).

Although power companies possess undisputed influence, the way they have accumulated it is unusual in the history of Japan's postwar economic development. By contrast, companies in the steel, oil, electronics, precision-machine, automobile, shipbuilding and other industries have had to battle it out for market share domestically before gaining international competitiveness.

Moreover, since the state-controlled companies in the railway, telecommunications and tobacco and salt industries were privatized in the 1980s, it can safely be said that the electric power industry is now the only one enjoying a monopoly under government protection.

Just as an ironclad triangle exists at the prefectural level, there is an even more strong ironclad triangle at the national level, consisting of the power industry, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and politicians elected with the help of the power industry.

Power utilities help politicians by providing them with campaign funds; METI helps maintain the industry's regional monopolies; and the power companies provide high-paying positions into which former METI bureaucrats "parachute." The politicians and the bureaucrats jointly promote nuclear power generation, which helps protect the vested interest of the power companies.

As long as the power companies are allowed to behave like feudal lords with predominant influence in their respective regions, the emergence of entrepreneurial ventures cannot be expected there. Because power companies, prefectural governments and local banks have absorbed the more talented local people, free-spirited emerging companies go begging for them.

This is an abridged translation of an article from the August issue of Sentaku, a monthly magazine covering Japanese political, social and economic scenes.

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Nuclear power key topic in close Japan leader race

TOKYO – A former top diplomat vying to become the next prime minister proposed Saturday that Japan stop building new nuclear power plants after the Fukushima disaster and phase out atomic energy over 40 years.

Former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara took the clearest stand against nuclear power at a news conference where five ruling Democratic party members outlined their policy goals in their campaign to replace Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who announced Friday he is stepping down.

The ruling party will vote Monday to pick a new party chief, who will then become prime minister — Japan's sixth in five years.

Nuclear energy is hot topic in Japan following the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, damaged by the March 11 tsunami. Some 100,000 people have been evacuated from around the plant, and government officials have warned that accumulated radiation in some spots may keep areas off limits for the foreseeable future.

The leadership contest is emerging as a close race between Maehara, a youthful defense expert and the public's top choice, and Economy Minister Banri Kaieda, who secured the backing of the ruling party's behind-the-scenes powerbroker, Ichiro Ozawa.

"In principle, we will not build new nuclear plants; then there will be no more nuclear plants in 40 years," Maehara said, adding that Japan needs to seek "the best energy mix" while it phases out of its nuclear-reliant energy policy.

Before the March accident, Japan derived about 30 percent of its electricity from nuclear plants, and the government intended to increase that to 50 percent by 2030 — a plan that has now been scrapped.

Kaieda, whose minister was broadly responsible for nuclear energy promotion, said he planned to decommission aging nuclear plants found to have problems during stress tests, but did not detail his vision for the future of atomic energy.

He promised to speed up decontaminaton efforts and launch health check programs for concerned residents.

"We will achieve a cold shutdown of the reactors as soon as possible," Kaieda said. "I will take concrete measures to address the residents' concerns about their health."

Kan announced Friday he would resign after serving nearly 15 months that have been plagued by ruling party infighting, gridlock in parliament and clamorous criticism of his administration's reponse to the March disasters and ensuing nuclear crisis.

The Japanese public, yearning for political unity and resolve in the wake of the catastrophe, has grown disgusted with the squabbles and blame-trading that have dominated parliamentary sessions.

"It's embarrassing. It's hard to keep track of who's prime minister these days," said Rie Aoki, a housewife in the Tokyo suburb of Fuchu. "It's so upsetting to see them squabbling in parliament. Elementary students have more interesting conversations."

She said she hoped the politicians would focus on the northeastern coastal region — called Tohoku — that was devastated by the tsunami. "I really want them to work together to think about what Tohoku needs," she said.

The five candidates generally agreed during the two-hour press conference that the central government needed to spend more money on disaster reconstruction in the tsunami zone, possibly raising money through special bond sales.

Given the slow economy, all agreed it was too early to consider raising Japan's 5 percent sales tax.

But the gathering also helped bring out some policy differences between the five, which also includes Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, considered a fiscal conservative, former Transport Minister Sumio Mabuchi and Agricultural Minister Michihiko Kano.

Maehara said he would favor reaching out to key opposition parties to form a limited "grand coalition" on certain key policies, such as tsunami reconstruction, social security and tax reforms. Maehara also said he would support a U.S.-backed free trade zone called the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Kaieda, a 62-year-old former television commentator on economic matters, said the so-called TPP needed to be studied more and rejected the idea of a grand coalition, saying the party had not even discussed such a proposal.

A China hawk, Maehara, 49, gained prominence by taking a firm stand toward Beijing during a territorial spat last year over some disputed islands in the East China Sea.

He defended his decision to run despite having quit as foreign minister in March after it was discovered that he had unknowingly received a relatively small political donation from a foreigner — a Korean permanent resident and a childhood friend — which is illegal in Japan.

"I don't have anything to hide," he said. "I haven't done anything that tainted my own hands."

___

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report.

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Fear of Ozawa's power key to Maehara's bid

Takeo Azuma and Yutaka Ito / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

Former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, who until quite recently had shied away from running in the upcoming Democratic Party of Japan presidential election, declared his candidacy due to his concern over the intraparty group led by former DPJ head Ichiro Ozawa--his archrival--from dominating the party, sources have said.

Maehara's change of heart was due primarily to worries that Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who earlier announced his intention to run in the party election, would have little chance of winning the race. Both men belong to the DPJ's mainstream group opposing Ozawa, who heads the largest intraparty group of about 120 of the party's 398 lawmakers, according to the sources.

Ozawa's party membership has been suspended by the DPJ leadership since February after his indictment in January on charges of political funds irregularities.

As Ozawa still controls his grip on his group members, however, the outcome of the presidential contest could be swayed in favor of an Ozawa-backed candidate on the back of his bloc's numerical strength, the sources quoted Maehara as saying.

Maehara's entry into the election is sure to turn the tide of the race to pick a successor to Naoto Kan, according to analysts.

===

Disenchanted with Noda

"I've no intention at all of trying to save my own neck," said Maehara before about 20 senior legislators from his group late Monday night at a Tokyo hotel.

"There is something more important than my own political career," Maehara added, seeking their understanding of his candidacy for the presidential race. The meeting to discuss the election lasted more than two hours.

On Sunday and early Monday, Maehara spoke with his family and members of his support organization in his Kyoto constituency about whether he should run in the DPJ election.

A few days earlier Maehara began steering himself in the direction of seeking the top party post, saying: "I am now aware there is a greater good. More important than what I previously thought was important."

A heavyweight of the Maehara group, former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku, and other allies had not wanted Maehara to run in this presidential election.

That was because they believed Maehara--having stepped down as foreign minister only five months before for accepting political donations from a foreign national--should place priority on recovering from that scandal. The legislators believed he should wait for a longer period to serve as prime minister, by running in the DPJ's once-every-two-year regular presidential election, slated for September next year.

Maehara himself shared that view apparently for the sake of his political future.

An intention not to run in the election was made public on Aug. 12.

Aides to Maehara cited him as saying, "There's a huge difference between the task of prime minister and that of a cabinet member, and I have no desire or resolve [to be prime minister under the nation's current political situation]."

A key factor behind Maehara's shift to opt for the candidacy only 10 days later was a meeting Wednesday with Noda, who was seen as the front-runner in the contest, according to the sources.

Maehara asked Noda about his views on such key topics as possible tax increases for funding recovery from the March 11 disaster and the advisability of participating in negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, they said.

At the end of the talk, Maehara asked Noda, "What preparations have you made for fighting our party's election?"

Noda's response to the question, however, was weak. "I've yet to decide on details," sources quoted him as saying.

The remark was a surprise to Maehara, leading him to be hesitant to support Noda, as Maehara believed Noda would end up losing the election, they said.

Ozawa, for his part, is said to be sitting on the fence with a view to having the force of his 120-member group vote for the right horse in the race for the top party post.

Noda's possible contenders in the contest, including Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Michihiko Kano; Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Banri Kaieda; former Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Sumio Mabuchi; and former Environment Minister Sakihito Ozawa, have all been courting former DPJ head Ozawa for his backing in the race.

Should Ozawa have his group not support Noda, his chances of winning the election would certainly be jeopardized, analysts said.

Maehara has viewed Noda as lacking any effective strategy to assure his victory in the election in the face of such moves of his probable opponents, the sources said.

Support then surged among members of the Maehara group to prod him to enter the presidential race.

In opinion surveys by The Yomiuri Shimbun and other media, Maehara has been by far the most popular contender of the DPJ legislators likely to run.

The Maehara group is poised to secure his victory in the contest mainly by garnering support from younger DPJ lawmakers, whose electoral bases are largely weak, by stressing that Maehara, if elected to the DPJ presidency, will serve as a key vote-gathering "magnet" in the next House of Representatives election to be held in or before 2013.

A close Maehara aide quoted him as saying if an Ozawa-backed candidate wins the DPJ election and the post of the party's secretary general is assumed by someone loyal to Ozawa, Maehara and his group members would be at a serious disadvantage. If this were to happen, the rights of fielding DPJ candidates in Diet elections as well as the party's fund management would be put under control of the Ozawa group, Maehara was cited as saying.

Sengoku, who was wary of letting Maehara fight the party election, finally changed his views after meeting President Nobuaki Koga of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), the nation's largest labor organization, on Monday. He reportedly told Koga that Noda, little known by younger DPJ lawmakers, stood little chance of winning the presidential race, committing to support Maehara.

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Japan pins hopes on green power laws, risks abound

A man looks at 100-metre-tall (328-foot-tall) wind turbines during sunset at the Electric Power Development Co., Ltd's Nunobiki Plateau Wind Farm in Koriyama, north of Tokyo November 8, 2007.

Credit: Reuters/Toru Hanai

By Risa Maeda

TOKYO | Mon Aug 22, 2011 7:43am EDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's lawmakers have the opportunity to show how strong their support is for boosting renewable power supply to replace nuclear reactors with the passage of a green energy subsidy scheme likely within days.

The country is struggling to overhaul its energy policies after the March quake and tsunami triggered a nuclear disaster that shattered the public's confidence in the safety of the atomic industry and delayed the restart of idled plants. Costly oil and gas imports have soared.

There is no quick remedy to replace lost capacity. But lawmakers say a national scheme starting next year that rewards solar, wind power, biomass and other green energy investments is part of the solution.

Parliament is expected to pass the bill by mid-next week but faces some obstacles that could lead to its dilution or even derail its passage. Political disarray over post-disaster energy policy, a mandatory review of the scheme after 3 years and a fragmented grid are all potential pitfalls that could impact the effectiveness of the bill, analysts say.

A key concern is the level of subsidized power pricing for different types of green energy. This won't be known for several months. Another is Japan's revolving-door governments, with the current government heavily criticized for its handling of the quake and nuclear crisis.

"Investors say they find no institutional risk in investing in the renewable energy sector in Europe, but they say there is such a risk in Japan given uncertainty of the scheme's prospects and there is also a risk in the country's politics," said Shinichiro Takiguchi, executive senior researcher at private think-tank Japan Research Institute.

The new laws will require utilities to buy any amount of electricity generated from solar, wind, biomass, geothermal and small-sized hydro power plant at preset rates for up to 20 years. The government has said it wants the feed-in tariff scheme to boost capacity of the five renewable energy types by more than 30,000 megawatts (MW) over a decade.

That would add over 12 percent to Japan's total generation capacity before the nuclear disaster of 240,000 MW.

The cost paid by utilities is passed on to end users although the new laws, set to take effect on July 1, 2012, include special provisions to trim costs for residents in the quake-hit northeast and energy-intensive industries.

WILL THE PRICE BE RIGHT?

Lawmakers from the three main parties have thrown their support behind the scheme and say they want to ensure attractive pricing per kilowatt hour of new green power generation during the first three years to promote investment and lower the cost of solar panels and other equipment.

Ruling party lawmaker Yosuke Kondo told Reuters he expects the price for solar to start at 40 yen per kilowatt hour and 20 yen for wind. The price for solar could start with 37-38 yen if the prices of solar panels fall significantly by the time the system is launched, he added. A parliament-appointed panel will determine the pricing.

Takao Kashiwagi, professor of Tokyo Institute of Technology and a core member of the trade ministry's renewable energy committee, thought 40 yen could cause a bubble of investment and said even 35 to 37 yen could drive solar capacity growth of about 3,000 MW a year in the first three years. That is about triple of solar panel shipments of 992 MW in Japan in 2010.

Companies that could benefit include mobile carrier Softbank, which wants to invest in solar power, solar panel makers such as Suntech Power, Showa Shell Sekiyu, Kyocera and Sharp, and wind power developers including Eurus Energy Holdings, a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power Co and Toyota Tsusho Corp.

"I think 36-38 yen will be good enough," said Yutaka Yamamoto, president of Suntech Power Japan.

"A feed-in tariff scheme will drive growth of the (solar panel) market significantly," he told Reuters, pointing to similar schemes in Germany, Spain and elsewhere that drove rapid green energy investment.

"The only risk factor is the feed-in tariff rate," he said.

WORRIES OVER REVIEW

Analysts point to other risks as well.

A mandatory review after 3 years will make it hard to plan long-term investments because of fears the review could decide to abolish the scheme or replace it with something else.

"It takes 3 years minimum for wind power to get started and more than 10 years for geothermal power to get started. So, investors would not take the risk of a scheme which may disappear after three years of its launch," Takiguchi said.

Japan's fragmented grid also has limited ability to absorb massive capacity from solar and wind and is in need of investment, said Hirofumi Kawachi, senior analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities.

"The bills are half-baked. The investment plan is there but financing is lacking -- there is no detailed roadmap to finance infrastructure investments needed to make the scheme work, such as setting up proper transmission networks," he said.

"There is risk that stocks of solar and wind power plants will build up but won't be utilized effectively," he added. That would not hurt new suppliers given a preset return for a preset period but possibly clinch economic growth by boosting electricity bills for the sake of un-connected new facilities.

Households and businesses hardly buy power from outside their region nor choose sources of electricity because of the dominance in the power markets by the country's 10 regional power companies.

The power industry has said they would be able to accept up to 10,000 MW of solar and 5,000 MW of wind based on the current grid infrastructure.

Japan presently has nearly 4,000 MW of solar, more than 2,000 MW of wind and about 500 MW of geothermal. Germany has more than 17,000 MW of installed solar capacity.

Green energy comprises about 10 percent of Japan's total power generation. The government, working on a post-crisis energy policy, has yet to announce a new 2030 renewable energy target, which was set at 20 percent of generation previously.

"I think the scheme is one-sided as it is focused only on new power suppliers, taking advantage of end-users," said Akihiro Sawa, executive senior fellow at the 21st Century Public Policy Institute and a former trade ministry official.

"We need another plan. We need policy steps to make conventional power companies realize how lucrative it is to invest in the sector and sell green electricity to users," Sawa said.

(Additional reporting by Chikako Mogi in Tokyo and Leonora Walet in Hong Kong; Writing by David Fogarty, Editing by Simon Webb)

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The real power when Edo opened

In his July 31 Timeout article, "Most unlikely bedfellows" — on the beginning of U.S.-Japan relations — writer Michael Hoffman made a number of assertions that might have either confused or misled readers.

To begin with, although U.S. President Millard Fillmore's letter was addressed to the "Emperor of Japan," it specifically mentions his place of residence as "Yeddo" (Edo). So, for Hoffman to claim that "Fillmore wrote to the Emperor Komei" is obviously incorrect. Indeed, as he himself correctly states, he was "unknown to the Americans." In that case, how could they even think to write a letter to him?

"Emperor," both in the letter and in the official narrative, clearly is written with the shogun in mind, even though that particular word is never used. (It was not part of English vocabulary at the time.) Furthermore, Hoffman's assertion that "power resided with the shogun in Edo, who, unknown to himself, was rapidly losing control of events" may sound catchy and authoritative, but it has no basis in fact.

The real (as opposed to nominal) power in Edo resided with the senior council (roju) and, in particular, with its head, Abe Masahiro. It was Abe and the council who made all the crucial decisions about how to deal with the arrival of the American squadron, without any active involvement by the shogun. Far from "losing control of events," they were actively engaged in keeping them under control — and avoiding open conflict.

The claim that Cmdr. Matthew Perry, unlike U.S. Consul Townsend Harris, "had been authorized to use force if necessary" is also misleading.

Perry was expressly not authorized to use force to secure a treaty, except in self-defense and as a last resort. This, of course, did not prevent him from making a show of force or threatening to use it, in order to more quickly and surely to attain his ends.

Anyone interested in more information about this topic could begin with my "The Opening of Japan, 1853-1855," which was reviewed on these pages by Sir Hugh Cortazzi on Aug. 20, 2006.

The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.

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Nation hit by A-bombs placed big bet on nuclear power - Asahi Shimbun

The accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has led to magazine articles and publications that are trying to unravel how two competing images of Japan emerged in modern history--the nation devastated by the atomic bombings in August 1945 going on to become one of the major users of nuclear power plants.

One aspect that has emerged in those discussions is the role played by the theory that Japan promoted nuclear energy "just because" it was the victim of an atomic bombing.

On the July 23 broadcast of a TV debate program, Italian journalist Pio D'Emilia asked, "Why did a nation that has the legacy of Hiroshima ever allow so easily the construction of nuclear power plants?"

A response was given by Michio Ishikawa, a supreme adviser at the Japan Nuclear Technology Institute who was born before August 1945 and who was involved in nuclear power development from the earliest stages after the end of World War II.

The gist of Ishikawa's response was that in his generation many nuclear energy researchers were in Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, when the atomic bomb was dropped, or in Nagasaki three days later when the second bomb was dropped. All those researchers became involved in nuclear energy on the grounds of "peaceful use" of the technology and to use it to improve people's lives, Ishikawa said.

The explanation can be boiled down to one of promoting nuclear energy not in spite of the atomic bombing, but because of it.

In the June issue of the magazine Impaction, Mikiyo Kano, a scholar of women's history, discovers such a thinking of "just because" in the arguments of the late Mitsuo Taketani, who was a major proponent of the peaceful use of nuclear technology.

In the November 1952 issue of Kaizo magazine, Taketani argued that the Japanese have the greatest right to research a peaceful nuclear energy technology because they are the only victims of an atomic bombing.

Some researchers have tried to delve into the psychology that led to the spread of the "just because" theory.

In the August issue of the magazine Sekai (World), Toshiyuki Tanaka, a professor at the Hiroshima Peace Institute under the Hiroshima City University, wrote, "Because the hibakusha were injured by the atomic bombing, the slogan of 'The object that took your lives can, in fact, not only be used to treat cancer, but is also an energy source that can provide a strong life force' was accepted by them as a message of, in a sense, salvation."

Others point to a different psychology at work among the hibakusha.

In the June issue of Shincho 45, the critic Morihide Katayama writes that in the deep roots of the call for peaceful use of nuclear technology lay "a grassroots sense of vengeance."

That would be achieved by using the "hatred" held toward the United States for using the atomic bombs on them to skillfully utilize that same nuclear technology. One aspect of that argument is to "repay the loss of war due to science by using that science."

The "just because" thinking is also related to the emergence in Japan of the myth that nuclear energy was safe.

In the June issue of Gendai Shiso (Modern philosophy), the historian Hisato Nakajima focuses on the process behind the establishment of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

He explained how an employee of Tokyo Electric Power Co. tried to placate concerns held by local residents that nuclear power plants "were just as dangerous as an atomic bomb."

The TEPCO employee apparently gave the following argument to gain consent.

"I witnessed the atomic bombing and my older brother was killed by it. For that reason, I understand the dangers of nuclear technology much better than all of you. If someone like me, who lost relatives to the atomic bombing, had even a little concern, I would not be able to comply even if it was company policy."

Because Japan was a victim of the atomic bombing, an even stronger myth about nuclear energy safety would be required for residents and those employees working at the plant.

Nakajima points to the possibility of such unique historical circumstances to explain how that safety myth developed.

The sociology researcher Hiroshi Kainuma is in the spotlight for his book "Fukushima ron" (On Fukushima), which looks into what nuclear energy meant for Fukushima Prefecture.

In his book, Kainuma describes nuclear energy as something with the image of being "at the cutting edge of modernity."

In explaining what common thread existed between the atomic bomb and nuclear power plants, Kainuma said, "The cutting edge of modernity is the glory of war and growth."

He added, "The glory of growth in terms of economic prosperity and democratization and the glory of war in terms of 'liberation from fascism' and 'the liberation of Asia.' Both are modern ideals, and that is the reason people observed overwhelming modernity in both nuclear plants and atomic bombs."

This summer the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organization, made up of hibakusha from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, decided on a clear policy of moving away from nuclear energy through the gradual decommissioning of all nuclear reactors.

That represents a major turning point for an organization, which since its establishment in 1956, never called for a society that had zero nuclear plants.

Japan's history of nuclear energy would likely never have begun without inclusion of the thinking of "just because" the nation was hit by the atomic bombs.

To understand that complicated picture, there will likely be a need for a comprehensive re-examination of Japan's modern history, including the period of rapid economic growth and the nuclear strategy of the United States.

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