politics

Hosokawa questions Abe's energy policy, diplomacy

13 Comments
By Kiyoshi Takenaka

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No country has built nuclear power plants in its capital city, or indeed any major cities, just in case the 1 in 1,000,000 failure happens, now seen in the case of Japan. Tokyo has compensated these regions and people with huge payments over the life of these reactors, yet at the same time lured them into a state of hubris, sucking on the cash cow of nuclear power, and now that it has gone, there is no substitute, no other industries or businesses that can take their place quickly, and with the same degree of profit. The now uninhabitable land around the plant was not foreseen by the utilities and government, or conveniently ignored.

The model of nuclear power generation, local payments and taxation that has been employed by the Japanese Power Utilities since the 1960s, and encouraged by the LDP has been shown to be flawed, and now Japan is struggling to change. However 45 years of single-mind power development, together with so many embedded special interests is going to take years to change, if it ever does...

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Given current political and economic landscapes, Japan may not shake the habit of nuclear-energy so easily.

The intriguing part is that the shortsighted incumbent government, special interest groups and millions of common people (who want to lower their utility bills) are oddly join together to resist the worthy cause.

But, I think that deep-rooted nuclear free movement in Japan will gain momentum in time.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

@Wanderlust is exactly BECUASE the '1 in 1,000,000 failure' myth has so ruthless exposed as totally fallacy that nuclear power generation using uranium isotopes or MOX must be abandoned. POWER to Mr Hosokawa. If only the youth would vote.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

With two atom bombs dropped on her Japan paid the price for her WW2 sins, move on. End Japan's nuclear energy and move to renewables ASAP. Someday I would like to move back, keep Japan livable!

4 ( +5 / -1 )

No, they have soared since Japan claimed sovereignty over the islands and 'bought' them.

They were already Japan's anyway. They would have reverted back to the government anyway even if the government did not buy them. The owner was just able to get some money out of the deal. It was an excuse for China to be able to have people looking outside at an "enemy" rather than the real enemy of the Chinese people which is the Chinese government. The islands have been under Japanese or US control for more than 100 years. It is time for China to move on.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

It is fine and dandy to run on a ticket of no nuclear power, but does he have a clear plan as to how to achieve this goal, as he mentions:

Tokyo is shoving nuclear power plants and nuclear waste to other regions

What exactly is he going to do with the waste from the decommissioning of said reactors, I'm wondering weather he plans to construct a disposal facility within Tokyo for this waste? Clearly not. Saying no nuke policy is easy following such policy is not so easy. I would prefer a candidate who had a more rational outlook on the slow reduction of nuclear power with clear deadlines and engineering reports as to how to achieve them including the decommissioning of reactors and storage of the waste. This is clearly not even within the bounds of a prefectural government and thus said candidate would have to show how he would work together with the national government to achieve any of this. In other news, pigs might fly!

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Tokyo’s consumption of nuclear power is “selfish” and unsustainable since the Japanese capital hosts no nuclear reactors, former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa said on Tuesday

Seriously, this guy should be termed "The Marquis de Duh!". Tokyo only hosts one Natural Gas plant and one Fuel Oil plant, both in Shinagawa. They put out a maximum of 2,190 MW.

If we were to follow the Marquis' logic, then Tokyo should never use power from coal, hydro, solar, wind, and geothermal - as none of these types of power plants are situated in Tokyo.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

I've always thought that a candidate who relies on ONE issue to get elected= a losing populist candidate. How did the "anti-nukes" candidates fare in the last two national elections? How about in the last Tokyo local elections?

Koizumi the Elder had no qualms about nuclear power while he played "Lionheart" in the capital for five long years. Suddenly he gains a conscience and emerges from his comfortable seaside retirement...only to back a losing horse.

As Pompey Magnus once correctly stated: "More people worship the rising than the setting sun." In this case, perhaps the "rising son" in question is Shinjiro Koizumi the Younger (who is backing LDP-favored Masazoe and thus furthering his own future in national politics) while the sun slowly sets over "Jun-chan's" Pompey-like quiff. As for the wisdom of voting Tokyoites, just remember how they happily elected and re-elected one Shintaro Ishihara to be their man in the Touchou...

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Slumdog:

"1) They were already Japan's anyway. 2) They would have reverted back to the government anyway even if the government did not buy them. 3) The owner was just able to get some money out of the deal. 4) It was an excuse for China to be able to have people looking outside at an "enemy" rather than the real enemy of the Chinese people which is the Chinese government." (numbers added)

1) I agree. 2) Didn't know that. If that's the case, buying the islands was a really stupid move. The could've just waited. 3) So if there was no need to buy the islands, this was really just donating our tax yen to some rich old git / friend of the far Right?!? 4) And playing right into the hands of the Chinese government.

Thank you very much, Ishihara, for putting this daftness into play. (cutting myself off here before cursing).

1 ( +1 / -0 )

"Tensions have soared in recent months after China’s establishment of an air defense identification zone...."

No, they have soared since Japan claimed sovereignty over the islands and 'bought' them. And they soared further once Abe came to power and said quite literally he wanted to change history. Hosokawa is right to question Abe, not only on nuclear power, which has cost the nation far more than imported energy will, and will cost the nation trillions for decades at the Fukushima plant alone. No doubt Abe is 'expecting understanding' by having the fascist Tamogawa, or whatever his name is, come in and deny history as he and his family before him has, and I'm thankful at least Hosokawa is willing to admit it might anger neighbours.

0 ( +11 / -11 )

As they say "Safety Is No Accident".

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"A top leader’s task is to set an overall direction,” Hosokawa said. “If a decision is made now to put an end to nuclear energy, many companies will stampede to natural energy so as not to fall behind the trend, making natural energy grow at an astonishing rate.”

Well, as long as economics and the laws of physics don't object. I hope his gold-plated potter's wheel is still warm - he should be needing it soon.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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