‘Community power’: Renewable energy policy and production in post-Fukushima Japan
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Author
Ogawa, AEditor
Ogawa, A; Seaton, PDate
2020Source Title
New frontiers in Japanese studiesPublisher
Routledge - Taylor & FrancisUniversity of Melbourne Author/s
Ogawa, AkihiroAffiliation
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Ogawa, A. (2020). ‘Community power’: Renewable energy policy and production in post-Fukushima Japan. Ogawa, A (Ed.). Seaton, P (Ed.). New frontiers in Japanese studies, (1), pp.221-232. Routledge - Taylor & Francis.Access Status
This item is currently not available from this repositoryAbstract
Japan has assumed a central position within global discourses on energy since
the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in 2011 that caused radiation leakage
from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. This disaster singlehandedly
destabilised energy policymaking and production practices in Japan. Before this
disaster, many people in Japan, including myself, never gave much thought
about energy, and only individuals with some reason to be worried about energy
issues engaged in discussion about energy. However, people from a broader
cross section of society joined the conversation after the disaster. They started
learning about how the electricity system works – how electricity is generated
and how it is consumed. Before the 11 March disaster, if and when the general
public discussed electricity, it was mostly within the context of global climate
change; in other words, how to reduce carbon emissions. Unlike coal and natural
gas plants, nuclear energy does not involve carbon emissions during the generation of electricity. Such energy generation reflected an ideal pursuit of development and growth, which dominated our lifestyle over the post-Second World
War period. However, the post-disaster landscape reshaped our values and ways
of living at the grassroots level. People began to engage in more insightful political debates.
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