The government continued to solicit public opinion on nuclear energy policy over the weekend by holding a discussion-oriented polling session in Tokyo involving about 300 citizens from across the country.

This is the first time the government has used "deliberative polling," a type of poll developed by Stanford University to bring together a cross section of individuals to discuss an issue by themselves and with experts in order to gauge the opinion of a well-informed electorate, to develop national policy.

However, it's still unclear to what extent the results will be incorporated.