Mar 14, 2012

Renew commitment to building a new Japan

by Yoshihiko Noda

March 11 is etched in Japan’s collective consciousness. Sunday, on the first anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, which triggered the starkest crisis our country has faced in a generation, we commemorated all of those who suffered. Our thoughts went out to all ...

| Mar 12, 2012

Power reform now or never

Taking advantage of the serious difficulties besetting Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) since the catastrophe at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the Democratic Party of Japan government is pushing a series of measures to restructure the outdated way in which the electric ...

Mar 5, 2012

Restructuring Japan's power industry market

by Masahiko Aoki

Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter argued that the “process of creative destruction,” whereby new industries are created by destroying the old combinations and creating new ones, is essential to drive growth. Japan’s electric power industry finds itself at such an evolutionary crossroads. The 3/11 Fukushima ...

Mar 5, 2012

Much to learn from crisis report

A report made public Feb. 27 by a private-sector independent panel set up by the Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation reveals in detail how the government handled the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. Citing factors that exacerbated the ...

Feb 27, 2012

Tradeoff in nuclear power

by Takamitsu Sawa

Trade and industry minister Yukio Edano was quoted by a major vernacular paper earlier this year as saying that the government is contemplating changing the policy of promoting nuclear power generation as a national project in which operations are entrusted to private sector electric ...

Jan 27, 2012

Power users on the hook

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Jan. 17 that it will seek an average 17 percent hike in electricity rates from April for some 240,000 enterprises having contracts for 50 kW or more. It hopes to raise some ¥400 billion annually through the hike and ...

Jan 22, 2012

Protesting nuclear power

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Yokohama the weekend of Jan. 14-15 to show their support for a nuclear power-free world. Organizers of the Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World claimed 6,000 participants from some 30 countries on the first ...

Jan 18, 2012

Loyalty alone is not enough

by Hugh Cortazzi

Japanese have been taught over the centuries that loyalty is the supreme virtue. Loyalty to Japan and to the emperor was inculcated into every child in prewar Japan. The emphasis now seems to be on loyalty to the company employing you, loyalty to your ...

Jan 9, 2012

Prepare for decontamination

Decontamination — financed with government money — of areas contaminated with radioactive substances released by Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant will start this year. As a preparatory step, the government has designated 102 municipalities in Fukushima and seven ...

Jan 4, 2012

Ties that continue in 2012

Choosing the word of the year for 2011 must not have been easy, but kizuna, meaning bonds or ties, was an excellent choice that will be important in this coming year as well. The Japan Kanji Association announced its choice at Kiyomizu Temple in ...

Jan 1, 2012

Quality of governance in 2012

Even though the new year has started, it is impossible for people in Japan to put 2011 behind them. The effects of the March 11 triple disasters — the magnitude-9 earthquake followed by the massive tsunami that devastated the Tohoku coastal area, plus the ...