Although all Japan's 50 reactors have been shut down since September, cleaning up in the wake of the March 2011 meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is making very slow progress and tens of thousands of people still live in temporary accommodation or are internally displaced. In addition, every day irradiated water from the site is flowing into the Pacific.
Meanwhile, as the former CIA contractor Edward Snowden continues to reveal the West's hidden agendas targeting its own citizens, Japan's national Diet has just passed a draconian new secrets law.
During 2013, rather than writing directly about the nuclear disaster, all this has led many dramatists in Japan to question the state of this country as a whole — and to sound alarm bells about its future.