Three months after his defeat in the Tokyo gubernatorial race, former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa has teamed up once again with fellow ex-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to renew their effort to abolish nuclear power, even as the central government takes steps to revive it.
On Wednesday, the pair, joined by prominent scholars and activists, launched a council against nuclear power called Japan Assembly for Nuclear Free Renewable Energy.
"The Japanese people have a spirit sturdy enough to overcome even the most adversarial situations," Koizumi said at the launch. "It's a wonderful idea to create a country that relies on renewable energy and I am confident that we can make a better society."