Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's push to restart nuclear power plants idled after the 2011 Fukushima disaster faces stiff opposition ahead of a general election on Sunday, in which his future as leader hangs in the balance if the vote is tight.
A decade after triple meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 plant forced mass evacuations and a shutdown of the nuclear industry, Japan has restarted only a third of its 33 operable reactors.
Debate over whether to fire more of them back up is highly charged, with 40% of the population opposing the move.