Fukushima's fallout still radiates across Japan

Ten years on from the nuclear disaster, Japan's trauma may be holding back its fight against climate change

Paper lanterns are lit to commemorate the victims of an earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in 2011. More than 2,000 candles with messages will be on display until March 11. EPA

Lit candles are arranged to spell out "memory" and "connecting future" at the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum in Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture. AFP

Candles spell out "memory" and "connecting future" at the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum to mark the 10th anniversary of a 9.0-magnitude earthquake that caused a tsunami and nuclear disaster, killing about 16,000 people. AFP

Residents of Hisanohama change Gohei, strips of paper used in a Shinto ritual, on a traditional Japanese gate in front of a memorial for the victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Reuters

Paper lanterns are lit to mark the 10th anniversary of a devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan. EPA

More than 2,000 candles have been used in a display to commemorate those killed by an earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011. EPA

A paper lantern bearing the Japanese character for "bonds" forms part of a display to mark the 10th anniversary of a devastating earthquake and tsunami. EPA

A stray dog looks back at the destruction left by a tsunami that struck the Odaka area of Minamisoma, a city inside the evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors. Part of the area is still a no-go zone. AP

People visit a memorial for the victims of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Namie, Japan. Ceremonies to mark the 10th anniversary of the disaster are expected to be scaled back because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Getty

A woman visits a memorial for the victims of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Namie, Japan. The magnitude-9.0 earthquake was one of the most powerful ever recorded. Getty

Top, a ship washed inland to the city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, by the tsunami that struck Japan in 2011; below, the same area nearly 10 years later. AFP

Top, the town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, was damaged by the tsunami on March 11, 2011; below, and the same area 10 years. AFP

Top, the effects of the 2011 tsunami on the port town of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture; below, the same area nearly 10 years later. AFP

Top, a flooded street in an area of Tagajo, Miyagi Prefecture, hit by the tsunami in 2011; below, the same area about 10 years later. AFP

Left, a road is littered with vehicles in Tagajo, Miyagi Prefecture, after a devastating tsunami in 2011; right, the same area 10 years later. AFP

Police in Miyagi Prefecture offer silent prayers for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in 2011 before searching for evidence of people still missing. AFP

A child and her father look at a candle at the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum in Futaba, Japan. The magnitude-9.0 earthquake shifted the Earth on its axis by estimates of up to 25 centimetres. Getty

Ukedo beach in Namie, Japan. Ceremonies to mark the 10th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake, tsunami and triple nuclear meltdown are expected to be scaled back because of the pandemic. Getty

From top to bottom, an area east of Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, in 2010; flooded fields and destroyed homes after the 2011 tsunami struck; the area in August 2020. AP

From top to bottom, Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, in 2006; eight days after the tsunami struck; the same area in April 2020. AP

From top to bottom, Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, in 2006; eight days after the tsunami swept through; the same area in April 2020. AP

From top to bottom, Sendai Airport in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, in 2010; a day after the 2011 tsunami struck; the same area in August 2020. AP

In a recent episode of the Netflix documentary series Unsolved Mysteries, residents of Japan's Tohoku region describe their encounters with spirits in the wake of one of the greatest tragedies to befall the island nation. On this day 10 years ago, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake – the strongest ever recorded in Japan – and a resulting tsunami killed nearly 20,000 people in the areas surrounding the country's eastern coast, displacing hundreds of thousands of others and destroying livelihoods, property and infrastructure.

Tsunami Spirits is a gripping 48-minute documentary that is interspersed with spine-chilling re-enactments of "ghost sightings". It is thought-provoking, as you hear both sides of an oft-made argument: do spirits really exist or are they simply paranormal sightings made by those undergoing trauma? But for the most part, it is a melancholic story of a largely rural part of Japan that has been left depressed and, yes, haunted by the March 11, 2011 disaster.

One, however, doesn't have to believe in ghosts to be haunted by the tragedy. Its economic, environmental and psychological after-effects can be seen and felt across the region to this day. But the deepest, most far-reaching and perhaps longest-lasting impact is how it has greatly dimmed the Japanese public's view of nuclear energy – which, in turn, could undermine the government's efforts to achieve carbon-neutrality by 2050.

The now-defunct Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant serves as a painful reminder of the disaster. How it came to be destroyed by the tsunami is a long and complicated story, but in a nutshell, the flooded facility lost power, resulting in a meltdown in three of its reactors. Radiation levels spiked in the following few days after one of the reactors’ walls was damaged by a blast, forcing the evacuation of more than 160,000 people. Widespread anger, initially directed at Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) for its mismanagement and poor communication, evolved into an anti-nuclear movement that forced the government to shut down all the country’s 54 nuclear reactors.

These closures have led to unintended and unpleasant consequences, including a gradual rise in air pollution, as Japan turned to coal and liquefied petroleum gas for its power. They have also hurt the average citizen’s pocket, with electricity rates going up nearly 40 per cent in subsequent years. Nuclear power is cheaper than other sources and had greatly benefited an energy resource-poor country like Japan for decades. The relatively less space taken up by nuclear power plants, compared to solar and wind farms, had been a bonus to the mountainous and thickly forested chain of islands.

But the most profound impact of the closures is on Japan's climate fight.

As part of its commitment to the 2015 Paris climate accord, the government is banking on nuclear energy for it to reach its carbon-neutrality goal in three decades' time. But Tokyo's shorter-term pledge, to cut emissions by 26 per cent by 2030, has already hit a snag: nuclear energy currently accounts for just six per cent of Japan's energy mix, falling well short of the 22 per cent requirement (before the Fukushima tragedy, nuclear had accounted for 30 per cent of the mix). Grassroots opposition to the reopening of the country's nuclear plants is strong: almost 40 per cent of those consistently polled want all plants shut down permanently. Local governments, which have jurisdiction over these plants, are wary of reopening them. Courts, meanwhile, are turning down appeals to do so.

Tokyo can only sway minds by winning back the public trust

The likelihood of missing the 2030 target is already raising questions about whether the 2050 goal is feasible. As the world’s fifth-largest greenhouse gas emitter, Japan’s energy future is critical in the global efforts to tackle climate change. But clearly, public opinion has put the government in an extremely difficult position.

There may be a temptation for those who follow Japan's post-war history to suggest that Tokyo can win over a reticent public on nuclear matters. It took only a decade after the US dropped atom bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing more than 200,000 people, for Japan's first research reactor to hit first criticality, which is the normal operating condition of a reactor.

Bloomberg’s Stephen Stapczynski has written in depth about how the Japanese and US governments worked with Japan’s largest corporations and media outlets to shape public opinion in favour of nuclear energy. Within 15 years, government enacted a law making nuclear energy development a strategic priority. And between 1970 and 2010, it installed 54 reactors.

It would be a mistake for nuclear proponents to hope that such a campaign in Japan could be repeated at such speed. That the Fukushima disaster was an accident and not the result of an attack by an external enemy makes the comparison irrelevant to begin with. But even if one was to do it, the mood is decisively more sombre today than it was in the 1950s for a variety of reasons. That Japan is earthquake-prone is also a source of concern; just last month Fukushima was hit by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake.

The disaster killed almost 20,000 people. Reuters

Tokyo can only sway minds by winning back the public trust. For this, it will need to work much harder at information-sharing and transparency. According to a Bloomberg report, the ministry of economy has still to confirm to the country’s influential chamber of commerce its plans to build new reactors – a necessary step towards increasing nuclear production by 2050. Could the announcement of commissioning next-generation reactors with updated technologies not help improve confidence?

Much is desired, too, by way of clarity from key government-run companies. Tepco, which continues to be viewed with scepticism, has conceded that its website can be better presented so that the information it puts out can be more easily understood. A tendency to bury data and downplay bad news, as it has done in the past, will only further raise public suspicions.

What happened in and around Fukushima on that fateful day 10 years ago was no doubt incredibly tragic and the Japanese public will be haunted by it for many, many years to come. This makes Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's task of rebuilding the country's nuclear industry that much more difficult – something even Shinzo Abe, his predecessor, failed to complete with considerably more political capital. Worryingly for Mr Suga – and the country's nuclear proponents – the clock is ticking.

Chitrabhanu Kadalayil is an assistant comment editor at The National