Japan’s Nuclear Power and Anti-Nuclear Movement 
 from a Socio-Historical Perspective 
Eiji Oguma
Keio University

1. Introduction 

The March 2011 earthquake disaster and nuclear power plant accident have drawn attention 

to the place held in society of nuclear power plants. This paper will examine Japan’s nuclear 

power and anti-nuclear power movement from a historic and social perspective. 

To state my conclusion, Japan’s nuclear power shows a microcosm of the social structure 

built from the 1960s to the 1980s during the period Japan was referred to as “Japan as Number 

One.” In addressing the issue of nuclear power, it behooves us to rethink this history. 

2. Industrialized Society and Nuclear Power 

Construction of nuclear power plants in Japan peaked from the 1960s to 1997. The various 

economic indicators show that Japan’s economy peaked in the latter 1990s. Retail sales and 

publications peaked in 1996, while in 2000 the volume of domestic freight transported and new 

automobile sales peaked. “Cool Japan” was no exception to this trend, with the most popular 

manga magazine Shōnen Jump recording a circulation of 6.53 million in 1995, while it fell to 

280,000 in 2008. 

In addition this trend is related to the expansion of the income gap and the increase in 

poverty. Deflationary tendencies continue, with consumer prices falling and starting salaries for 

university graduates hardly rising since 1995. With the increase in the number of temporary 

workers, the average annual wages of workers in Japan had decreased during the past 20 years, 

from 5.2 million yen to 4.6 million yen (c. $ 63,000 to c. $ 56,000). This indicates that the gap 

between the earnings of university graduate permanent employees and other workers is 

expanding. Whereas in 1995 those on social welfare numbered 880,000, by 2011 the number 

grew to 2 million. 

These circumstances show that Japan has changed considerably since the days of “Japan as 

Number One.” I will organize my points on these matters from the perspective of the “shift from 

an industrialized society to a post-industrialized society.” 

When can we say Japan became an industrialized society? It was 1965 when the number of ..................