This essay argues that the hydrogen explosions at Fukushima Daiichi were caused not by technology but by emotional political decisions.
By exposing the actions of Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, Prime Minister Naoto Kan, and complicit media narratives, it reveals how emotion-driven politics obstructed critical decision-making at a historic moment.

“Politics Must Not Be Judged by Emotion” — The Fatal Emotional Politics Behind Fukushima
2017-02-11

The following is a continuation of the previous chapter.
I was the first person in the world to write that the hydrogen explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant were largely caused by the then Democratic Party administration.
There were profound reasons behind the disastrous response of the Naoto Kan administration.
When the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred, by sheer misfortune, neither the chairman nor the president of TEPCO was at company headquarters.
In other words, the two key decision-makers were absent.
The chairman was visiting China.
The president was on a business trip in the Kansai region and attempted to return to Tokyo urgently.
He eventually reached Nagoya and was preparing to return to Tokyo that very day via a Self-Defense Forces helicopter from Komaki Airport.
At that critical moment, the man most essential to responding to what was unfolding at Fukushima Daiichi was turned back from Komaki Airport due to an unbelievable emotional argument.
That man was Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa.
He ordered, “It is outrageous that a civilian is using a Self-Defense Forces helicopter in this emergency. Turn back immediately.”
At the site, they believed that venting was the only remaining option, but no decision could be made in the absence of the president.
The following morning, Prime Minister Naoto Kan—perhaps sensing that the political tide had shifted decisively against him and seeking to leave an impression on the public—flew to the site by helicopter.
He did so while allowing television cameras aboard, broadcasting the scene to the nation.
This was despite the fact that all of Japan and the world already knew, through news reports, of the catastrophic devastation inflicted by the tsunami on my hometown of Yuriage—an image no one could ever forget.
At that moment, I felt deep rage and concluded that this man, Naoto Kan, was the worst prime minister in history.
The prime minister was coming.
The president was absent.
There was no way venting could be authorized.
Venting would inevitably release radioactive material into the air.
The current issue of Nikkei Business not only features the above remarks by Toshimi Kitazawa prominently at the beginning, but also highlights his words as this week’s quote of the week: “Politics must not be judged by emotion.”
I was utterly astonished—deeply and sincerely—at the outrageous falsehood and cruelty of the media, led by the Asahi Shimbun.