Why Fukushima Became “Fukushima” — Policy Failures and the Guilt of the Mass Media;
Fukushima became “Fukushima” not by nature but by the failures of the government. Japan’s media never investigated the prime minister’s missteps, nor SoftBank’s opportunism, while Korea and China expanded nuclear power under state capitalism. This essay exposes how Japan’s press ignored true accountability and simply fueled anti-nuclear hysteria.

A 2013 Indictment: Why Did Fukushima Become “Fukushima”? The Unreported Truth and the Reality of State Capitalism;
This 2013 commentary critically examines the Japanese mass media’s coverage of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and the government’s handling of the crisis. The author argues that the government’s ineptitude exacerbated the accident, and while the media fanned anti-nuclear sentiment, neighboring South Korea and China actively scouted Japanese nuclear engineers and continued to pursue “state capitalism,” maintaining low electricity costs. The piece contends that the Japanese media failed to verify the truth, prioritizing ratings over journalistic integrity.

On Nuclear Power. February 1, 2013.

I have continued to state that it was the government of the time that turned Fukushima into “Fukushima.” If the administration then had not been what it was, Fukushima would not have become “Fukushima.” If anyone can deny this assertion of mine, I would like to meet them.

Who can claim that the sequence of events that led to the hydrogen explosions was not due to the incompetence of that government? Now, as violence and bullying in sports and education are being exposed, was not that administration — whose only recourse was to shout — the epitome of power harassment?

On the morning of March 11, the very newspaper that had made him prime minister — Asahi Shimbun — ran on its front page a fatal scoop exposing his scandal. The majority of Japanese people wanted him to resign at once. Everyone thought: “Ah, at last he will quit.” He alone clung desperately to the office of prime minister. But that article was the final blow. The Diet session convened that day must have been meaningless to him. And then the great earthquake struck.

Did he face the earthquake with sincerity? The answer is no.
On top of that, the chairman and president of TEPCO were not even in Tokyo. The chairman was in China, the president on a business trip in Kansai. That evening, when the president finally prepared to return via helicopter from the Nagoya Self-Defense Forces base, the defense minister ordered, “How arrogant for a mere private company. Return to the base.” Thus he was forced to stay in Nagoya overnight.

The next morning, when every second counted, the prime minister flew to the site with television cameras on board. No one conducts venting while the prime minister is present. All measures were suspended. To this day, Japan’s mass media have never properly investigated this. TEPCO was nationalized; the dead tell no tales.

At that moment, there was one man who suddenly headed to Fukushima: Masayoshi Son. He promoted anti-nuclear sentiment, pushed through the 42-yen solar feed-in tariff, and told the prime minister, “Stay in office as long as you like.” Everyone of conscience in Japan remembers how disgraceful it was. This man, who clung to the premiership at all costs, was testified by many as someone who should never have been prime minister. And it was precisely in this man’s death throes that the businessman Son ingratiated himself and secured his entry into new fields.

At the time, the documents he presented included Japanese panel prices, but what he actually used were Chinese or Korean products. Unsurprisingly, costs fell sharply, and thus the purchase price will soon be revised.

I have written before: the truth is state capitalism. It is only Japan’s mass media that, from such circumstances, blindly fan anti-nuclear sentiment. Yet Korea and China did not stop nuclear power after Fukushima. On the contrary. The Korean government saw it as a great opportunity and immediately began scouting Japanese nuclear engineers. China did the same. It is common global knowledge that Japan’s nuclear technology is superior to theirs. And yet Son dared to say ridiculous things like, “Korea has no earthquakes, so Korean nuclear plants are safe,” or “Japanese nuclear plants are bad, but Korean ones are good.”

Today we see on television constant reports about nuclear power regulations. Are Korea, China, or India building their nuclear plants under standards as strict as Japan’s? As long as nuclear power is debated in terms of radiation, if Japan’s strict standards are not adopted worldwide, what is the point? In particular, under what standards are Korea and China building their reactors? If Japan’s media were true journalism, they would make this clear. But they have not.

From the very beginning, Japan’s media have never thoroughly investigated the essential question: Why did Fukushima become “Fukushima”? They merely inflamed anti-nuclear sentiment.

Korea has not only continued its currency-devaluation policy but also, as a state, kept electricity rates artificially low. In other words, it has consistently practiced state capitalism in electricity. Yet not a single line of this reality is covered by Japan’s mass media — especially not television news programs.

Instead, just the other night on NHK Watch 9, after reporting that Germany was complaining about Japan’s weak yen, the female anchor blandly said, “Yes, because the yen is falling rapidly.” I do not blame her personally. But how astonishingly poor was that remark! My readers will understand my dismay without needing me to say more. Documentaries may be fine, but NHK’s news still has serious problems — I am not the only one who thinks so.