Paper short abstract:

By formulating the hypothesis that the Fukushima nuclear accident should be analyzed within the scope of a system – the Japanese nuclear village – that started in Tôkaimura (1957), this paper analyzes how the start-up of the first Japanese reactor was covered by the Japanese press.

Paper long abstract:

More than half a century before the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan's first nuclear power was generated by the JRR-1 experimental reactor at Tôkaimura (Ibaraki). The town – where Japan's worst nuclear accident before Fukushima happened – was chosen after fierce debates between political opponents to host the country's first reactor, with the support of a major media campaign extolling the merits of nuclear energy and its benefits for the town’s economy.

The reactor’s construction, pompously celebrated, was highly symbolic for a country affected by the atomic bomb, who needed to meet strong electricity demand. It was above all the cornerstone of the Japanese nuclear industry, introducing the famous boiling water reactor technology and enabling the training of the future builders of a flourishing industry.

By formulating the hypothesis that the Fukushima accident should be analyzed within the scope of a system – the Japanese nuclear village – that started in Tôkaimura, this paper analyzes how the start-up of the first Japanese reactor was covered by the newspapers Asahi Shinbun, Mainichi Shinbun, Yomiuri Shinbun and Ibaraki Shinbun. After providing an overview of nuclear power promotion in post-war Japan, this paper will analyze the media coverage of Japan’s first nuclear reactor through It will show that, beyond the numerous articles celebrating the birth of a "third fire" (Dai-san no hi), as nuclear energy was often referred to, problems highlighted after March 11, 2011 – such as seismic risks, the lack of waterproofing, but also working conditions in the nuclear sector, the lack of scientific knowledge or the opposition to civil nuclear power – have been prominent right from the very beginning of the nuclear power project.

Paper short abstract:

This year marks ten years since the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in Japan. This paper is the first attempt at comprehensively investigating the manner in which Japanese major newspapers have critically responded to the disaster and nuclear power policies in the last ten years.

Paper long abstract:

This year marks ten years since the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in Japan. It became the catalyst for a clamour among the nation’s media to call for a ban of nuclear power in Japan, a country with over 50 nuclear power stations.

In 1945, in the final days of the Second World War, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Following this experience, the construction of nuclear power plants and the development of nuclear power for peaceful ends were pursued as a national policy and became an important part of the post-war national identity of the Japanese. The miraculous economic development of post-war Japan was linked in popular discourse with the so-called ‘dream of atomic power’ and the ‘myth of atomic safety’. For this reason, up until the Fukushima disaster, nuclear power enjoyed the support of the majority of the public in Japan.

The Fukushima disaster, however, changed everything. Public opinion has shifted with the majority of Japan’s population keen to see the end of nuclear power. Most deserving of attention is the post-disaster shift towards an anti-nuclear stance that occurred amongst the many Japanese members of the mass media who had until then supported the nation’s nuclear policy.

The purpose of this study is to explore how and why Japanese media have changed from before Fukushima, what they have then achieved, and what problems they involve. This study’s target is the editorials of Japanese national newspapers for the 10 years since the Fukushima accident. Three major newspapers, Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, and Tōkyō Shimbun changed their positions after Fukushima and have presented numerous (1,974) editorials that articulated an anti-nuclear stance. These are the analysis subjects. Concerning methodology, this research adopts an interdisciplinary approach but is mainly based on a frame and content analysis, combining both a qualitative and quantitative approach. This study is the first attempt at comprehensively investigating the manner in which Japanese newspapers have critically responded to the disaster and nuclear power policies in the last ten years.

Paper short abstract:

The aim of this paper is to revisit the Thalidomide crisis of the 1960s, assessing the impact of this crisis on Japanese society, as well as analyzing images of "Thalidomide babies".

Paper long abstract:

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Thalidomide – a medication hailed as “an ideal sleep drug” – caused a mass panic when children with various deformities were born as a consequence of its use. The problem first became apparent in Europe, and then also in Japan, where the drug was being sold under brand names Isomin and Proban M. Children born with various birth defects became known as “Thalidomide babies” or “Seal babies” (azarashikko) due to short hands, and their existence became subject of discussion in newspapers, medical and legal journals, as well as women’s magazines, not least because this was not a “natural” but a “man-made” disability, caused by pharmaceutical industry.

The aim of this paper is to analyze images of “Thalidomide babies” in various publications and newspapers, as well as to assess the impact that this crisis had on policies aimed at people with disabilities. It suggests that while these babies, as other disabled children, were most often perceived as “unhappy” and “miserable”, they were also considered to be “elite” among the disabled and were often used by media to motivate able-bodied people (“inspiration porn”). It also suggests that this crisis led to both positive and negative disability policies, prompted transnational parent movements, as well as created new discourses about disabilities.