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.