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Paper short abstract

More than fifteen years after Fukushima, environmental and health controversies persist. This paper examines how civil society organizations have become professionalized watchdogs in radiation governance, while their growing responsibilities paradoxically sustain neoliberal state retreat.

Paper long abstract

More than fifteen years have passed since the Fukushima nuclear disaster, yet major environmental and health issues remain unresolved. These include the ocean discharge of tritium contaminated water, the nationwide reuse of radioactive soil generated through decontamination work, and more than four hundred diagnosed cases of thyroid cancer among individuals who were children at the time of the accident. During this period, the Japanese state has pursued a neoliberal policy course that downplays contamination risks while shifting responsibilities for monitoring, care, and support onto individuals and civil society organizations in order to reduce public expenditure.

This dynamic reflects the structure of Japanese civil society conceptualized by Pekkanen (2006). While many local civil society organizations function as “cheap subcontractors” supporting the implementation of government policies, national level advocacy-oriented organizations that challenge state policies have remained weak in terms of resources and political opportunities. After Fukushima, advocacy-oriented organizations have continued to face severe financial constraints. Nevertheless, their activities have become increasingly professionalized and grounded in scientific knowledge, particularly in the field of radiation protection (Löschke 2025). This raises the question of how these organizations have sustained long term engagement with the enduring effects of the nuclear disaster despite limited resources and declining public attention.

Civil society organizations now operate as watchdogs in environmental and health governance. A central point of contention concerns the increase in pediatric thyroid cancer cases. Official committees attribute this rise to a so-called screening effect and deny any causal relationship with radiation exposure. In response, civil society actors have challenged this narrative by inviting independent scientific experts and producing counter evidence. They also contest the ocean discharge of contaminated water and the reuse of radioactive soil through scientific and legal interventions.

This presentation argues that while civil society organizations have become indispensable providers of legal, scientific, and psychological support, their role remains paradoxical. By compensating for state inaction, they risk reinforcing neoliberal governance by reducing pressure on the state to assume responsibility. The paper illustrates how civil society in post Fukushima Japan navigates both its expanded capacities and its structural limitations.