August 12 & 13, 2011
Old two-party system consisting of LDP and SPJ
Japan’s pro-nuclear energy policy started in 1955 with the collaboration of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Socialist Party of Japan (present Social Democratic Party of Japan). In 2011, under the current two-party system of the Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Democratic Party, a severe accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant occurred, proving that that policy was sheer folly. This article provides an overview of the link that existed between the two major party politics, old and new, and nuclear energy policy.
The Atomic Energy Basic Law stipulating promotion of research, development and use of atomic energy, was enacted at the 23rd extraordinary session of the Diet in December, 1955. Discussion over the bill was marked by its haste, with only four days of discussions in the two houses, two days in the Lower House and two days in the Upper House. The bill was proposed by Nakasone Yasuhiro (LDP) and endorsed by 421 Dietmembers. All the Lower House members of the LDP and the SPJ signed as sponsors of the bill.
In an informal joint atomic energy commission meeting held before the bill’s proposal, the LDP and the SPJ were already giving concrete shape to the emerging law. 20 days before presenting the bill, the two parties held a consultative meeting with the then Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) to obtain consent on the bill from the economic world.
The joint commission explained to Keidanren that the basic law should be aimed at democratically promoting research, development and use of atomic energy by “mobilizing non-partisan forces excluding the JCP” (Keidanren 10-year history, 1963). Obviously, the forces promoting nuclear energy were from the very start based on the principle of a two-party system and exclusion of the JCP.
At the opening of the House of Representatives Special Committee on Science and Technology meeting on December 3, 1955, in order to discuss the bill for the atomic energy basic law, Nakasone emphasized that the bill was worked out jointly by the two parties and was being proposed in the name of all House members. Nakasone gave the following reason for the bill being submitted on a nonpartisan basis: “It is deplorable that many people in Japan are taking a negative attitude toward Japan promoting atomic energy, and this should be eliminated at any cost.”
This statement shows that he had to take into consideration public anxiety about the safety of atomic energy after having undergone radiation contamination three times with Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the death ash falling on the fishing vessel Daigo Fukuryumaru.
SPJ Oka Ryoichi expressed his party’s approval of the bill, saying “We are completely for the bill.”
At that time in the Lower House, only the Japanese Communist Party and the Labor-Farmer Party objected the Atomic Energy Basic Law.
The Atomic Energy Basic Law, the core law of the series of laws related to nuclear energy, came into force on the 32nd day of the foundation of the LDP (November 15, 1955) through the unification of conservatives and the 64th day of the inauguration of the SPJ (October 13, 1955) through the unification of left-leaning and right-leaning factions.
The LDP in its founding party program included the policy of promoting atomic energy in response to the U.S. call for the supposed peaceful use of atomic energy.
The SPJ in 1957 came up with a policy concerning the peaceful use of atomic energy in which the party was enthusiastic about developing atomic energy. In its 1980 agreement with the Komei Party on forming a coalition government (SPJ-Komei Agreement), the SPJ confirmed its approval of nuclear power plant construction.
“Without the two parties’ (LDP, SPJ) cooperation, atomic energy policy would have suffered a major setback,” recalled former Lower House member Goto Shigeru (SPJ) regarding his experience in policy-making on nuclear energy (EIT Journal, July 2008 issue).
The LDP-SPJ two party system was what the Japanese business circles and the United States were strongly calling for. Kishi Michizo, chair of the Japanese Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai), at the Association’s national conference in November 1955 called on the LDP and the SPJ to close ranks and overcome any ideological differences in order to enable broader political cooperation between the two parties.
The Atomic Energy Basic Law, a key law in promoting nuclear energy, can be described as the first-born baby of the LDP-SPJ two-party politics.
New two-party system consisting of LDP and DPJ
During the process of creating the present two-party system consisting of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Japan, it was the DPJ that pushed the active promotion of nuclear power generation.
The key person in change of the DPJ energy policy was Kawabata Tatsuo, who currently chairs the party’s project team on nuclear energy policy. He revealed the inside story as follows:
“It took us three years to erase the word ‘transient’ and place nuclear energy as Japan’s ‘key’ energy source (in the party’s policy)” (magazine “Kaikakusha” in January 2011 edition).
Since its foundation in 1998, the DPJ had recognized nuclear power as “transient” energy in its energy policy. However, with the effort led by Kawabata, the party in its manifesto for the 2009 general election described atomic power as the nation’s ‘key’ energy and called on the national government to be responsible for the disposable of spent nuclear fuel as the electric power industry demands.
In the “Kaikakusha” interview, Kawabata explained that the change in the policy was part of the effort to introduce a two-party system. “We must support and maintain the foundation in which national policies on defense, food security, and energy will not stir an inch even if the ruling party changes,” he said.
This effort to review the party’s energy policy was launched at around the same time when Ozawa Ichiro became the DPJ’s president in April 2006.
One month later on May 22, the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) held a discussion meeting regarding the DPJ policy, and business leaders criticized the party’s ambivalent atomic energy policy. “Nuclear power generation must be promoted as national policy from both environmental and energy security viewpoints,” said Keidanren Vice Chairman, Katsumata Tsunehisa, who is now the chair of Tokyo Electric Power Company.
In September of the same year, the DPJ energy strategy committee compiled a draft of “Japan’s energy strategy” which described nuclear energy as the “key” and “essential” energy source for the nation. It also pledged to strengthen the effort to complete the nuclear-fuel cycle program.
In September 2009, the work of the energy strategy committee was succeeded by the energy policy commission, chaired by Kawabata, which completed the change of the party’s nuclear energy policy.
Japan’s pro-nuclear energy policy started in 1955 with the collaboration of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Socialist Party of Japan (present Social Democratic Party of Japan). In 2011, under the current two-party system of the Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Democratic Party, a severe accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant occurred, proving that that policy was sheer folly. This article provides an overview of the link that existed between the two major party politics, old and new, and nuclear energy policy.
The Atomic Energy Basic Law stipulating promotion of research, development and use of atomic energy, was enacted at the 23rd extraordinary session of the Diet in December, 1955. Discussion over the bill was marked by its haste, with only four days of discussions in the two houses, two days in the Lower House and two days in the Upper House. The bill was proposed by Nakasone Yasuhiro (LDP) and endorsed by 421 Dietmembers. All the Lower House members of the LDP and the SPJ signed as sponsors of the bill.
In an informal joint atomic energy commission meeting held before the bill’s proposal, the LDP and the SPJ were already giving concrete shape to the emerging law. 20 days before presenting the bill, the two parties held a consultative meeting with the then Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) to obtain consent on the bill from the economic world.
The joint commission explained to Keidanren that the basic law should be aimed at democratically promoting research, development and use of atomic energy by “mobilizing non-partisan forces excluding the JCP” (Keidanren 10-year history, 1963). Obviously, the forces promoting nuclear energy were from the very start based on the principle of a two-party system and exclusion of the JCP.
At the opening of the House of Representatives Special Committee on Science and Technology meeting on December 3, 1955, in order to discuss the bill for the atomic energy basic law, Nakasone emphasized that the bill was worked out jointly by the two parties and was being proposed in the name of all House members. Nakasone gave the following reason for the bill being submitted on a nonpartisan basis: “It is deplorable that many people in Japan are taking a negative attitude toward Japan promoting atomic energy, and this should be eliminated at any cost.”
This statement shows that he had to take into consideration public anxiety about the safety of atomic energy after having undergone radiation contamination three times with Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the death ash falling on the fishing vessel Daigo Fukuryumaru.
SPJ Oka Ryoichi expressed his party’s approval of the bill, saying “We are completely for the bill.”
At that time in the Lower House, only the Japanese Communist Party and the Labor-Farmer Party objected the Atomic Energy Basic Law.
The Atomic Energy Basic Law, the core law of the series of laws related to nuclear energy, came into force on the 32nd day of the foundation of the LDP (November 15, 1955) through the unification of conservatives and the 64th day of the inauguration of the SPJ (October 13, 1955) through the unification of left-leaning and right-leaning factions.
The LDP in its founding party program included the policy of promoting atomic energy in response to the U.S. call for the supposed peaceful use of atomic energy.
The SPJ in 1957 came up with a policy concerning the peaceful use of atomic energy in which the party was enthusiastic about developing atomic energy. In its 1980 agreement with the Komei Party on forming a coalition government (SPJ-Komei Agreement), the SPJ confirmed its approval of nuclear power plant construction.
“Without the two parties’ (LDP, SPJ) cooperation, atomic energy policy would have suffered a major setback,” recalled former Lower House member Goto Shigeru (SPJ) regarding his experience in policy-making on nuclear energy (EIT Journal, July 2008 issue).
The LDP-SPJ two party system was what the Japanese business circles and the United States were strongly calling for. Kishi Michizo, chair of the Japanese Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai), at the Association’s national conference in November 1955 called on the LDP and the SPJ to close ranks and overcome any ideological differences in order to enable broader political cooperation between the two parties.
The Atomic Energy Basic Law, a key law in promoting nuclear energy, can be described as the first-born baby of the LDP-SPJ two-party politics.
New two-party system consisting of LDP and DPJ
During the process of creating the present two-party system consisting of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Japan, it was the DPJ that pushed the active promotion of nuclear power generation.
The key person in change of the DPJ energy policy was Kawabata Tatsuo, who currently chairs the party’s project team on nuclear energy policy. He revealed the inside story as follows:
“It took us three years to erase the word ‘transient’ and place nuclear energy as Japan’s ‘key’ energy source (in the party’s policy)” (magazine “Kaikakusha” in January 2011 edition).
Since its foundation in 1998, the DPJ had recognized nuclear power as “transient” energy in its energy policy. However, with the effort led by Kawabata, the party in its manifesto for the 2009 general election described atomic power as the nation’s ‘key’ energy and called on the national government to be responsible for the disposable of spent nuclear fuel as the electric power industry demands.
In the “Kaikakusha” interview, Kawabata explained that the change in the policy was part of the effort to introduce a two-party system. “We must support and maintain the foundation in which national policies on defense, food security, and energy will not stir an inch even if the ruling party changes,” he said.
This effort to review the party’s energy policy was launched at around the same time when Ozawa Ichiro became the DPJ’s president in April 2006.
One month later on May 22, the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) held a discussion meeting regarding the DPJ policy, and business leaders criticized the party’s ambivalent atomic energy policy. “Nuclear power generation must be promoted as national policy from both environmental and energy security viewpoints,” said Keidanren Vice Chairman, Katsumata Tsunehisa, who is now the chair of Tokyo Electric Power Company.
In September of the same year, the DPJ energy strategy committee compiled a draft of “Japan’s energy strategy” which described nuclear energy as the “key” and “essential” energy source for the nation. It also pledged to strengthen the effort to complete the nuclear-fuel cycle program.
In September 2009, the work of the energy strategy committee was succeeded by the energy policy commission, chaired by Kawabata, which completed the change of the party’s nuclear energy policy.
