Japan Press Weekly

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2011 August 17 - 23 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Media, the driving force of ‘safety myth’

A speech calling for “Atoms for Peace” delivered by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower at the U.N. General Assembly on December 1953 set the stage for international politics to discuss peaceful uses of atomic energy.

Yomiuri Shimbun

Yomiuri Shimbun, a major commercial daily, was the first media outlet in Japan to respond positively to that call. Shoriki Matsutaro owned this newspaper. As he strived for the introduction of nuclear power generation into Japan, he was later dubbed “Japan’s atomic father.” The daily in January 1954 started a one-month serial writing about the mechanism, the power, and the introduction of nuclear energy.

The first installment in the serial stated, “Atomic bombs and extremely dangerous radiation – when all is said and done, this represents an unfair characterization of atomic energy.” This article appeared just eight years and five months after the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

On March 1, 1954, the Japanese fishing boat Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Lucky Dragon #5) was showered with radioactive fallout from a U.S. hydrogen bomb test explosion at the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. With this as a trigger, the anti-nuke movement in Japan gained momentum.

The media conducted a major campaign propounding the nuclear “safety myth” in order to not have the public associate the Bikini incident with nuclear power generation. Yomiuri Shimbun from August 12 to August 22, 1954 held an exhibition promoting atomic energy at Tokyo’s popular department store, Isetan, to illustrate the difference between atomic bombs and atomic energy. The fallout debris from the H-bomb test blast and the helm of the Daigo Fukuryu Maru also went on display in the exhibition.

Nihon Keizai Shimbun

Nihon Keizai Shimbun, a leading economic paper, in May 1954 began a series of articles in favor of the practical usage of nuclear energy.

Asahi Shimbun

Asahi Shimbun, another major daily, used to be an opponent of atomic energy generation until March 1954 when a budget for nuclear reactors was submitted to the Diet. The paper often ran editorials calling for the elimination of such a budget. However, after the introduction of nuclear power generation following the enactment of the budget, Asahi Shimbun took a 180-degree turn. It began carrying articles on global studies and research favoring nuclear power.

Mainichi Shimbun

Newspapers in October 1955 adopted the slogan, “Papers are atoms for world peace” for that year’s “newspaper week”. Regarding this slogan, Mainichi Shimbun’s editorial board member Tamaki Kenji recalls, “At that time, it was believed that ‘peaceful uses’ of atomic power would provide a limitless source of energy and would contribute to the development of industry.” That was the successful culmination of the media hype.

Expo

The “exposition of the peaceful use of atomic power” fueled the favorable acceptance toward nuclear energy. Yomiuri Shimbun and the U.S. Embassy co-hosted the expo in Tokyo’s Hibiya Park in November and December 1955, displaying a model reactor and equipment for processing nuclear fuel. The expo created an atmosphere of a rosy future thanks to nuclear energy. For the next three years, the expo took place at 20 locations across the country. In each locality, the U.S. Embassy and a local daily co-sponsored the expo.

Study tour

The media exerted itself to promote nuclear energy together with the business world. In October 1968, six persons from the Newspaper Association and the Atomic Industrial Forum went on a tour to the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Norway for more than 40 days to observe the status of nuclear energy development. The head of the tour delegation, Fukuda Teruaki of NHK, reported after the study tour that it is necessary to encourage the public to understand the safety of atomic energy and convince them of the need to rapidly move ahead with nuclear development in Japan.

The media was trying to change the opinions of the people who were still experiencing an atomic “allergy” from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and help them accept the nuclear “safety myth”. The glowing report of the tour clearly revealed the determination of the media as members of the “community of interest” that was to benefit from the expansion of nuclear power generation.