Media surveys ahead of Sunday’s upper house election show that Japanese voters are placing the economy above all other issues, including the future of nuclear energy use. That appears to be true even in the prefecture of Fukushima, home to the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant that was the country’s worst-ever nuclear accident.
The Liberal Democratic Party is the only major party not proposing an eventual end to Japan’s use of nuclear energy, putting its Fukushima candidate in a difficult spot. Masako Mori, a current minister in Mr. Abe’s Cabinet, has avoided raising the issue of restarts during her campaign. But strong support and hopes for Mr. Abe and his economic policy mix of monetary easing, fiscal spending and pro-growth measures appear to be overriding any concerns over LDP’s pro-nuclear position, even in Fukushima.
Continue reading at Fukushima Watch: Abenomics Trumps Nuclear Issue in Fukushima
