For how much longer will Japan’s fate remain in the hands of amateurs? via The Japan Times

Special to The Japan Times

As we enter into a new year in which last year’s greatest event is still, dreadfully, uppermost in the mind of everyone in Japan, let’s pause to think hard about the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, the tsunami it triggered, and the release into the environment of radioactive substances from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

Since then, Japanese society has turned its attention — in the government at all levels, the media, educational institutions, artistic fields — to a single question: How can the Japanese people rediscover the sense of accomplishment and hope that sustained them for decades following the end of World War II in 1945?

The fact is, however, that this question cannot be seriously addressed before another is answered: Can Japan, a country so prone to seismic disaster, move ahead in the 21st century while still maintaining nuclear facilities that may cause even worse radiation-related disasters in the future?

What is the risk of another Fukushima-type catastrophe, perhaps on an even more frightening scale, taking place — and is that risk worth taking?

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