ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, examining it from the perspective of environmental justice while comparing it to Minamata, Yokkaichi, and other major pollution problems of postwar Japan. In particular, the chapter focuses on injustices such as the unequal distribution of nuclear-accident risk, the nuclear accident’s destruction of people’s livelihoods, and the geographical disparity in compensation and assistance measures. These injustices stem from problems with Japan’s nuclear damage compensation system and reconstruction policy. For that reason, nuclear accident victims have since 2012 filed collective lawsuits around the nation with the aim of correcting those problems. Lawsuit movements in the four major pollution incidents and other pollution incidents of postwar Japan have induced policy formation by the government and municipalities, with results such as the reinforcement of environmental regulations and the creation of damage compensation systems. Collective lawsuits by nuclear accident victims are learning from this past experience.
