ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 examines the anti-nuclear arguments advanced by Japan’s newspapers and television stations. After the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster, many of Japan’s newspapers adopted explicitly anti-nuclear positions, announced in their editorials. This chapter compares the anti-nuclear arguments made in three major papers: Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, and Tōkyō Shimbun. TV stations, meanwhile, broadcast an unprecedented number of programmes relating to nuclear power following the disaster. Of these, the author considers some special programming from the national broadcaster NHK, including the ETV special feature, and three major documentaries produced by commercial broadcasters: NNN Dokyumento by the NNN group, Terementarī by the ANN group, and Hōdō no Tamashii by TBS. Through this investigation, this chapter shows how arguments and ideas found in newspapers and TV stations have changed in content, from the early days of nuclear power in Japan to the Fukushima disaster and the present day. The result was the post-Fukushima emergence of various arguments which were sceptical of nuclear power. Nevertheless, the author concludes that the discussion has gradually weakened, and on the whole, both newspapers and television stations have not undergone any serious shift after Fukushima regarding matters of justice or similar meta-political concerns.
