Japan’s Nuclear Crisis: The Routes to Responsibility

266 Pages·2012·1.979 MB·English

by  Susan Carpenter (auth.)

Japan’s Nuclear Crisis
This page intentionally left blank
Japan’s Nuclear Crisis
The Routes to Responsibility
Susan Carpenter
© Susan Carpenter 2012
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2012 978-0-230-35492-0
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this
work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2012 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-34673-8 ISBN 978-0-230-36371-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230363717
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing
processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the
country of origin.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12
Contents
Timeline ix
Annual Average Exchange Rates xiv
Acronyms and Abbreviations xv
Introduction 1
Consequences of the nuclear crisis: agriculture, fisheries 8
Consequences of the nuclear crisis: Fukushima residents 11
Consequences of the nuclear crisis: Fukushima Daiichi workers 12
‘Information-sharing’ is not a buzz-word in
government agencies 14
Institutional reforms postponed 15
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant: an impending disaster 17
Where does the buck stop? 20
The same old story 23
The routes to responsibility 25
Perceptions of Japan Inc.: busting myths 25
1 Independent Administrative Institutions: In Name Only 28
The push for reforms: the perfect opportunity 31
Reforms according to Koizumi: FILP 35
Reforms according to Koizumi: enthusiastic support
from the opposition 36
The privatization of the Japan Highway Corporation:
unenthusiastic support from the LDP and the ministries 38
Special Corporations: consequences of amakudari 40
The liquidation of a failed Special Corporation: Government
Housing and Loan Guarantee Corporation 41
The image of reform: Urban Development Corporation 42
The image of reform: Japan National Oil Corporation 42
The image of reform: Japan External Trade Organization 43
Manipulation of operations to maintain JETRO 44
The disguise: convincing the Japanese media 46
The disguise: convincing the American media 48
The disguise: convincing Koizumi 48
JETRO’s ‘core focus’: sowing the seeds of the ministry 49
Holding on to a good thing 50
v
vi Contents
2 Amakudari in the Ministries’ IAIs, Public Corporations,
Research Institutes and Affiliated Agencies:
the Insidious Side 52
No reforms in sight 54
Manifestations of amakudari: IAI/public corporations 56
Issues arising in research institutes 58
A consequence of amakudari in IAIs: bid-rigging 60
A consequence of amakudari in an IAI: incompetent
management of the Social Insurance Agency 61
Scandal and super-amakudari in a government corporation:
Japan Post 65
Everything old is new again 69
3 ‘Information-Sharing’ is Not a Buzz-Word in Japan:
Press Clubs Insulate an Insular Political Economy 71
Press clubs: information cartels control the flow of information 72
The whole truth and nothing but the truth 76
Press clubs and Japan Inc. 78
4 Elements Intrinsic to Japan’s Political Economy:
Interlocking Interests between an Elite Bureaucracy
and Big Business 79
Power struggle between politicians and bureaucrats 81
The origins of the power of the bureaucracy and
government links with big business 84
The bureaucracy’s power defined 87
Collaboration between the bureaucracy and big business:
ministerial guidance and mercantilism (1898–1919) 88
Japan’s expansion in East Asia, outward investment and the
benefits to big business 89
Recession: the Ministry of Commerce and Industry
and industrial rationalization 92
The alliance between MCI and big business: the birth of
‘administrative guidance’ 94
The Manchurian Incident 95
The Second World War: the intensification
of ministerial powers 97
Enduring changes: corporate culture 98
Reverse reforms and Japan Inc. 98
Small shock, big shock: nuclear energy as a
national priority 103
Mechanisms to implement guidance 105
Contents vii
5 The DNA of Japan’s Post-war Political System:
Ultra-conservative to the Core 108
The ‘1955 system’: the moneymen, Nobusuke
Kishi/Kakuei Tanaka (1950–76) 112
Nobusuke Kishi 112
Kakuei Tanaka: the godfather of pork-barrel patronage 114
Shin Kanemaru: post-Tanaka moneyman 117
Right-wing ultra-conservative politics: in the family domain 119
Junichiro Koizumi 119
Shinzo Abe 120
Yasuo Fukuda 123
Taro Aso 124
Yukio Hatoyama 126
Ichiro Ozawa: protégé of Tanaka and Kanemaru 127
The Recruit scandal: interpersonal networks of politicians,
bureaucrats and big business 130
The Ministry of Defense scandal: interpersonal networks of
politicians, bureaucrats and big business 132
The right-wing ultraconservative mind-set continues
Yoshihiko Noda (30 August 2011–) 136
Seiji Maehara 137
Shintaro Ishihara: post-earthquake neo-nationalism 139
Ishihara’s ardent admirers: Toru Hashimoto and the Osaka
Restoration Group 141
6 Pork-Barrel Patronage in the Prefectures:
the Proliferation of Nuclear Power Plants 143
Pushing nuclear in needy prefectures 147
Fukushima Prefecture 150
Aomori Prefecture 151
Aomori’s no. 1 industry: nuclear power 152
The princes of pork-barrel patronage: Kakuei
Tanaka and Noboru Takeshita 157
The godfather 157
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant:
the art of pork-barrel patronage 159
The town that can’t say ‘no!’ 161
Noboru Takeshita: bringing home the bacon 163
Shimane Nuclear Power Plant: public works
perpetuate more public works 165
Ehime Prefecture: the Takeshita connection 165
viii Contents
Kato’s connections to MEXT and METI: textbook
and MOX 168
Ikata Nuclear Power Plant: money, money, money 169
The price of pork-barrel patronage 170
The power of money 172
The power of the state 175
7 Japan’s Nuclear Crisis: the Routes to Responsibility 180
JOYO and FUGEN: trial and error 182
MONJU: more trials and errors 182
Mihama: still more errors 184
Takahama: more errors but more MOX 185
Tokai-mura 185
The blame game 187
Splitting NISA from METI: the image of reform 190
NISA: the tip of METI’s nuclear tail 192
METI’s nuclear progeny: IAIs, industrial associations
and research institutes 193
The end of the line: IAIs, at the very heart of government 194
METI: the creative ministry: the route to the renewable
energy industrial sector 196
Don’t blame the bureaucrats, blame the system! 197
8 The Japan System: Indestructible but Destructive 199
Japan’s first ‘lost decade’ 200
The first ‘lost decade’: institutional paralysis 201
Japan’s second lost decade: institutional paralysis 202
Earthquake–tsunami and nuclear crisis: impact on
industrial production 205
Impact on sovereign debt: out-of-sight, out-of-mind 210
Political bickering: impact on rapid recovery 212
Too little too late? 214
Japan Inc. is alive and well 218
Back to basics: a variation on the ‘1955’ theme 219
Notes 223
Select Bibliography 234
Index 236
Timeline
1
At 14.46 PM local time 1th
Tohoku, Honshu’s northeast of M
region, was hit by an a
earthquake with rch
2
a magnitude of 9.0 0
1
1

OFthsnute akt htugeeso hoveeifvm reenamnm iDenergang itioec dfnh e1ci yc1N l aauMrtc eatlehdrcae ahr, 11th of M Earthquake hits Japan
a
Power Plant. TEPCO workersrch
are unable to reconnect 2
0
MIoanecr lctechhuce tra rreie chadiytrs yldiyyn rts ooerte egvtmheaeencn.t i noceogrx po Nolloiofn .s1 g3i2on 11 12th of M State of emergency at Fukushima
a
and blew the roof off the rch
containment vessel housing 2
0
aenxOpdl noa s 1fiio5rreen Ma sbc arrtoorockcrhe kN e towodu. o1tth .imne oNprleoa.n 4t 11 15th of March Hydrogen explosions at reactor 3
reactor. 2
0
1
Oannmd3 1i l0dd7 lut yiMms rtaa errdsaci ihoas,aeb wcdot viinrveade dns is oocmraamcorrtkaiyveliin tyg1 17th of March Two more explosions at plant
levels in Tokyo. 20
1
On N18o .d M3is arcreocavhce tdroeardm w.aagse to 1 18th of March Radioactivity detected in Tokyo
2
0
1
1 No. 3 reactor core damaged
ix