Reason 5: Build democracy: Majority of Japanese want an end to nuclear power in Japan.

The Mainichi Shinbun (毎日新聞) in Japan, with a circulation of over three million daily reported in a survey of March 13, 2017 that in Japan

• 55% oppose restarting nuclear reactors
• 26% in favor

That means the clear majority of Japanese citizens continues to oppose nuclear energy even more than 5 years after the 3.11 nuclear disaster in Fukushima, and only one quarter is in favor of nuclear energy.

After 3.11 a strong civilian protest movement with regular mass demonstrations in Tokyo against nuclear energy arose.

Protest in Tokyo against nuclear energy (19 Sep. 2011) with 60000 participants changing: Sayonara nuclear power.

Japanese Lawyer Hideki Kawai decided to elucidate the complex issues surrounding nuclear power in Japan in the documentary Movie Nuclear Japan, released in 2014. He says:

… in a democracy, a fair legal process is obviously important to protect our rights, especially for minority issues. Lawsuits in a democracy function as safety valves. Justice is justice. I shall stand up to protect life and Japan in courts, even if I would be alone. But to share the idea of nuclear zero nationwide, we need a movie.

Hiroyuki Kawai

ICU is proud to declare about itself: ICU’s educational mission is based on Christian and democratic principles.

Can an institution like ICU “based on democratic principles” rightfully ignore the manifest will of the majority of Japanese citizens and continue to buy electricity from power generation companies that have a history of operating nuclear power plants and the declared will (*) to continue to do so? Does this way of electricity procurement not mean to support the nuclear energy industry in Japan – against the democratic will of Japanese citzens?

(*) TEPCO: … nuclear power is an indispensable energy source for ensuring a stable supply of energy … (last accessed: 07 July 2020)