Japanese people have gone back to the streets to protest against plans to reactivate nuclear reactors. Since the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the country has grown wearier of nuclear power and wants an end to atomic power.

The gathering in Tokyo was scheduled to coincide (more…)

Since the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011, and which resulted in one of the worst nuclear accidents in recent history, Japan has signaled its intentions to transition towards clean, alternative energy. Japanese officials recently announced that the country intends to build the largest wind farm in the world. The offshore wind farm will be built ten (more…)

In October 2011, the Japanese Cabinet—still reeling from the Fukushima reactor meltdown earlier that year—approved an energy white paper calling for reduced reliance on nuclear power and increased emphasis on renewables.

A little over a year after the approval of that policy, I wondered to myself if Japan was sticking to its goals, or if—with the immediate shock of the Fukushima (more…)

The Japanese government says it will seek to phase out all nuclear power plants by 2040, although officials suggested that the target remains flexible.

The new energy strategy, which places a 40-year lifespan on nuclear reactors and limits construction of new plants, would continue a national shift away (more…)

Germany’s environment minister said Tuesday that the country might have to slow its shift to renewable energy to quell concerns about rising consumer costs.

A year after the government decided to phase out nuclear power following Japan’s Fukushima disaster, (more…)

Radioactive materials emitted during the Fukushima disaster caused physical mutations and genetic damage to butterfly populations living near the nuclear plant, a new study says.

In a series of tests, Japanese scientists found that butterflies collected from the Fukushima area about (more…)

Recently we blogged about a project by the Kyoto Journal called Fresh Currents, a magazine designed to offer thinking fodder for post-nuclear disaster Japan. The idea of the magazine is to dispel myths about nuclear power and to take a fresh look at alternative energy as a possibility for Japan. (more…)

Roughly 130 people are likely to die from radiation exposure and another 180 die from cancer as a result of the March 2011 meltdown of the Fukushima-Daichi nuclear power station in Japan, according to a new study by Stanford University researchers.

The researchers presented a wide range of possible (more…)

Kyoto Journal, a publication whose main premise is offer an alternative view of Asian culture, started a fundraising campaign on Indiegogo to finance a publication called Fresh Currents. The publication will come out in print and PDF and will be distributed to key policymakers, local government officials, community leaders, educators and media outlets. (more…)

Japanese officials say they may have to scrap long-term targets for carbon emissions reductions as a consequence of moving away from nuclear power in the aftermath of last year’s Fukushima disaster.

According to the Japan Times, government officials this week conceded that goals to cut carbon (more…)