On September 28, 2021, the 257th Japan Expert Invitation Seminar was held as a webinar. In the presence of about 30 participants, Akihiro Yamamoto, Associate Professor of Comprehensive Culture at Kobe City Foreign Language University, gave a presentation on the theme of “Memories of Radiation and the Dream of Nuclear Energy.” The contents of the presentation are as follows.
The presenter first introduced four examples of how fears and memories of radiation exposure coexisted with dreams of using nuclear power in postwar Japan. For example, as a result of a survey conducted by the NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute in 2021, it was found that about 70% of respondents thought that the use of nuclear power plants in Korea should be reduced or stopped. On the other hand, six nuclear power plants in Japan were in operation in September of the same year. In response, the presenter expressed how the 'memory of exposure' and 'dream of nuclear power' were related, and the need to understand the factors if there was a change in the relationship. In terms of methodology, media culture as a network of discourse and representation was explored as a data object to elucidate the ‘spirit of the times’ or ‘values’ about nuclear.
The presenter suggested the coexistence of
, which was released in 1954, which was very popular as a representative phenomenon of the coexistence of the memory of radiation exposure and the dream of nuclear energy after the war, and , a manga serialized by Osamu Tezuka since 1952. is a movie set in the setting of Godzilla, an ancient creature, awakens and emits radiation and destroys Tokyo due to the frequent US nuclear test in the South Pacific. On the other hand, in , nuclear energy is generally portrayed as a positive future power as the figure of Atom as a hero who will bring a bright future is mainly drawn. Although the dangers of the atom and the problem of the bombed workers are clearly mentioned in the work, readers at the time focused on the strong and just aspect of the atom.
In order to examine the reason why , which shows the fear of nuclear weapons and memories of exposure, and , which shows expectations for nuclear energy as future energy, could coexist, the presenter presented the In order to deal with this process, the duality of 1954 was first presented. In March 1954, the Bikini Incident (the 5th Fukuryumaru Incident) occurred, which was positioned as the third nuclear damage experienced by Japan. As a result, a campaign to ban atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs was held, and interest in the bomb victims in Hiroshima and Nagasaki was once again gathered, and the bombing movement took place on a nationwide scale. The Japanese people's fear of the nuclear test at the time can be confirmed in various ways through Akira Kurosawa's 1955 film , public opinion polls at the time, and the speeches of intellectuals.
Meanwhile, on March 2, 1954, Japan's three conservative parties submitted a nuclear energy budget. In the background was the presence of the United States, which advocated the use of nuclear power for peace, including Eisenhower's 'Atoms for Peace' speech in December 1953. In response, the three conservative parties submitted a nuclear energy budget, and academia, politics, and industry each participated in nuclear research and development. In addition, in 1954, an exhibition to introduce nuclear power in a friendly manner was held at the Isetan Department Store in Shinjuku, Tokyo, and after the opening of the Nuclear Peace Use Fair at Hibiya Park in Tokyo in 1955, he toured the country. In addition, the Yomiuri Shimbun and Asahi Shimbun alike can confirm the high expectations for the use of nuclear power in peace through the speeches and slogans of intellectuals. In other words, as the fear of nuclear power was great, a change in the perception structure that a bright future can be had through the peaceful use of nuclear power was appealed through the mass media.
The presenter analyzed that the origin of the fear of the military use of nuclear power and the expectation of the peaceful use could coexist in censorship under occupation. As is well known, in Japan under the Allied Forces, critical reports or expressions of the atomic bomb were subject to censorship, making it impossible. During the occupation period, physicists such as Yoshio Nishina and Mitsuo Taketani made statements such as that the very existence of the atomic bomb could bring peace. Even after the occupation period was over, even the bomb-exploited people said that they welcomed the peaceful use of nuclear power. Radiation was perceived as a surmountable barrier. Discussions on the use of nuclear power for peace began to be raised in the 1970s and 1980s, but Japan faced the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 without being established as a mainstream opinion in society.
After the presentation, a question-and-answer session followed. The speeches of intellectuals were used a lot as data in the presentation, but there was also a question about the existence of media representations that actually influenced the way of thinking about nuclear power generation in the general public. In particular, the question is whether there was a media representation of the specific damage to Hiroshima or Nagasaki in the two years after the GHQ occupation period and before the Bikini incident, and whether it had an impact on the mindset of the general public about nuclear power generation. This continued. In response, the presenter introduced several photobooks on the damage caused by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki published in August 1952 after the occupation period ended, and the scenery in which a large number of similar photobooks were published and lined up in bookstores. At that time, it was before the introduction of TV, so it was added that the photobooks of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had a great influence on young people such as college students and high school students at the time.
In addition, after the 3.11 Great East Japan Earthquake and the Abe administration, the discussion of nuclear power plant disasters was reduced and forgotten, transnational points found in and , and films critical of nuclear issues such as . Regarding the additional background that led to the creation of the nuclear power plant, discussions within Japan about the recent phenomenon that nuclear power generation has received attention in terms of less environmental pollution, and the impact of the development of nuclear weapons in China and North Korea on the perception of nuclear power in Japan. After discussion, the seminar was concluded.
