110,691 research outputs found
Conclusion
No full textThis brief chapter reflects on some of the findings of this book in light of recent scholarship on visual culture, sensory history and anti-nuclear protest in post-Fukushima Japan. It argues that growing awareness of how the visual has been used to promote nuclear power has led to the emergence of “visual activism” and “cute direct action.” These are features of a Japanese protest culture that commentators are still only coming to terms with
Living in Fear: Nuclear Films
No full textIn the 1950s, Japanese science-fiction films and documentaries portrayed the threat posed by nuclear weapons while nevertheless acknowledging the power of science and scientists to enhance people’s lives. This chapter discusses the American-made The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) and how it inspired mutant monster films such as Godzilla (1954). Nuclear fear was vividly portrayed in I Live in Fear (1955). At the same time, documentaries were being made in the USA and Japan to provide different perspectives on the situation that Japan uniquely found itself in: a nation that had fallen victim three times to nuclear weapons (at Hiroshima, Nagasaki and near Bikini Atoll) but strong in theoretical nuclear physics and actively pursuing the possibility of introducing civilian nuclear power
Making Atomic Dreams Real: 1956–1958
No full textJapan’s dream of introducing nuclear power became more real during the years 1956–1958. The period coincided with the extended absence overseas of the Hiroshima panels painted by Akamatsu Toshiko and Maruki Iri. Key figures such as media mogul Shōriki Matsutarō and the politician Nakasone Yasuhiro played leading roles in promoting civilian nuclear power during this period. The Atoms for Peace exhibition continued its tour of Japan in 1956 and the Atomic Energy Basic Law came into effect. Nuclear infrastructure was established during this crucial time and foreign experts such as Christopher Hinton (UK Atomic Energy Authority) visited Japan, spruiking the merits of the British Calder Hall reactor which Americans criticized but which was nevertheless purchased by the Japanese, followed by orders for American light-water reactors. This chapter outlines the rivalry between the UK, USA and USSR, all vying for Japanese attention at conferences, trade fairs and international exhibitions
Introduction: Visualizing Nuclear Power in Japan
No full textThis chapter explains how this book differs from other accounts of the history of nuclear power in Japan. It provides some context for understanding why it was written and outlines the chapters that follow. The book argues that public attitudes were influenced by visual representations and discourses about how civilian nuclear power was safe and an integral part of Japan’s future. At the same time, there were countervailing forces that associated atomic energy with the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Despite such concerns, US-Japan relations and “atoms for peace” in Japan were promoted at various exhibitions and in films. With the establishment of nuclear infrastructure in the 1950s, a school trip to see a reactor increasingly became a reality for young Japanese. Major events such as the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 1970 Osaka Expo encouraged Japanese to embrace a science and technology-led future, rather than deal with its recent wartime past. The 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster would bring the dream of attaining energy self-sufficiency through atomic energy to a halt
Nuclear Testing in the Pacific: The Lucky Dragon Incident and the Family of Man
No full textThis chapter focuses on the crucial role of media coverage of the Lucky Dragon No. 5 fishing trawler incident in March 1954, a time when Occupation-period censorship had only been recently lifted. Newspapers such as the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Nippon Times, along with the illustrated magazine Asahi Gurafu (Asahi Graph) used photographs to give readers a heightened sense of the drama of events. In the aftermath of the controversy, the US-backed Family of Man exhibition sought to project a more universal image of humanity. A large photographic mural of images of the devastation at Nagasaki taken by the Japanese photographer Yamahata Yōsuke was specially prepared for the exhibition when it toured Japan, but it was controversially hidden from view when Emperor Hirohito visited the exhibition in Tokyo on 23 March 1956
Seeing Reactors at Tōkai-mura, Trade Fairs, Department Stores and in Films: 1957–1971
No full textExhibitions, films and the mass media had given the Japanese people some sense of what a reactor would look like but the opportunity to visit a reactor was afforded by the nuclear facilities under construction at Tōkai-mura in Ibaraki prefecture and elsewhere. Tōkai-mura became a sightseeing destination for special-interest groups and educators who saw the facilities as an opportunity for school trips that would reinforce narratives about Japanese identity, both past and future. Excursions to Tōkai-mura served to promote careers in science and technology. For those unable to visit in person, department stores and trade fairs continued to provide congenial, consumer-friendly venues for the public to better understand how nuclear power underpinned Japan’s future
Picturing Hiroshima
No full textIn Japan, there were continuities between wartime image production and early post-war images of the devastation at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The artist Akamatsu Toshiko (later known as Maruki Toshi), illustrated patriotic children’s books during the war but would go on to produce what became known as the Hiroshima panels with her husband Maruki Iri. The Marukis were able to avoid the censorship that had been imposed on film footage and photographs of what occurred at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Their mural-sized paintings, begun in the late 1940s, toured throughout Japan. The Hiroshima panels formed the core of exhibitions that sought to address the use of the atomic bomb and to educate the Japanese public about the dangers and possibilities opened up by the atomic age
The Beginnings of Atoms for Peace in Japan
No full textThis chapter discusses the early history of the development of nuclear power in Japan. Not only did some influential Japanese commentators feel a sense of entitlement as victims of the bomb to exploit the energy source but also American officials and politicians felt that it would be an appropriately Christian gesture to assist Japan given what had occurred at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Japanese media mogul Shōriki Matsutarō enthusiastically supported President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” program and sought funding for Japan. Shōriki’s newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun gave extensive coverage and sponsored exhibitions that promoted the peaceful application of nuclear technology in Japan. The narrative of Alice in Wonderland was used in books and exhibitions to convey to children the wonders of the atomic age, serving to offset images of nuclear destruction that were also in circulation. Visitors to an exhibition in Tokyo in August 1954 could gaze at an Alice in Atom-Land diorama and see a model of an atomic reactor for themselves
Shaping the National Narrative: From Hiroshima to Fukushima and Beyond
No full textThis chapter examines the efforts to shape a national narrative about the role of science and technology, including nuclear power, through key events such as the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 1970 Osaka Expo. Japan provided a developmental model for other nations in East Asia. North Korea looked to Japan’s introduction of the improved Calder Hall reactor at Tōkai-mura and its production of plutonium as a way of countering the threat posed by the USA through its support of South Korea. Japan’s Calder Hall reactor provided a model for the Yongbyon reactor that operated initially from 1986 to 1994. Meanwhile, Japan pursued the dream of building fast breeder reactors and in 1993 introduced the character of Plutonium Boy to downplay the perceived dangers of plutonium. But the dangers of nuclear power were real. A string of accidents at nuclear facilities culminated in the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 which further undermined the idea that nuclear power was safe, leading to calls to shut down all Japanese power reactors. Japan’s reliance on nuclear power is now much diminished
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