As for me, I enjoy the Christmas lighting in town every year. This year, Christmas lighting makes me feel especially warm inside because some lights have been turned off to save power in the wake of the Fukushima accident. Although I've heard that much of the lighting is well designed to save power, the lighting is still controversial. I'm torn. In order to keep struggling against the current crisis, we need things that can cheer us up and boost the economy. On the other hand, we have to make further efforts to cut power consumption.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
I enjoy the Christmas lighting in town, but it reminds me of our serious problem.
In Japan, Christmas is highly commercialized. A lot of people see Christmas as an event just for children and young people. Because of this, many Westerners find Christmas in Japan weird. If you want to know about Christmas in Japan, please see my previous blog articles (Please click here).
As for me, I enjoy the Christmas lighting in town every year. This year, Christmas lighting makes me feel especially warm inside because some lights have been turned off to save power in the wake of the Fukushima accident. Although I've heard that much of the lighting is well designed to save power, the lighting is still controversial. I'm torn. In order to keep struggling against the current crisis, we need things that can cheer us up and boost the economy. On the other hand, we have to make further efforts to cut power consumption.
Speaking of power saving, it's been necessary across Japan since about six months ago. Specifically, this winter, all the people and companies in Japan are required to save as much power as possible. This is because only seven out of 54 reactors are operating due to the Fukushima shock. In a few days, one more reactor will be closed for maintenance. In Japan, the law requires reactors to be closed for maintenance once a year.
Two months after the Fukushima accident, the government urged Chubu Electric Power Company/中部電力 to shut down all three of its reactors in the Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka prefecture because it's been said that the area has the highest chance of being hit by a massive earthquake in the near future. The company complied with the request. As for other reactors, the government intends to restart them after regular maintenance. However, both central and local governments have been having a very hard time persuading local people to agree with the restarting. Since the Fukushima accident has shown that a nuclear accident causes serious damage to a wide-ranging area, both residents and local governments of cities relatively near nuclear power plants are putting up more of a fight against the restarting of reactors. On the other hand, towns where nuclear power plants are located have mixed feelings because they depend on the plants economically (subsidies from the central government and employment). At any rate, if the reactors aren't reactivated, then next spring, all of the reactors in Japan will stop working. Under these circumstances, we are required not only to save as much power as possible, but also to think about how to strike a balance between our economy and the risk of nuclear power plants.
I wish you a merry Christmas, anyway.
Omotesando in Tokyo is a popular spot for Christmas lights. You can see some pictures in the link below.
As for me, I enjoy the Christmas lighting in town every year. This year, Christmas lighting makes me feel especially warm inside because some lights have been turned off to save power in the wake of the Fukushima accident. Although I've heard that much of the lighting is well designed to save power, the lighting is still controversial. I'm torn. In order to keep struggling against the current crisis, we need things that can cheer us up and boost the economy. On the other hand, we have to make further efforts to cut power consumption.
