• Fresh Currents on Tour!

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  On the 21st and 22nd of October our Chief Editor Eric Johnson gave presentations on Fresh Currents at both Good Day Books in Tokyo & the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan (FCCJ).

• Can Nuclear Power Help Fight Global Warming?

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  Can nuclear power replace CO2-emitting energy sources? Eric Johnston does the math and finds it wanting...

• Renewables and a Future-Oriented Business Model

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  Vincent Ng discusses the Sky Group consortium's efforts to bring renewable technology to the most underprivileged and at-risk demographic of the world.

• Reconstruction in Times of Multiple Crises

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  Even before the disaster struck Tohoku faced multiple challenges. In a special feature for Fresh Currents Online, Christian Dimmer argues that energy efficiency can play a key role in creating new sustainable communities.

• The History of Nuclear Power Development in Japan

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  "By 1950, Washington’s need for an Asian ally against the now-nuclear armed Soviet Union & Communist China intersected with Japan’s long-held dream of an energy supply that was safe, stable, & secure. The moment for nuclear power in Japan had arrived."

• Masayoshi Son and Japan’s Renewable Energy Revolution

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  On the same day that the first nuclear reactor was restarted since the Tohoku disaster, Masayoshi Son had a message for those who said renewable energy would never replace nuclear power. “Renewable energy is possible without having to rely at all on nuclear power.”

• Fear & Loathing in Nuclear Cuckoo Land

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  John Ashburne visits the controversial nuclear facilities at Rokkasho, northern Japan.

• Beyond Fresh Currents

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  The debate over Japan’s energy future now centers on conflicting visions for the next 20 to 40 years, and the outcome will have ramifications for not just Japan but the world.

• Fukushima Workers and the Yakuza

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  Freelance journalist Tomohiko Suzuki went undercover at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011, working as a day laborer. His book Yakuza to Genpatsu (Yakuza & Nuclear Power Plants) caused a sensation when it was published in December 2011.

• Self Restraint and Nuclear Reporting in the Japanese Media

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  “Newspapers have finally begun to report the reality of the nuclear industry. But why didn’t they do so before? Reporters were effectively paralyzed because whenever they wrote articles about such problems, their newspapers declined to publish them.”

 

Introduction: Tool-Making Apes  – a full online feature by our Chief Editor, Eric Johnston.

“In order to work out our own salvation, and our own survival, we must first ask all of the questions we can think of and trust our natural instinct to make ever-more innovative tools in order to adapt and survive in a changed world.” LINK

 

A Vision of Japan’s Renewable Energy Landscape in 2050 – a full online feature.

Translated from the INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY POLICIES this scenario shows what Japan could look like if it phased out nuclear power and moved into renewable energy. LINK

 

Aileen Mioko Smith on Post-Fukushima Realities – a full online interview with the Fresh Currents team.

Aileen Mioko Smith heads Kyoto-based Green Action and is one of Japan’s most respected antinuclear activists. In this wide-ranging interview she discusses the lessons of Fukushima, its parallels to the Minamata tragedy, Japan’s anti-nuclear movement, and Japan itself. LINK

 

The Greenheart Project: Clean Power for Trade and Development  – a special feature for Fresh Currents Online.

The Greenheart Project is now raising money to build a prototype zero-emissions, sail-solar hybrid cargo ship for use in the developing world. LINK

 

Lessons from Fukushima – a public lecture by Arnie Gundersen at Heartopia, Kyoto, September 3, 2012.

“What I have learned is that nuclear power can be made safe — or it can be made inexpensive so that we can in fact afford it — but nuclear power cannot be both inexpensive, and safe.” LINK

 

Grow Your Own Energy – a full online feature from Winifred Bird.

Like the globalized industrial food system, Japan’s energy system is unsustainable, risky, and controlled by huge corporations. Why not unplug from that quagmire and create something smaller and better one community at a time? LINK

 

A Guide to Japan’s Feed-In Tariff – a full online feature.

FITs are a proven method for jump-starting public and private investment in renewable electricity generation. Eric Johnston explains the new FIT  system that will help to usher in Japan’s renewable energy revolution. LINK

 

What Must Be Admitted – an excerpt from the Report of The National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (official English summary, July 5th, 2012).

“What must be admitted, very painfully, is that this was a disaster `Made in Japan.’” LINK

 

The Promise of Alternative Energy - an excerpt from the full article by Brian Williams.

“Renewables challenging the present-day energy status quo find that the playing field is far from level. Fossil fuel enjoys well over 100 billion dollars in subsidies and tax breaks annually in the USA, despite the colossal profits Big Oil continues to rack up.” LINK

 

Energy Efficiency – an excerpt from the full article by Winifred Bird.

Cutting energy demand eight percent across the board in Japan would eliminate the need for about 13 nuclear reactors…. And some experts say that with greater investment and more radical thinking, Japan could cut a lot more than eight percent from its energy budget. LINK

 

Farming and Energy Issues in Japan – a special feature for Fresh Currents Online by Martin J. Frid.

“There are a number of ways to solve the energy riddle on farms in Japan, but a lot more effort must to be made by everyone involved, including consumers. We must start now to change our eating habits. Reducing meat consumption, for example, is a great way to help wean our society off fossil fuels… I can’t emphasize this enough. Reduce meat, introduce organic.” LINK

 

Tohoku Damashii – an exclusive extract from the new book Strong in the Rain by David McNeill & Lucy Birmingham.

“This is something which humanity as a whole has literally never experienced, we have no idea — I have no idea what will happen.” LINK

 

Engaged Buddhism – a full online feature by Jonathan S. Watts.

Rev. Hidehito Okochi has a vision for developing a pure land here on earth through ecological housing and living. Okochi has joined together with a host of different small Japanese NGOs to build chemical free, long lasting homes for urban dwellers… LINK