Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, a massive jolt to the country that caused widespread damage and had ramifications on the economy and energy sector. Japan is still recovering a year later.
This week on Scribecast, we spoke to Japan’s ambassador to the United States, Ichiro Fujisaki, who visited The Heritage Foundation to discuss the state of U.S.-Japan relations. He’s in Washington to mark the 100th anniversary of Japan’s gift of cherry blossom trees.
Listen to the interview with Ichiro Fujisaki on this week’s Scribecast
Fujisaki told us Japan was on “recovery road,” but cautioned that big changes are in store. Last year’s earthquake and tsunami resulted in accidents at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Even though no one died from meltdowns at those reactors, Japan is likely to reduce its dependence on nuclear energy.
“People are now very cautious about nuclear and we have to look at our energy mix in entirety,” he said. “Before we were looking to double our dependency on nuclear, but I don’t think that will be the case.”
This week Heritage premiered a new documentary on nuclear energy, examining its safety in the wake of Fukushima.
We also asked Fujisaki about Japan’s lackluster economic performance over the past two decades, perception among Japanese about the military, and the significance of the U.S.-Japan friendship today.
The podcast runs about nine minutes. It was produced with the help of Hannah Sternberg. Listen to previous interviews on Scribecast or subscribe to future episodes.