How the “Anomaly” of Nuclear Power Plants Has Been Explained Before and After the 3.11 Disaster in Japan: An Observation Through Power Company Visitor Centers in Japan and England

Abstract

Nuclear power plants can be interpreted as a modern-day “anomaly” in the sense that opinions about them vary widely between pros and cons. The very fact that nuclear power uses radioactive fuel divides public opinion. Japan is the only nation that experienced atomic bomb attacks during World War II and a nuclear power plant accident in 2011, both of which still affect many lives in different ways. At the same time, nuclear power has been regarded and utilized as a modern convenience in Japan, as well as in many other countries. This short paper deals with how this “anomalous” creation has been interpreted and explained in Japan as compared with England, especially before and after March 11, 2011, the date of the Fukushima accident. A classical anthropological perspective is drawn upon as a tool of theoretical analysis, because in all human societies, primitive or modern, “anomalous” things have confused people’s thinking, thereby forcing them to take measures to organize their thoughts. Anthropology has a rich collection of such measures in many different societies, and yet such anthropological perspectives have not previously been applied to understanding the issues of nuclear power.