TAKAHAMA, Fukui Pref. -- Like many of her fellow shopkeepers in this small town along the Sea of Japan coast, Tomoko Kurahashi is ambivalent about the candidates for Fukui governor.
"They all tell us that the safety of the nuclear power industry is of paramount importance, even though they have different views on whether or not the plants are necessary," said the 62-year-old at her dry goods store in national Takahama. "But none of them has said what they would do to get the local economy moving again -- with, or without, nuclear power plants."
Home to 15 of the nation's 51 nuclear plants, the future of atomic power in the prefecture is the main theme of the April 13 election. Observers ponder how Fukui's policy toward nuclear energy might change with the retirement of Gov. Yukio Kurita, who basically supported nuclear power but came to harbor serious safety concerns after various accidents and scandals.