Even though it’s around 430 kilometers from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, a village in Aomori Prefecture is still enduring the repercussions of the meltdowns at the facility almost a decade ago.
For the past 10 years, Higashidori has been facing an economic crisis because Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc. has suspended construction of a nuclear plant, and another nuclear power plant operated by Tohoku Electric Power Co. was shut down.
In the budget for fiscal 2017, Higashidori was projected to be short by around ¥100 million, causing the village to turn to the so-called nuclear village — pro-nuclear groups in government, industry and academia.