The Sea of Tuna and the Shadow of Nuclear Power Plants: A Fishing Village at the Crossroads off the Coast of Oma, June 2004

The Sea of Tuna and the Shadow of Nuclear Power Plants: A Fishing Village at the Crossroads off the Coast of Oma, June 2004

The town of Oma in Aomori Prefecture has been known throughout Japan as a good fishing ground for bluefin tuna, facing the Tsugaru Straits. At the time of its construction in 2004, the Oma Nuclear Power Plant, the world's first full-MOX nuclear reactor, was the focus of much national attention.

In Aomori Prefecture, a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant was being commissioned in Rokkasho Village, and the prefecture as a whole was beginning to move forward on the path to becoming a "nuclear prefecture. Local governments were pushing for infrastructure development through subsidies, but local fishermen were very concerned about the impact of the discharge of cooling water into the ocean on water temperature changes and the ecosystem, and expressed a sense of crisis, saying that they would "lose tuna" and that the ocean would "die.

On the other hand, the town's declining and aging population was causing the economy to come to a standstill, and the hope that nuclear power would create jobs and secure financial resources was beginning to be supported as a realistic option. Thus, the pros and cons of nuclear power plants were intricately intertwined with the economy and the environment, the future and the present, and created a deep division among the residents.

This issue is more than just the pros and cons of energy policy; it is a social theme that fundamentally reexamines the future of fishing villages and the shape of hometowns, and it remains an issue for Oma Town even today.