AOMORI--Pro-nuclear power politician Shingo Mimura was re-elected governor of Aomori Prefecture, easily defeating two opponents who wanted to freeze construction of or eliminate nuclear plants in the prefecture.
AOMORI--Pro-nuclear power politician Shingo Mimura was re-elected governor of Aomori Prefecture, easily defeating two opponents who wanted to freeze construction of or eliminate nuclear plants in the prefecture.
Mimura, 55, backed by the opposition Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito, garnered 349,274 votes in the election June 5 to win his third four-year term.
Takashi Yamauchi, a 56-year-old former prefectural assembly member and an independent supported by the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and junior coalition partner People's New Party, received 83,374 votes, while the Japan Communist Party's Yo Yoshimata, 37, gained 35,972.
The election, which had a voter turnout of 41.52 percent, drew nationwide attention amid the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on whether concerns about radiation exposure would trump the lucrative subsidies that come with hosting nuclear power plants.
Aomori Prefecture has one active nuclear power plant and four more under construction or being planned. However, construction of two of the four reactors has been suspended.
During the campaign, Mimura pledged to "verify safety" of nuclear plants by establishing an independent prefectural panel of experts.
Yamauchi called for a freeze on new construction while Yoshimata insisted on scrapping construction of all new plants and decommissioning the active plant.
Mimura's victory showed that voters placed emphasis on the local economy's heavy reliance on the nuclear industry over fears of radioactive contamination.
Hirotaka Yamagami, 67, self-employed and living in Aomori, said young people around him have stopped drinking tap water for fear of radioactivity coming from Fukushima.
However, Yamagami said he could not vote in favor of ending nuclear power in the prefecture.
"I have friends working at a nuclear fuel facility. I cannot easily say, 'demolish the plant,'" Yamagami said.
Over the past 30 years, municipalities in the prefecture that host the nuclear power plant and fuel reprocessing facilities have received 213.9 billion yen ($2.6 billion) in subsidies from the central government.
"If we refuse what we don't like, we can no longer receive subsidies," Yamagami said, after voting for Mimura.
Some voters switched allegiances after the Fukushima accident.
A 37-year-old self-employed mother of two small daughters in Aomori said she feared radioactive contamination of food.
She voted for Mimura in the previous election four years ago, but she picked Yamauchi this time.
In the Shimokita Peninsula, where a number of nuclear facilities are located, many voters favored the "benefits" of the nuclear industry.
Setsuko Ota, an inn operator in Higashidori village, where Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s nuclear power plant opened six years ago, says she felt the horror of living near a nuclear plant for the first time after the Fukushima accident. Tokyo Electric also plans to construct a new plant in the village.
But she said it would be difficult for her business to survive without the nuclear power plant workers.
"I don't think it is necessary to replace the incumbent governor," Ota, 70, said.
Jinichi Takeyama, an 80-year-old farmer in the village, said, "I am scared, and I don't like it."
But his son and a grandson both work for electric power industry companies. "Here, everyone's livelihood depends on the nuclear plant," Takeyama said.
A 48-year-old woman in Rokkasho, where nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities are concentrated, said: "It is easy to say 'get rid of the nuclear power plants.' But if all the facilities withdraw, many people here will lose their jobs."
On the other hand, she said she realizes that "if something terrible happens, we face a similar risk of what happened in Fukushima."