Expressing the Opinion on a Controversial Issue: The Case of Nuclear Power Plant Issue in Maki Town, Niigata Prefecture

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  • 原子力発電所建設問題における住民の意思表示―新潟県巻町を事例に―
  • ゲンシリョク ハツデンショ ケンセツ モンダイ ニ オケル ジュウミン ノ イ

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<p>This paper examines the difficulty of, and the effective means for expressing the individual opinion on a conflicting issue in a small town in Japan. I take up the case of Maki town, Niigata prefecture, where the construction of a nuclear power plant has become the controversial issue. The focus of this analysis is the group formed by Maki residents called the Association for Implementing the Referendum, and the effectiveness of their strategy, the self-administered referendum. I will first examine the difficulty faced by the residents of Maki town when it comes to clearly taking sides regarding the controversial issue, and then analyze the strategy taken up by the Association and its effectiveness in terms of enabling the residents to overcome the difficulty.</p><p>When Maki residents are required to express their opinion on the nuclear power plant per se, their existing social relations that contradict with the opinion become the restraint. This restraint, or “shigarami” as is called by the residents, precludes the expression of “honest” feelings towards the nuclear plant, since ignoring the “shigarami” means breaking the social ties that are central to the members of this community. Those residents who are unable to express their opinions because of these “shigarami” are thus caught in the status of “nejire (distortion)”, where they feel the contradiction and remain ambiguous regarding the nuclear plant issue.</p><p>For the residents who are caught in such “distorted” situation, the Association for Implementing the Referendum provided a very convenient means of expressing their “true” opinions towards the nuclear plant per se; the self-administered referendum. This was a very convenient means for the residents, especially because they did not need to break the “shigarami” or the existing important social ties when casting a vote in the referendum, which guaranteed anonymity. The neutrality of referendum was stressed by the association, who constantly expressed their apolitical attitudes and denied to be labeled as “anti-nukes”.</p><p>The self-administered referendum provided the most-needed means of expressing individual opinions toward the controversial issue, without affecting the existing social relations in the negative way.</p>

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