Japan has seen major shifts in the relationship between citizens and government in the past three decades, particularly in terms of renewable energy policy. Certain shifts have occurred in response to major events, including natural disasters such as the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011, and the political, social, and environmental repercussions of the Fukushima Dai’ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident.

Other shifts have involved the expanding role of civil society in renewable energy policy governance, energy security, as well as domestic energy actors and their relationships. In addition, most recently, growing attention to SDGs (sustainable development goals), including renewable energy targets, has been a focus of attention.

The papers in this panel reflect these critical themes in Japan’s renewable energy policy with a focus on communications and information provision flows. Examining attitudes towards renewable energy policy in the past through different actor perspectives, including political parties, industry, and civil society, can provide valuable information about how to approach renewable energy in the future. Analysis of Japan’s energy self-sufficiency mix in a comparative perspective, as well as how the future prospects through SDGs are communicated by local governments, also point to prospects for a resilient Japan in today’s complex renewable energy situation.

Potential and Actual Influence of Civil Society Organizations in the German and Japanese Environmental Policy Network

Junku Lee(University of Tsukuba)
Yutaka Tsujinaka(Tokai University)

Since the associational revolution (Salomon, 1994) in the late 20th century, evaluating the role of civil society actors in democratic countries is increasing continually and they are acquiring significant influence in various areas. However, in the policymaking process, as a fundamental task of governance, the influence and power of civil society are questioned from various perspectives. Therefore, investigating the influence of civil society in the policy network provides an opportunity to estimate and prove the actual role of civil society in national policy governance.

Governance theory states that horizontal and autonomous network forms are more effective at solving various and complex social problems without hierarchical government control. Network governance can enhance policy outcomes, strengthen democratic aspects in the policy decision process, and create alternatives. These outcomes occur because the cooperation and negotiation processes are emphasized in achieving common purposes and are revealed in the process of producing public goods and services via network governance. To accomplish these purposes in network governance, independent and autonomous actors interact and cooperate through exchanging resources while maintaining relationships. Social network analysis can identify these mechanisms more clearly and is a useful methodology for analyzing connections, relationships, and influence among main actors in the environmental policy networks.

This study investigates the relationship between the potential and actual influence of civil society organizations participating in Japan’s environment policy network. Starting with analyzing the network structure and network characteristics of the information flow in the policy network, then using the evaluation influence of every actor and indicators of social network analysis of information flow network, the relationship between the potential and actual influence is examined.

The data for the analyses is drawn from the J-GEPON-2 and G-GEPON-2 Surveys, two datasets of the GEPON (Global Environmental Policy Network) Survey which were conducted in Japan and Germany in 2012-13 and 2016-17, respectively, among organizations related to environmental policy. Such survey data allows us to examine the position and role of civil society actors in the environmental policy process by analyzing their potential and actual influence. Such analysis can reveal more details about the role civil society actually plays in the policy network at the micro level of governance.

Political Conflict Management of Actors in Japanese Electric Power System Reform after 3.11: Dis-communication between Elites and Public Opinion in the Process

Hiroyuki Tagawa(University of Tsukuba)

After the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the Japanese government embarked on electric power industry reform. However, a reform characteristic is that the power industry’s business model changed from being vertically integrated to horizontally specialized with the expansion of renewable energy, In addition, the Japanese government maintained focus on nuclear power owing to energy security and climate change impact.

In fact, although the power industry is gradually becoming competitive, it is doubtful whether the reform benefits Japanese people as power consumers. Expanding renewable energy with solar power lead to an increase in renewable energy levy to over 2 trillion JPY (over 18 billion USD) in 2017, which is a large burden. In addition, power utility efficiency is questionable because nationwide grid investments have not expanded. Oligopolic power companies nowadays aim to resume operation only at profitable nuclear plants. The Japanese government maintains a passive attitude towards such decisions and market order.

However, have such issues activated political conflict or controversy in Japan? Why has the electric power issue not become a critical agenda item even after 3.11? This study focuses on this "do not become in dispute". Public opinion after the Fukushima disaster has certainly established that nuclear power is unpopular. Nevertheless, elite management of the political process, involving oligopolic power companies, business groups, the Liberal Democratic Party, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is still alive. Their conflict management mechanism deters the issue from becoming critical.

The study suggests that such major actors carefully work to keep the public calm in the political process by excluding them from the process, allowing them to maintain a manageable situation throughout the qualitative process tracing description. In other words, there is a state of dis-communication under elites and public opinion for the sakes of elites’ manageability. This research investigates the actor's logic of conflict management behind the dis-communication.

Energy Mix and Economic Resilience: An International Comparison

Keiichi Shirakawa(Land Institute of Japan)
Yohei Kobashi(Watashi-ha)

Since the 1973 oil shock, Japan has emphasized diversification in power generation methods, balancing energy sources for an optimal mix of energy supply, including nuclear power, hydroelectric power, and thermal power. Energy policies based on such an energy mix may provide economic stability against soaring fossil fuel prices and improve energy self-sufficiency. However, whether this approach is sufficient to enhance economic resilience against sudden and influential crises such as wars or oil shocks remains questionable.

The complexity of a supply chain, drawing on the concept of a “resilient supply chain” (Christopher, 2004), guards against normal price fluctuation influences and assumes that the impact of unexpected risks such as natural disasters, war, or terrorism will spread through a global network. Thus, given such crises, it is believed that the global economic impact will exceed normal price fluctuations throughout the world. Although it is possible to enhance resiliency against ordinary price fluctuations by advancing such an energy-mix policy, it has not been verified whether such a policy suppresses the impact on the economy under crisis.

In this paper, we compare and analyze the relationship between fluctuations of oil prices and GDP among 26 OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries with their corresponding energy mix policies. As a result, under such crisis situations, in addition to the effects oil price fluctuations, we discovered more serious impacts on these economies. Moreover, we discovered that lowering the ratio of thermal power generation within the energy mix did not have an impact on suppressing the influence of crises in such economies, yet increasing the ratio of renewable energy (as opposed to that of nuclear power) did demonstrate a suppression effect.

On the other hand, during non-crisis periods, even if the rate of thermal power generation is reduced within a country’s given energy mix, we could not discern any effect on suppressing the economic impact of fluctuations in oil prices. Viewed from the perspective of the complexity of the supply chain, despite rises in the cost of thermal power generation as one source of energy, in addition to electricity being merely one of the input resources in production activities, we can infer that direct effects may be diminished, as alternative power sources can be secured through a wide range of networks.

Communicating Public Policy: Social Media and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Japan

Leslie Tkach-Kawasaki(University of Tsukuba)

With Internet populations increasing—and public service budgets decreasing—throughout the advanced industrial world, governments at various levels are re-examining the means by which they are communicating with and the informing the public about policy initiatives and endeavors. One promising area for combining public policy, social development, and ICTs involves the set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) determined by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. With an agenda of achieving measurable and sustainable development by 2030, these goals and their accompanying targets are providing a blueprint for social development in various countries throughout the world.

In Japan, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Promotion Headquarters was created in 2016 and 29 areas throughout Japan have been formally designated as model areas for SDGs development, including Tsukuba City in Ibaraki Prefecture. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches, this paper investigates the similarities and differences among these 29 designated areas in terms of communications and information exchange with the public about SDGs. Two questions guide this exploratory research: First, how are these designated areas addressing SDGs in general through Internet-based media, including social media channels? And second, can certain similarities and differences be discerned in terms of the topics covered, for example, SDGs related to the environment and renewable energy? Answering these research questions will yield important results in investigating how public policy is communicated in general with today’s multi-channel ICTs and identify the major actors and areas of policy emphasis. Furthermore, this exploratory research will provide a benchmark for further comparative research concerning SDGs and social development.