In the wake of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the then censored Japanese press had only barely been able to account for the dangers of radioactivity. A decade later, newspapers gave intensive coverage to the radioactive fallout from the Castle Bravo nuclear test which incidentally contaminated the Japanese crew of the tuna fishing boat Daigo Fukuryû Maru. Panic spread among the population who followed news reports about the fishermen’s health status, about the concerning levels of radiation measured in what would shortly be called “atomic tuna,” or about subsequent nuclear tests deemed to have deregulating effects on the climate.

The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power accident contaminated the agricultural and fish production of a vast area and brought discredit upon the Japanese nuclear industry. That is why 8 years later, many Japanese are still reluctant to consume products coming from the affected areas, despite numerous promotional campaigns.

This paper aims at analyzing the media coverage of those atomic disasters through the Japanese newspapers Asahi, Mainichi and Yomiuri, with a particular focus on the relationships between nuclear energy and culture. It will show how the 1954 discourse, which sometimes opposed a threatening technology coming from outside of the country to the frailty of an age-old culture in tune with seasonal rhythms, will evolve in 2011 to stress out the fact that danger was coming from within, from the very nuclear civil program that the newspapers stood for amidst concerns about nuclear energy.