That'd make the third of the old Axis Powers to do it, given that Germany made the decision to ditch it and Italy resolved to keep theirs down (which they had already brought offline)

Granted, it's just a Tokyo Shimbun poll, and Japan has a long history of voter apathy and a delightfully byzantine legislature that means what the people want rarely goes anywhere, but the breakdown was thus;

9 % said scrap immediately

19 % said decommission when each individual reactor's next inspection date is up

54% said scrap as soon as alternatives become viable

So really it's actually a less alarmist reaction than the Germans, since the majority option is the most sane option for any country (though nuclear should be the interstep between fossil fuels and renewables).

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/16275/most-japanese-wish-to-scrap-reactors

Good for them. Considering that natural disasters are quite common in Japan, this is a smart thing to do.

Good idea for Japan, but I'm hoping that other countries aren't putting off using nuclear power due to the earthquake.

I wonder how Japanese who consider to 'scrap' reactors see the future of Japanese industry in that case? =)

Hydropower is out of the question, water streams are to weak for commercial use (partly the reason nuclear reactors are built near the shore). Thermal power is a possibility, but given lack of own natural resources this makes Japan dependant of overseas suppliers, and all neraby potential suppliers have unresolved territorial issues with Japan (let alone it'll cost them to build needed infrastructure to transit the fuel). Heothermal, tidal powers... that's just laughable.

The reality is that nuclear power isn't going anywhere from Japan, even it'll cost them millions of lives. And that's not only a problem of building plants protected from possible tsunami and earthquakes (seriously, this should have been done long ago), but proper safety guidlines and management (say, by nationalization of major nuclear power companies).

They could invade Russia to get resources.

Well, last time they tried - it didn't work out too well ;)

Well, they could ally themselves with China. Not like anyone will jump to help you.

Hate to break it to the revisionists, but the Japanese, especially the Navy, kicked the living snot out of the Russians in the early 20th century (Sino/Russian war esp. Port Arthur). Of, course Russia took it's toll on the Japanese army near the end of WW2, but that was Manchuoko/Manchuria and only because every other allied power was dogpiling Japan at that point. Russia seems pretty good at jumping in at the last minute to get the scraps, but when it comes to a straight up fight, they're woefully lethargic and laughably incapable unless they're throwing human waves at their opponent. Oh well, Russia is a burnt out, fragmented, corrupt husk of it's former self now, carry on.

why only 82%? i guess the other 18% didnt lost someone in the catastrophe or what?

Bwa-ha-ha, ally with China? :D

There're greater chances that the moon will fall on the earth rather than Japan will ally with China. I've lived in China for years, dealing with Chinese on constant basis till now. So I'm more or less familiar with the context, Chinese have a big grudge against Japan. Won't happen ever, there're more than 1001 reasons for that. Anyways Chinese tried as well, didn't work out either. Sorry, there's no song on that matter, just google Damansky and Zhalanashkol incidents.

And, please, stop derailing the thread.

@vic_viper

"Three tankmen" song posted above was written in 1939 after the Battles of Khalkhin Gol (known as Nomonhan Incident in Japanese and Western historiography), prior to events of WW2. The rest of the post is the nonsense which's either trolling or blatant ignorance.