Fukushima looks to renewable energy sources in the aftermath of nuclear disaster

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Fukushima looks to renewable energy sources in the aftermath of nuclear disaster

Here comes the sun: Snow sits on the ground around solar panels at Aizu Electric Power Co.'s Oguni power plant in Kitakata, Fukushima Prefecture. The panels are elevated on scaffolding to raise them above the snow during winter. | CHRISTINA SJOGREN

By Kajsa Skarsgard
Contributing Writer

Mar 10, 2018

Steam rises from outdoor pools overlooking a waterfall at a 90-year-old hotel in Fukushima Prefecture’s Tsuchiyu Onsen.

“What has saved us since the disaster are the loyal regular guests and the new visitors who have come to study our town’s renewable energy plant. Without them, I’m sure we would have had to close,” says Izumi Watanabe, who has been director of Sansuiso Tsuchiyu Spa for 37 years.

“People come from other onsen areas all over Japan to learn how they can become energy independent and how the binary plant we have doesn’t affect our hot springs,” she says, challenging the preconception that onsen communities, fearing a negative impact on their tourism business, typically hold back the development of geothermal energy in Japan.