Let’s Get Homer Simpson’s Hands Off the Controls

[kristopher]

Kaidanren is the Japanese version of the US Chamber of Commerce, on steriods as far as policy goes. As an organization Keidanren differs from the USCoC in two significant ways: first is its stucture, which is designed to bring the corporate principals together into committees assembled to address the economic problems of Japan. The second difference flows from the first in that Keidanren is incredibly powerful and effective - they are not "lobbyists" as we think of lobbyists but are instead a direct integrated part of the policy creation process.

The Japanese are waging their own fight against the 1% over the matter of nuclear energy. And there, as here, not all wealthy are the bad guys.

Let’s Get Homer Simpson’s Hands Off the Controls
Japanese executives aren’t known for bucking the establishment. Hiroshi Mikitani is a rare exception at a time when rebellion is most needed.
By William Pesek
August 02, 2011

The president of Rakuten Inc., Japan’s biggest online retailer, turned 46 on March 11. That was the day when a record earthquake and tsunami set off the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl and forever changed the way Japanese view the reactors in their midst. Almost five months later, the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant is still leaking radioactivity.

A growing majority of the nation’s 127 million people want a future devoid of radiation-contaminated air and food, and who can blame them? Forget it, says corporate Japan. The economy will collapse if we give up on nuclear power.

Count Mikitani among those who disagree. He recently quit Japan’s main business lobby, Nippon Keidanren, to protest its support of the energy status quo. Good for him. Japan needs to harness power from safer sources, but the government lacks the courage to seek them. So, the private sector is filling the void -- a rare event in Japan.

Most notable is Masayoshi Son, the 53-year-old chief executive officer of Softbank Corp. The billionaire first cracked the monopolies that dominated Japan’s telecommunications industry. Now he’s shaking up the utilities market with plans to invest about $1 billion to build 10 solar farms....

http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-02/let-s-get-homer-simpson-s-hands-off-the-controls-william-pesek

Softbank's Son denounces Keidanren's energy proposal
November 16, 2011

Pounding his desk in frustration, Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of Softbank Corp., denounced the energy policy proposal of Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), saying the business group has its priorities mixed up.

"I am firmly opposed to a policy proposal centered on nuclear power generation," Son said at a meeting of Keidanren's board of directors on Nov. 15.

But none of the other directors openly backed the views of Son, who has invested heavily in solar-power infrastructure projects since the accident started at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March.

Keidanren's proposal says the priority should be placed on efforts to bring the crisis at the Fukushima plant under control. It also says it is very important, for the time being, to restart nuclear reactors whose safety has been confirmed because prolonged power shortages could further spur the hollowing-out of Japanese industries.

The proposal...

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/recovery/AJ201111160007