Entwicklungen nach Fukushima - ESB-Radler

The aftermath of Fukushima 2011 –
New impulses on alternative energy supply,
realization of definite changes waiting to
be delivered
Interview with Jochem Kühnle (MBA 2002),
taken by Katja Breitinger (MBA 2005)
Where were you when the earthquake happened that
damaged the Fukushima nuclear plant?
I was in my office in Tokyo.
Have you been at this place since then?
I live in Yokohama and I still work in Tokyo.
How did it feel when you returned?
The trip to the office was rather difficult in the first
days, but because of all the distraction, not because I
was afraid to go to the office itself. However I was
A walk home by foot in Yokohama
04 Schwerpunkt Erneuerbare Energien – Entwicklungen nach Fukushima
afraid of any negative impacts especially radiated food,
water, and so on. We have an 11 years old daughter
and we were concerned about her health.
In the first months after the disaster, every newspaper
wrote about how people in Japan tried to help each other.
Did this change in attitude continue?
Yes, for a few to several months. It appeared that many
companies and people including American and Korean
celebrities were donating huge amount of money. It
became even something like a competition and the total
amount of donation was huge.
In recent months, however, Japanese politicians do not seem
to drive this change forward. How do people react to this?
Japanese people usually do not question authorities, so
they don’t complain, but the impact is still very strong.
There were several protests at the TEPCO‘s headquarters.
Demonstrations are not very common in Japan. One of
our friends told me that the Buddhist Newspapers in
Japan are full of articles about Fukushima and they are
even criticizing the government. Religious organizations
in Japan normally never get involved in politics and/or
government issues, so this is a big change.
During summer Japan turned down the air conditioners in order
to save power. During winter this solution does not work. How
are you preparing for possible power cut-offs during winter?
We bought Yutampo (hot-water bottle), but if we really
need to save electricity, we will go out. However, we have
not heard about any plans from the government to cut
down the electric power usage this winter – and luckily,
the temperatures have been quite warm until now.