190%202013%20Mar_Apr

Japan’s Energy Security Challenges 1
Linda McCann, Department of Defence
This time of hardship is the ideal moment for Japan to overcome its inward-looking tendency
and soar like a dragon, fulfilling more actively than ever the role we are called upon to perform
in the world. 2
Introduction
Koichiro Gemba, Japan’s then Foreign Minister, 2012
On 11 March 2011, an earthquake registering 9.0 on the Richter scale struck off the northeast
coast of Japan. The earthquake and subsequent tsunami resulted in the death of over 20,000
people and caused an estimated $US200 billion worth of damage, making it the costliest
natural disaster ever. It also caused a major meltdown of three reactors at Japan’s Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear power plant, resulting in tens of thousands of people being evacuated and the
eventual shut-down of all Japan’s nuclear power plants. Almost two years later, Japan is still to
decide if nuclear power will be reinstated as an eventual energy source. 3
Japan was facing significant energy security challenges before the events of 2011. 4 With almost
no indigenous energy resources, Japan in 2010 imported some 96 per cent of its energy
requirements, with almost 90 per cent of its oil coming from the Middle East, 5 as well as 27
per cent of its gas imports. 6 While nuclear power only accounted for 13 per cent of Japan’s
overall energy consumption before the accident, 7 it provided 30 per cent of Japan’s electricity
consumption, with plans to increase this to 50 per cent by 2050. 8
The meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant has thrown Japan’s long-term energy plans into
turmoil. While Japan’s reliance on nuclear power has always had its detractors, there is now
strong popular support for completely rejecting nuclear power. But rejecting nuclear power
would likely result in increased energy costs, lower energy self-sufficiency and the need for a
serious review of its foreign policy, notably in improving its relations with China on exploration
efforts in the disputed East China Sea, and with Russia, which produces more oil and gas than
any other country in the world. 9
Japan’s energy profile
By far the largest energy source consumed in Japan is oil (see Figure 1), which accounts for
almost half the energy supplied. This is down from a peak of 77 per cent in 1973, after which
Japan had a deliberate policy of diversifying away from oil to alternative energy resources. 10
In 1973, for example, natural gas only accounted for 2 per cent of Japan’s primary energy
imports, whereas this had increased to 18 per cent by 2010. 11
83