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e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 13, Nº. 1 (May-October 2022)

246

CRITICAL REVIEW

Akyüz, Emrah (2021). Nuclear Power and Human Rights in Japan:

The Fallout of Fukushima. London: Lexington Books. ISBN:

9781793637819, 270 pp

EMRAH ATAR

emrah.atar@erdogan.edu.tr

PhD in Development Policy and Management at Global Development Institute at The University of

Manchester, which focuses on the impact of the refugee crisis on public service delivery in

hosting countries such as Turkey. He is Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science

and Public Administration, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University (Turkey). His focus topics and

research interests to further escalating his prospects on politics, governance, migration, policy

development and human resource management, urbanization policies. Emrah is also an interview

editor of the Political Reflection Magazine, and Commissioning Editor of the E-International

Relations.

Since the first half of the 20th century, technological innovations have transformed war

methods and created prolifications of nuclear powers worldwide. The two world wars and

the subsequent Cold War period cause a peak in this race. These developments, however,

caused many tragedies; among those was the nuclear power plant accident in Fukushima

in 2011. 'Nuclear Power and Human Rights in Japan: The Fallout of Fukushima', by Dr

Emrah Akyüz from Lexington Books, attempted to examine the event from the axis of

human rights. This book consists of seven main sections with each chapter's introduction

and conclusion, which helps the reader to formulate a general assessment.

The first part of the book maps the nuclear accidents experienced worldwide and offers

information about the effects of nuclear accidents, with a specific focus on Ontario,

Chernobyl and Fukushima, trying s to understand this process with a seven-stage

pyramid (pp. 2-5). In the continuation of this section, the details of Fukushima, which is

the book's focal point, are presented (pp. 5-7). In the continuation of Fukushima, he

details the Environmental Human Rights Approach to The Fukushima Nuclear Accident

and brings up that Fukushima has substantial risks in terms of environment and human

health, and states the following: "Undoubtedly, the environment and public health are

the two core areas to which Fukushima will continue to pose a risk, and is a likely

explanation for why the literature focuses on these two aspects when discussing the

Texto traduzido por Cláudia Tavares.

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 13, Nº. 1 (May-October 2022), pp. 246-249

Critical Review

Critival Review of Akyüz, Emrah (2021). Nuclear Power and Human Rights in Japan: The

Fallout of Fukushima. London: Lexington Books. ISBN: 9781793637819, 270 pp

Emrah Atar

247

accident" (p. 8). In this chapter, the author also emphasizes human rights in terms of

environment and health.

In the second part of the book, the conceptual framework: environmental human rights

is discussed. The interrelation between human rights and ecological rights is presented

(p. 20). When referring to environmental rights, pointing out the meetings held in

Stockholm and Rio also helps us to build a detailed conceptual analysis —emphasizing

that human rights are divided into three inclusive internationally accepted categories;

socio-economic, civil-political and solidarity human rights (pp. 21-28).

The third part analyzes Japan's Nuclear Energy and Human Rights Policy related to

environmental human rights. Considering Japan's energy policies before and after

Fukushima, discussing how effective/ineffective the country's human rights policies are

in this direction (pp. 71-74). Emphasizing that the Fukushima disaster brought along

major reforms in Japan's energy policy, the work informs us about these reforms (pp.

80-90). While explaining the reforms, the author draws attention to Safety as a Key

Principle, The Decrease in Dependency on Nuclear Energy, Renewable Energy, and

Transparency.

Through thematic analysis of interviews with Fukushima inhabitants, Chapter 4 examines

the impacts and hazards connected with the FNA on/to human rights, particularly the

right to life, health, and property. In this direction, official reports and past work on the

hazards and impact of the accident on the rights to life, health, and property are

discussed in this chapter (pp. 98-104). Then, thematic analysis of human rights issues

relating to radioactive pollution in Fukushima has been talked about. In this section,

people's experiences are given in line with the data obtained from the fieldwork. Basic

results such as Living with Fear, Violation of the Right to Health, Mental Health Problems,

Physical Health Problems, Social Isolation, Loneliness, Risks to Health Associated with

Water Contamination, Risks to Health Associated with Food Supply Contamination,

Violation of Right to Property set forth and discussed here (pp. 107-121). This information

provides imperative contributions to the literature about the difficulties experienced by

the region's people during this process and the processes they need to overcome in

dealing with these difficulties.

The study 'Fukushima Residents' Experiences of Procedural Rights' concerning Japan's

Energy Policy looked at how and to what extent Fukushima residents used procedural

rights in response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster and Japan's nuclear energy policy

(pp. 136-174). As the author indicates "there is no comprehensive study to date that has

investigated the Fukushima residents' experiences of PHRs (including the right to

information, the right to participation, and the right to access to justice) in the Fukushima

matter" (p. 134). This study is one of the few studies examining strengthens this

argument by giving more detailed information. The author also put some sub-themes to

provide better insight on this issue: No Attempt to Access to the Information Before the

Accident; Passive access to the information related to nuclear energy after the 2011

accident; Access to the Information; Reliability of Information; Timely sharing of

Information related to the accident; Active access to the information related to nuclear

energy after the 2011 accident; Complexity of Information; Public Participation in

Decision Making Process; A Lack of Interest in Nuclear Energy and no Invitation before

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 13, Nº. 1 (May-October 2022), pp. 246-249

Critical Review

Critival Review of Akyüz, Emrah (2021). Nuclear Power and Human Rights in Japan: The

Fallout of Fukushima. London: Lexington Books. ISBN: 9781793637819, 270 pp

Emrah Atar

248

the Accident; Public Participation in Decision Making Process Tokenism; Referendum

Demand; People's Interest in Public Participation after the Fukushima Accident; Access

to the Court; Judicial Redress with Respect to the Impact of Environmental Decisions;

Judicial Review with Respect to Environmental Decision Making; Barriers to Access to the

Court and Socially Fair Results.

Chapter six provides a detailed discussion to interpret the book's principal findings

regarding past research on the FNA and EHRs. It is divided into three sections: first, it

discusses the extent to which the FNA represents a human rights problem in terms of its

environmental impact, which is the central research question addressed in the empirical

chapters; second, it examines the relationship between substantive and procedural rights

in Fukushima, and critically evaluates the challenges and opportunities of an energy

policy that recognizes public participation in decision-making, which is propagate in the

empirical chapters; and third, it examines the relationship between substantive and

procedural rights in Fukushima. Finally, some of the study's limitations are discussed and

suggested future research fields. The main findings of the study were discussed here,

and a detailed analysis was obtained. In this direction, the following topics are

emphasized: The Relationship Between Human Rights, the Environment, and Nuclear

Energy in Japan; Cross-Cutting Issues between Japan's Human Rights and Nuclear

Energy Policy; Human Rights Violations Raised by the Fukushima Nuclear Accident;

Reinterpretation of Human Rights Versus Right to the Environment; The Linkage Between

Substantive and Procedural Rights; The Linkages Between Violation of the Right to

Information and the Enjoyment of the Right to Health; The Lack of the Right to Public

Participation and the Enjoyment of the Right to Health (pp. 174-205).

This work, which I had the opportunity to evaluate in detail above, appears as a candidate

to make significant contributions in its field. In particular, it is observed that this highly

accessible guide is up-to-date and makes a noteworthy contribution to the literature in

terms of bringing environmental issues and human rights issues together. Dr Akyüz

reveals that there is a positive interaction between ecological problems and human rights,

especially from a Japanese perspective. While demonstrating this, he not only remained

under the monopoly of Japan but also added a broad perspective by addressing similar

problems that had been experienced before. The academic world, which constantly points

to ancient events and accidents in the analysis of environmental issues, will now have

the opportunity to understand better the issues of the region's people in the face of much

more recent negativities with such accidents. Of course, this work, which was revealed

only with the example of Fukushima, will not be enough on its own. However, this work

would definitely encourage especially young academics to examine more current events

regarding environmental issues.

The method in which the study was presented, the language used, and the detailed

presentation of the findings can be seen as one of the most important advantages. It is

also noteworthy that an empirical method was used in the study, and those policy

recommendations were given as a result of the findings. The results obtained in work

bring a different perspective to the current understanding of the relationship between

human rights and the environment. In addition, a discussion of Japan's contribution to

nuclear energy policy and management and the theoretical, methodological and empirical

study of nuclear accidents will also be valuable to scientists working in this field. Overall,

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 13, Nº. 1 (May-October 2022), pp. 246-249

Critical Review

Critival Review of Akyüz, Emrah (2021). Nuclear Power and Human Rights in Japan: The

Fallout of Fukushima. London: Lexington Books. ISBN: 9781793637819, 270 pp

Emrah Atar

249

the book is well-written, and most readers will find it both interesting and educational,

in which Dr Akyüz examines and clarifies a case about a nuclear disaster. He also analyses

the topic of challenges and challengers excellently. Therefore, I strongly recommend that

this book, which offers a different perspective on Fukushima's environmental risk

analysis, ought to be read by people from all platforms.

How to cite this critical review

Atar, Emrah (2022). Recensão crítica de Akyüz, Emrah (2021). Nuclear Power and

Human Rights in Japan: The Fallout of Fukushima. London: Lexington Books. ISBN:

9781793637819, 270 pp. In Janus.net, e-journal of international relations. Vol. 13, Nº

1, May-October 2022. Consulted [online] on date of the last visit,

https://doi.org/10.26619/1647-7251.13.01.1