While the media are rushing to announce the “full stop” of Japan's nuclear power production 2039, little attention has been paid to two much less publicized moves. The first is the restarting of Japan's nuclear export industry, especially its targeting of former colonial areas in South East Asia. The second is even more discreet. It is the revision of the Atomic Energy Basic Law loosening constraints on weapons development and breaking the long-standing pledge that nuclear technology be used exclusively for peaceful ends. The amendment may be related to the apparently contradictory announcement that the Japanese government will stop nuclear production but continue to reprocess spent fuel. We propose to analyse both of these recent developments.

From an American standpoint, it is easy to see clearly how Italian history was systematically destabilized in the second half of the 20th century, by a series of what I call structural deep events. I have defined these as “events, like the JFK assassination, the Watergate break-in, or 9/11, which violate the … social structure, have a major impact on … society, repeatedly involve law-breaking or violence, and in many cases proceed from an unknown dark force.”

Internal exposure has become a major public concern as a result of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster. Hiroshima's “black rain” was the first event that revealed the significance of internal exposure. I began working on the black rain problem in 1985 after meeting Mr. Murakami Tsuneyuki, then Director General of Hiroshima “Black Rain” A-Bomb Sufferers Organization. But let me tell the story from the beginning.

I was born on September 11, 1923 ten days before the Great Kanto Earthquake that devastated Tokyo. I am now 88 years old. I studied at the Meteorological Technical Officials Training School (predecessor of the Meteorological College) for two years before joining the Navy. I was commissioned a second lieutenant in June 1945. On the day of the defeat, I was in Taisha Air Base near Izumo-Taisha Grand Shrine, Shimane, which sent attack aircraft to Okinawa. I worked there as a meteorological officer forecasting the weather. Although I did not know about the dropping of the Hiroshima A-bomb on August 6, I heard rumors that huge numbers of people, mainly soldiers, were brought to the Army Hospital near Izumo-Taisha, bandaged from head to foot. I knew something very serious had happened.