Photo/Illutration The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant on the coast of Niigata Prefecture (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Within months of becoming prime minister, Kakuei Tanaka (1918-1993) normalized Japan’s relations with China at lightning speed and seized that momentum to form his second Cabinet on Dec. 22, 1972.

But the 1973 oil crisis awaited the nation.

“If the Japanese people are not to be inconvenienced by power shortages, (relying on) nuclear power is the quickest solution,” Tanaka declared, and created a system to ensure that municipalities hosting nuclear power plants would be generously compensated with government subsidies.

In his native Niigata Prefecture, wire mesh fencing was installed around a vast sand dune where multiple buildings were erected.

That became the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, which was shut down in 2011 but is now all set to go back online.

Niigata Governor Hideyo Hanazumi supported the restart last month, and the prefectural assembly voted in favor on Dec. 22.

After remaining idle since after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, more than a dozen nuclear reactors around the nation have since resumed operations.

But Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the first on the list as a plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co.—the utility that ran the fateful Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant that was severely crippled by the mega-quake and tsunami.

In Fukushima Prefecture, a nuclear power plant that was invited there to enrich the lives of the locals has turned their hometown into a desolate no man’s land that remains uninhabitable.

But TEPCO is now restarting another plant to turn around its business, which has been floundering under the weight of damages payments and idle reactors.

This huge paradox is now being set in motion with the blessing of the local population.

This is deeply upsetting. But this decision must have been anything but easy, and I must ask myself: Who am I to criticize them when I love all the beautiful, bright lights that illuminate the city in this Christmas and year-end season?

Most of the electricity generated at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa will be coming to Tokyo and its surrounding cities.

Tanaka once lamented, “Why do people have to put up with pollution and other ills from generating power that’s not even for their own use, but only for people living in the big cities?”

These words, uttered in his signature raspy voice, echo deep in my ears.

The horrible paradox is for people in the big cities to face up to.

—The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 23

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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