Entangled Fisherfolk: The decline of the fishing industry and the rise of the anti-nuclear movements in Japan

While Japan boasts the most advanced nuclear power plant program in the world, residents have long resisted attempts to site nuclear facilities in their backyards. This article analyzes the conditions that have influenced the outcomes of these movements since 1960. My analysis of a dataset spanning movements opposing 26 projects shows that the fragmentation of property rights was key to the movements' success. When the movements were handed down from fishermen to residents by the end of the 1960s, residents sustained the resistance by dividing ownership of land earmarked for nuclear power plant projects. For earlier movements led by fishermen, fishermen's votes regarding changes to their fishery rights functioned as de facto fragmented property rights in towns with small vessels, indicating the substantial presence of independent fishermen. By increasing the time and financial resources necessary for pro-facility groups to achieve critical milestones for siting projects, defensive instruments and strategies either compelled pro-facility groups to give up or bought time for anti-facility residents to enforce offensive movement strategies. This study theorizes anti-facility movements as a particular variation of social movements with an additional layer that complicates the dynamics of contention.