Western countries imposed sanctions against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; in retaliation, Russia cut the natural gas supply to the EU. In early September 2022, Russia stopped its gas supply to Germany through the Nordstream subsea pipeline to countermeasure against setting price caps on Russian oil and gas transactions by the G7. As a result, half of Germany’s gas demand, dependent on Russia, was disrupted. The origin of defenseless reliance on Russian energy appears rooted in Germany’s contemporary history, such as the eastern policy (Ostpolitik), anti-nuclear movement, environmental protection, and somewhat anti-American sentiment. While it is still difficult to understand why Germany is heavily dependent on natural gas from Russia, the result is that they underestimated the risks of pipeline transactions and could not take measures for the disruption. In these circumstances, Japan should increase its energy security by establishing state stockpiling of coal for power generation, keeping oil power generation at capacity, and revisiting domestic coal reserves in preparation for naval blockades in sea lanes.

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