As 80% of the world's primary energy, including that of the Asian region, is dependant on fossil fuels, it is essential to address large-scale emission sources to achieve the reduction targets set by the Kyoto Protocol of COP3. Even though promotions such as utilizing renewable energy and energy conservation are important measures for reducing CO₂ emissions, sustained utilization of fossil fuels including coal resources cannot be denied from the viewpoint of efficient use of resources. Furthermore, the implementation of effective actions is the key to achieving efficient use of fossil fuels, benefiting the world and the global environment.

In this paper, I discuss how electricity supply systems should function in the future. The inability to restart nuclear power plants after the Great East Japan Earthquake created worries about power shortages in Japan. Nowadays, discussions on electricity supply systems are mired in confusion due to conflicting interests in Japan. This paper deals with issues organized into short term and long term topics. Currently, society in general is looking for one answer that will fulfill three key conditions: breaking away from nuclear power generation, preventing a rise in electricity costs, and reducing greenhouse gases. But I conclude there is no single answer that fulfills all of these conditions. I suggest that if we want to reduce the number of nuclear power stations, then we should accept a rise in electricity costs. And if we cannot accept a rise in electricity costs, then we have to resort to the use of nuclear power or continue contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. As is often said, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.”

The use of geospace for energy and resources has become a hot topic in relation to the review of energy policies in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake (also known as “3.11”). Geospace may be used for the production of energy sources and as facilities for energy processing, storage, and distribution. Methane hydrate, geothermal, and shale gas are typical energy sources that may require the use of geo-space in the future. Underground facilities could potentially be used for geological disposal of radioactive waste and CCS (CO₂ Capture and Storage), as well as for storage and distribution of natural gas.

In this paper, we first describe the performance characteristics of the geosphere and its use related to energy and resources. Thereafter, we describe current problems and potential geosphere use in the future.

This paper systematically presents and analyzes fifty years of opinion polls conducted by the Japanese mass-media before the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The results show that Japanese people, on average, did not clearly recognize energy issues as a problem, which itself required a solution, until the late 1970s. The second oil-crisis in 1979 made people aware of the importance of securing energy resources as well as the merit of conserving energy in households. However, this awareness of energy issues gradually faded as time passed and fear of another energy crisis dwindled. Global warming issues introduced a new perspective in the late 1990s that required people to choose future energy resources based upon comparisons of merits and demerits of using each resource type. Likewise, citizens have been more involved in energy supply and demand issues during the past 50 years. The paper also discusses some implications of the historical findings of national opinions concerning the energy policy after the 2011 earthquake.

In the management of long-term exposure situations, the role of stakeholders has moved steadily to the forefront of the decision-making process within the system of radiation protection recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). In this article, the roles of inhabitants living in long-term contaminated areas after a nuclear accident are clarified based on the recommendations of the ICRP. The involvement of inhabitants can provide valuable input regarding habit data for assessments of the exposure doses from radioactive materials. Also, the decision-making process involving inhabitants can establish acceptable living conditions reflecting actual problems currently faced by such people. However, in order to encourage the management of a radiological situation by inhabitants, there are some issues which should be solved from technical and societal perspectives.

Japan has been facing a steep rise in the number of crimes committed by the elderly (“elderly crimes”) in recent years. This is generally attributed to Japan being the world's fastest aging society. However, there are no reports on an increase in the number of elderly crimes in other countries already experiencing aging societies. The anomaly observed in statistics of elderly crimes in Japan poses several questions, such as if the widely accepted theory on the distribution of crime number against age is eventually broken in Japan and whether the anomaly is a direct result of societal changes inherent to the rapid aging of society. From the perspective of the theory on the distribution of crime number against age, Japanese statistics have shown us that the shape of the distribution changes depending on the species of crimes. There is no universal distribution applied for all kinds of crimes, suggesting that crimes are triggered by personal and/or social causes. With the regression analysis of elderly crimes in Japan, it has been found that property offenses are strongly influenced by an economic poverty factor, while personal offenses are significantly affected by a social isolation factor more than an economic poverty factor.

This study aims to clarify structural features of the networks among civic groups active in protecting the river environment. We focused on the networks of civic groups in the Tama River area, located near Tokyo. These groups have showed increased collaborative activity since the 1970s. We analyzed networks by classifying their structures into two element, namely, a management element and an activity element. Our study provides three results. Firstly, the management element offers an important system that provides daily information to civic groups in the river basin area. Secondly, the management element can establish a task force to adjust activities conducted by the activity element. And thirdly, although networks have been promoting the sharing of information among civic groups since the 2000s, the networks should also develop a structural function that allows them to conduct several simultaneous activities.

In the planning and design of infrastructure, considerations of local situations and residents' interests are essential. However, there are many of problems in forming a dialogue platform when initiating the participatory process due to lack of knowledge on efficient methods for finding willing stakeholders and discussion topics that interest the stakeholders. This study aims to verify problems and develop a future vision for the introduction of a stakeholder assessment method developed in order to understand the interests in local areas and form a social agreement for the dialogue process. By conducting a questionnaire survey on government officials and personal interviews of practitioners who have managed a participatory planning process, the authors discovered problems and developed a vision for introducing the stakeholder assessment method as a preparation process for forming a participatory dialogue platform.