Japan reacts and evolves
Japan’s energy economy is pulsating – under the weight of its past, imprisoned by imports, and a desire to innovate
"The economy struggled after Fukushima. We've had to recalibrate our energy economy entirely." Ken Koyama, managing director and senior economist at Japan's Institute of Energy Economics, is speaking. We're in the Inui building in the Kachidoki region of Tokyo, where government offices dominate the landscape. It's here that the country's ministers had to decide - fast - how to bring energy back on line as disaster struck five years ago. "We had planned blackouts. Given the circumstances, we dealt with it well - but we needed an instantaneous rebuilding process." The earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan's Pacific coast on 11 March 2011 changed the country forever, leaving its energy economy
Also in this section
17 February 2026
The 25th WPC Energy Congress, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 26–30 April 2026, will bring together leaders from the political, industrial, financial and technology sectors under the unifying theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All”
17 February 2026
Siemens Energy has been active in the Kingdom for nearly a century, evolving over that time from a project-based foreign supplier to a locally operating multi-national company with its own domestic supply chain and workforce
17 February 2026
Eni’s chief operating officer for global natural resources, Guido Brusco, takes stock of the company’s key achievements over the past year, and what differentiates its strategy from those of its peers in the LNG sector and beyond
16 February 2026
As the third wave of global LNG arrives, Wood Mackenzie’s director for Europe gas and LNG, Tom Marzec-Manser, discusses with Petroleum Economist the outlook for Europe’s gas market in 2026






