M-RCBG Faculty Working Paper No. 2012-16
Energy Policy: Made in Japan
William W. Hogan
November 2012
Abstract
Japan achieved remarkable success in its energy policy over a long period of great turmoil. Limited domestic energy production presented Japan with an energy security challenge when disruptions following the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973 changed the nature of world’s political economy of energy. This shock to the system drove up Japan’s energy costs and required coordinated policy to mitigate the problems of energy import dependence. In the intervening decades Japan weathered the energy security storm. Japan took a leadership role in the push for international efforts to address the risks of climate change. Japanese energy policy and private investment began a transition to develop and deploy new renewable energy technologies.