Fukui
15 nuclear reactors (Nuclear Ginza), 90% of Japan's eyeglass frames (Sabae), 1,500-year Echizen paper. 2026: nuclear restart as national test case.
Fukui exists on Japan's nuclear frontier. The Wakasa Bay coast hosts 15 nuclear reactors—more than any other prefecture—earning it the nickname "Nuclear Ginza." These plants once provided electricity for Kansai's industrial heartland. After Fukushima, most were shuttered; the restart debate plays out here more intensely than anywhere in Japan.
Beyond nuclear, Fukui claims cultural firsts. Echizen washi (handmade paper) has been produced here for 1,500 years. Echizen pottery, Sabae eyeglass frames (90% of Japan's production), and traditional lacquerware continue craft traditions. The dinosaur museum in Katsuyama, built around major fossil discoveries, draws families from across Japan.
The combination is characteristically Japanese: cutting-edge energy technology and ancient paper-making, nuclear engineers and eyeglass craftsmen, dinosaur fossils and reactor cores. By 2026, Fukui's question is existential: will nuclear power restart fully? If so, the prefecture returns to its role as Kansai's power supplier. If not, what replaces both the electricity and the employment? The nuclear ginza may become a ghost town—or prove that Japan can't decarbonize without it.