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I have to wonder if this is a deal with China, since it makes Japan less energy independent and the leading political party is known for nonstop corruption scandals and some ties to China. China will likely be a big seller of that coal and profit off this big time, same as they will with the recent bizarre casino legalization plan.

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The world production of coal is dominated by the People’s Republic of China with 47.4% of global production. China also dominates the global consumption of coal with 51.6% of the world demand in 2017.

http://energyatlas.iea.org/#!/tellmap/2020991907

China has no coal to spare to sell to Japan, they need it all. As the world's fastest growing major economy their electricity and thus coal demand will go up, not down.

Most of Japan's electricity is from imported LNG, so doesn't make much difference to independence. They already import this energy.

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