They can protest however they want, they will not change the basic facts: that a country with Japan's population density needs dense power---a lot of power from as little land as possible.

Keeping existing nuclear plants for as long as possible, while the next generation of nuclear plants is being actively developed, is a sane choice for any country, but especially for Japan.

Of course, I can see the incredulous voices "How can you say that, when in Fukushima etc.". However, please see (again) the facts: radiation death toll is still zero. Compare that to the death toll from pollution, if Japan had built coal plants instead of nuclear plants all those decades. For numbers, google "deaths per terawatthour".