Consuming for production: Japanese national security, nuclear fuel procurement, and the domestic economy

One of the most intriguing aspects of postwar Japan is a reversal of economic roles in which consumers serve producers rather than vice versa. By acquiescing to “consumer unfriendly” price and distribution systems, Japanese consumers have subsidized Japanese industry and Western consumers as well. Although much of the recent theorizing about Japanese production and consumption has focused on Japanese consumers as end users, it has seldom addressed the question of how Japanese producers that pay more than others for factor inputs remain competitive in world markets. This article uses the case of nuclear fuel price insensitivity, derived from security concerns, to explore how this behavior is institutionalized through regulatory policy in the larger Japanese economic culture.