One major issue in the recent general election was what to do about nuclear power. The LDP won by a landslide with an "we'll think about it for now" stance, but in its policy agreement with coalition partner Kōmeitō it settled on "gradually reducing dependence on nuclear power."
The breakdown of renewable energy actually used in Japan is: small-scale hydro 41.3%, solar (power + heat) 20.9%, wind 15.7%, geothermal (power + heat) 14.9%, and biomass (power + heat) 7.1%. The national average self-sufficiency rate for renewable energy—the current "real capacity"—is 3.6%.
By prefecture, Oita leads at 23.4%, Toyama is second at 16.9%, and Akita third at 16.1%, followed by Aomori, Kagoshima, Nagano, Iwate, and others. Prefectures with low self-sufficiency rates are naturally concentrated in urban areas. Tokyo, home to the Palaceside Building, is 0.3%; Osaka 0.5%; Saitama 1.1%; Kyoto 1.2%; Fukuoka 1.3%.
Oita and Akita have pursued research and development on geothermal use from early on, and the results seem to be showing. Oita, with Beppu and Yufuin, and Akita, with Nyūtō Onsen and Tamagawa Onsen, are blessed with abundant underground heat.
Volcanic Japan is a great hot-spring nation—and a great geothermal nation. Because many sites are designated national parks, development is regulated, but compared with other renewables, geothermal power has the lowest development cost. We should not fail to use it. Using geothermal only for hot-spring eggs is MOTTAINAI—a waste. How about holding a "Geothermal Power Koshien" at hot-spring resorts nationwide to compete on efficiency?