Log Cabin With Reactor View Becomes $2 Million Nuclear Holdout

Atsuko Ogasawara’s family rejected offers of more than $2 million for their property on Japan’s northern coast during a two-decade bid to prevent construction of a nuclear plant. The result: Their fenced-in house is little more than a stone’s throw from a facility that opens in 2014.

The family’s protest illustrates the challenges facing opponents when they go up against Japan’s nuclear industry, a pillar of the nation’s energy policy since the late 1960s. Ogasawara says her mother faced harassment that included letters from local authorities and neighbors pressuring her to sell, unidentified men following her and anonymous phone calls that included a threat to sabotage the family’s fishing boat.