[bin_bash]

They’re one of the biggest importers of natural gas. Something has to run the Shinkansen.

[srvmshr]

Shinkansens run on electricity. Oil is mostly in the manufacturing and plastics industry, unlike other countries where domestic consumption is a significant share. (Tokyo power sector is mostly thermal and nuclear.)

[bin_bash]

They hardly produce any nuclear anymore. Natural gas is the largest source by far.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_Japan

EDIT: these numbers appear to be old, since 2019 they’ve tuned reactors back on and stopped relying on LNG as much. I can’t find good numbers on recent data but in 2019 they imported more gas than any other country.

[srvmshr]

Fossil-fueled thermal power generation accounted for 71.7% of total electricity generated during the year [2021], down from 74.9% the previous year [2020]. Coal and LNG accounted for 26.5% and 31.7%, respectively, and both fossil fuels are on a declining trend. Nuclear power accounted for 5.9%, up from 4.3% the previous year.

Source: https://www.isep.or.jp/en/1243/

Reference #4

[ajmurmann]

I wonder why geothermal isn't big there. I'd naively assume that they could get a significant portion to their electricity from geothermal. Does anyone know what's preventing Japan from doing that?

[liketochill]

Without knowing how good a geothermal resource they have, I imagine it is similar to what prevents it from being popular where I live where there is a fantastic geothermal resource: Economics, know how, FUD

[jpgvm]

Shinkansen is electric. Japan total energy mix is about 20% LNG or so.

[bin_bash]

Try over 40%: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_Japan

[jpgvm]

Huh, it is higher now. Not quite 40% though, coal and LNG accounted for 26.5% and 31.7% in 2021: https://www.isep.or.jp/en/1243/

Renewables are aggressively scaling up and nuclear looks like it's rebounding some.

[bin_bash]

Ah yeah you’re right. A lot has changed since 2019.