In home of world's biggest nuclear plant, a vote may shape Japan's atomic future

A view shows a street with shuttered stores in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, Japan May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Kantaro Komiya

KASHIWAZAKI, Japan (Reuters) - Three days before a vote to choose their region's next governor, a handful of residents in Kashiwazaki, a sleepy coastal town in northern Japan, stood by a road to hear the race's long-shot contender warning of the dangers of nuclear power.

Four years ago, Naomi Katagiri, who is challenging the incumbent in an election on Sunday for governor of Niigata prefecture, might have drawn a bigger, more attentive crowd.