Japan's trade minister meets with the governor of Fukui prefecture on Saturday to try to convince him to restart two idle nuclear reactors in central Japan.
These would be the first to come back online since last year's Fukushima nuclear crisis.
Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda - shown here in a meeting with ministers in Tokyo on Friday - is worried about a power crunch, with all but one of Japan's 54 commercial reactors offline.
But in Saturday's meeting the Fukui prefecture governor told the trade minister that local people might not support the reopening of the reactors.
"As an area with reactors, it is hard to say that our efforts or contributions have been understood by areas that use the electricity produced. Under these circumstances, it is difficult to get understanding from the people of the prefecture about restarts."
Tokyo is wary of going against public opinion, and has tried to assuage concerns by implementing new safety requirements at the plants.
(SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPANESE MINISTER OF ECONOMY, TRADE AND INDUSTRY YUKIO EDANO SAYING AND BOWING:
"As the people closest to the reactors, we ask you to consider this proposal seriously and I deeply ask for your understanding."
The March 2011 earthquake and tsunami devastated the Fukushima nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan, triggering the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl, and leaving the public with worries about the safety of nuclear power.
