The Big Bee In The Boundless Sky
Makes Us Face What We Don't Wanna Face

Date：14, Oct, 2016
Investigated and Written by Misaka Youhei
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"The Big Bee In The Boundless Sky" is a 1995 suspense novel written by Higashino Keigo; one of Japanese famous authors. That is a story of a kind of terrorism.

Reading through the novel, you would know "the Big Bee in the Boundless Sky" is the name of a terrorist group that captures a military helicopter "Big B" by their remote operation. The Big B has a lot of explosives on board. They bring the dangerous helicopter to a fast-breeder reactor standing in Fukui prefecture.

As you have got, Fukui prefecture actually owns a fast-breeder reactor "Monju." So it is easily considered that the story was written based on our reality.

In his essay, Higashino Keigo said "I talked with many policemen, Self-Defense Force staff, and the workers at nuclear power plants. Through collecting the materials, I felt strong dilemma on both of the opposition party and the propulsion. So I tried to describe about a nuclear power plant without any prejudice."

Japanese don't decide how we should do between the opposition and the propulsion even today. In addition, most of them seem not to think. Namely, Japanese people's real intention almost says "we don't want to guess anything about nuclear power." Naturally, the answer doesn't go to them forever.

Viewed from the opposite side, the novel "the Big Bee in the Boundless Sky" is never losing its value for Japanese people. It still makes us face what we don't desire to face.

By the way, the "Big B" is not a helicopter existing in the real world.