The restart of Japan's nuclear power industry is proving pivotal to the economic vision of the country's prime minister as soaring fuel bills after the Fukushima disaster threaten to keep the country's trade in a deeper deficit for longer.

As Japan marks the second anniversary this week of a crisis that scarred the nation, the fuel bills to pay for lost atomic output are leaving their own scars on the economy, partly owing to Abe's own making.

His mix of economic policies - dubbed Abenomics by the media - has driven the yen down sharply, thus raising the cost of imports that will weigh on the revival of a nation that has traditionally relied on exports to drive growth.

The sooner that pro-nuclear Abe can restart atomic power stations, the sooner he will return the country's record trade deficit to its long-term standing of a trade surplus and so mark a milestone in the recovery of the economy.

But in Abe's way is the country's new, independent atomic watchdog, which has said it will take as long as three years to approve restarts under safety guidelines it is drawing up.