June 26, 2011
Residents in Fukushima held a rally on June 25 calling for the nation’s withdrawal from nuclear power generation in the capital city of the prefecture under the banner, “Let us re-create a nature-rich Fukushima!”
Mothers, farmers, workers, and small business owners spoke to around 1,000 participants gathered. A dairy farmer from Iitate Village reported that he and his colleagues had to kill their cows since their village was designated an evacuation zone.
A representative of the Fukushima headquarters of the New Japan Women’s Association (Shinfujin) stated that at a local school where her 11-year-old son goes to, all sports events and field trips have been cancelled due to the nuclear accident. “We are having to ask ourselves if we can continue to live in Fukushima,” she said.
A member of a local branch of the Democratic Commerce and Industry Organizations (Minsho) talked about their struggle to have TEPCO provide appropriate compensation with support from lawyers.
“Fukushima residents have a responsibility to call for an immediate departure from nuclear power generation in Japan as well as throughout the world,” reads a statement adopted at a rally, calling for the rally to be a springboard for developing the movement to abolish nuclear power plants.
Addressing the rally, Japanese Communist Party Upper House member Daimon Mikishi criticized Prime Minister Kan Naoto for stating that more renewable energy development is needed before the government decides to end the nation’s dependence on nuclear power plants. “The decision of N-plants closure must come first in order to boost alternative energy development,” he stressed.
The rally received messages of support from the heads of five local municipalities, including Iitate Village and Minamisoma City.
Mothers, farmers, workers, and small business owners spoke to around 1,000 participants gathered. A dairy farmer from Iitate Village reported that he and his colleagues had to kill their cows since their village was designated an evacuation zone.
A representative of the Fukushima headquarters of the New Japan Women’s Association (Shinfujin) stated that at a local school where her 11-year-old son goes to, all sports events and field trips have been cancelled due to the nuclear accident. “We are having to ask ourselves if we can continue to live in Fukushima,” she said.
A member of a local branch of the Democratic Commerce and Industry Organizations (Minsho) talked about their struggle to have TEPCO provide appropriate compensation with support from lawyers.
“Fukushima residents have a responsibility to call for an immediate departure from nuclear power generation in Japan as well as throughout the world,” reads a statement adopted at a rally, calling for the rally to be a springboard for developing the movement to abolish nuclear power plants.
Addressing the rally, Japanese Communist Party Upper House member Daimon Mikishi criticized Prime Minister Kan Naoto for stating that more renewable energy development is needed before the government decides to end the nation’s dependence on nuclear power plants. “The decision of N-plants closure must come first in order to boost alternative energy development,” he stressed.
The rally received messages of support from the heads of five local municipalities, including Iitate Village and Minamisoma City.
