March 27, 2016
Around 35,000 people on March 26 held a rally at Yoyogi Park in Tokyo and marched in demonstration to call for a Japan without nuclear power plants.
This was the sixth No Nukes Day event jointly organized by four anti-nuke groups including the Metropolitan Coalition against Nukes (MCAN).
Misao Redwolf of MCAN delivered a speech on behalf of the organizers and stressed that the Otsu District Court issued a temporary injunction stopping the operation of the Takahama Nuclear Power Plant and that this was the first injunction against reactivated reactors. She called on the participants to put more pressure on the Abe government in order to shut down all reactors in Japan.
Author Sawachi Hisae in her speech said that hundreds of thousands of people were deprived of living in their hometowns because of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. She expressed her determination to keep making joint efforts to shut down all nuclear power plants along with the disaster victims.
Other guests, such as a Chernobyl nuclear accident victim and a representative of the Mayors for a Nuclear Power Free Japan, also delivered speeches.
A 71-year-old woman, who evacuated from Fukushima’s Futaba Town to Tokyo, took part in the rally holding a placard reading, “Give us back our hometown of Futaba!” She told Akahata that five years have passed since she left Futaba and that she opposes any moves to reactivate nuclear reactors and will not give up fighting until the government fully compensates the Fukushima sufferers.
Another participant, who came from Tokyo’s Meguro Ward, said that his parents live in Fukushima. The man, 47, added that he used to let his children play on a Fukushima beach before the nuclear accident but it is impossible now to even go to the beach.
A 36-year-old mother came from Iwate Prefecture to join the rally with her four-year-old child. She said that she wants power companies to refrain from using nuclear power plants in order to avoid risking the future of children.
A 57-year-old man, who teaches in a school for the hearing-impaired in Okayama, said that he does not believe the government explanation that nuclear power plants are safe. He noted that some claim that nuclear power is a low-cost energy source, but it actually is not after the cost for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel is taken into account.
This was the sixth No Nukes Day event jointly organized by four anti-nuke groups including the Metropolitan Coalition against Nukes (MCAN).
Misao Redwolf of MCAN delivered a speech on behalf of the organizers and stressed that the Otsu District Court issued a temporary injunction stopping the operation of the Takahama Nuclear Power Plant and that this was the first injunction against reactivated reactors. She called on the participants to put more pressure on the Abe government in order to shut down all reactors in Japan.
Author Sawachi Hisae in her speech said that hundreds of thousands of people were deprived of living in their hometowns because of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. She expressed her determination to keep making joint efforts to shut down all nuclear power plants along with the disaster victims.
Other guests, such as a Chernobyl nuclear accident victim and a representative of the Mayors for a Nuclear Power Free Japan, also delivered speeches.
A 71-year-old woman, who evacuated from Fukushima’s Futaba Town to Tokyo, took part in the rally holding a placard reading, “Give us back our hometown of Futaba!” She told Akahata that five years have passed since she left Futaba and that she opposes any moves to reactivate nuclear reactors and will not give up fighting until the government fully compensates the Fukushima sufferers.
Another participant, who came from Tokyo’s Meguro Ward, said that his parents live in Fukushima. The man, 47, added that he used to let his children play on a Fukushima beach before the nuclear accident but it is impossible now to even go to the beach.
A 36-year-old mother came from Iwate Prefecture to join the rally with her four-year-old child. She said that she wants power companies to refrain from using nuclear power plants in order to avoid risking the future of children.
A 57-year-old man, who teaches in a school for the hearing-impaired in Okayama, said that he does not believe the government explanation that nuclear power plants are safe. He noted that some claim that nuclear power is a low-cost energy source, but it actually is not after the cost for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel is taken into account.
