Japan Press Weekly

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2012 May 30 - June 5 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Citizens protest against restart of Oi NPP

Responding to Twitter messages calling for a protest against the resumption of operations of nuclear reactors at the Oi power plant in Fukui Prefecture, around 2,700 citizens on the evening of June 1 assembled in front of the prime minister’s official residence in Tokyo.

Simultaneously, in Osaka City, another protest took place in front of the head office of the Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO), the operator of the Oi plant.

In Tokyo, carrying a variety of placards, many citizens including musicians, students, workers on their way home, and parents with their children, chanted “Stop the restart!”

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Yamashita Yoshiki took part in the rally and gave a speech in solidarity.

Earlier in the day, in Osaka, the New Japan Women’s Association of Osaka paraded through the downtown area to the KEPCO’s head office with 100 members participating. They requested KEPCO president Yagi Makoto to give up on the reactivation of idled reactors at the Oi NPP and change its policy from one relying on nuclear energy to one promoting renewable energy.