Japan Press Weekly

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2013 October 30 - November 5 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Over 7,000 rally in Fukushima for the decommission of nuclear reactors

More than 7,000 people from around the country on November 2 assembled in Fukushima Prefecture to rally to demand that the government make an all out effort to tackle the radioactive water leak issue at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and decommission all reactors in the prefecture.

Hayakawa Tokuo, chief priest of the Hokyoji Temple in the prefecture, delivered a speech on behalf of the organizing committee pointing out that although two years and eight months have passed since the Fukushima nuclear disaster, over 150,000 people are still living as evacuees and feeling anxieties about their future. As the national government and Tokyo Electric Power Company promoted nuclear power generation, the meltdown accident, which is regarded as the worst environmental pollution incident in Japan’s history, was a man-made disaster, he stated. Decommissioning all reactors in the prefecture is the demand of the majority of people in Fukushima, Hayakawa stressed.

Ogawara Keiko, who is the chair of the prefectural council of farmwives’ groups and one of the initiators of the rally, said to the participants, “Let’s work to create a Fukushima where people can live safely.”

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi delivered a speech of solidarity along with other guests, such as Namie Town Assembly Chair Oguro Keizo and Fukushima Prefectural Bar Association Vice Chair Maki Hiroyasu. The chair of the Fukushima Prefectural Assembly and heads of municipalities in the nuclear disaster-hit areas sent messages in solidary to the rally.

Ichida in his speech stressed that the need now is for Prime Minister Abe Shinzo to devote himself to tackling the radioactive water leaks. While no reactor in Japan has been operating since the No.4 reactor at the Oi Nuclear Power Plant went offline on September 15, this has not had any negative impact on people’s livelihoods and the economy, the JCP lawmaker pointed out. He demanded that the government stop seeking the resumption of operations of nuclear reactors and establish an energy policy that will create a Japan without nuclear power generation.

Anti-nuke activists in Hokkaido and Niigata and a plaintiff in a lawsuit calling for the closure of the Genkai NPP in the Kyushu region shared their experiences with the audience. After the rally, the participants marched through the streets in demonstration.