Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2013 November 6 - 12 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

10,000 people in Kyushu rally for no nukes

Calling for the cancellation of the restart of operations of offline nuclear reactors, about 10,000 people from throughout Kyushu and Okinawa on November 11 rallied at a park in Fukuoka City, followed by a parade through the city center.

The rally took place under the auspices of anti-nuclear organizations and individuals, including a vice president of Kyushu University, a local town mayor, and a board member of the largest local co-op.

Aoyagi Gyoshin, an organizer who maintains a protest in front of the Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc. head office, stated that the majority of Japanese people now want a society free from nuclear power.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Nihi Sohei read out a message from the party’s chair, Shii Kazuo, in his stead. The need now is for the national government to make every possible effort to tackle the problem of radiation-contaminated water leakage and not to prepare to resume nuclear power operations and export nuclear plants abroad, the message read. Nihi called on participants to work together to achieve a zero-nuclear Japan. Leader of the Social Democratic Party Yoshida Tadatomo was also present at the rally.

A representative of a local citizens’ group in Saga Prefecture where the Genkai Nuclear Power Plant is located said, “None of us wants to put up with even a low risk of a nuclear accident.” A head of another civil group in Kagoshima Prefecture where the Sendai NPP is located said, “The Kyushu utility and the Kagoshima governor are seeking the NPP reactivation. We will put pressure on them to desist.”

A 44-year-old participant said, “We should discourage the government which still cannot bring the radioactive water leak under control from continuing to use NPPs.”