Japan Press Weekly

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2015 April 29 - May 12 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

DYLJ holds volunteer activities in Fukushima to help 2011 disaster victims

The Democratic Youth League of Japan (DYLJ) established a short-term volunteer center from May 2 to May 6 to help victims of the 2011 massive earthquake and the meltdown accident in Fukushima.

This was the eighth action of this kind by the DYLJ with the first one taking place just after the disaster four years ago.

Around 180 young people from across the country gathered at the DYLJ volunteer center.

One of the volunteers, a young man from Nagano, said that he saw less and less people as he approached the crippled nuclear power plant and that the sight of abandoned farmland made him frightened and feel as if he was transported to an alien landscape.

A 20-year-old student from Saitama said that it was a heartbreaking experience to meet a 94-year-old lady who had to live apart from her son due to the earthquake four years ago.

Shimabuku Keisuke, 28, who came all the way from Okinawa, pointed out that Okinawa and Fukushima have much in common in terms of human rights violations. He added, “The Abe government is trying to impose a new U.S. base on Okinawa despite strong public opposition. It is also paying no attention to people protesting against nuclear power generation and against the plan to restart reactors.”

An international exchange student from China stated that she was shocked to see still-devastated towns and to talk with a victim who suffered a loss of hearing due to stress from living in a temporary housing unit. Saying that no nuclear power plants are needed on the earth, the 23-year-old student stressed that the Japanese government should stop its attempt to export nuclear reactors.