Japan Press Weekly

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2012 September 26 - October 2 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

‘No nukes!’ protest in front of business HQ

About 1,300 citizens on September 25 staged a protest in front of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) building against increasing business pressure on the government to ignore public demand and to continue promoting nuclear energy.

The event took place under the leadership of a people’s coalition which organizes anti-nuclear demonstrations every Friday in front of the Prime Minister’s Office.

A 40-year-old woman said, “I’ve believed that experts make our society work for us, but I’ll no longer leave it to others.”

A 44-year-old man said, “As I took part in the weekly demonstrations in front of the PM Office, I became aware who the puppeteers moving the government really are.”

The government was about to approve a new energy strategy which aims for the elimination of nuclear power operations within the 2030s at a Cabinet meeting on September 19.

However, just before the meeting took place, representatives of Japan’s three major business organizations (Nippon Keidanren, Japan Association of Corporate Executives - Keizai Doyukai, and Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry - ICCI) held a joint news conference, demanding the retraction of the “zero” nuclear policy. Keidanren Chairman Yonekura Hiromasa stated, “The business society will not accept that policy.”

The government then decided not to approve the new energy strategy at the Cabinet meeting.