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2013 September 11 - 17 TOP3 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Rallies held in celebration of Japan with no reactors operating

On September 15, the No.4 reactor at the Oi Nuclear Power Plant, the only plant operating in Japan, went offline for regular inspections. Many anti-nuke rallies took place at various locations across the country seeking to keep all nuclear reactors shutdown.

In Fukui Prefecture, which hosts the Oi plant of the Kansai Electric Power Co., 800 people participated in a rally despite the rain.

Nakajima Tetsuen, chair of the organizing committee of the rally and chief priest of the Myotsuji Temple, in his speech said, “Now is the time to form a united front under the slogans of ‘No more restart of reactors’ and ‘Goodbye to nuclear power generation’.”

Akiyama Toyohiro, who is famous for being the first Japanese astronaut, said to the participants that he had to give up his farm in Fukushima, which he had been running for 17 years, because of the Fukushima nuclear accident two years ago. He stated, “Let’s spread your message throughout the country. Let’s make a firm resolution to block any attempts to restart reactors.”

Kim Hye Jeong of the Korean Federation of Environmental Movement spoke to the audience, “There are no borders with radiation contamination. We, Korean citizens, would like to express our strong support for the anti-nuke movement here in Japan.”

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Inoue Satoshi said, “Tonight, there will be no operating reactors in Japan. Let’s have all of the reactors decommissioned without restarting them, and achieve a Japan without nuclear power plants.”

After the rally, the participants paraded down the street in demonstration.

A female participant with a 5-year-old daughter from Fukui City said, “I’m deeply concerned about the radioactive water leak at the Fukushima plant as no one knows how severely my daughter’s future will be affected by it. No reactors should be allowed to operate in such a quake-prone country. I strongly oppose the restart of nuclear power plants because of concern for her future.”