Anti-nuclear protests on the 3-year anniversary of the Tohoku Earthquake and Fukushima Nuclear Disaster.
On the third anniversary of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Fukushima Nuclear Disaster, it is clear that all is still not well, as these poignant pictures from The Japan Times demonstrate.
Some groups of citizens, who are left with severe doubts over Japan’s nuclear future after the disaster, took to the streets supported by celebrities including the musician Sakamoto Ryuichi, to protest nuclear power in Japan.
But Yahoo! Japan netizens take a more conservative line, arguing that Japan cannot survive without nuclear power.
From Yahoo! Japan:
Large-scale ‘Anti-nuclear’ Demo Near The Diet Building; Musician Sakamoto Ryuichi Lends His Support
Don’t forget Fukushima, don’t let them restart operations. On March 9, the eve of the third anniversary of the Fukushima incident, a large-scale anti-nuclear demo took place in the vicinity of the Diet Building, where many citizens lent their voices to keep the memory of the incident fresh in people’s minds.
At the gathering, officially opened at Hibiya Park’s Open Air Concert Hall in Chiyoda-ward, Tokyo, Misao Redwolf from ‘The Coalition against Nukes’ said, “After three years, the Fukushima situation doesn’t just remain unchanged, it’s getting worse. I want us to raise our voices even more, and bring about the complete elimination of nuclear power.” The musician Sakamoto Ryuichi added, “Let’s draw closer those people who find it hard to raise their voices, and let’s respond to those voices”.
The protesters marched by the Prime Minister’s official residence and the Diet, proclaiming, ‘Nuclear energy is wrong’ and ‘Stop exportation’. Later they came to a standstill around the Diet Building. Choufu resident Itou Tadao (75), who walked around with an oxygen cylinder and a nose tube due to a lung condition, said, “My body’s weak, but I still want to show my opposition”. Ooka Shousaburou, a company manager from Sagamihara (58) complained that, “the investigations into why the Fukushima incident happened are not even over, but restarting operations is unthinkable. The incident and the victims are being ignored.”
According to organizers of the protest there were around 32,000 people at the demo. It is thought that around March 11 there will be anti-nuclear protests in over 175 countries.
Comments from Yahoo! Japan:
ikk*****:
We don’t need nuclear power. While we say that we go back home and use our electrical products at full power. If the Fukushima incident didn’t happen then the people in those areas that used nuclear power wouldn’t be saying, ‘we don’t need nuclear power’. It’s because they were enjoying a stable life. It’s pretty selfish. Now, not even one plant is operating. But we cannot make electricity by burning fossil fuels forever. It’s a limited resource. No matter how bad we say it is, we have to stop using electricity between 10pm and 5am in residential homes (excluding for business, medical, educational, or social purposes). Neon lights should also be turned off at 11pm. Will we be able to bear it? If we don’t do this then the cost of electricity will be more than it is now. Is this really okay?
嫌いなものは嫌い。:
And, I wonder what you think about the fact that electricity bills will be controlled by the cost of exporting natural gas and crude oil.
wiz*****:
Those idiot protesters have already lost sight of the true nature of 3.11. In short, they think that the victims are no longer relevant.
shu*****:
So it’s an anti-Japanese protest, right? At any rate the anti-Japanese media will be full of reports on this demo, but I bet they’ll completely ignore the suffering of small and middle-sized companies when nuclear energy is abandoned and energy prices are hiked up.
These kinds of people who don’t consider Fukushima at all are ruining Japan by making light of Fukushima. Along with the guys who love the continent and peninsulas above Japan itself, these people are putting on a show of being Japanese despite being ‘citizens’ of that kind of country.
It’s truly despicable!
nrc*****:
Instead of protesting against nuclear power, they should be pushing for safer nuclear technology. This is necessary to ensure the safety of facilities that are operating even now around the world, without wiping them out entirely.
Alternative sources of energy will not be ready until much further along the line.
There are many more dangerous things in the world compared to nuclear energy. There is an element of danger even when using cars, trains, and airplanes. They are convenient, but every year across the world they cause fatal accidents that kill many thousands of people. Isn’t it good that we don’t have a demo calling to ban them?
If you want to live somewhere where there is no danger, go to an uninhabited island. Don’t complain about it while you are using the train and living comfortably. Let’s criticize when we are living self-sufficiently.
瑞鶴航空母艦:
A demo by pro-citizens who have a daily allowance of 5000 yen a day.
gon*****:
Right, so what are we gonna do about supplying the electricity that will no longer be produced by nuclear power?
I wonder if they can give us a clear and reasonable answer for that.
Ah, simply saying that to brains fried by radioactivity is useless ww
デリケ:
Isn’t forgetting one way of helping?
If you oppose nuclear power then just say that.
These guys, are they even thinking about the people affected by Fukushima?
mas*****:
I wanna create some distance from the kind of gatherings where Oe Kenzaburou and Sakamoto Ryuuichi are in attendance.
ai_*****:
It’s a current affairs article, there can’t be any lies *chirp chirp*!
According to NHK news a police statement put the number of attendees as 4000 people (so dumb)
pur*****:
It’s fine either way but at least come up with some kind of alternative plan!
m12*****:
Even if the price of electricity does go up I think it’s a good thing. If that happens we will naturally begin to stop wasting electricity. Especially in Tokyo, the bright lights are so wasteful.
sat*****:
So the LDP and TEPCO are someone else’s problem, right?
