Japan: Protests of re-opening nuclear plants in nuclear-scarred Japan

Protesters took part in a demonstration demanding a stop to the resumption of nuclear power operations in front of Mr. Noda’s official residence in Tokyo on Friday. Japan approved the restart of two reactors despite mass public opposition.

A woman holds placards and shouts slogans during an anti nuclear rally in Tokyo, Japan, 01 July 2012. Thousands of protesters participated in the rally on the same day that the Kansai Electric Power Company restarted the No. 3 reactor at the Oi nuclear power plant at the Sea of Japan coast in western Japan. It is the first time a nuclear reactor is resuming operations after Japan had no active nuclear reactors for almost two months. EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON

Japan: 58 Years later, “Bikini” Atomic Test experience speaks to Fukushima victims today

by Mamoru Shishido, Evening Edition Department, Mainichi Daily News, Mainichi, Japan

February 20, 2012

‘Bikini incident’ survivor’s story relevant today as Fukushima crisis continues

Matashichi Oishi, 78, talks about his experience as a crew member of the Daigo Fukuryu Maru at his home, where he has a photo with author and anti-nuclear activist Kenzaburo Oe hanging on the wall. (Mainichi)

Eleven months since the outbreak of the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant run by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), with people still living in fear of radiation exposure, I went to hear what a man who was exposed to radiation 58 years ago, had to say.

Matashichi Oishi, 78, was a crew member of the fishing boat Daigo Fukuryu Maru, or “Lucky Dragon 5,” which one day in 1954 found itself covered in the “ashes of death” from a nuclear experiment being conducted in the Pacific by the U.S., off the Bikini Atoll.

“Many people were exposed to blasting winds and extreme heat by the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” Oishi said. “As for us, we were covered in radioactive white powder that rained down from the sky, and suffered internal radiation exposure.”

It was Feb. 11, and Oishi was speaking to an audience of about 60 people attending a study session co-hosted by a civic group and the Nishitokyo Municipal Government. He’d shut down the dry cleaning business that he’d run for years in Tokyo at the end of 2010.

“I’d always been trying to share my experiences through spoken and written words, but no one would listen to a mere former fisherman-turned-launderer. But ever since the disaster in Fukushima broke out, what I have to say is no longer ‘someone else’s pitiful story,'” he said.

That Oishi characterized his ordeal — an incident which sparked Japan’s anti-nuclear activist movement — as having been viewed as “someone else’s pitiful story” is testament to the turbulent road he’d been forced to take.

Fukushima Nuclear Plant disaster: Anger grows at Japan government claims of safety and prospects for recovery

[This report describes the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant meltdown and the release of 29.6 times the radiation from the Hiroshima Atomic bomb blast!  In Japan, and throughout the world, condemnation of nuclear power is rapidly growing, but the scale of the danger is kept from public view.  This two-part video report details the danger which continues in Japan. (Please note: press the “cc” button at the bottom of the video frame to see the English subtitles). — Frontlines ed.]

Professor Tatsuhiko Kodama of Tokyo University Tells the Politicians: “What Are You Doing?”

Prof. Kodama Angry about Japanese Gov.’s Gross Negligence (Part 1)

Please click on “cc” button to show English subtitles.

Prof. Kodama Angry about Japanese Gov.’s Gross Negligence (Part 2)

Please click on “cc” button to show English subtitles

Professor Tatsuhiko Kodama is the head of the Radioisotope Center at the University of Tokyo. On July 27, he appeared as a witness to give testimony to the Committee on Welfare and Labor in Japan’s Lower House in the Diet.
Please share the videos with your non-Japanese-speaking friends.

As the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster continues, the Voices of Nagasaki speak

[66 years after the atomic terrorist bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, the Mayor of Nagasaki has issued this statement on the link between atomic weapons and nuclear power–and of the pro-nuclear propaganda which has falsely claimed the “progress” of the world and the “safety” of atomic/nuclear weapons and power. — Frontlines ed.]

http://www1.city.nagasaki.nagasaki.jp/peace/english/appeal/

Nagasaki Peace Declaration 2011

This March, we were astounded by the severity of accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station operated
by the Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc., after the occurrence of the Great East Japan Earthquake and ensuing tsunami. With some of the station’s reactors exposed to the open air due to explosions, no residents are now to be found in the communities surrounding the station. There is no telling when those who have been evacuated because of the radiation can return home.
As the people of a nation that has experienced nuclear devastation, we continued the plea of “No More Hibakusha!” How has it come that we are threatened once again by the fear of radiation?

Have we lost our awe of nature? Have we become overconfident in the control we wield as human beings? Have we turned away from our responsibility for the future? Now is the time to discuss thoroughly and choose what kind of society we will create from this point on.

Japan Starts Dumping Radioactive Water Into Sea

By AFP (Agence France-Presse)

04 April, 2011

TOKYO — Japan started dumping 11,500 tons of low-level radioactive water at sea Monday to free up storage space at its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant for more highly contaminated water.

The release into the Pacific Ocean started shortly after 7:00 pm (1000 GMT) local time, public broadcaster NHK and news agencies reported.

An official from plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) fought back tears during a televised appearance announcing the decision to start the water dump, which was expected to take several days.

“We have already caused such pain and nuisance to local residents,” he said. “We cannot express how sorry we are to have to impose another burden.”