Japan’s mothers using social media to pursue concerns about radiation

Can Web-savvy activist moms change Japan? Times of India AP | Dec 29, 2011 TOKYO: Japan’s nuclear crisis has turned Mizuho Nakayama into one of a small but growing number of internet-savvy activist moms.

Worried about her 2-year-old son and distrustful of government and TV reports that seemed to play down radiation risks, she scoured the Web for information and started connecting with other mothers through Twitter and Facebook, many using social media for the first time.

The 41-year-old mother joined a parents group-one of dozens that have sprung up since the crisis _ that petitioned local officials in June to test lunches at schools and day care centers for radiation and avoid using products from around the troubled nuclear plant.

“It’s the first time for anyone in our group to be involved in this type of activism,” said Nakayama, who now carries a Geiger counter with her wherever she goes. Public dismay with the government’s response to this year’s triple disaster-earthquake, tsunamiand nuclear meltdown-is driving some Japanese to become more politically engaged, helped by social and alternative media. While still fledgling, it’s the kind of grass-roots activism that some say Japan needs to shake up a political system that has allowed the country’s problems to fester for years. ….

A nationwide network of more than 200 parents groups has popped up to urge authorities to protect children from radiation, said Emiko Itoh, a 48-year-old Tokyo mother who is helpingspearhead the movement.

Most are pressing local officials to test radiation levels in school lunches and provide more detailed checks of school grounds, but Itoh and others have also lobbied senior government officials. Mothers make up the bulk of the membership, but fathers are getting involved, too.

“We’re still small, but some of the mothers involved didn’t even go to vote. It’s these mothers who are submitting petitions and making calls and gathering signatures,” Itoh said. “I believe this will be a factor in changing the direction of our country.”

She said the Internet has been invaluable in connecting parents, partly because Japan has few forums for citizens to exchange ideas. The crisis has changed perceptions of the Internet among mothers, many who previously considered it a dubious source of information.

Separately, individuals and loosely formed community groups are going around their neighborhoods checking radiation levels or sending soil samples to laboratories for testing. …… http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/personal-tech/computing/Can-Web-savvy-activist-moms-change-Japan/articleshow/11294446.cms

December 30, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, media

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