“送り火・2012″Sending-off bonfire(Environmental art video)

“送り火・2012″Sending-off bonfire

Link to video here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9MtR3XFLbg

Hazuki is the old Japanese name for the month of August. It is a shortened form of Haochizuki, which means “leaf-falling month.” As with many of the old month names, they make more sense when we consider that, when they were in wide use, Japan was on a lunar calendar.

Although there are no official holidays in Hazuki, arguably the second most important celebration of the year takes place this month: Obon. The Bon Festivals are held to pray for the repose of the souls of ancestors. Deceased family members are believed to revisit the homestead during Bon to be reunited with their family. To guide the souls back, a small bonfire is lit outside the house. This is called the mukae-bi, or welcoming flame. Then, the house is cleaned and fruits and vegetables are offered at family altars. When Bon ends, the spirits are sent off with another bonfire, called okuri-bi. Some regions release small lanterns down rivers or into the sea as part of the okuri-bi ritual.

More from this artist and activist

「滅原発を!」 Destroy Nuclear Mafia.

Download freely, and please use.(Copyright free)
However, use only for Anti-Nuclear movement.
Meaning of a character is “Destroy” (Cursive style)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJl7F1PN29s&feature=plcp

August 17, 2012 Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Fractured Friday Protest May Be Leaving the Original Organizers and Spread to Other Locations

http://ex-skf.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/fractured-friday-protest-may-be-leaving.html

“…The increasingly fractured Friday protest is on again this Friday at the Prime Minister’s Official Residence, as more and more participants have had enough of following orders from the young organizers who talk trash (one literally calling older protesters “piece of garbage”).

The Friday protest by the Metropolitan Coalition Against Nukes will be still at the PM’s Official Residence, same time, same rules (“single issue” plus one, no other slogans, nothing about radiation contamination, etc.).

But here are other locations near the PM’s Official Residence where people will gather to protest against a host of different issues, FREELY….”

A list of different protests on the link to exskf

OTHER PROTEST RESOURCES

http://iwj.co.jp/ (japanese but translates well)

http://iwj.co.jp/channels/main/ (Japanese speaking video streams but you can see the protests etc both live and recorded)

https://www.youtube.com/user/freedomwv/videos (link to american blogger living in japan who covers the protest in english and has news item too.)

August 17, 2012 Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Radioactive Japan: Over 200 Evacuees from Futaba-machi Still Lives in Classrooms, Partitioned with Cardboards!

Source http://ex-skf.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/radioactive-japan-over-200-evacuees.html

“….An organization called “Enechen” (“energy change”, in Japanese English) is asking for help so that they can at least provide hot meals to the 200 evacuees from Futaba-machi who continue to live in the classrooms in a closed high school building in Saitama Prefecture where the town’s government has temporarily relocated. They are mostly elderly residents, and they have nowhere else to go.

After nearly 17 months since the accident, the country is quite happy having them live in classrooms with card board partitions…..”

From the organization’s website (8/12/2012): (Translated by exskf)

“..As of August 2012, about 200 elderly residents at Futaba-machi Shelter continue to live in the rooms partitioned with corrugated cardboards in a closed school building, with all their meals in bento (boxed lunch/dinner), 1 year and 4 months since they evacuated there….”

“..Hardly any hot meals are served any more, except for hot miso soups once a week, we’ve learned….”

(Picture, Dalai Lama visits fukushima last year)

“..We want to provide these people with hot meals, so we have launched this project….”

“..It’s been about one year and 4 months since then. Initially there were more than 1,000 evacuees staying at the high school building, but most have moved out to temporary housing. However, as of August 2012, there are still 210 people living in the school building….”

“..Most of them are elderly people, and it seems they have various reasons or problems that prevent them from living independently….”

“..Nothing has been decided what will happen to these more than 200 people at this shelter….”

“..Time passes, with no prospect for the future…”

(picture japanese Emporer and wife with refugees last year)

“…What have the national government, and the municipal government, been doing?…”

“..There are many people who still suffer from the nuclear accident. Most haven’t even received the compensation money…”

More here.. (with Japanese version)

http://ex-skf.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/radioactive-japan-over-200-evacuees.html

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The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope