nuclear-news

Thousands rally again in anti nuclear protest in Tokyo

Tokyo’s anti-nuclear protesters remember WWII http://www.brecorder.com/general-news/172/1229068/ August 18, 2012 BUSINESS RECORDER   Japanese anti-nuclear demonstrators on Friday recounted the horror of  World War II, days after the region marked Tokyo’s surrender nearly seven decades earlier. Thousands of marchers took to streets in the
capital for a weekly rally in front of the prime minister’s office and parliament to pressure the government to drop its policy of using nuclear power.

The rally came after Japan on Wednesday marked the 67th anniversary of
its surrender, which came after the United States dropped nuclear
bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. “I came here today because I worry
about the lives of children and the future,” said an elderly man as he
grabbed a microphone near parliament.

He said the current government’s push for nuclear energy reminded him
of Tokyo’s totalitarian governance during the war, which forced
ordinary people to enlist and live in poverty under strict state
control. “At that time, Japanese people received orders from the
government and big businesses that slighted their lives,” he said.
“What’s happening with nuclear power plants now is that the government
and big business are disregarding people’s lives,” he said.

The crowd chanted slogans against Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s
decision to restart nuclear power plants following a total shutdown in
the wake of last year’s atomic crisis at Fukushima. The turnout at the
demonstration, which has been mainly organised online by anti-nuclear
activists every Friday, was estimated by an AFP photographer at more
than 1,000.

August 18, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, opposition to nuclear