A report from the 5.11 Monthly No Nukes Action rally・5/11 抗議集会からの報告
The scary mountain fire in the restricted area in Fukushima had started on April 29 and continued burning until a day before our rally. It had lasted for twelve days! 5000 people worked to put the fire out with hazmat suits. On April 8 it was recorded 3-9 times higher cesium label than previous day at the spots in nearby towns. But this mountain fire news never became the major news on any media.
Is this because the media’s self censor-ship?
You can watch the rally at this link which Genta Yoshikawa recorded. https://youtu.be/-DONsNiSyjE
高浜原発の再稼働が5月のなかばには、始まろうとしている時。4月29日から延々と燃え続けた帰還困難地区浪江での山火事がやっと鎮火されたのが集会前日。安倍首相が憲法九条に自衛隊は合憲であるの第3項を加えたいとの発言をした5月3日。同日、憲法の日では史上最高の参加数5万5千人が安倍の改憲、再軍国化に東京で抗議と、いろいろあった時のSF抗議集会でした。
毎回領事館経由、首相へ提出している陳情書は、病床に伏せているダン マーリンさんに頼みました。それをクラークよう子さんが朗読しました。ぜひ添付のダンさんの力強い手紙をお読みください。 今回も吉川さんがヴィデオを撮りました。Youtube の次のリンクで見られます。 https://youtu.be/-DONsNiSyjE
福島核惨事から6年経っても執拗にプルトニウム、核技術を保持する為、原発を手放さず再稼働を各地で続け、日本の軍国化を押し推める横暴な安倍政権に対しては、抗議せざるを得ません。
来月11日3時にまたSF日本領事館前に結集してください。
− letter to Japanese PM Abe −
Dear Mr. Abe, May 11, 2017
Recently hundreds of thousands of people around the world demonstrated publicly in defense of science. This was a reaction to the policies of the new American administration, which is rapidly filling its ranks with people who despise scientific truth, and who are intent on dismantling the laws and regulations enacted to protect the earth’s ecology.
The French philosopher Voltaire wrote “those who can make us believe in absurdities, can make us commit atrocities”. These words perfectly describe the atmosphere of opportunistic lies which permeate the rhetoric of climate deniers at a moment when global warming demands a radical shift toward renewable energy.
Nuclear power has been widely promoted as “clean energy”-but events like the ongoing destruction at Fukushima show its intolerable risks. That is why we are standing outside the Japanese consulate today, to insist that the people of Japan must be protected from current policies which seek to restart nuclear power stations and which threaten those Fukushima residents who were evacuated in the aftermath of the March 2011 tsunami and nuclear meltdown and are now being coerced to return to contaminated areas.
TEPCO and government agencies continue to manipulate statistics and distort actual levels of radioactive contamination. Further, they continue to promote the view that a prosperous life will soon return and so it is now safe for everybody to come back. The evacuees are being told that their financial subsidies will be cut off.
Fortunately, a majority of people in Japan do not believe the absurdities which your government uses to convince them that nuclear power is a benign necessity. Their problem is that they feel helpless and hopeless before a corporate/political structure which doesn’t take their fears seriously. To put it bluntly, the people’s fears conflict with the owners’ pursuit of profit.
Meanwhile, your administration has been doing everything possible to deprive the public of access to activist voices which challenge the status quo, and to suppress medical documentation of the ever-growing number of cancer cases, especially of children in and around Fukushima.
We stand here today in solidarity with thousands in Japan who refuse to accept the drift toward militarism, the repression of free speech, the attempts to alter article 9, and the mismanagement of the ongoing meltdown of the Fukushima plant.
We demand that the evacuees be sustained indefinitely and never be forced to return. The clean-up workers at the destroyed plant must be monitored and supported medically for the rest of their lives. Those nuclear plants now operating should be shut down and all those which are now off line should be permanently decommissioned.
The simple truth, Mr. Abe, is that as human beings we have a shared responsibility to each other and to the earth that sustains us. As many others have said, the current model of industrial fossil fuel-based growth still generates massive profit for a small sector of society, but is certain to lead us over the cliff of climate change.
Your term of office will end someday. I urge you to think deeply about what you will leave behind. The struggle for peace and environmental stability will continue with or without you. You can join it or remain isolated and frozen in the cold light of historical shame.
Sincerely yours,
For Bay-Area No Nukes Action
Daniel Marlin
1936 California street,
Berkeley, California 94704
No Nukes Action Committee 
Another excellent rally, and a pretty good letter, too. More commentary shortly. But, congrats to the NNA for another rally and giving the Japanese Consulate something to think about, as usual.
I had watched the rally earlier in the month, and am watching it again. Good to see Chizu doing her usual excellent job as the MC of the event. She provided another great recap of the ongoing problems at Fukushima — this time with an update on the mountain fire in the Fukushima area. It was a particularly dangerous situation since much of the area has been irradiated — the fire in the mountains would likely spread radioactive debris through the land and air. I share Chizu’s critique and curiosity that all the related news articles, the few available anyway, didn’t mention any increase in radioactivity or danger. The one media outlet that did mention higher cesium levels was shot down by various organizations and criticized to the point of having to nearly retract their claims. The media outlet was accused of “scaring” the people. I think everyone in the group found the situation absurd. Chizu did an excellent job of describing this situation — and the way the media backed away from any news that would seem to negatively portray the situation, or spread of radioactivity. Chizu also mentioned the potential effect of the Secrecy Laws in the land.
Chizu went on to discuss the incompatibility of nuclear power with human life and to point out that three nuclear reactors were reactivated in Japan, but five were decommissioned. She mentions also the attempt by the government to reinterpret Article 9 of the Japanese pacifist Constitution. She outlines how Abe PM created the Secrecy Law, is currently working toward the reinterpretation to allow collective “self defense” and, with the perpetuation of the nuclear plants, rather makes one wonder if this is all headed toward war efforts and nuclear weapon production.
Steve did his usual excellent job providing his perspective and supplemental information about the state of affairs relating to Fukushima. He points out the recent change in leadership in Korea — based on corruption charges of the former leadership there — is a fair comparison to the Japanese government’s cooperation with the Yakuza gang for cleanup. Steve points out the ridiculousness, the madness, of having criminal gangs working overtly for government contracts to clean up the area. Or, maybe Yakuza are the perfect ones to clean up the mess — one bunch of criminals mopping up for another. Steve also points out how, in this country, many people can’t even meet their daily needs, lying in the street, missing meals, medicince, etc, while the idiot government in this country actually increases military and weaponization — as if the world’s most heavily armed nation in history actually needs more weapons.
Like Steve, Dan has been an excellent writer of the monthly letter to the Consulate. And, Dan didn’t disappoint — his letter is above and points out, and ends with, the possibility of Mr. Abe standing in the cold light of historical shame for what he is doing. Dan wrote the letter while recovering from a serious ailment. “Those who can make us believe in absurdities, can make us commit attrocities.” Yoko read the letter and was a welcome addition to the group again. When she bangs her pan on the NNA marches, the sounds flash across the world, right into the Japanese Diet and government.
It was good see John there in support again. He always provides a positive energy to the group. Kazumi adds her own quiet essence and presence to the gathering, too. It was good to see her, too. As always, thanks to Genta-San for more expert camerawork. He’s been a terrific gift to the group.