Hiroshima Asks: Toward the 70th Anniversary of the Atomic Bombing: Is opposition to nuclear power a separate issue?
Feb. 6, 2015
A-bomb survivors shaken by accident in Fukushima
by Jumpei Fujimura, Staff Writer
The Metropolitan Coalition Against Nukes in Japan, a coalition of 11 organizations that oppose nuclear power, recently held a demonstration in front of the office of the prime minister in Tokyo. Their breath could be seen against the night sky as they shouted angrily, “No more nuclear power!” and “No restarts!” The group began holding demonstrations in March 2012, one year after the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 (Daiichi) nuclear power plant, and has continued to do so nearly every Friday night since then.
The demonstrators represent a wide range of ages, but the leaders are primarily in their 30s and 40s. One of them, illustrator Misao Redwolf (she declines to disclose her real name or age), is a native of Hiroshima’s Minami Ward. “If we can achieve a breakthrough by ending Japan’s reliance on nuclear power, it will lead to a big change in the overall structure of society,” she said in explanation of her continued participation in the demonstrations.
Ms. Redwolf first got involved in the anti-nuclear power movement in 2007 at the suggestion of a friend. But, she said, she felt it was odd that there were no atomic bomb survivors at the demonstrations or gatherings she attended. As the frightfulness of radiation is the same in both cases, she wondered why survivors were not joining her and others in the anti-nuclear power movement. She felt that if the A-bomb survivors, who knew firsthand the destruction that nuclear weapons could cause, would join their movement it would get a terrific boost. So she couldn’t understand why they weren’t involved.
The differences in thinking on nuclear weapons and nuclear power grew wider following the establishment of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations in 1956. But then the accident at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima occurred, releasing large quantities of radioactive materials into the atmosphere and forcing many people to evacuate. Radiation had once again caused destruction in Japan, shocking the A-bomb survivors.
(Originally published on January 31, 2015)
by Jumpei Fujimura, Staff Writer
The Metropolitan Coalition Against Nukes in Japan, a coalition of 11 organizations that oppose nuclear power, recently held a demonstration in front of the office of the prime minister in Tokyo. Their breath could be seen against the night sky as they shouted angrily, “No more nuclear power!” and “No restarts!” The group began holding demonstrations in March 2012, one year after the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 (Daiichi) nuclear power plant, and has continued to do so nearly every Friday night since then.
The demonstrators represent a wide range of ages, but the leaders are primarily in their 30s and 40s. One of them, illustrator Misao Redwolf (she declines to disclose her real name or age), is a native of Hiroshima’s Minami Ward. “If we can achieve a breakthrough by ending Japan’s reliance on nuclear power, it will lead to a big change in the overall structure of society,” she said in explanation of her continued participation in the demonstrations.
Ms. Redwolf first got involved in the anti-nuclear power movement in 2007 at the suggestion of a friend. But, she said, she felt it was odd that there were no atomic bomb survivors at the demonstrations or gatherings she attended. As the frightfulness of radiation is the same in both cases, she wondered why survivors were not joining her and others in the anti-nuclear power movement. She felt that if the A-bomb survivors, who knew firsthand the destruction that nuclear weapons could cause, would join their movement it would get a terrific boost. So she couldn’t understand why they weren’t involved.
The differences in thinking on nuclear weapons and nuclear power grew wider following the establishment of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations in 1956. But then the accident at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima occurred, releasing large quantities of radioactive materials into the atmosphere and forcing many people to evacuate. Radiation had once again caused destruction in Japan, shocking the A-bomb survivors.
(Originally published on January 31, 2015)
