Hi dear RADIOACTIVISTS out there!
It’s me: Isabel.
Some time has pased since Clarissa kindly presented my short-video “Voices Against Indifference” and I really feel that now it’s my turn to give you some news!
Since the last blog entry some time has pased…summer has come and is nearly gone already if I see the colour of the leaves of the trees here in Northern Italy were I currently am.

In Japan, summer is not over, in contrary, it’s still really hot and humid. However, tens of thousands of citizens have continued to chant against the restart of Japan’s nuclear reactors. They didn’t stop for summer vacation, but organized protests against nuclear power and the miss-action of the japanese government throughout juin, july and august.

Just to remind you:
On June 16, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda decided to restart the Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture. On July 5 it became the first reactor to be restarted since the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11 of last year.

However, the protesters’ efforts are beginning to have an effect. In August, Noda announced that he will meet the leaders of the antinuclear protests in front of his office, where the gatherings have been held every Friday evening since March 29.

The weekly protests are among many recent demonstrations against nuclear power. The biggest of these were a protest in front of the prime minister’s office on June 29, a demonstration that filled Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park on July 16, and a rally that included a human chain that surrounded the Diet building on July 29.

Two collectives are responsible for the dissemination of information for the antinuclear rallies. One of them is Sayonara Genpatsu Issenmannin Akushon (Goodbye Nuclear Power, 10 Million People in Action), a coalition of older organizations, and the other is the Metropolitan Coalition Against Nukes, made up of newer organizations.

Sayonara Genpatsu was responsible for the massive rally in Yoyogi Park. It consists of 60 citizens’ organizations that include the long-standing antinuke group Gensuikin, the Consumers Union of Japan, celebrities such as Nobel Laureate Kenzaburo Oe and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, and journalist and writer Satoshi Kamata.

The Metropolitan Coalition Against Nukes was established in September 2011 and includes a network of more than 10 groups.
In contrast to Sayonara Genpatsu, I would say that this collective is less bureaucracy and more grassroots.

And it’s exactly in front of the PM’s office that both collectives, that protests and demonstrations take place since March. But it’s since PM Noda decided to restart the nuclear plants in Oi that the protests are getting bigger and bigger. The coalition says the number of the protesters has remained steady at around 90,000 in August. This is the reason why also the police is getting more nervous.
Since July 13, police have placed metal fences between the pavements and the roads in front of the PM’s office. Although the media was told by the Metropolitan Police Department that it had decided to place the fences after consulting the coalition, this was not the case, according to the colectives.

Meanwhile, now that the antinuclear movement has become a major issue, not only the authorities but also the public are starting to pay attention to whether the movement can continue to grow in the future.
..and we believe that it WILL GROW!

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