World Premiere of RADIOACTIVISTS

Posted: 3rd November 2011 by Du Fuchs in Announcement
Tags: , , , , ,

Today, we proudly announce the world premiere of our documentary RADIOACTIVISTS, which will take place within the NIPPON CONNECTION’S Japan Week 2011 on

Saturday, November 12, 2011, 8 p.m. (followed by discussion)
German Film Museum Cinema, Frankfurt, Germany

Radioactivists
A documentary by Julia Leser and Clarissa Seidel

Germany/Japan 2011, 72 min., Japanese with English subtitles, no FSK rating
Direction, production & world distribution: Julia Leser, Clarissa Seidel, cinematography: Julia Leser, Clarissa Seidel, Arseny Rossikhin

When a triple disaster hit Japan on March 11, 2011, German directors Julia Leser and Clarissa Seidel were already there. They decided to cover the evolving protest movement and demonstrations from the beginning and provide a contrast to the stereotypical mass media coverage. The film presents Japanese intellectuals, sociologists, scientists, and anti-nuclear activists, commenting critically on the events and effects of the TEPCO disaster and seeing the protest movement as a historical chance. RADIOACTIVISTS is a unique document of our times.

World premiere, directors attending.

Followed by discussion with Professor Steffi Richter (Leipzig University).

Statement by Japanese Critics for the Freedom of Demonstration

Posted: 11th October 2011 by Du Fuchs in Discourse

As been reported earlier on our blog, the Japanese police acted extremely aggressive within the last anti-nuclear-demonstration in Tokyo on September 11, 2011. Twelve people got arrested without any legal reason on that day. It seems that the new anti-nuclear movement in Japan is facing the means of state oppression as their biggest obstacle.

Critics and activists try their best to protest against those illegitimate arrestments. On September 29, 2011, a press conference took place in the “Foreign Correspondence Club” in Tokyo. The critic and philosopher Karatani Kôjin, the cultural scientist Ukai Satoshi, the historian Oguma Eiji and the activist Amamiya Karin took part in it. Together they made a joint statement and answered questions by foreign journalists.

Video streaming by Ustream

Joint Statement for the Freedom of Demonstration and Assembly
(Source: associations.jp)

In the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11th, TEPCO, METI and the government have colluded in covering up the real situation and underplaying its damage. This may eventually claim many lives in the near future. Such behavior is clearly criminal. This is even unconstitutional. Article 25 states that ‘all people shall have the right to maintain the minimum standards of wholesome and cultured living’, yet while TEPCO, METI and the government should take responsibility for it, they behave as if all problems have already been solved. Read the rest of this entry »

Update on Anti-Nuclear Protests in Japan

Posted: 24th September 2011 by clarissaliv in Discourse
Tags: , , , , , ,

As our last post consisted in the press release for the 9/11-no-nuke-demonstration in Shinjuku, Tokyo, it is time for a summary of the current protest situation. In the mean time, two big protests took place in Tokyo, that should be reported in this post.

September 11th no nuke demonstration in Shinjuku (Tokyo)

Maybe it should be mentioned, that the big demos in Tokyo took part in different towns of the city and therefore police came from different departments. According to that fact, there was a tendency to blame it on the different police department, when police behavior towards the protesters changed at each demonstration. Unfortunately, this theory has lost its grounds on September 11th. After a quite successful and peaceful June 11th action, which took place in the same Tokyo area (and btw also served as a positive and hopeful ending of our film), the Shinjuku police decided to take more drastic measures in September.Beforehand: organizers were forced to change the planned route on short notice. During the demonstration: according to participants, police imposed constant pressure upon the protesters. Afterwards: the sad result of 12 arrests, among them Shin Futatsugi, one of the organizers.

There is reason to believe, that authorities start to feel threatened by the increasing number of protesters and therefore act more determined against protesters.

Read the rest of this entry »

Anti-nuke Demonstration on September 11: Official Press Release

Posted: 4th September 2011 by Du Fuchs in Announcement
Tags: , , , , , ,

This is the official press announcement by the Amateurs’ Revolt:

The Amateurs’ Revolt organized the recent demonstrations on April 10 in Koenji, May 7 in Shibuya, June 11 in Shinjuku, and August 6 in Ginza.

In a country where a growing majority is now against nuclear power, demonstrations attended by ordinary citizens are a crucial and significant method of expression. And in fact they have even recently became a daily fact of life in Japan. It is our hope that the media will report on them as widely as possible, both in Japan and around the world.

September 11 will mark 6 months since the triple disaster now beleaguering the nation. We hope that it will be a crucial turning point in rallying an already anti-nuclear citizenry to raise their voices with greater and greater force in the face of an ongoing nuclear catastrophe and a government now led by Yoshihiko Noda.

Our Shinjuku demonstration on 9.11 will commence at 3:11 PM.

Read the rest of this entry »

Issues of the 8/6 No-Nukes Demo

Posted: 23rd August 2011 by Du Fuchs in Discourse
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

[slideshow]

On August 6, 2011, an anti-nuclear demonstration took place in the shopping district of Ginza, Tokyo. It was the forth big demonstration since March 11. Like the past ones, it gathered thousands of people, bands and artists were performing, and politicians and celebrities came and appealed to the people. Still, after the last demonstration in Shinjuku on June 6, 2011, with more than 20,000 people participating that time, it felt a little different that weekend. What happened?

Read the rest of this entry »

‹ Older Entries
Newer Entries ›