This article is now available in German.
“The splitting of the atom has changed everything, except man’s way of thinking, and so we drift towards unparalleled catastrophe.” – Albert Einstein
By Akio Matsumura
Who is leading us toward nuclear catastrophe? Government and political leaders, profit-minded business leaders, and paid nuclear scientists. Yes, it is difficult to change their thinking.
However, those of us in Japan and the United States live in democracies. Government derives its power from the people through laws that guarantee our freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of the press. And our history shows that people under oppression will eventually stand up. In recent memory, the Arab Spring shook the Middle East free from the grip of several dictators, and although much of the movement erupted in violence, real change has come. This past Friday Mohammed Mursi became Egypt’s first civilian, democratically elected president.
Since the Fukushima accident a popular movement has grown in Japan as well. Also on Friday, tens of thousands of people protested the government’s decision to restart two reactors this month at the Oi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture. People chanted “No More Fukushima,” and called for nuclear energy to remain off in Japan. They want accountability and responsibility by the Japanese government and TEPCO. (It is notable that many young mothers joined the demonstration to call for their children’s safety).
These tens of thousands are the Hydrangea Revolution. Hydrangea flowers are composed of many small flowers and are resilient in the face of strong winds and storms. The flower is a symbol of unity and individual commitment. I praise their courageous actions.
However, the Hydrangea Revolution is not the Arab Spring; the Japanese are not fighting to oust a dictator like former President Hosni Mubarak. Prime Minister Noda has the reputation for being a consensus builder, not a risk taker and especially not a dictator. What then, does the Hydrangea Revolution want to change?
People are demonstrating against the system of secrecy and back room influence that steers Tokyo and the rest of the country. TEPCO has influence over policy makers, media circles, and elite scientists. Together these three groups hold enough power, influence, and expertise to say what goes for truth in Japan, even if it is not what is correct. Because of this collusion, freedom of speech has waned in Japan. We Japanese traditionally hope more to save face than speak out against an issue. But now we are seeing that inaction begets oppression. And thus people are speaking out.
Last week I watched a recording of a play entitled ‘Unheard Voices,” which was performed on March 11, 2012 in Tokyo by three girls from Soma High School in Fukushima Prefecture. I was moved by their courage but find myself in despair over their grief and worries. We have made an irreversible mistake that will affect their future. It is our moral obligation to listen to them. This is even more necessary after learning that the video has become controversial in Japan.
I would like to introduce an excerpt that shows the deep lamentation expressed by the three young actresses in the drama.
Maki: “In the future, if we get married to people outside of the region and have children, what if they say something about the Fukushima radiation? In the future, when we have children, if that child has any sort of disability, we’ll be blamed for everything.”
Sakura: “But it’s not our fault! … I think that the surrounding areas only grew thanks to the power plant. In exchange for all the risk, of course. But, those risks aren’t something our generation agreed to!
Maki: “Don’t you see? We’ve been robbed of our freedom. I mean, what is freedom anyway? The food is contaminated! So is the soil! As is the water and the ocean! Can we even say that we’re ‘free’ when we have to live in fear of the radiation? We live so close to the nuclear power plant, but just because we’re outside of the warning zone, we’ve been given no guarantees. I want them to guarantee our future.”
Nozomi (committed suicide): 455… 456…457…458…In Soma, this many people have died because of the disaster. Will I be counted as the 459th? Why don’t people understand? Did I say something wrong? Like how beautiful the stars in the night sky are, or how green and beautiful Soma becomes after the winter. What do you know? You don’t know anything!
These short lines leave a clear message of what sort of ill life we are passing on to younger generations.
If Fukushima reactor unit 4 collapses, the catastrophe would degrade the lives of our descendants for hundreds or thousands of years. If we have nothing to explain to these girls now, how will we explain an the cause and effects of an even larger catastrophe later?
The girls’ perspective of life and nature has changed. “Mountain, Forest, River, Sea…” these words now bring to mind radiation, not the dwelling place of any spirit or God. We live on a world of water. From space, our planet is blue with the oceans that cover 70 percent of its surface. As life on our planet comes from water, we too are formed from a single cell in the small sea of our mother’s womb. Like the earth, we are 70 percent water. But something is terribly wrong when water, the worldwide symbol of purity, becomes polluted. The natural order is upside down when a drink of water brings disease instead of relief. When a heavy rain kills trees and lakes. When the source of life is poisoned as it flows from the ground. We are a tenant of the planet. We have no right to change the planet.
I like to suggest that our policy makers, nuclear power plant companies and nuclear scientists step back for a moment and think over as an individual, not an associate of any group, what our responsibility is for our children, grand children and our descendants for years to come. The Hydrangea Revolution is a push for true democracy in Japan. A free press is a critical pillar of any democracy. It is a time for each member of the media to ask basic questions of the Japanese government and its companies and shed light on the true situation there.
Still, it may be too late to do anything now unless the wisdom of the international community and the military step in.
大飯は再稼働となりましたが、挫折感は全くありません。確実に日本は変わりつつあり、原発は止められると確信しています。これから、全国各地で、官邸前アクションに呼応して県庁前アクションが始まるでしょう。札幌は６日に道庁前アクションです。今までじっとしていた人たち、被災者支援だけを一生懸命やっていた人たちも、デモをやろうと変わってきました。
今、二度と故郷に帰らない覚悟で自主避難した親に対して、無理矢理友達から引き離されたことに怒り、「死んでもいいから福島に戻りたい！」という子どもたちが、福島の高線量地域に戻ってきています。昨年一緒にアメリカで国連前アクションと講演会に回った佐藤幸子さんも、１３歳の娘さんが避難先で１年間登校拒否、この３月に「元の学校に戻りたい」といわれ、「心が壊れるか、放射能をあびるか」の選択の中、後者を選び、娘さんと二人、福島に戻りました。戻って、娘さんはとても明るくなったそうです。
福島の教育委員会は、避難先から戻ってきて元の学校に適応が難しい子どもたちの対応に四苦八苦しているそうです。特別教員が動員されているとき来ました。子どもたちは、逃げて地獄、戻って地獄というわけです。子どもたちはとっても怒っているでしょうね。私たち、情けない大人たちに対して。この動画ののぞみちゃんは、そんな大人と人生に絶望したということですね。大人が今一斉に立ち上がらなければ、もっともっと多くののぞみちゃんがこれからもでてくることでしょう。
母親たちも、学校、家庭内での軋轢に、母子心中を考えたという人もいます。まさに福島は国に捨てられ、国民に捨てられ、多くの人たちが何事もないかのように暮らすことを選びました。チェルノブイリでは、事故から４−５年経過してからであったのに、福島ではすでに健康被害が始まっています。まさに国民を見殺しにする国、日本、今変えなければ。
泉
Dear Akio,
Nuclear power and weapons lead to a police state. Eventually everything related to it is classified as a matter of “national security” and is hidden, controlled, restricted, distorted and blatantly false. Those that challenge it are “unpatriotic” and “dangerous” and censored, imprisoned or disappeared. It is poisonous in all ways, physically, morally, economically, spiritually, and threatens all living things with sickness and death.
It is also a function of the power of corporations, which have come to dominate the US and global political processes. Only the illusion of democracy can survive in these conditions.
best regards,
Steven
Mr. Matsumura,
Thank you for listening to the voices of the children in Fukushima. I’m sure they greatly appreciate your efforts. You can watch the “Unheard Voices” video on this channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/FriendofFukushima
Mr. Matsumura,
Thank you for your great work and your good words. We are trying to do things here in US as well, its difficult as no one wants to know. We wish you luck and strength.
Dear Akio:
I am truly heartbroken over the situation in Japan. I have forwarded each and every item I receive from you in the hopes that somehow we will be heard.
My son Daniel participated in a scout group exchange program with Nagasaki 2 summers ago. It was his dream to move to Japan. He fell in love with the people and the land and was very moved and humbled by his experiences there. This summer, after 34 years of this exchange program, the group in Japan has declared that they can no longer participate. It is the fear of the radiation that has prompted them to bow out. Although this has not been the official reason, those of us who have participated in this program, can hear the fear and concern of the leaders and families we have become close to. This summer is our final exchange. The troop is bringing over as much as they can of the treats that we know our friends enjoy, and reminders of past visits. This will be the happiest and saddest trip of all. Happiness to see our friends one more time, and great sadness for not knowing when we will see them again. I fear for their future and their survival. I know that you also have family in Japan. Know that I think of them on a daily basis and hope that somehow this situation comes to a conclusion that is safe and secure for everyone concerned.
My thoughts are with you.
Kathleen Mullally
Calgary, Alberta Canada
Dear Akio,
Many thanks for your genuine commitment for the future.
Hope you will be able to move the stone-faced Japanese politicians and super bureaucrats.
It looks like the final battle for our future will be in Japan. What is happening there today is an alarm for the rest of the world. Moving ahead with business as usual is suicidal for us all.
Regarding hydrogen technology, please have a look at what happens in Iceland which is moving fast to become the first hydrogen economy in the world.
Best regards,
ARNE
In light of the election result especially, Japan is now at a crossroads that could determine its future to an equal or greater extent than December 7 1941. On that date Japan, despite its undoubted technical brilliance and social cohesion, after a long period of descent into political extremism and strategic folly, crossed the point of no return into disaster that almost destroyed it, and cost it its Empire, and much of its wealth and position in the world, as well as millions of lives. It did so lulled into a false sense of overconfidence and security, partly by the world situation, and actions of others, but decisively by its own at the time excessive arrogance and shortsightedness, combined with a social-political conformity that whilst a great strength in normal times and constructively applied, can become a possibly fatal liability in circumstances of exceptional risk and crisis. Now is one such time. Japan faces an extreme risk of national disaster by the fragile situation at Fukushima, which one more large quake could turn into a major nuclear catastrophe beyond anything yet seen, and which could be destructive on a global scale. The amount of toxic radioactive isotopes that could be released if the fuel assemblies are exposed in the event of cooling failure due to another possible even likely large seismic disturbance are by all credible accounts enough to render much of Japan uninhabitable for centuries at least, as well as poison tens of millions of people within and beyond Japan. It must be the no. 1 priority of the new government to take all possible prudent action to reduce and eliminate this threat as urgently as practicable, every day lost could be the last. It has been quoted in the media that there are plans to remove the fuel assemblies by 2014, this is at least one year too late, it should already have been done. And furthermore, Japan’s nuclear industry must be upgraded and rendered safe such that another such disaster is not merely unlikely, but impossible. It was thought such a disaster would not occur, but it did. That means it can certainly happen again. The reactor design was and remains a poor one with enormous safety liabilities, an urgent priority should be to a) shut down any plants that are at serious (ie similar) risk of natural disaster, b) render fuel assemblies safe and adequately dispersed to prevent the possibility of another such disaster, and c) introduce new and safer plant designs. An overall threat assessment in light of the unforeseen events and revised contingency planning would also be in order. The new government must not go back to ‘business as usual’, for that would clearly and forseeably be to risk a repeat on an even more devastating scale.
JAPAN WAKE UP NOW TO THE MASSIVE RISK OF RENEWED AND EVEN NATIONALLY FATAL DISASTER!
JAPANESE LEADERS AND PEOPLE TAKE ESSENTIAL PREVENTIVE ACTION NOW WHILE THERE IS TIME!
DO NOT LET PETTY CONSIDERATIONS OF ANY SORT OBSTRUCT VITAL ACTION!
JAPAN IS AT THE CROSSROADS AGAIN, THIS TIME CHOOSE THE RIGHT AND SOUND COURSE!
DO NOT LET THIS GOVERNMENT GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS JAPAN’S LAST AND MOST RECKLESS!
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