Thousands Gather in Tokyo to Protest Nuclear Restart

[bananas]

Source: New York Times

In Japan’s largest antinuclear rally since the disaster at Fukushima, tens of thousands of protesters gathered Monday at a central Tokyo park to urge the government to halt its restart of the nation’s reactor fleet.

<snip>

Antinuclear demonstrations have gained momentum, especially in the nation’s capital, where tens of thousands of protesters now gather every week to shout slogans in front of Mr. Noda’s official residence.

On Monday, organizers said 170,000 people filled the Tokyo square to sing songs, beat drums and cheer on a series of high-profile speakers who called for more Japanese to make their voices heard. The police put the number of protesters at 75,000, still making it the biggest gathering of antinuclear demonstrators since the Fukushima accident last year.

<snip>

Indeed, rally organizers have gone to great lengths to project a friendly image in a country where protesters of any kind are seen by many as fringe agitators at best, and terrorists at worst. It is a perception left over from protests in 1960 and 1970 against a security treaty with the United States, during which rioters armed with pipes and gasoline bombs clashed with the police. Organizers at the time said as many as 170,000 people rallied in front of Japan’s Parliament building, a crowd not seen until the recent antinuclear rallies.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/world/asia/thousands-gather-in-tokyo-to-protest-nuclear-restart.html

[proverbialwisdom]

1. Dramatic and inspiring aerial photos and video here:

http://enenews.com/kyodo-headline-antinuclear-rally-draws-170000-people-at-central-tokyo-park-photos

Kyodo: 170,000 people at rally in central Tokyo (AERIAL VIDEO & PHOTOS)
Published: July 16th, 2012 at 9:02 am ET
By ENENews

(Subscription Only) Title: Antinuclear rally draws 170,000 people at central Tokyo park | Kyodo News
Source: Kyodo
Author: Megumi Iizuka
Date: July 16, 2012

[proverbialwisdom]

3. More from SPIEGEL-ONLINE.

http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/gesellschaft/tokio-zehntausende-japaner-demonstrieren-gegen-atomkraft-a-844581.html

Link from:http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2012/07/july-16-protest-in-yoyogi-park-largest.html

[Canuckistanian]

2. Astounding

Considering that Japanese culture is all about deference to authority and harmony to the point of absurd.

Ironically, it's that deference to authority and harmony that led to the after effects of the Fukushima disaster. The Japanese nuclear regulatory agency was ALSO a booster of nuclear power and deeply involved in the nuclear company's success. This was also the conclusion of an inquest into the Fukushima disaster.

[RobertEarl]

4. They are living with the effects

And they have a desire to not have it spread any more than it has.

They know the future of their country is a stake. Even the PM who was in charge at the time has said that Japan must close down the nuclear power plants.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/world/asia/japans-naoto-kan-condemns-nuclear-power.html

In an unusually stark warning, Japan’s prime minister during last year’s nuclear crisis told a parliamentary inquiry on Monday that the country should discard nuclear power as too dangerous, saying the Fukushima accident had pushed Japan to the brink of “national collapse.”

...his strongest comments came at the end of his testimony, when a panel member asked him if he had any advice for the current prime minister. Mr. [Naoto] Kan replied that the accident had brought Japan to the brink of evacuating metropolitan Tokyo and its 30 million residents. He said the loss of the capital would have paralyzed the national government, leading to “a collapse of the nation’s ability to function.”

He said the prospect of losing Tokyo made him realize that nuclear power was just too risky, the consequences of an accident too large, for Japan to accept.

“It is impossible to ensure safety sufficiently to prevent the risk of a national collapse,” Mr. Kan said. “Experiencing the accident convinced me that the best way to make nuclear plants safe is not to rely on them, but rather to get rid of them.”