Friday, June 15, 2012

Noda Administration to Declare the Restart, While the Media Around the World Ignore 11,000-Strong Demonstrators in Front of PM's Official Residence in Tokyo


It's just amazing. A quick check of the Japanese and English media shows ZERO coverage of the largest protest so far (11,000 people) against Ooi Nuclear Power Plant right in front of the Prime Minister's Official Residence in central Tokyo.

ZERO. Not even Tokyo Shinbun.

In the meantime, the Noda administration has determined that "a certain understanding" among the Japanese citizens has been achieved regarding the restart of the plant, according to Jiji Tsushin.

From Jiji Tsushin (6/16/2012):

政府、大飯再稼働を決定へ=原発事故後で初、来月にも運転-知事同意受け・閣僚会合

The government to official decide to restart Ooi Nuke Plant as early as next month, first plant to restart after the Fukushima nuclear accident; ministerial meeting to beheld after the governor agrees

西川一誠福井県知事は16日午前、野田佳彦首相らと会談し、関西電力大飯原発3、4号機(福井県おおい町)の再稼働に同意する考えを表明する。政府はこれを受け、首相と枝野幸男経済産業相ら関係3閣僚による会合を開催。国民の一定の理解は得られたとして再稼働を最終決定する。

Issei Nishikawa, Governor of Fukui Prefecture, will meet with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and others in the morning of June 16, and will express his intent to agree to the restart of Reactors 3 and 4 of KEPCO's Ooi Nuclear Power Plant (in Ooi-cho, Fukui). Then the government will hold a ministerial meeting of the prime minister and 3 other ministers including Yukio Edano, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry to officially decide to restart the plant, now that a certain understanding of the citizens has been obtained.

昨年3月の東京電力福島第1原発事故以降、定期検査で停止した国内の原発の運転再開が決まるのは初めて。

It will be the first time for any of the nuclear reactors that have stopped due to the regular maintenance after the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident in March last year to resume power generation.

関電は直ちに準備作業に着手。まず大飯3号機の稼働を7月上旬にも再開する見通しだ。これにより、5月上旬から続いていた国内全原発の停止という事態は2カ月で解消されることになる。

[On receiving the official word from the government,] KEPCO will immediately start preparing for the restart, and Reactor 3 of Ooi Nuclear Power Plant will be the first to restart in early July. Since early May, no commercial nuclear reactor has been in operation in Japan.


I found this photograph at independent journalist Ryusaku Tanaka's website, taken at the June 15 protest in front of the PM Official Residence in Tokyo. The funeral photos that they are holding are, from the left, Yoshito Sengoku, Goshi Hosono, and Yoshihiko Noda, with what looks like a Hitler moustache:



Net citizens in Japan, nonetheless, are on to the next campaign. They are calling the MSMs and demanding that they report on the anti-restart protests.

17 comments:

Maju said...

The international media almost never talk of Japan anymore. An occasional economic mention, the decreasing reference among manga comic artists... I don't see much more other than blogs specialized on the nuclear catastrophe like this one (or others that also mention it).

Of course 11,000 demonstrators would be rather small in any major European city. Anything under 100,000 is quite unimpressive, unless you're discussing a smaller country or a provincial town. But Japan is not Europe, of course.

John said...

Wake up Net Japanese. As long as you go home orderly at 8:00 pm, you will be ignored. You must stay in the streets like the people did in Cairo. If you are not willing to stay in the streets, just shut up and accept radioactive contamination. We need 10,000 people, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in the streets until the policy is changed.

Maju said...

But remember John that the media are not really free and independent, as they claim, they have many policy diktats, for example bad news from India almost never make it to the media because multinational corporations do not want to project that image from India, instead Syria is another whole story and bad news are welcome instead.

Probably they have already decided that Japan should be out from sight, specially nuclear stuff. Wasn't Busby saying recently that there is a media blackout on Fukushima and that even researchers have serious problems doing their job freely?

That's why small free media like this blog are so important.

Anonymous said...

The Hitler mustaches on the Noda pictures are stupid. First of all, Hitler has nothing to do with this. Secondly, Hitler was probably much smarter than to build nuke plants on fault lines. http://zioncrimefactory.com/2012/06/08/jew-truther-peddles-anti-nazi-fables-at-event/

Anonymous said...

I sent a copy in Japanese to a Japanese professor I know, who has a PhD in international relations with a focus on environmental issues, from Tokyo University, of Mr. Muramatsu's dire warning of the Unit 4 SFP issue. The professor told me: this is tabloid journalism with no basis in fact!

Anonymous said...

It took two nuclear bombs to end WWII. It may take two or even three TEPCO-style disasters to crush nuclear power in Japan.

The demonstrators are trying their best to prevent this from happening again. These individuals are giving of their time and energy so that others might live. They deserve our encouragement, support and respect.

Helpful, constructive suggestions are welcome. Disparaging comments however show a lack of empathy similar to the levels possessed by the DPJ leadership. Please direct your energies to helping solve the problem.

Mahalo.

Anonymous said...

The other day, I stumbled across this piece of writing from 3,000 years ago. Seems most applicable to the current situation:

http://net.bible.org/#!l/bible%3APsalms%2037%3A7__search%3Apsalm%2037

Have faith. Noda, TEPCO, the DPJ and nuclear power will all lose the war in the end.

Anonymous said...

Anon 3:46PM, who's Muramatsu?

Frenchyguy said...

I made a quick look at french MSM ... ridiculous : the only article about Japan this day was in "Le Monde" (usualy reliable and balanced media)... and was about "washoku" (japanese cooking)... Which shows (once more) how powerfull influence our local "nuclear village" is about to get on MSM. I hope Japanese people will be reacting stronger and stronger.

Anonymous said...

I think it is good that the MSMs world over ignore the event. Japanese net citizens are clearly pissed, and they are flooding the TV stations and newspapers with calls demanding that they cover the event.

Anonymous said...

People across the world need to support the japanese people in their protests.

Typically the banks are forcing this issue, want to bet those "bankers" are safely tucked away thousands of miles from this tragedy?

Ampontan said...

If you thought running that photograph helped the cause, you might think again. It angered a lot of Japanese on Twitter, including those inclined to support the protesters.

How does this help contribute to the impression that "people's lives" are more important than the supposedly dangerous nuclear power?

The people carrying the photos, and those who see no problem with it, have given us a window into the kind of people they really are.

Anonymous said...

That you are truly what your name indicates, ampontan.

Anonymous said...

>It angered a lot of Japanese on Twitter

Yeah right. They were also laughed at by adults.

Beppe said...

Those are not Hitler style moustaches; if anything they look to me like the moustaches that were popular in Japan before WW II.
In fact, they are not moustaches at all: they are tiny nuclear signs (the trilobed ones) sticked on the nose of the ministries. At first I also thought they were some moustaches recalling WW II but watching closely they look very funny. Whoever came up with those pictures has an excellent sense of humour!
As to mr. Hitler, he brought his country to total ruin; I suppose this achievement alone should have originated by several decisions much more dumb than building a npp on an active fault.

Anonymous said...

Bankster scum rule the world. Our blood for their money!

Anonymous said...

The Hitler moustaches reflect the fact that the ruling Elite in Japan are fascist cunts , i dont think they look silly ...its true

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