Monday, September 12, 2011

Nuclear Protest in Japan: 4 Young Men on Hunger Strike In Front of METI

Upon the 6-month anniversary of the March 11 triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima I Nuke Plant, 4 young men in their late 10s and early 20s started a 10-day hunger strike in front of the most powerful ministry in the Japanese government, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

From Chugoku Shinbun (9/12/2011):

東日本大震災から半年を迎える11日、山口県上関町の岡本直也さん(20)たちが、中国電力による上関原発計画の白紙撤回などを求めて経済産業省前でハンガーストライキを始める。

Naoya Okamoto (age 20) and others from Kaminoseki-cho in Yamaguchi Prefecture will start a hunger strike in front of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry starting September 11, 6 months from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster. They are demanding the plan by Chugoku Electric to build a nuclear power plant in Kaminoseki-cho to be scrapped.

 ハンストをするのは「上関原発に抗議する10代の会」のメンバーの岡本さん、米原幹太さん(21)=千葉県館山市=たち数人。21日までの昼間に座り込みをし、水と塩を口にして過ごす。座り込みの様子は、インターネットのブログや動画投稿サイトなどで発信する。事故の被災者への被害補償の拡大、充実なども訴えるという。

They are members of "The teens group against Kaminoseki Nuke Plant". Until September 21, they will sit in front of the METI during the daytime, taking only water and salt. Their protest will be shown on Internet blogs and video posting sites. They will also demand more compensations for the victims of the nuclear accident.

There was a 2,000-person protest at the Ministry on September 11. The protesters formed a human chain link around the ministry. 10,000-strong demonstration in Shinjuku saw more than 2,000-strong police and riot police, who did their best to provoke protesters and managed to bloody several people and arrested 13. Their offense? It looks like nothing more than touching the policemen and walking on the sidewalk.

A small coverage of the human chain link around METI, hardly any coverage on the Shinjuku protest other than blaming the protesters, in the Japanese mainstream media.

(Video from http://hungerstrike.jimdo.com/)


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I believe there is a typo in the second English paragraph of the translation "September 11," should be "September 21" if I read the article correctly.

Anonymous said...

東電に入ろう!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9AlurAWSiM&feature=share

Anonymous said...

#メルトダウン (#高田渡の「値上げ」の替え歌)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZTDzWIs2HM

Anonymous said...

The hunger strike should be for unlimited days instead of 10 days.

The Gov., police and Tepco are striking back quite hard, so people shouldnt by shy about showing their feelings...

Anonymous said...

I its not been aparent by now, it never wil.
Now people of Japan, you wil literaly feel the Powers of the Goverment.

Violence is always ocuring when chriminals feal that they are threten.
Like the Mafia.

The Neptuniom findings where abitt shocking and the readings are to me, skyhigh.
Its becomed a grave tragedy and the prospects are grim.

Otherwise the Young people are doing the right ting and gett atetion, force the media to pay atention. They may beat you, but the shame is alwways on the moraly lesser chriminals that is running and cover up this chrime against humanity and our Planet.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
— Theodore Roosevelt

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