June 13, 2012 | Mainichi Japan
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- An antinuclear civic group led by Nobel literature laureate Kenzaburo Oe and others submitted on Tuesday part of over 7.48 million signatures to the lower house speaker, calling for the abolition of nuclear reactors following the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant triggered by the massive earthquake and tsunami last year.
In about a year, the group also led by journalist Satoshi Kamata and economic commentator Katsuto Uchihashi, collected 7,481,352 signatures as of Sunday as part of "10 Million People's Action to say Goodbye to Nuclear Power Plants," which opposes nuclear power generation.
The House of Representatives Speaker Takahiro Yokomichi understood the significance of the huge number of signatures collected, Kamata said in a press conference the same day, adding, "We want to put an end to the politics that put economy and money ahead of our lives and health."
Uchihashi said, "Those people who participated in our signatures campaign share anger and fear felt by victims of radiation and evacuees (of the nuclear crisis)...we never gave consent to the state policy supporting nuclear power generation."
"Where on earth is the people's will and democracy, if they do not listen to the voice of 7.5 million...let us once again turn our eyes to those people who remain in Fukushima as well as those who were forced to leave there," said writer Keiko Ochiai, another activist leading the group.
The civic group also held a meeting for Diet members later in the day, attracting endorsement from over 80 nonpartisan members. More than 30 members of the Diet including former Prime Minister Naoto Kan attended the gathering.
"I changed my idea about nuclear power plants" following the accident last year, Kan said, adding, "The safest way is to do without nuclear plants...we don't want to leave nuclear reactors to our children and grandchildren."
The executive committee of the group consisting of the Japan Congress Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikin) among others plans to hand the rest of the signatures to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.
Last Wednesday, some 2,300 protesters gathered at Tokyo's Hibiya Park and the group plans to hold another rally with 100,000 participants at Yoyogi Park also in Tokyo on July 16.
Antinuclear civic group submits 7.48 mil. signatures to lower house speaker－ 毎日ｊｐ(毎日新聞)
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