via AFP / July 19, 2012 /
Japan’s usually sedate society is angry and getting organised against nuclear power, with the kind of snowballing protest movement not seen for decades.
Weekly demonstrations outside the prime minister’s residence attract tens of thousands of people and a rally in west Tokyo this week drew a crowd organisers claimed at 170,000, demanding an end to atomic power in post-Fukushima Japan.
And as numbers swell there are indications the country’s usually inflexible politicians are getting worried and just might start paying attention.
“Before the disaster, I had never thought of taking part in rallies,” said 22-year-old Yusuke Hasunuma, referring to the tsunami-sparked meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011.
“But now I find it very exciting. It’s great to take action with other people who feel the same,” said Hasunuma, who has become a regular at the Friday evening protests in Tokyo’s political district.
“No one used to care before (the disaster),” said Masaki Yoshida, a mother-of-three who was forced from her Fukushima home by the radiation-spewing plant.
“But people now think keeping their mouth shut means saying ‘yes’ to nuclear power.”