Hello everyone. I’m from
Fukushima.
I came
here today with a lot of my friends packed in a row of buses from
Fukushima prefecture or from temporary
shelters in other areas.
Many of us are new to this
type of event or demonstration. We were
motivated to attend this event in order to share the agony of the nuclear plant disaster
with other people and to say with our own voices that we don’t need nuclear plants.
First, I want to say that I
deeply respect each and every one of you who has
been working on
any issues to protect lives in these tough days since 3.11.
And, I am grateful to the people who have
lent warm hands and connected to support the people of
Fukushima in various ways.
Thank you.
Then, for
children and young people who will bear the huge burden of this
(nuke plant) accident, I must apologize as a member of the generation
that created this situation.
I am sorry.
Now, everyone.
Fukushima is a beautiful place.
Hamadoori, where the deep blue Pacific
Ocean lies to the east.
Nakadoori, with
it's abundance of peaches, pears, apples, and other fruits.
The Aizu Plain, where golden rice crops await harvest, surrounding Inawashiro Lake and Mt. Bandai.
It is our homeland, with green mountains and clean water.
Since the nuclear plant accident on March 11, invisible
radioactive materials fell to the pastoral landscape, and we
were exposed to radiation.
Many things have happened to
us amidst the confusion.Community
relationships were torn by the swift
safety campaign and anxiety.
How many people suffered
and grieved in their regions, workplaces, schools and homes?
Every day, we were pressed to make decisions:
Leave or
stay.
Eat or avoid.
Have your child wear a mask or not.
Hang your laundry outside or inside.
Plow your field or not.
Voice your opinion or keep your mouth shut.
Many decisions were
difficult.
And now, through these six months, we have
learned:
Facts have been
concealed.
The government does not protect citizens.
The
accident has yet to conclude.
People of Fukushima are being used as
guinea pigs in radiation
experimentation.
A massive amount of radioactive debris remains.
There still is power to promote nuclear plants over huge sacrifice.
We have been abandoned.
We sigh in fatigue and senseless sadness.
But, we are driven to
say:
“How dare you insult us,”
“How dare you take our lives from us.”
The people of Fukushima are quietly standing
up in anger and sadness.
Mothers, fathers, grandpas and grandmas to protect children.
Younger generations to hold on to their future.
Laborers to help the nuclear plant technicians who are trying to contain the trouble while being exposed to radiation.
Farmers in despair over their contaminated lands.
Disabled people to
prevent new discrimination and division due to radiation.
All citizens who question the
responsibility of the government and Tepco.
And, they speak up to say that we don’t need nuclear power
anymore.
We are the Tohoku (northeast Japan’s) ogre burning
flames of wrath in silence.
We the people of
Fukushima, who leave the homeland or who stay there, are going
to share anguish, commitment, and hope and support each other to lead a life.
Please connect with us.
Please pay
attention to what actions we are taking.
Negotiation
with the government, evacuation, lawsuits, recuperation,
decontamination, measurement, and study of nuclear plants and
radiation.We will travel anywhere to talk about
the Fukushima disaster.
In
fact, one of us is giving a speech in New York City today.
We will put effort into all imaginable ways of addressing this.
Please
help us.
Please remember Fukushima.
I want to
talk about one more thing.
It’s about how we live our everyday
life.
We have to imagine what is going on at the other
end of a power line to which we casually connect a power plug.
We have to give our thoughts to
convenience and growth that builds upon discrimination and
sacrifice.
Nuclear power exists at the other end.
Humans are merely one species living on the earth.
Is there any
other species that steals its own future?
I want to
live as a decent being that is in harmony
with this beautiful planet called Earth.
I want to lead
a modest but rich and creative life using energy conservatively.
How do we create a new world that is opposed
to nuclear power?
No one has a clear answer.
But, here is what we can do:
Not just follow what other people decide,
each one of us must think seriously with our own brain, open our eyes, make a decision on what to do, and take action.
Remember each of us has the power.
We all have courage to
change.
Regain our confidence that was stolen from us.
If the power to promote nuclear power is a vertical wall, our power is
to spread and connect horizontally.
Let’s hold the hand of the person next to you gently
now.
Look at each other, and listen to each other’s pain.
Forgive tears and anger.
Spread the warmth in your hand to the whole of Japan and the entire world.
No matter how heavy our burden is, or how demanding the
journey will be, we will support each other, never looking away.
Let’s dance through to survive with optimism.
This is a speech made by Ms.
Ruiko Muto from Hairo Action Fukushima at Sayonara Nuclear Plants, the demonstration by 60,000 people in Tokyo on Sept. 19.
We want to deliver the
message from Fukushima to as many people as possible.
Speech by Ms. Ruiko Muto from Fukushima
2011.09.26 Monday
The
biggest anti-nuclear power demonstration in the Japanese history:
"Good-bye Genpatsu" rally in Tokyo drew 60,000
by http://kurumiconley.jugem.jp/?eid=1012
