Speech by Ms. Ruiko Muto from Fukushima 2011.09.26 Monday

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