Noda lifts ban on weapons exports

Bad News for Article 9 supporters: "Japan PM lifts ban on arms exports":

Noda’s decision, long sought by the Japanese industry, is likely to draw strong protests from many quarters at home that want no departure from the pacifist tradition that has defined Tokyo’s international orientation since the end of the World War II.

Some Asian countries including China, which bore the brunt of Japanese aggression during World War II, are certain to respond warily.

Share Your Christmas with Tohoku, Japan

Via Kim Hughes on FB, Shareyourchristmas.org:

Share Your Christmas this Christmas with a child in Tohoku, Japan

The idea of Share Your Christmas is simple. Children (and adults) choose a present from the many received on Christmas Day and send it, wrapped or re-wrapped to Tohoku, where it will be passed on to a child (or adult) in need.

The powerful earthquake and tsunami of nine months ago on left many thousands of children (and adults) without families and friends and their homes. Children of all ages lost all their toys, their most beloved possessions.

Over 360,000 children in Fukushima Prefecture, where three nuclear reactors melted down after the tsunami, are living in especially stressful conditions. They are not allowed to play outside, where the earth and air is poisoned with radiation; they have to wear geiger counters to keep a constant check on radiation levels.

But Fukushima is not the only area where children are suffering. Up and down the northeastern coast are hundreds of small communities where people lost just about everything.

To unconditionally share or pass on a gift is a small thing in many ways, but for the children of Tohoku, abandoned by their government and much of mainstream Japan also, it will mean so much. Connection. Comfort. Love. Someone somewhere cares, is thinking about them, if offering a small piece of their heart from somewhere far away.

How Share your Christmas began

A resident of Tokyo received a request from his niece in Baltimore, asking for a computer for Christmas. After long and all-due consideration he agreed, but on the promise she donated one of her gifts from under her family tree to a child in Tohoku.

At dinner that evening, her agreement became the basis of an urgent campaign. Since Japan is not a Christian country as such, it will not matter that gifts only arrive after Christmas Day itself. We then anticipate several weeks of intense activity, making sure gifts reach boys and girls - and adults too - of the correct age.

We invite those sharing their gifts to write messages, and will encourage recipients to reply. In this way we hope Share your Christmas will translate into Share your Lives, with many friendships being forged for the future.

Find out where to send at the above link...

Velcrow Ripper charts "humanity's immune response to a planet in crisis" in Fierce Light & Evolve Love

Velcrow Ripper  has been charting psychological resilience and nonviolent faith-based social change movements since the start of the millennium, as if anticipating the Occupy Movement, which he has been filming from its start. This year, the Canadian filmmaker has been sending out major soul force along with Naomi Klein and the millions of others who support the Occupy Movement.

Here's a recent interview from his latest website, Occupy Love
.

ALIVE MIND: Occupy Love is the third film of the “Fierce Love Project.” It comes after Sacred Scared (Special Jury Prize of the Toronto Film Festival), an uplifting pilgrimage through war-torn places around the world, followed by Fierce Light, a film about bringing together spirituality, and activism. Is there a logical progression to these films? How would you relate Fierce Light to Sacred Scared and Occupy Love?

VELCROW RIPPER: Indeed there is - the films are about about the “Heart of the Times” of this unique period in human history, from the millennium to 2012. It is a time of enormous crisis, and enormous possibility. The overall theme is, how can the global crises that we are facing lead to the evolution of humanity?

Scared Sacred takes us on a journey to ground zero’s of the world – places like New York City during 9.11, Afghanistan, Hiroshima, Bosnia, Cambodia, Israel and Palestine. In each of those places, I discovered some of the most remarkable individuals I have ever met. I found that there were two things that the survivors all had in common, that helped them get through the crises they faced with their spirits transformed, not crushed: having a source of meaning, which was different for each of them, and taking action.

This lead to the second film, Fierce Light: When Spirit Meets Action, which explores the relationship between spirituality, and activism. There has long been an artificial divide between these two important aspects of human society, and this film explores the power that is released when the two come together.

In Occupy Love I ask the question: how is the economic and ecological crises we are facing a great love story? I have gone beyond the word “spiritual” to the deeper, and more universal word, “Love.” The last lines of “Fierce Light” are, “Another world is here, right now: listen.” On the sound track you can hear the rumblings of a volcano, the sleeping woman – who is now wide awake.

Occupy Love explores this awakening, this revelation of our shared heart, and our shared oppression, and the process of working together to transform the bankrupt system of today into a world that works for all life. The Occupy movement, and the related movements that are erupting around the world, from the Arab Spring, to the European Summer, are all a part of this awakening.

I recently showed Fierce Light at Occupy London and people were really struck by how the movie predicted the arising of Occupy. The films truly have their finger on the pulse of the times. In fact, Fierce Light was a little ahead of it’s time...

ALIVE MIND Commenting on the protest that spurred in Quebec City in 2004 against the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, you are asking “What would I do if I did not have a camera in my hands? Would I want to pick up a rock and throw it right back at these dehumanized Plexiglass faces?” What stance do you adopt when you shoot in the midst of demonstrations? Does being an engaged filmmaker mean taking a step back from neutrality in those situations?

VELCROW RIPPER I don’t believe in neutrality. That comment, which was a rhetorical question, was answered by the film: I would do what Carly Stasko does at that moment – she dances.

My response to repression, violence and corporate dominance is to be as contrasting to that as possible – liberated, non-violent, and creative. That is the way to transform violence, not by speaking it’s language back at it...

ALIVE MIND On Sept 17, 2011, at Zuccotti Park, the epicenter of Occupy Wall Street, you’ve asked a giant FDR dime, “How could the global crisis we are facing become a love story?’ You made a short-film out of it, entitled Summer of Change: Occupy Wall Street.

Have you been personally involved in the movement since then? What are your future plans?

VELCROW RIPPER I have fallen in love with the Occupy Movement. I was at Occupy Wall Street since day one, travelled to Occupy Oakland for their epic general strike and just returned from Spain, where I was filming with the Indignados, Egypt, where I was covering Tahrir Square and the Egyptian Revolution, and Occupy London. I was looking at the roots of the movement, tracing it back from the European summer, to the Arab Spring, and looking at where the movement has evolved. The film is now called “Occupy Love.” The original project, Evolve Love, may come out after, or will be integrated into this movie.

Two years ago I asked writer Naomi Klein, “How could the crisis we are facing on the planet become a love story?” And she laughed, and said that her and I do the opposite – she points out how bad things are and I look for the love. Last week I saw her at an action and she gave me a big hug and said, “History has re-arranged itself to prove your thesis.”

The Occupy Movement, and the much bigger, and deeper global spirit of transformation from which it arises, is the love story I have been looking for, all my life. In Fierce Light I reference Paul Hawken, who in his book Blessed Unrest, talks about a global movement of movements that is emerging all over the world, what he calls “humanity's immune response to a planet in crisis," the largest movement in history. And the remarkable thing about that movement is that it is self organizing, and it didn’t even know that it existed. The Arab Spring, The European Summer, and now the Occupy Movement, is that movement standing up, looking around, and discovering itself.

And right now, this is the greatest love story on earth. This movement is rooted in interdependence, and is the opposite of the selfish, lifeless, dog eat dog-eat-dog world promoted through the vast capital of the corporations. We need to do everything we can to nurture this evolving movement, our ever-evolving global society, and keep it moving always in the direction of love, in the direction of life. Love is the movement. We are the 100%

Read the interview and see videos (including Summer of Change: Occupy Wall Street at Occupy Love: Global Revolution of the Heart.

Paul Hawken: "The Biggest Global Movement in History"

It is my belief that we are part of a movement that is greater and deeper and broader than we ourselves know or can know. It flies under the radar of the media by and large. It is nonviolent. It is grassroots. It has no clusterbombs, no armies, and no helicopters. It has no central ideology. A male vertebrate is not in charge.

This unnamed movement is the most diverse movement the world has ever seen. The very word "movement" is too small to describe it. No one started this worldview. No one is in charge of it. There is no orthodoxy. It is global, classless, unquenchable, and tireless. Its shared understanding is arising spontaneously from different economic sectors, cultures, regions, and cohorts. It is growing and spreading worldwide, with no exception.

It has many roots. But primarily the origins are indigenous cultures, the environment and social justice movements. Those three sectors and their subsectors are intertwining, morphing, and enlarging... This is a democracy movement...It's marked by kinship, communities, symbiosis. It's Pachamama ("Mother Universe"). It's Mama. It's the earth talking back, waking up...

This talk is now five years old––but this clip of Paul Hawken speaking at a 2006 Bioneers conference describing the collective energy of hundreds of thousands of civil society organizations made up of tens of millions of people––if not more, from all over our planet–– is still breathtaking.

The social entrepreneur drew his talk from his 2007 book, Blessed Unrest: How The Largest Movement in the World Came Into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming.

The movement Hawken describes is not something new. Citing poet/environmentalist Gary Snyder and actor/activist/writer Peter Coyote––Blessed Unrest refers to "the great underground, a current of humanity that dates back to the Paleolithic and its lineage can be traced back to healers, priestesses, philosophers, monks, rabbis, poets, and artists 'who speak for the planet, for other species, for interdependence, a life that courses under and through and around empires.'" 

Hawken's imagination was captured by not only the explosion of movements––but also by the shift towards the "intertwingling" of causes––environmentalism; renewable energy and sustainability; biodiversity; indigenous issues; civil society, children's issues; community development; cultural heritage; democratic activism; fair trade; good governance; human rights; social and economic justice; disarmament and peacemaking; water and other resource rights; and gender issues.

Orion excerpts Blessed Unrest here.

“Atomic Café”: Japan’s entertainment personalities confront post-Fukushima sociopolitical realities, lament media silence during recent Tokyo event

Kenji Endo ("Enken"): "Living in this nuclear age and facing the dangers of radiation, it is important for each of us to do what fulfills us. My love is singing, and I will continue to do it passionately every day for the rest of my life."

Nine months following the triple earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that struck Japan on March 11th of this year, life has largely returned to business-as-usual as far as most of the country is concerned. With the majority of those living outside the affected regions unable to fully register the scale of the tragedy to begin with, even Tokyo—which was largely paralyzed during the days following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant due to fears of imminent large-scale nuclear emergency—now once again buzzes along obliviously in typical metropolis fashion as if nothing had ever occurred.

Helping to support this image of normalcy is a mainstream media that routinely downplays Fukushima’s ongoing health and environmental costs, despite ongoing bad news regarding leakages and radiation contamination, while a seemingly unrepentant Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) continues its pursuit of profit-making nuclear power over other possible sources of energy.

With notable exceptions such as a recent sit-in demonstration in front of the Ministry of Economy led by righteously angry Fukushima mothers, tremendous pressure is being exerted at most levels of society to tow the official line.

In few industries is this taboo stronger than in the world of entertainment, where media personalities are expected to keep critical thoughts to themselves lest they risk offending sensitive sponsors. In addition to a growing number of citizens, however, certain celebrities are violating this restriction to speak their minds against what they perceive to be strong injustice.

On a recent evening in Tokyo, several members of Japan’s entertainment and media industry who are all outspoken critics of Japan’s nuclear policies—broadcaster Peter Barakan, singer Tokiko Kato, citizen journalist Yu Tanaka, vocalist/guitarist Hiro Yamaguchi and actor Taro Yamamoto—gathered at a live music space in the artsy neighborhood of Daikanyama to do this very thing.

The November 23rd event, titled Atomic Café after the 1982 documentary film that satirized the nuclear fervor of 1940s and 1950s America, began with a powerful performance from rocker Kenji Endo (known as “Enken”). This was followed by an engaged two-hour discussion facilitated by lawyer/musician Kikujiro Shima, as panelists delved into the complexities of the social and political landscape that continue to define post-3.11 Japan.

Atomic Cafe panelists (L-R): Kikujiro Shima (facilitator), Peter Barakan, Tokiko Kato, Yu Tanaka, Taro Yamamoto, Hiro Yamaguchi

Perhaps the most egregious example of what can happen if one flouts the established rules of enforced silence surrounding the nuclear power industry may be seen in the case of Yamamoto, who lost his scheduled role in a forthcoming television drama after speaking his mind following the Fukushima disaster.

“Prior to 3/11, I had only ever expressed myself on an intellectual level; and as an actor, I had lived exclusively through my sponsor,” he told the audience. “After the accident occurred, however, I came in touch full-force with my emotions—which included extreme anger in addition to regret for not having spoken out sooner against nuclear power.”

Specifically, Yamamoto incurred the wrath of the scandal-shy media establishment by attending an anti-nuclear demonstration held in Tokyo on April 10th that drew some 20,000 people—announcing beforehand to his Twitter followers: “I can’t stay silent while Japan continues the state terrorism of nuclear power."

“I knew I was bound to lose work after making my views known, but it was shocking how quickly it actually happened,” Yamamoto told those in attendance. “Although it was an incredibly difficult thing to do given the constraints I was under, I thought about the possibility of another Fukushima occurring, and finally realized that I had no choice but to speak out.”

Despite differences in age, career and backgrounds, one common thread uniting all of the panelists was a passionate sense of righteous anger toward a bureaucratic system that has consistently protected the interests of the powerful corporate nuclear industry, while silencing any and all dissent regarding the human suffering that has transpired as a result of the Fukushima crisis.

Journalist and environmentalist Yu Tanaka, who has been speaking out against the dangers of nuclear power and radiation for decades, spared no contempt for those responsible for the recent tragedy, and its effect on the lives of society’s most vulnerable. “I recently took a group of Fukushima children to Okinawa, and they displayed obvious fear toward both the ocean and the rain, in addition to being afraid to stay outdoors more than ten minutes at a time,” Tanaka recounted. “They finally realized they were safe, but we had to send them back to Fukushima at the end of the trip knowing that they would once again be returning to this kind of stress and fear. These children have been robbed of their lives, and we must look clearly at who and what is responsible for it.”

Tanaka emphasized, however, that we now have a golden opportunity to transcend tragedy by creating a society with radically different values. “Other countries are making the shift to alternative energies, so why can't Japan—the number one technologically advanced nation in the world—do the same?” he challenged. “An Internet-based business model created at the grassroots level could in fact make the energy industry profitable enough so that companies will want to fund it. However, it is critical that we first break out of the existing dictatorship whereby TEPCO (The Tokyo Electric Power Company)—an enormous media sponsor—threatens any information outlet that dares criticize it.”

Peter Barakan agreed readily about the issue of media control, with which he is intimately familiar as a broadcaster. Originally from the UK but having spent the better part of his life in Japan, he has consistently challenged the existing climate of both overt and subtle media censorship by featuring the music of politicized artists on his radio programs, along with his own commentary regarding government policies in areas such as war and nuclear issues.

Within this climate, broadcasters who are willing to challenge the official line are a precious resource to those with few other outlets for expression. During his weekday morning radio program, Barakan recently read an email message from a listener who had returned to his hometown of Minami-Soma, one of the areas most severely affected by the nuclear crisis, and said that he was “seething with anger” as a result of being forced to remain at the mercy of a system that could only be described as “nuclear fascism.”

“As a monopoly—not to mention one that is, incidentally, in debt—TEPCO should most certainly not be spending its money on PR, which I believe should more rightly be termed as ‘propaganda’," Barakan remarked.

“Musicians speaking out on social issues are a minority in any country,” he also noted, “with the notable exception of the Vietnam war era during the 1960s and 1970s, when a group of top-name artists gathered in the USA for a major concert held in New York City titled Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE).”

In Japan, one consistently similar voice in this regard is that of Tokiko Kato, who has combined singing with social activism since the era of the ANPO (Japan-U.S. Security Treaty) protests during the 1960s. Long having advocated the eradication of all things nuclear, she was among the lineup of artists participating in the first grassroots-level Atomic Café Festival held in Tokyo in 1984, which aimed to “call for the abolition of nuclear weapons and nuclear power through music."

Involved in sustainable organic farming movements together with her late husband for the past several decades, Kato’s echoed Tanaka during the recent event with the resounding message that we must now work to transcend the current nuclear crisis by completely transforming our social values. “Many Fukushima citizens have had no choice until now other than working at nuclear plants, but more and more people—including many youth—are now moving to the countryside in order to begin creating completely new lifestyles,” she told the audience. “In addition to being fun, growing your own food also empowers you to begin taking charge of your own food safety.”

Tokiko Kato, with backdrop photo of her writing a note of support for local citizens

 while visiting affected regions following the 3.11 disaster

Hiro Yamaguchi, who has traveled numerous times with his band Heatwave to play music for residents from the cities of Minamisoma and its neighboring Soma in Fukushima prefecture, agreed with this last point. “I’ll never forget the many young women I’ve spoken with who are agonizing right now regarding whether or not they will ever be able to have children,” he remarked.“While power company officials may clearly be blamed for this accident, each one of us also needs to think seriously about the impact of our individual actions on society at large, so that we can help create a hopeful future.”

Yamamoto, before having to leave early from the event to attend another engagement, delivered an impassioned final speech regarding concrete steps that are now being taken in order to make positive change in this regard. Specifically speaking, he announced an initiative that he is helping to spearhead along with a collection of other public figures, whereby signatures will be collected in Tokyo and Osaka to call for a citizen referendum regarding the issue of nuclear power.

“I would like to ask each one of you here today to go home and call the offices of lawmaker candidates to ask the following three questions," he said. “First, given the certainty of future earthquakes occurring in Japan, what is their concrete plan for closing nuclear power plants? Second, what is their stance on the situation facing families near the Fukushima nuclear power plant whom the government has yet to evacuate? And finally, what is their plan for dealing with nuclear waste? And those who do not give acceptable answers should expect to feel the heat come election time.

“Hibakusha (people affected by nuclear radiation) are now increasing by the moment,” he said before exiting the stage. “We really don’t have any more time to waste.”

Text by Kimberly Hughes

Images by Mari Onoda

Supporters Form Human Chain in Tokyo to Call for Wartime Sexual Slavery Justice Amidst Ultra-Right Opposition

As I approached the offices of the Foreign Affairs Ministry to participate in a human chain event advocating justice for “comfort women”—the euphemism for women (many of them Korean) who were abducted into wartime sexual slavery for the Japanese Imperial Army—I was shocked to hear lewd messages blaring from multiple directions via deafening loudspeakers. Many, many times louder than the shameful commentary broadcast by members of the uyoku (ultra-rightists) during the recent Fukushima women’s sit-in, these comments were no less disturbing: “You’re all liars. These women were just prostitutes!” “What about the abduction issue? How dare you Koreans demand compensation!” “And you pitiful Japanese who are out here supporting them? You must secretly be Korean!”

Deeply shaken by what was going on around me, I made my way to join the human chain. I felt better to see that it was enormously long—drawing, I later learned, some 1200 to 1300 participants. On the way, I was also pleasantly surprised to see that the tents which had been in place during the Fukushima women’s sit-in were still very much intact—serving to give voice to both the ongoing anti-nuclear and Occupy Tokyo movements. I stopped for a moment to pick up flyers and give a small donation, and saw that the woman staffing the booth was in tears. “This is so shameful,” she whispered. “There are women who have traveled from Korea to be here today, and now they have to listen to this ugly abuse.”

I tried to comfort her, saying that the Korean women surely were grateful for the presence of numerous supporters and allies, such as herself—and that ultimately, those hurling the verbal tirades were injuring themselves more than anyone else. While I wanted to add that the women from Korea were also unlikely to understand exactly what was being said, the reality was that any who were old enough to remember the Japanese occupation were indeed likely to speak the language due to its forced wartime usage.

Human chain advocating justice for women forced into wartime sexual slavery

The event was being held to commemorate the 1,000th weekly demonstration held outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul every Wednesday since 1992—rain or shine—to demand that the Japanese government officially apologize and provide financial compensation to the so-called "comfort women." A press release for the action reads:

More than 20 years have passed since Kim Hak-Sun first declared on August 14 1991 that she had been forced to serve as a “comfort” woman (sex slave) by the Japanese Army in Korea during World War II. Other women subsequently came forth, and the following year demonstrations began to be launched every Wednesday in Korea to call for a resolution to the issue of sexual exploitation by the Japanese military. December 14 2011 will mark the 1,000th such demonstration.

Former “comfort women” endured systematic military rape and great pain and humiliation during wartime, and many led lives of great hardship even after the war. Despite such adversity, survivors began to gather the courage to talk about their experiences and shed light on a subject previously unacknowledged. Today, the 234 women who came forward are now over the age of 80, and many of them have passed away greatly disappointed that the issue still had not been resolved in their lifetimes.

Two decades later, the Japanese government continues to ignore advisories on the issue given by human rights bodies such as the United Nations, as well as resolutions passed by the legislatures of Korea, Taiwan, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands and the European Union, as well as the proposal by the Korean Foreign Affairs Deputy Office bilateral Japan-Korea negotiations following the August 30 2011 Korean Constitutional Court ruling.

For 20 years, despite conditions of rain, snow or scorching heat, the survivors have demonstrated every Wednesday in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. To mark their 1000th weekly demonstration, and to demand that the Japanese government restore honor to these victims of military sexual violence, and issue both an apology and reparations to the women without further delay, Japanese civil society groups will create a human chain around the Japanese Foreign Ministry office on December 14, 2011. Other actions will be carried out on the same day throughout Japan and in other countries throughout the world, including the Philippines, Australia, Germany, the United States, Taiwan, Canada and Korea.

After participating briefly in the human chain, I returned to the tent to speak with activists about the day’s gathering in the context of social movements happening in Japan today. Mitsuro Sudo, a member of the anti-nuclear citizen organization Tanpoposha (“No Nukes Plaza Tokyo”), made the connections easily. “Whether we are talking about wartime sexual slavery or forced construction of military bases—which was recently likened in Okinawa to the act of rape—we must deeply consider the point of view of those being victimized,” he said thoughtfully. “The shared cause among each of these issues is the act of invasion, whether on a personal or a national level, and we must look at these problems historically in order to solve them.”

“In addition to power politics and problems connected to the market economy, which exist in many countries, one special problem unique to Japan is that of the kokutai (emperor’s organization),” he added, gesturing toward the counter-protesters, whose belligerent ranting had begun reaching even higher crescendos. “These aggressors clearly want to protect their profits at any cost, and so it’s up to the rest of us to save the children, the poor and the weak from the new atomic power holocaust that is now occurring in Fukushima.”

Mitsuro Sudo, continuing to fight the good fight outside the Japanese Diet offices

"Stop all nuclear power now!"
I had to leave after about an hour to return to my workplace, which was only about a five-minute walk from where the demonstration was taking place. Barely able to summon an appetite amidst the continued chaos, I nevertheless began to eat my lunch of homemade umeboshi onigiri (rice balls with pickled plum filling)—suddenly becoming aware of the ironic symbolism whereby this food is often equated with the very same Hinomaru (Japanese national flag) that was now being wielded all around me by hate-spewing uyoku. I lost my appetite for the briefest of moments before recalling a conversation I had had several years prior with a friend regarding the symbolism of the sakura (cherry blossoms), which had historically been co-opted by war sympathizers who equated the phenomena with soldiers dying for their nation in the prime of youth—but whose fleeting beauty we both agreed that we would continue to admire nevertheless.


Sign reads: "Comfort woman=sexual slave is a LIE. Just prostitute!"
In any case, whether the “comfort women” will receive the justice that is long due to them, I cannot say. Sadly, most of them have already died without seeing this occur during their lifetime. To mark the 1,000th demonstration in Seoul, a statue of a young girl was erected Wednesday across from the Japanese Embassy to symbolize those who lost their youth in such a cruel way. Rather than use this as an opportunity for reflection, however, the Japanese government has instead issued an official complaint, claiming that the statue would “damage relations” between the two countries.

Meanwhile, the global grassroots movement to support these women continues. In Tokyo, the Women’s Active Museum on War and Peace (WAM) regularly houses installations on the issue, and groups such as the Violence Against Women in War – Network Japan (VAWW-Net) continue to pressure the Japanese government to act upon the ruling handed down by the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery in 2000, which it has ignored to date.


Loudspeaker-equipped uyoku trucks, ruining an otherwise beautiful autumn day
Wednesday's event was synchronized with the action in Seoul, which similarly demanded a public apology and compensation for the surviving women. In addition, solidarity events were held across the archipelago by supporters in Hokkaido, Hiroshima, Fukuyama, Fukuoka, Osaka, Okinawa and Shizuoka.

In Tokyo, more than 300 citizens attended an intra-Diet meeting, while another 100-strong waited outside the room. Seven Diet members from various parties along with non-affiliated members participated in the meeting, pledging their commitment to this issue.

For further details on Wednesday’s demonstrations in Seoul and elsewhere, see this excellent article from Asia One News.

--Kimberly Hughes

Second Harvest Japan: helping to feed the more than 20 million people in Japan who live below the poverty line & 3/11 survivors in Tohoku

Second Harvest Japan has long helped the more than 20 million people in Japan who live below the poverty line and are struggling for survival.

Since 3/11, Second Harvest Japan has been engaging in disaster response in Tohoku and have a website dedicated to relief efforts. Check out the list of needed items here.

Donate one present to Fukushima this holiday season to Create a Nuclear Power Free World

"A nuclear power free world- for my grand-grandchildren's generation" What is a nuclear free world to you? Post your photos and messages here.

An appeal from the organizers of the Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World to be held January 14-15, 2011 in Yokohama:

Ever since March 11, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster has been having a grave impact on the people of Fukushima. Radioactive material has been found in mothers' breast milk and children's urine in Fukushima--evidence that peoples' lives, including the lives of future generations, are being threatened.

Today in Fukushima, state and industry are being given priority over the health and safety of the people, as demonstrated by the Japanese government raising the “safe” level of radiation exposure to twenty times its previous level, including for infants. As a result, residents in some areas are effectively condemned to suffer continuous exposure to high levels of contamination that would have made them eligible for evacuation from Chernobyl, but in Fukushima they do not qualify for any such assistance.

Those who have the financial ability to flee the area still face the great psychological burden of not knowing when--if ever--they will feel safe returning to their homes, and live in an indefinite state of uproot. Those who cannot afford to abandon their homes, land, and jobs face the daily guilt and worry that they are condemning their children and themselves to cancer and other radiation exposure diseases.

It is often difficult to feel connected with disasters around the world that you don't have direct contact with in your everyday life. Even here in Japan, the media has begun to shift away from dealing with this tragic situation and most citizens have put Fukushima in the back of their minds.

In this season of giving and of thinking of the needs of others, however, we would like to invite you to remember the people of Fukushima by giving them a present.

"A nuclear power free world is world where we can enjoy life with our children"
- Company employee, 30, Tokyo

We are asking for donations for the Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World--a conference in Yokohama, Japan in January of 2012 that will allow their voices to be heard, and that will amplify on an international scale their call for wiser alternatives to nuclear power. This conference will create a venue for people from all around the world to gather in Japan and respond to the reality of Fukushima.

By combining the experiences of countries around the world, the conference also aims to demonstrate that it is realistically possible to create a society--a planet--that is not dependent on nuclear power. Whilst creating a road map for the safe removal of existing nuclear power plants, international experts, activists and concerned citizens will present alternative policies based on renewable energy and propose action plans that can be implemented by Japan and other countries around the world.

Building a brighter future for the people of Fukushima starts with creating a network across borders that can begin to envision and construct a nuclear power free future--and that can also combine forces to press the Japanese government to not leave the people of Fukushima unsupported in the midst of the world's worst nuclear power plant disaster.

You too can make a difference by asking one of your friends, family members, or co-workers to donate 2,000 yen ($25 USD) to the Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World instead of buying you a Christmas present. One less present from the heap we tend to receive every year will hardly dent our enjoyment of the season, but each donation can help to build critical momentum to support the people of Fukushima and the future of our shared Earth.

To give your present to Fukushima click here!

International Disaster Relief Organization Japan- Deep Kyoto interviews founder Rob Mangold

The following is an excerpt from a Deep Kyoto interview of Rob Mangold, the founder of International Disaster Relief Organization (IDRO) based in Kyoto:

"It is good to see boats in the harbor at funakoshi again. 船越湾に舟見ると安心する" IDRO JAPAN blog post Nov. 27th

I arrived in Ishinomaki about 1pm yesterday. A lot has changed in the last two months. The city seems to be very busy, the area around the train station still has a lot of shuttered shops, but energy is high. Only a couple of quick stops before heading out to the peninsula.

On the 21st of this month a temporary store opened on the Ogatsu peninsula. The first time people have been able to do any local shopping since March. The bridge that was destroyed at Okawa has been rebuilt and I saw cars moving across it yesterday. I met with Nakazato san in Funakoshi. They are fishing again, and took in 250 fish the morning I arrived. The women at Funakoshi are making jewelry, and that has turned into quite a cottage industry for them…
(Rob Mangold writing from his 7th trip to Tohoku on November 24th)

Wow, the people up there are amazing. No-one is sitting around waiting for help, they are out there doing it themselves.

(From Rob’s report of his fourth trip to Tohoku last May)

As winter sets in, it is time once again to consider the plight of people in northeastern Japan, for Tohoku winters are cold and long. One Kyoto-based organization, that continues to work tirelessly to assist them, is IDRO JAPAN. As regular readers know, IDRO’s volunteers have done some incredible work over the last nine months helping the victims of 3/11 rebuild their lives. Here from the IDRO website is a review of all they have achieved:

Sponsored 7 relief trips from Kyoto

• distributed immediate relief supplies
• distributed carpentry tools
• distributed electrical appliances such as washing machines, refrigerators and microwave ovens
• replaced glass windows in Funakoshi Elementary School
• participated in local volunteer relief activities

Sponsored a 7-week summer work camp for volunteers

• organized over 50 volunteers
• provided relief supplies
• participated in local clean-up and assistance activities
• assisted in home repair and maintenance
• assisted in cleaning of the Miyagi Sanriku coastline

I think you will agree that that is a pretty impressive tally of results, and all of it was largely organized by one man: IDRO’s founder, Rob Mangold. A few weeks ago I sat down in Tadg’s pub with Rob, and over a few fine craft beers we talked about IDRO’s achievements thus far, and about their ongoing long-term goals. I also wanted to get to know Rob himself a bit better.

Rob Mangold & a fellow volunteer in Miyagi

Read the rest of the entry at Deep Kyoto.

Late Autumn in Nikko

Kim Hughes' photos of Nikko in late autumn

"The history we carry is not just our own...what worries us is all ours...as the soul's call to human compassion."

After certain events, then—including The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011— a new energy from the universe churns what is collective into what is individual to produce the mix Jung called “collective unconscious” which we all share.

The history we carry is not just our own. What worries and gnaws at us, like a dog a bone, is all of ours, as shown by the soul’s call to human compassion.

- Alan Botsford, freedom in harmony

Japan Meteorological Agency: Half of radioactive materials from Fukushima fell into sea

A division of the Japan Meteorological Agency announced that up to 80 percent of the radioactive contamination from the 3/11 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster fell into the ocean, but the remaining airborne material circled the planet on jet stream winds. The Meteorological Research Institute said its computer simulations calculated that radioactive materials, including cesium-137, were blown northeastward from 3/11 toward Siberia and Alaska before mostly falling into the Pacific.

Remaining atmospheric nuclear radiation blew over the Pacific coast of the United States around March 17. Radioactive particles that remained aloft completed their first round-the-globe trip by March 24.

Kyodo via The Mainichi Daily News:

A screen capture of a map released on Nov. 11 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology displaying accumulated radioactive cesium levels in eastern Japan. (Image: Mainichi)

Half of radioactive materials from Fukushima fell into sea: study

November, 17, 2011

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- More than half of the radioactive materials that were emitted into the atmosphere in the days after the Fukushima nuclear disaster have since fallen into the ocean, according to a recent simulation by a team of researchers.

Between 70 and 80 percent of the radioactive cesium from the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Fukushima Prefecture had fallen into the sea by April, with the rest having fallen on land, according to the simulation done by the Meteorological Research Institute in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, and other researchers.

"The Fukushima nuclear power plant is located on the eastern edge of Japan, so only small amounts ended up falling on land because (such materials) get carried by the westerlies between March and April," said Yasumichi Tanaka, a senior researcher at the Japan Meteorological Agency institute and a member of the research team. However, it suggests the fallout that did not make landfall polluted the ocean, he added.

A simulation model applied in the study was developed by the institute and the agency, and was used to see how such radioactive isotopes as cesium-131, cesium-134 and cesium-137 got dispersed in the days after the disaster triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

On the premise that the materials were dispersed with each particle being the size of less than 1 micrometer, the simulation showed they largely completed a trip around the globe in roughly 10 days after first crossing the Pacific.

Once released into the atmosphere, the materials were dispersed mostly northbound and reached the western coast of the mainland United States around March 17 after passing through eastern Russia and Alaska, according to the simulation. They are likely to have largely completed a round-the Earth trip around March 24.

Most of the radioactive materials fell with rain as they got carried through the atmosphere, the study showed, saying that about 65 percent of the cesium-131 released into the air in the disaster has since fallen into the sea.

The results of the study will be presented to an academic meeting in Nagoya that began Wednesday.

Empathy gene?

Thoughtful discussion of latest on empathy research at Ed Yong's blog at Discover:

Consider the OXTR gene. It creates a docking station for a hormone called oxytocin, which has far-ranging effects on our social behaviour. People carry either the A or G versions of OXTR, depending on the “letter” that appears at a particular spot along its length. People with two G-copies tend to be more empathic, sociable and sensitive than those with at least one A-copy. These differences are small, but according to a new study from Aleksandr Kogan at the University of Toronto, strangers can pick up on them after watching people for just a few minutes.

Korean Protest Culture: Struggle for Democracy — "still being negotiated, in parliament & on the street..."

Citizens and students participating in a candlelight vigil demonstration against the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) at Seoul Plaza attempt to march down street while police assault them with water cannons, Nov. 23, 2011. (Photo: The Hankyoreh: "FTA fallout")

"Candlelight Vigil (Chopul): Widespread since the 2002 Yang-ju incident in Kyoung-gi Province. A U.S. military vehicle killed two school girls, but the American military court exonerated the driver, bringing discontent with U.S. military presence to a boil. Nationwide candlelight vigils ensued, quickly becoming a dominant protest genre..." (Text: Gabriele Hadl. Photo: Kyoto Journal)

The Nov. 23 South Korean police assault on citizens during a candlelight vigil against the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) in Seoul brings home the reality that South Korea has only been a democracy since the late 1980's. It took South Koreans decades of political and social resistance to overturn the U.S.-backed military dictatorship established after the Korean War that followed the even more notorious Japanese military dictatorship of the peninsula.

The Lee Myung-bak administration has attempted to turn back the clock and undo many of the democratic reforms of the 1990's. This, in turn, has given rise to an intensification of resistance: a part of everyday culture in South Korea. Engaged scholar Mark Selden, editor of The Asia-Pacific Journal, notes that South Koreans have created the most vibrant and sustained grassroots democratic movement in the Asia-Pacific, comparable only to the Okinawan movement in intensity, longevity, and creativity.

Korean-Jewish-American filmmaker Koohan Paik explains the South Korean passion for democracy:

When I was a child in South Korea during the 1960s, we lived under the repressive dictatorship of Park Chung-hee. Anyone out after 10 p.m. curfew could be arrested. Anyone who tried to protest the government disappeared. A lot of people died fighting for democracy and human rights.

Today, the South Korean people carry in living memory the supreme struggles that forged the freedom they currently enjoy. And after all they’ve sacrificed, they are not going to give that freedom up.

In "Korean Protest Culture", a photo essay for the Kyoto Journal, Gabriele Hadl describes some of the many symbolic actions found in Korean social movements:

Downtown Seoul has more protest spots than coffeehouses. Protesters of many persuasions have taken up a permanent, rotating residency in front of the Blue House, South Korea’s presidential mansion, while the American embassy is never without riot police.

For most of the country’s history, demonstrations have been put down with an iron fist. In the 1960s, widespread protest won a three-year respite from dictatorship. Though short-lived, it piqued the hunger for democratic reform. Dissent then burned underground for two decades. Ultimately, the military regime could not contain it. In 1985, the struggle was reignited en masse, and a two-year protest campaign brought down the government. No velvet revolution here, but a series of powerful, sustained confrontations, culminating in a radical rewriting of the social contract. Its provisions are still being negotiated, in parliament and on the street...

A labor media activist reflects, “We separate action and daily life…go to a rally, then home. We have to integrate struggle into our everyday lives.”

Background on the KORUS FTA candlelight vigil demonstration:

• The Hankyoreh:"Preventing a KORUS FTA train wreck"

• Tim Shorrock: "Korea-US Trade Agreement: The Hidden History":

...In fact, KORUS represents a major victory for U.S. multinational corporations, banks and financial institutions, which have lobbied intensively for the pact for more than half a decade. It’s also a major setback for Korean and American unions. Both (with the exception of the U.S. United Auto Workers) saw that KORUS, like NAFTA, was above and beyond an investment agreement designed to improve conditions and decrease risk for foreign capital while doing nothing to improve labor rights (dismal in both South Korea and the United States, as recognized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions) or lift the general conditions of workers and consumers in either country. Now that the AFL-CIO has failed to convince a Democratic president and Senate to oppose it, it remains to be seen if South Korea’s labor-led opposition can muster the strength to defeat the treaty in Seoul. We shall see...

The South Korean-U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS) cannot be seen apart from U.S.-South Korean security ties, the presence in South Korea of more than 30,000 U.S. troops and a 50-year economic relationship that has been heavily weighted towards American interests. From this perspective, KORUS is the fourth attempt by the United States to force its economic will on South Korea over the past half-century.

Eight months after disaster, tsunami survivors taking things as they come

For Tokue Ohyama, an octogenarian resident of Ishinomaki City in Miyagi prefecture, some days since last March have been harder than others.

“Shortly after the tsunami hit, when I felt lonely I sometimes wished that it just would have swept me away,” Ohyama confided when I met her last weekend in the temporary housing unit where she is now living. I was there helping to serve coffee and sweets through a volunteer initiative run by a local organization to make sure that survivors—particularly the elderly with no other family—are not left in isolation. “Now that I have made friends here, though, I’m feeling much more positive,” she added.

And positive she was indeed. She had been the first to come into the community room where our makeshift café had been set up, beaming as she proudly offered a plate of delicious pickled daikon radish that she had prepared for the gathering. I strained to understand her speech due to her strong local dialect (as did the non-local Japanese volunteers, to my relief), but despite the language barrier, she was clearly playful and even satirical. “That tsunami chased me so fast that I swear it was in love with me!” she said, cackling with obviously ironic laughter.

At Ohyama’s side was Shoko Matsunaga, who has found herself acting as a leader of sorts among the housing unit’s mostly female residents. “After the tsunami, while spending those several long days stranded in the freezing cold with no electricity, food or drinking water, I honestly thought I would not make it,” she said softly. “The fact that I am actually sitting here right now in fact feels like a dream. I am so incredibly thankful for having survived, and I want to spend the rest of my life doing whatever I can to try and help others.”

Top: Temporary housing unit, still under construction
Bottom: Shoko Matsunaga (left) and Tokue Ohyama (right), with volunteers in the background

A total of some 20,000 people in Ishinomaki are now living in the temporary housing units. While being thankful for the shelter, residents must put up with a lack of privacy due to paper-thin walls that let in every noise made by neighbors at all hours. And in several instances, residents bedridden from depression or illness have actually died without anyone discovering so for days.

“One additional significant problem we are facing now in these housing units is that of suicide,” explained Toshihiko Fujita, who founded a small organization in Ishinomaki based at the Koganehama Community Center, where my partner and I volunteered over the weekend. “It’s crucial to build community through activities such as common meals and café events, so that no one will succumb to loneliness and isolation.” The community center is used as a gathering space for local citizens and volunteers alike, and often hosts events for locals put on by NGO volunteers, such as art therapy workshops, massage sessions, community meetings, and more.

Fujita, who saw his mother swept away by the tsunami, has been working tirelessly since the day after the disaster struck—beginning with the traumatic work of clearing away bodies. Again trying to lighten the heaviness of the subject at hand, he commented dryly, “Here, we just call ourselves the mudbusters.”

With the extent of the damage to cities that faced the tsunami’s destruction, including Ishinomaki, mud will indeed be a steady reality for the months and even years to come. On Sunday, after having spent a comfortable night outside the local community center inside a parked mobile home that Fujita has made available for visiting volunteers, a group of us joined up with members of another volunteer organization known appropriately as "It’s Not Just Mud".

While several of the volunteers had been involved with the relief operations since the days immediately following the disaster, it was quite disconcerting for me as a first-time volunteer to encounter personal items—coins, dishes and ceramics, a remote control, a section of a car stereo, chopsticks, baby-sized silverware— while standing inside a ditch shoveling mud.



Top and bottom: The "It's Not Just Mud" crew at work

Despite having seen images of the tsunami’s destructive path through photographs and videos, it was a similarly jarring experience to walk near the coastline and see row after row of completely gutted homes and shops, some with toppled futons and furniture still as they were just after the wave hit.

An indescribable sensation also made me pause as I walked past Watanoha Junior High School, separated from the ocean by a mere thin stretch of forest, with its busted windows and its clock stopped eerily at 3:46 PM—exactly one hour after the earthquake had struck, and likely 30 to 45 minutes after the tsunami had reached land. I imagined the students having a normal day at school before the tragedy struck, laughing and joking in the now empty stairwells. Had they managed to escape in time, I wondered? Where were they now?

Obviously, in two days I was only able to scrape the surface of the issues that survivors continue facing in Ishinomaki and other disaster-hit areas (although I definitely plan to return soon). According to community leaders leading recovery efforts at the grassroots level, such as Fujita, a full recovery is years ahead, with local families continuing to face the agonizing decision of rebuilding or leaving to start anew.

Fujita also pointed out that such issues are further compounded by other problems such as local and national government apathy, a general lack of community cohesiveness, and local in-fighting over issues such as resource distribution in the wake of the disaster. “I’m so busy that I have not even had time to do my own grieving,” he admitted. “Maybe in a year or two, when things have settled down, I’ll have that luxury.

"Reparing buildings is one challenge, but repairing hearts is another one altogether," he added. "The trauma that people here have experienced is profound."

Fujita describing the problems facing Ishinomaki citizens, berating the Japanese mainstream media for its lack of coverage of issues facing survivors in affected areas, and urging volunteers from around the world to come join the relief effort

Top: 800 heads of Chinese cabbage donated by a farmer from Nagano prefecture, which Fujita drove around delivering to members of the local community together with a personalized message from the farmer

Bottom: Flyer announcing a tea-drinking and craft-making workshop at the Koganehama Community Center

Despite the enormity of existing obstacles, which seem to make the efforts of individual volunteers only miniscule, each shovelful of mud—as well as each and every human interaction—truly does make a difference, as I learned when being thanked countless times by residents who were so clearly grateful for the work of volunteers.

While chatting with another woman after our mobile café had moved to a second temporary housing area on Saturday afternoon, the conversation flowed easily from the NHK trophy ice skating competition, which was on television in the background, to more serious matters. She told me that she had lost almost every one of her friends in the tsunami—and that she dreamt of them every night. She then began describing earlier memories, when she had been a young woman in her late teens during the second world war.

“The military police used to walk around with bamboo spear weapons in case they came across any U.S. military enemies, and we were not even allowed to be caught using any words that came from the English language, such as kyabetsu (“cabbage”) or bo-ru (“ball”), she reflected. “I lost my chance to fall in love because of that war. What a meaningless waste it all was.”

Shoko Matsunaga, while she didn’t specifically mention the wartime past, did say at one point, “I certainly never thought I would be here sitting at a table with an American. And now, here I am, meeting volunteers from all over the world.

“Truly, I have so much to be thankful for.”

Top: Sign at entrance to local shrine: "Caution--Falling Rocks"

Bottom: Scenery in undamaged areas of Ishinomaki, with gorgeous rolling vegetable fields

Ishinomaki-based volunteer organizations:

It’s Not Just Mud

Peace Boat Emergency Relief Operation

Ishinomaki Volunteer Support Base: Kizuna (Japanese only)

Japan Emergency NGO (JEN)

Toshihiko Fujita’s volunteer troupe (e-mail: i77lav77u@gmail.com)

--Kimberly Hughes

Could studies of the decades of radioactive (plutonium) contamination at Sellafield, UK help in understanding Fukushima radiation risks?

(Via Shut Sellafield: Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tim_d/)

Map of nuclear radiation at Sellafield, in northwest England, just south of Scotland, on the Irish Sea: "In 1990 a government funded project used helicopters to survey radiation "hot spots" in the area. The map (above) shows the radiation levels are highest (red and brown) around the estuary of the Rivers Esk and Mite and around Sellafield itself." (Image: http://www.lakestay.co.uk/hot.htm)

This week the UK government gave approval to NuGen (owned by Spanish multinational Iberdrola and French multinational GDF Suez)* to construct a new nuclear plant at Sellafield, a plutonium manufacturing and nuclear waste reprocessing complex plagued with a history of accidents, radiation (plutonium) contamination, and tons of nuclear waste:

...Britain has held firm in the post Fukushima-era to the advancement of nuclear power, unlike many large European economies like Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Belgium, all of whom are either abandoning their nuclear power capacities or have voted not to begin building nuclear facilities to begin with in the wake of the Japanese disaster.

Germany will be phasing out its nuclear power plants in favour of renewable energy by 2022 and Switzerland is following suit in 2034. Belgium has said it will shutter its oldest plants by 2015, with the remainder to come offline by 2025, dependent on whether the country can find alternative power sources. And Italy voted overwhelmingly in a summer referendum not to even start a nuclear programme.

Even Japan has opted for a 40-year nuclear phase out plan.

The announcement of the construction of the multi-billion-pound nuclear fuel plant has followed the closure of an identical plant, shut down because it was unfit.

The UK built the Sellafield nuclear complex in the 1940's for the same reason as the US constructed the toxic Hanford nuclear complex in Washington State and the Soviets constructed the Mayak complex in Siberia: to produce nuclear weapons. As with Hanford and Mayak, the region around Sellafield, located in England's largest national park has become a nuclear waste dump. The park, which includes the Lake District, is a tourist destination.

For decades, Sellafield dumped radioactive waste by pipeline into the Irish Sea. The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR Convention) reported Sellafield has deposited an estimated 200 kilograms (441 lb) of plutonium into the marine sediment of the Irish Sea. Cattle and fish are contaminated with plutonium-239 and caesium-137 from Sellafield.

Sellafield, where Japanese nuclear energy companies sent nuclear waste for reprocessing, also produced Technetium-99, a radioactive element created from reprocessing, which Sellafield also discharges into the sea. Between 1952 and 2009, Sellafield discharged more than 47,855 terabecquerel of cesium-137 and strontium-90, two of the most dangerous radioactive elements to human health, according to calculations based on data from the U.K. Environment Agency and the Journal of Radiological Protection.

In 1983, high radioactive discharges of ruthenium and rhodium 106 resulted in the closure of beaches along a 10-mile stretch of coast in Cumbria, along with warnings against swimming in the sea. Greenpeace protested the discharges by attempting to cap the pipeline gushing radioactive waste into the sea. Their Geiger counters indicated radioactivity at 1,500 times the "normal" level.

An open pit has been used to store radioactive waste, including over a ton of plutonium (some from the Tokai Mura plant in Japan). The pool is not watertight and has been leaking.

A 1997 UK Ministry of Health report stated that children living close to Sellafield had twice as much plutonium in their teeth as children living more than 100 miles (160 km) from the nuclear complex; afterwards a UK official stated that the plutonium did not present a health risk. However, instances of leukemia in children who live on the English and Irish coasts reflect anomalies: the rate of childhood leukemia in the area near Sellafield exceeds the national average by ten times; one child in sixty in Seascale, the village of nearest the plant, will die of of leukemia.

Both the Irish and Norwegian governments have sought the closure of the facility.

On Aug. 3, the government (Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA)) owned MOX (plutonium) fuel plant, subsidized by British taxpayers, was closed. Its primary customers were Japanese nuclear plants, including Fukushima Dai-Ichi:

"The Hamaoka plant, owned by Chubu, the intended recipient of the first fuel, is currently closed awaiting extensive reinforcement work. Following Chubu, Tepco [Tokyo Electric Power Company] were destined to take 50% of the plant output and they as owner of the Fukushima plants are clearly facing the most extreme challenges."

Speculation about the future of the plant has been rife for months, as it became clear that the Japanese nuclear industry was unlikely to recover after Fukushima.

The NDA said: "[We have] concluded that in order to ensure that the UK taxpayer does not carry a future financial burden from [Sellafield Mox plant] that the only reasonable course of action is to close [the plant] at the earliest practical opportunity."

The NDA said it would continue to store Japanese plutonium safely, and "further develop discussions with the Japanese customers on a responsible approach to support the Japanese utilities' policy for the reuse of their material".

Sellafield still dumps eight million liters of radioactive nuclear waste into the Irish sea—every day.

How has this radioactive (especially plutonium) contamination affected fish and agricultural food products from the region surrounding Sellafield? When did cancers, including leukemia, begin to spike? Is the UK keeping and sharing longitudinal records on radiation levels and correlating these with cancers and other disorders (heart disease) correlated with nuclear radiation exposure? This kind of information might be helpful to residents of Fukushima and Japan, many whom express concern at plutonium exposure from MOX fuel, which was manufactured at Sellafield and used at Fukushima.

The Sellafield Nuclear Complex:

• REPROCESSING: 2 Plants - B205 Magnox, responsible for gross discharges and historic enviromental contamination. THORP, opened1994, adding greatly to discharges. Failing to meet 10 year target of 7000 tonnes. No new overseas contracts.

• VITIRFICATION: Opened 1991. Subsequent poor performance and accident rate. Third production line being constructed after original lines failed to meet yearly targets.

• ENCAPSULATION: 2 Plants. Drumming solid and sludge intermediate level wastes from historic and current operations. At least 30 years before any UK final disposal site for wastes.

• MOX: 2 Plants. Demonstration facility (MDF) producing 8 tonnes MOX fuel per year since 1993 for Europe and Japan. New 120t plant (SMP) not yet licensed to operate due to concerns on justification and viability. No plans to use MOX fuel in UK power stations.

• REACTORS: 4xMagnox 50MW. Operating 25 years beyond original life-span, until recently producers of Plutonium for UK weapons

* In December, 2014, Toshiba (Westinghouse's parent company) bought Iberdrola's stake in the NuGen Sellafield consortium. Hitachi acquired the Horizon nuclear project in 2012.

Some sources:  (Articles dated before 2008 are cites in Marilynne Robinson's meticulously researched Mother Country: Britain, The Welfare State, and Nuclear Pollution, published in 1989):

• "Dublin demands Sellafield action" (Ian Black, The Guardian, Feb. 18, 1984).
• "More pollution found on coast near Sellafield" (The Guardian, March 10, 1984).
• "'Plutonium food' sought for children" (Richard Evans, The Times, May 21, 1985).
• "Shut this open sewer" (New Scientist, Feb. 27, 1986).
• "A lot of fuss about a few millisieverts" (Sharon Kingman, New Scientist, May 15, 1986).
• "Majority say No to nuclear power" (Steve Vines, The Observer, Sept. 14, 1986).
• "Minister admits total failure of Sellafield 'MOX' plant" (Geoffrey Lean, March 9, 2008).
• "Ministers gamble on new £6bn Sellafield plant" (Steve Connor, Oct. 10, 2011).
• "Toshiba pays £85m for stake in NuGen to build nuclear plant at Sellafield" (The Telegraph, Dec. 24, 2013). 
• "NuGen agree plans to build first new UK nuclear plant" (The Telegraph, June 30, 2014). 

Environmentalist Watchdog Groups:

• Shut Sellafield

• Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment

• People Against WYLFA-B (The campaign against a new nuclear power station at Wylfa, Anglesey (Cymraeg: Yr ymgyrch yn erbyn atomfa newydd yn y Wylfa, Ynys Môn)