Ten Thousand Things

Ainu Party launch: reports from Ainu Mosir & Aotearoa

2012-01-31T21:26:00.000-08:00

The Ainu Party of Japan (homepage here) was launched last weekend in Ebetsu City, Ainu Mosir (Hokkaido), marking a historical moment for Japan, the Ainu, and indigenous peoples all over the world. This is the first time an ethnic minority group has ever created a political party of its own in Japan.

Maori Party representative and member of the New Zealand Parliament since 2005 Te Ururoa Flavell and his wife Erana Hond-Flavell, a research associate at Te Kōpae Piripono (Center of Innovation) in Te Tāhuhu o Te Mātauranga (Aotearoa/New Zealand Board of Education) joined Ainu Party supporters in their Saturday, January 21st celebrations.

The day of the launch commenced with an Ainu ceremony held outside the snow-covered Ebestu City Community Center. Representative Flavell presented a Taiaha, a traditional Maori weapon to the Ainu Party.

While reports of the new party in English and Japanese are scarce, Maori news sources have been reporting extensively on the groundbreaking launch.

Co-leaders of the Maori Party, Dr Pita Sharples and Tariana Turi, made a statement in support of the party:

The Maori Party congratulates the Ainu community for their determination to take their policy priorities and concerns into the political landscape in Japan.

We are delighted to acknowledge Shiro Kayano, the leader of the Ainu Party, and to extend our best wishes for their launch on the 21st January.

The recognition of the voices of the Ainu community has achieved momentum in Japan through the establishment of a Parliamentary Committee to investigate the rights of the Ainu, headed by former Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama.

Our seven years experience in the Maori Party has confirmed how important it is to create the space for the voices of tangata whenua in national and local politics. Our mission has always been to ensure that ‘every issue is a Maori issue’; and that ultimately we know that what works for Maori, is in the best interests also of Aotearoa.

We join with other indigenous political movements across the globe, to welcome the formation of the Ainu Party, and to extend greetings of solidarity to the wider Ainu community in their determination to make a significant contribution to the political destiny of their land.

- Jen Teeter

Okinawan Delegation bring their message "Democracy requires U.S. military withdrawal from Okinawa" to Washington, D.C.

2012-01-30T19:28:00.001-08:00

(Keiko Itokazu, depicted in this painting that likens the Okinawan democratic movement to the American Revolution, is a member of the Japanese National Diet. She told an audience at Busboys and Poets, a Washington D.C. bookstore, that the Okinawan people have been heartbroken since having been unable to protect a 12-year-old girl from gang rape by U.S. troops in 1995. Photo: Warisacrime.org )

Last week a delegation of Okinawan political, civic, and educational leaders visited Washington, D.C. "to promote awareness of enduring military base problems on Okinawa, Japan, and to propose the closure and consolidation of the 34 military installations on Okinawa as part of Congressional deficit-reduction plans to reduce defense spending by $1 trillion over the next ten years."

Their demands:

1. The closure and return of U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station. Often referred to as the most dangerous base in the world, Futenma’s continued operations in densely populated residential areas of Ginowan City violate both US and Japanese safety standards. Planned deployment of the accident-prone MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft to Futenma in 2012 faces strong opposition across Okinawa.

2. The cancellation of plans to construct a new Marine Corps air base at Cape Henoko, which involves massive land reclamation of a beautiful coral reef marine ecosystem and the habitat of the critically endangered Okinawa dugong (sea manatee).

3. The reduction of unbearable noise caused by air operations at Kadena Air Base, and the withdrawal of any proposal to integrate Futenma’s helicopter squadrons into Kadena’s operations. Kadena is already the subject of a lawsuit filed by 22,000 plaintiffs seeking to terminate nighttime flight operations at the base.

4. An end to the construction of six new helipads in the Yanbaru forest in northern Okinawa. This construction will result in the permanent destruction of forestland said to be comparable to a World Natural Heritage site, as well as the erosion of the quality of life for local residents of Takae.

5. The revision of the U.S.-Japan Status Of Forces Agreement, which will be demanded in particular by family members of Mr. Koki Yogi, who was killed by a civilian employee of the U.S. Air Force in January, 2011. The U.S.-Japan SOFA routinely obstructs fair trials and favors U.S. military and civilian personnel who commit crimes in Japan. Such crimes, which occur on a weekly basis, include fatal driving incidents, residential break-ins, taxi robberies, sexual violence, and other serious crimes against local citizens.

The delegation held a public forum at Washington's iconic bookstore, Busboys and Poets. David Swanson's analysis at War is a Crime includes background about the speakers and documents facts attesting to the noxious noise, environmental destruction, social degradation, and violent crime that the U.S. military has brought to Okinawa for six decades:

Toshio Ikemiyagi thanked people who came to hear them and pointed out that we all looked healthy and alert. That, he said, is because you have all had sleep. You've been able to sleep at night without deafening jet noise, he said. Ikemiyagi is the lead attorney on a lawsuit challenging the Kadena Air Base's noise pollution. He played us a video on Monday of what it is like. For the people who live there, he said, the war that ended 67 years ago has never ended.

Keiko Itokazu, a Member of the Japanese National Diet, depicted in this painting, said the Okinawan people had been heartbroken since having been unable to protect a 12-year-old girl from gang rape by U.S. troops in 1995. The Status of Forces Agreement between the United States and Japan gives U.S. troops immunity from Japanese prosecution. Between 1979 and 2008, U.S. forces in Okinawa caused 1,439 accidents (487 of them airplane related), and 5,584 criminal cases (559 of them involving violent crimes). The list includes fatal driving incidents, residential break-ins, taxi robberies, sexual violence, and other serious crimes against local citizens.

Swanson ends his article with a meta-message from Okinawa:

The people of Okinawa have had enough.

Haven't we all?

It's miraculous that Okinawans have been able to counter the unwelcome, violent, manipulative, and sordid U.S. military presence in Okinawa with a healthy, mature, consistent, ethical, and visionary collective response that reaffirms the Okinawan commitment to democratic process and humanity's highest moral values: reason, justice, veracity, peace, and life.

(More on U.S. responses to the delegation's visit from Kyle Kajihiro at DMZ Hawai'i, including a link to traditional conservative (and Network for Okinawa member) Doug Bandow's article at Forbes, "Give Okinawa back to the Okinawans.")

The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

2012-01-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom - Trailer (2012 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE) from Tsunami Blossom on Vimeo.

The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom:

Survivors in the areas hardest hit by Japan's recent tsunami find the courage to revive and rebuild as cherry blossom season begins.

A stunning visual poem about the ephemeral nature of life and the healing power of Japan's most beloved flower.

Directed by Academy Award Nominated filmmaker Lucy Walker (Waste Land), featuring photography by Aaron Phillips and music by Moby.

JSF: Fifty Two Municipalities in Japan are Energy Self-Sufficient with Renewables

2012-01-25T16:59:00.000-08:00

Japan for Sustainability reports "Fifty Two Municipalities in Japan are Energy Self-Sufficient with Renewables."

Check out Okinawan op-ed at Washington Post Online

2012-01-24T00:00:00.000-08:00

From our friends at Close The Base:

In conjunction with the Okinawan delegation visit to Washington, DC, and as means of showing solidarity with their work, an Okinawan newspaper submitted an op-ed to the Washington Post online. The piece highlights the ongoing dangers, complications and substantial needs to close the [Futenma] base, and will be featured daily from Jan 23 until Jan 26, so be sure to check it out here: http://www.okinawaiken.org/washingtonpost.

City slowly returns to life ten months after disaster

2012-01-21T06:24:00.000-08:00

Then and Now from Paul Johannessen on Vimeo.

Exquisitely filmed, brilliantly nuanced short film by Paul Richard Johannessen featuring interviews with Ishinomaki residents about issues that continue facing their community nearly one year following the March tsunami devastation

Two months after volunteering for the first time in Ishinomaki—one of the Japanese cities in the Tohoku region hardest hit by the tsunami last March—my partner and I headed back again in the beginning of January to volunteer over the long weekend.

Previously, we had stayed at the Koganehama Kaikan and volunteered with the troupe headed by Fujita san (who is profiled in the above video), which is now apparently known as the Association to Revitalize Ishinomaki (ARI). This time, we decided to base ourselves with It’s Not Just Mud, another fantastic group of volunteers with whom we had hooked up on one of the days during our previous visit.

While we had hoped to be involved with some physical work and perhaps be able to take a trip further out along the coast to work with some of the fishing communities, these were not among the projects that we were assigned to for the weekend. No matter. As volunteers, we were naturally ready and willing to go wherever we would be of most help, and of course every experience is interesting and fulfilling in its own way.

On our first day, we were assigned to help with a takidashi, or a communal meal served outside; a soup kitchen, of sorts. The morning was spent chopping carrots, slicing tofu, dicing daikon radish, and then throwing it all into an enormous pot together with pork, satoimo (a root vegetable similar to a potato) and miso to let it simmer into a rich, mouth-watering stew. The takidashi is held every Saturday afternoon along with a bingo game, and the locals with whom I spoke—many of whom are living in temporary housing units as they await more permanent living situations—said that the event was one of the greatest highlights of their week.

Indeed, many Ishinomaki-based volunteers remarked that much of the sadness that permeated the city in the weeks and months after the tsunami seems to have lifted greatly, with residents who decided to remain in the city now going about the task of rebuilding their lives and livelihoods. Still, however, those with whom I sat down to chat over a cup of coffee while we waited for the soup to finish cooking had terrifying stories to tell about when the tsunami hit. One woman was in tears, recalling how she had lost her house and all of her possessions. I noted that on both occasions when I volunteered, most people did not speak of having lost loved ones, and I hesitated to inquire about the safety of their family members for fear of touching upon a potentially sensitive and painful subject. Instead, I simply listened openly and compassionately to whatever they felt open to sharing.

After lunch was finished, we headed back to INJM headquarters—a house that was donated by a family who postponed its scheduled demolition for a year after learning that the organization was seeking a place to house its volunteers. We gathered a change of clothing and headed to the sennninburo (literally, “bath for 1000 people”)—a communal bathhouse that was only available in the late afternoon and early evening, with women and men taking turns. Set up for local residents who had not been able to bathe properly for days and even weeks following the disaster, it was a tiny wooden structure accommodating not 1000 people, but rather only five or six at a time—with locals of course getting first priority. Once we made it inside, the fiery-hot bath felt fabulous given the frosty temperatures outside.
Senninburo

The next morning, super-friendly and helpful INJM crew leaders Naomi and Ayami took us to one of the worst-damaged areas of Ishinomaki near the coast, explaining that it was important to see firsthand the extent of the tsunami’s destruction in order to truly understand what had befallen the city. After driving past an enormous barrel that had toppled over from a factory, we stopped at the elementary school that appears in the video at the top of this post. Located just in front of the ocean and directly next to a cemetery, car upon car had been swept onto the premises after the waves struck—igniting a fire that caused even further damage to the school than that already sustained from the tsunami. Walking inside and seeing the remains of children’s desks, toys, artwork and even shoes amidst the charred ruins was truly one of the saddest scenes I have witnessed in my life to date.

We next went on to our assigned task for the day, which was helping to clean photographs from a local community center by rinsing them in water, wiping away bacteria, hanging them out to dry, and then placing them in new albums. The photographs were from local sports day festivities that dated back to the 1980s, and it felt good to know that our efforts were helping to contribute to the preservation of important community memories.

We had lunch at the home of Nobuko Hashimoto, who lived a short walk away from the community center. Volunteers helped her rebuild her home, and to show her appreciation, she cooks elaborate meals for volunteers at INMJ and other organizations free-of-charge nearly every day.
The INJM crew , served a sumptuous lunch spread by Hashimoto san (back right)

After another couple of hours finishing up the day’s work on the photo restoration project, Naomi took my partner and me to the temporary housing units to drop off gifts to some of the women we had met during our last visit. We then went out for our bath (this time to a proper onsen facility, as the sennninburo closes on Sundays), ate a scrumptious meal of maguro (tuna) back at the INJM house, and then said our goodbyes to our new friends before hopping on the night bus back to Tokyo.

It’s Not Just Mud is a perfect way to volunteer for those, like myself, who prefer a loosely-structured and yet well-organized experience in a relatively small group. The video below features a BBC interview with INJM founder, Jamie El-Banna, describing how he ended up starting the organization.

The It’s Not Just Mud website has full details for anyone wishing to join them to volunteer in Ishinomaki for any length of time. Personally speaking, I will definitely be returning in the sooner-rather-than-later future.

Shrine at Hiryoriyama Park in Ishinomaki, located atop a hill where many local residents sought refuge from the tsunami on 3.11.11

--Kimberly Hughes

Passion Runs High at Global Yokohama Conference as Delegates Demand a Nuclear Free World; Justice for Fukushima Citizens

2012-01-17T07:04:00.000-08:00

With 11,500 participants from 30 countries attending this past weekend’s two-day Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World, which featured a total of more than 100 talk sessions, interactive workshops, musical performances and film screenings, plus information-laden booths from numerous NGOs and citizen organizations, every individual attendee undoubtedly had their own completely unique experience of the event. A commonality certainly shared by all, however, was a vision of a world vastly different to the one that allowed the Fukushima nuclear disaster to occur—as well as a staunch determination to ensure that nuclear destruction never befalls our planet again.

Organized by several major Japan-based and international NGOs (with the Peace Boat serving as secretariat), the weekend kicked off with an opening session where one panelist after the next expressed dismay at Japan’s present nuclear policies, as well as the suffering unleashed from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant accident. “Japan’s nuclear regulatory agency being housed within the economic ministry is no different than criminals living under the same roof as the police,” charged former Fukushima prefectural governor Eisaku Sato, long an outspoken critic of nuclear power.

Tetsunari Iida, the director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies, spoke similarly of a “citizen revolution that has occurred as a result of the ludicrous, baseless statements that have continued to be released by the Japanese government following the Fukushima catastrophe”—a point echoed by German parliamentarian Rebecca Harms, who said pointedly, “With the majority public opinion in Japan now standing solidly against nuclear power, why the hell would Japan ever consider promoting it again?”

My own personal experience of the conference included interpreting for two amazing sessions, as well as filming several interviews for the upcoming documentary film project Uncanny Terrain, which follows organic farmers from Fukushima who have decided against all odds to continue their livelihoods—remaining on the land that has sometimes been in their families for generations, and continuing to produce food while testing it for safety standards. Not easy circumstances by any means, and I greatly admired the strength and conviction of the farmers I met who had travelled to Yokohama for the conference.

Uncanny Terrain

Speaking of food safety, I was also quite glad to run into fellow blogger Martin Frid, whom I have corresponded with for several years but actually never yet met in person. He was recently interviewed for an article titled "Fukushima Fallout", which looks in-depth at food-related concerns in Japan following the March disaster.

The first conference session that I helped interpret was an evening panel discussion titled “Real Talk About Creating a ‘New Japan’”, which featured a lineup of many well-known cultural figures—some of whom had also participated in the recent Atomic Café event held in Tokyo in November. While the panelists acknowledged existing differences of opinion—whether to stop nuclear power immediately or phase it out more gradually, for example—they all expressed the same future ideal for their country in terms of clean and sustainable energy, media accountability, and truly democratic policies.

“(Anthropologist Shinichi) Nakazawa can serve as the researcher for this new and improved Japan, while (singer Tokiko) Kato and (guitarist/violinist) Sugizo can write its music, (advertiser Miyako) Maekita and (visualist Macoto) Tezka can create its imagery, and (broadcaster Peter) Barakan can be its announcer!” they offered enthusiastically, referencing each of their own individual talents while reminding audience members that each one of us similarly has a role to play in contributing to this new future. The panelists also spoke supportively of the fledgling Greens Japan political party, which aims to put forth its first congressional candidates in 2013.

Scenes from the conference venue (Photos: Emilie McGlone)

The second session for which I assisted with interpretation was a Sunday afternoon event in the Global Discussion room titled “Lessons from Chernobyl and Fukushima”, where speakers from both regions shared their experiences in order to learn from one another and create a network of solidarity.

Anton Vdovichenko, who runs a Russian NGO for Chernobyl youth, explained that after the local economy was devastated by the accident, many adults lost their jobs and turned to drinking—which in turn often meant that their kids ended up in the streets doing likewise. He explained that his NGO organized activities to guide young people toward healthier futures—and that he would be on hand to offer guidance in case the young people of Fukushima began to experience similar hardships.

This was followed by a moving speech from Fukushima mother Mika Takamura, who shared her confusion at receiving absolutely no reliable information or directives from the government during the critical hours, days and weeks following the nuclear accident—as well as her pain at being unable to send her five year-old outside to play in their hometown of Minami-Soma, which borders the exclusion zone. “I am also unable to obtain a whole body (radiation) counter for my son because he does not meet the age requirement of six years,” she said, her eyes and voice displaying obvious anguish. 　

Mexico-, Brazil- and U.S.-based photographer Jan Smith rounded out the session, sharing his experience of traveling to Chernobyl following the 1986 nuclear disaster—and adding that he now saw similarities with Fukushima in terms of the human stories that had fallen through the cracks of both media sensationalism and government cover-up following the disasters. His excellent analysis of what he witnessed and experienced in Fukushima may be read here.

Additional conference highlights—among many, many others—included sessions connecting the experiences of hibakusha from Hiroshima and Nagasaki with those of Fukushima, various booths and tables to collect signatures for the presently ongoing citizen referendum on nuclear power, a room exclusively for Fukushima citizens to share their experiences since the disaster and network with others, a demonstration parading through the streets of Yokohama with the message of a nuclear-free world, and countless personal statements where everyone from musicians to academics to politicians shared their strong desire for a world where nuclear-related suffering exists no longer.

Actor Taro Yamamoto, who lost work for his vocal anti-nuclear campaigning, addresses conference attendees in main hall Aileen Mioko Smith, Executive Director of the Kyoto-based NGO Green Action, speaks to participants in the weekend's march for a nuclear-free future (Photo: Emilie McGlone)

The weekend’s closing session included a lineup of speeches that were just as fiery as those from its debut—perhaps even more so, since everyone had since had time to become even further inspired by the intense energy generated during the weekend’s incredible lineup of events.

“This conference hall is overflowing with passion,” said emcee Tomoyo Nonaka, the former CEO of Sanyo Electric who now presides over the environmental organization Gaia Initiative. “While 3/11 made it clear that Japan was not living under a democracy, we are now standing at the threshold of truly being able to create a democratic nation for the first time in our history.”

This was followed by a chant from Abacca Anjain-Maddison, a former Marshall Islands senator who has campaigned long and tirelessly on behalf of the suffering caused from repeated nuclear testing by the U.S. government. In a sense echoing Nonaka, she said, “The words that I just sang refer to the energy exerted when a mother is giving birth.

The energy that I feel here tonight in this room is the very same.”

The powerful conference declaration may be read here, and videos may be watched on the event’s official television channel. Concrete ideas and proposals generated throughout the conference have also been compiled within an online resource titled the Forest of Action, to which ongoing contributions are encouraged.

Conference attendees Noboru Imamura (left) and Hito, both seasoned activists for disabled rights and other social causes. "Issues facing radiation survivors and disabled individuals have the same structure and root causes: Disrespect of human rights, empty rhetoric, and complete lack of responsibility," explained Imamura. "We must continue connecting different social movements in order to attain true justice for everyone."

--Kimberly Hughes

Photos of Nuclear-Free rally in Yokohama at Starrybrooke

2012-01-15T10:54:00.000-08:00

(Photo: Starrybrooke)
Many thanks to JohnTaro at Temple Valley Times for the head's up on the great photos of this weekend's Nuclear-Free demonstration in Yokohama, at Starrybrooke, by an American in Chiba (just east of Tokyo) who blogs on Japanese literature, Nuclear-Free Japan, and travel.

Martin Frid posted on the conference from his long perspective as a Nuclear-Free advocate, noting the new Mayor of Seoul, Park Won-soon's special message for the conference closing event on Sunday evening, and the good coverage by Japanese media.

The Yokohama Declaration called for full support of Fukushima survivors.

Over 5000 advocates for a Nuclear Power Free world come together for Yokohama Conference

2012-01-14T18:01:00.001-08:00

Report courtesy of the Japan Times (January 15, 2012):

A two-day antinuclear conference kicked off Saturday in Yokohama with the aim of sharing lessons from the Fukushima crisis and fostering global momentum against atomic power.

"Nuclear power plants are all over the world. In order to deal with this issue, we must create a global network," said Tatsuya Yoshioka, director of the nongovernmental organization Peace Boat, during the opening ceremony for the Global Conference for a Nuclear Power-Free World.

The conference drew thousands of participants to the Pacifico Yokohama convention center, including about 100 experts and activists from 30 countries and nearly 200 domestic groups.

Holding an event of this scale in Japan just 10 months after the Fukushima No. 1 plant meltdowns represents a significant meaning for the antinuclear movement, said Yoshioka, chairman of the event.

Germany's Rebecca Harms, a member of the European Parliament, said the Fukushima crisis had a strong impact on Europe, pointing to Germany's decision to close eight old reactors almost immediately after the crisis was triggered by the March 11 disasters.

She said Japan is now managing its electricity supply with much less dependence on nuclear power since only five of its 54 reactors are in operation.

She also said public opinion in Japan had changed and most oppose using atomic power in the future, bringing Japan's opinion in line with Germany's.

Japan does not need to go back to nuclear power, she said.

"Please, people of Japan, learn from the German experience."
NISA to OK Oi's reports
Kyodo

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency is set to approve reports submitted by Kansai Electric on stress tests carried out on two idled reactors at the Oi power plant in Fukui Prefecture, government sources said Saturday.

This will be the first time NISA will issue an assessment on reactor stress tests reports. The government introduced the stress tests in light of the Fukushima nuclear disaster and made them a precondition for restarting idled reactors.

But even if NISA endorses the reports, it remains uncertain if the plant's idled reactors will be restarted immediately as other hurdles remain, including checks by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the sources said.

Kansai Electric Power Co. submitted stress tests reports for the Oi plant's No. 3 and 4 reactors last year. The reports said nuclear fuel in the reactors' cores would remain undamaged even in the event of an earthquake 1.8 times stronger than the maximum anticipated temblor in the area.

The reports also estimated that the cores could withstand an 11.4-meter tsunami — four times higher than the largest waves projected.

A Nuclear Power Free World is Possible- Conference Jan 14-15 Yokohama

2012-01-09T16:39:00.000-08:00

A nuclear power free Japan and a nuclear power free world are possible. This weekend over 8000 people will gather in Yokohama Japan to share information on how to make this attainable goal a reality. Growing out of a coalition of Japan-based NGOs including the Citizens' Nuclear Information Centre (CNIC), FoE Japan, Green Action, Greenpeace Japan, the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies (ISEP), and Peace Boat, the Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World will:

bring together the voices of people who suffer from radiation exposure all around the world, whether by nuclear power or nuclear weapons - “Global Hibakusha”.
facilitate the sharing of information with one another. Participants will learn from each other's experiences to illustrate the human and environmental consequences of the nuclear chain.
aim to demonstrate that it is realistically possible to create a society that is not dependent on nuclear power.
create a road map for the safe removal of existing nuclear power plants.
present alternative policies based on renewable energy and propose action plans that can be implemented by Japan and other countries.

Mémé Madoka Watanabe, a Peace Boat staffer coordinating publicity within the Japanesecommunity shared some insight on Peace Boat's involvement in organizing the conference:

The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, and the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, have both had a dramatic impact around the world. In response to this massive disaster and its tragic consequences to people's lives and environment, the people of Japan are trying to take steps towards recovery. Meanwhile, the nuclear power plant is still unstable and workers are forced to continue working in life-threatening conditions. As the radioactive contamination spreads, many people including children are forced to suffer from prolonged radiation exposure, unable to evacuate due to lack of support from the government.

It is vital that we do not continue to make the same mistakes. It is now time for humanity to put an end to the nuclear age that started with Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In Japan, well over half the population now supports the goal of breaking away from nuclear power. However, many people question whether it is practically possible to bring nuclear power to an end.

For these reasons and more, a coalition of Japan-based Peace Boat is acting as the secretariat for the conference on behalf of the coalition of Japan based NGO's.

Watanabe stressed how the event is a positive step for the world to move towards eliminating nuclear power as an option:

This event will be an important and positive step for Japan and other countries towards taking action for a nuclear power free world. The presence of both organizations and independent citizens will show that efforts since the disaster to learn from Fukushima have not gone unnoticed. We aim to learn from Fukushima, exchange lessons about nuclear power from around the world and make clear the need to break away from nuclear power. It is also a chance for us to show the people of Fukushima, many of whom feel despondent about the future, that positive action is being taken.The conference will bring together ideas from around the globe to propose action plans that can be carried out by Japan and other countries all over the world.

She also noted how the conference is an outgrowth of other related Peace Boat activities:

Activities such as the Global Voyage for a Nuclear Free World - Peace Boat Hibakusha Project, bringing survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings around the world to give testimony and advocate for nuclear abolition, while meeting with people affected by the nuclear chain around the world, have contributed to public education about the need to move towards a nuclear free world. Peace Boat also carries out other activities promoting nuclear weapon free zones, disarmament for development, and more.

Since March 17, 2011 in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, Peace Boat has been active in Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture, one of the hardest hit cities on the coast of northeast Japan. Peace Boat is acting in a coordination role between Ishinomaki’s local government and the many NGOs, institutions and individuals offering help in the area and dispatching volunteers each week. With 10,000 volunteers to date. Some of the relief and recovery activities include preparing and serving hot meals, delivering relief goods, cleaning mud out of homes and businesses and salvaging fishing equipment.More recently volunteers have been supporting the communities in the Temporary Houses by distributing a newsletter and becoming part of the community as well as helping to identify and serve their needs. Their presence not only supports the physical recovery of the towns but also gives the local community the encouragement to rebuild.

- Posted by Jen Teeter

APJ: "Okinawa, New Year 201: Tokyo's Year End Surprise Attack"

2012-01-08T05:37:00.000-08:00

Gavan McCormack introduces two new articles at The Asia-Pacific Journal on Okinawa: "Okinawa, New Year 2012: Tokyo’s Year End Surprise Attack" by Etsuko Urashima and "The Fatally Flawedl EIS Report on the Futenma Air Station Replacement Facility – With Special Reference to the Okinawa Dugong" by Kunitoshi Sakurai:

Here we present two Okinawan accounts of the events on which the year 2011 ended: one by Okinawa’s leading environmentalist, specialist in environmental assessment law and till 2010 president of Okinawa University, the other by the long-time chronicler of the Okinawan resistance movement and Nago city resident. Both are core members of that movement. They write of the astonishing events that marked the end of 2011.

By then, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) government, elected at the end of August 2009, was into its third Prime Minister and had abandoned or reversed almost all the key policies on which it had been elected: the commitment to substitute political for bureaucratic direction, the renegotiation of the relationship with the US on an equal basis, the promotion of an East Asian community, the maintaining of the current level of consumption tax, an end to the Liberal-Democratic Party’s long-entrenched “construction state” policies which would be symbolized in particular by the abandonment of the Yamba dam project, and, not least, the closure of Futenma Marine Air Station in Okinawa without substitution in the prefecture.

It is the latter, superficially a “local” issue, that increasingly seems to have the potential to bring the DPJ down and create crisis in the US-Japan relationship it is nominally reinforcing. At some point, probably during 2012, it is going to have to face the fact that the promises it keeps making to the Obama administration in Washington of construction of a substitute Marine base in Henoko in northern Okinawa will never be implemented. Okinawan civil society has issued a definitive “No!” Okinawan democracy has repeatedly shown that it will not be crushed and defeated, even in the face of a unified front by Tokyo and Washington. For Tokyo to attempt to impose its will violently on Okinawa would be to accentuate the crisis and destabilize Japanese politics, the alliance, and perhaps the entire region. As 2012 dawns, it seems unlikely, but not impossible, that Noda, driven by determined bureaucratic forces, might attempt to do just that. For the time being, Noda’s government refuses to admit defeat. But in due course the consequences of its prolonging or attempting to evade that decision grow more serious.

The fact is that the DPJ government today faces a level of resistance unprecedented in the history of the modern Japanese state, with the (conservative) Governor, the prefectural Assembly (Okinawa’s parliament), virtually all city, town and village assemblies and mayors, and all media groups and civic and labour organizations firmly opposed to the attempted relocation of the Marine base to Henoko.

The following accounts deal with the submission by the Government of Japan of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) designed to accelerate construction at the projected Henoko site. The story, told here from two different but closely connected viewpoints, reveals the depths to which the DPJ has sunk, its disregard for due process and law, its insistence on the priority that must be attached to service to the US over attention to the interests of its own citizens, its contempt for democracy, and its systematic and continuing discrimination against Okinawans. This might not be unique among contemporary industrial democratic states, but this deepening crisis is little appreciated. Okinawa is Japan’s Tahrir Square. The “Okinawa problem” is Japan’s problem. And it is presently the crux of the US-Japan problem.

Just weeks before the “delivery” described here, the head of Okinawa’s Defense Bureau, the local section of the national Ministry of Defense, had to resign over his statement explicitly comparing the delivery of the EIS to rape. When about to commit rape, he said, you do not announce it to your victim in advance. The Government of Japan might have submitted to pressure to replace him in his post, but in the way it went about delivery of the crucial EIS in December, it showed the mentality of the rapist: violent, contemptuous of its victim, and moved by shame to commit its deed at the darkest hour of the night, when witnesses could least be expected.

Writers' & Poets' Walk to Save Jeju Island

2012-01-06T08:10:00.000-08:00

Via Regina Pyon of SPARK:

The 11th day of writers' and poets' walk toward Gangjeong...

On January 5, they are walking from Gyeryong Duma samgori to Gyebaek Sagori of Chungnam province.

For more photos, visit director Cho's photo essay: http://cafe.daum.net/peacekj/GdUL/146.

Mayor Kang of Gangjeong on New Year's Eve in Jeju Island

2012-01-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

(Mayor Kang of Gangjeong. Photo: David Fox, PHOTOCAST KOREA)

Seoul-based photographer David Fox:

At the last day of 2011, people in Gangjeong had a town festival to celebrate their struggle which has been ongoing over 4 years.

Mayor KANG, Dong Keun danced with his joy because The National Assembly just passed their 2012 budget bill which cut over 96% of naval base construction budget.

The Navy was given only two months to spend the remainder of the 2011 naval base construction budget and media outlets delivered gloomy predictions for the future of naval base.

Okinawa Update: "Standing Down" the Sit-In • Receipt of EIS documents

2012-01-05T23:05:00.000-08:00

The Ryukyu Shimpo reported the decision last night to change direction (to "stand down" the "sit in" at Kencho) to preserve the unity of the Okinawan Movement. According to scholar Gavan McCormack, "It clearly was not taken easily but was taken for principled reasons."

This just published at Mainichi:"Okinawa accepts additional documents for gov't report on U.S. base."

Okinawa Update: Some documents are missing from the EIS submission

2012-01-05T23:00:00.000-08:00

Update on Okinawa via Satoko Norimatsu:

Good (sort of) news just came in. There were missing elements found in the received documents, and according to Ryukyu Shimpo, the prefecture won't rescind the receipt of the documents but the requirement for them to answer the report will be delayed until the government submits the missing elements.

Gordon Hirabayashi, challenger of the constitutionality of WWII Japanese American incarceration, passes at age 93

2012-01-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

(Hirabayashi (left) is joined by fellow coram nobis plaintiffs Min Yasui and Fred Korematsu in 1983. He was the last surviving plaintiff who challenged the legality of the wartime exclusion and incarceration of Japanese Americans. Photo: Steven Okazaki

Yesterday Gordon Hirabayashi, the last surviving plaintiff who challenged the constitutionality of U.S. wartime exclusion and incarceration of Japanese Americans, passed yesterday.

Rafu Shimpo, a bilingual newspaper for the Los Angeles Japanese American community, published a thorough and moving obituary (that does not use the euphemism "internment"):

Civil Rights Icon Gordon Hirabayashi Dies at 93 -
Wartime Supreme Court case was reopened in 1983

Gordon K. Hirabayashi, who challenged the constitutionality of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, passed away on Monday. A resident of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, he was 93.

The announcement was made on Facebook by his son Jay, who wrote, “He was an American hero besides being a great father who taught me about the values of honesty, integrity, and justice. My mother, Esther Hirabayashi, who was 87, also passed away this morning about ten hours later. She was a beautiful, intelligent, generous soul. Although my parents were divorced, they somehow chose to leave us on the same day. I am missing them a lot right now.”

Hirabayashi is remembered along with Minoru Yasui (1916-1986) and Fred Korematsu (1919-2005) for violating curfew and exclusion orders imposed on West Coast Japanese Americans and appealing their convictions all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court ruled against them, accepting the government’s argument of military necessity.

Through a legal maneuver called writ of error coram nobis, the three cases were reopened in 1983 by a group of mostly Japanese American attorneys on the basis of newly uncovered documents showing that the government knew Japanese Americans did not pose a security threat but hid that information from the court. The convictions were overturned, thus strengthening the movement to obtain redress for former internees.

A biography of Hirabayashi, to be published by University of Washington Press, is being written by his nephew, Lane Hirabayashi of UCLA’s Asian American Studies Center, and brother, James Hirabayashi, former dean of ethnic studies at San Francisco State University.

“Gordon believed very strongly that his war-time Supreme Court case, and his 1980s coram nobis case, were both the JA community’s and the larger American public’s cases,” Lane Hirabayashi told the Rafu Shimpo. “He never felt, that is, that these were somehow exclusively his own. My understanding is that he remained profoundly grateful to all the individuals, networks, and the organizations that supported him, and never forgot that these included people of all colors, from all walks of life.

“Thus he believed that the Ninth Circuit Court’s ruling in his coram nobis appeal, vacating his conviction after more than four decades, was a victory for everyone.”

The coram nobis cases were the subject of an Oscar-nominated 1985 documentary by Steven Okazaki, “Unfinished Business,” and two books, Justice at War (1983) and Justice Delayed (1989) by Peter Irons, who led the effort to reopen the cases...

(Source for quotes: The Courage of Their Convictions: 16 Americans Who Fought Their Way to the Supreme Court by Peter Irons, 1988)

DENSHO: The Japanese American Legacy Project has a series of interviews with Gordon Hirabayashi online and a thoughtful exploration of terminology used to describe the mass detention: "Frontier Colonies or Concentration Camps? Euphemisms for the Incarceration".

Good op-ed at JT on Okinawa

2012-01-04T21:51:00.000-08:00

Good op-ed at JT, calling unequivocally for kengai isetsu: "Futenma issue in impasse"

Okinawa Governor Nakaima accepts submission of US military base EIS, but repeats he will not approve destruction of Oura Bay

2012-01-04T05:10:00.000-08:00

(Governor Nakaima arrives at Okinawa Prefectural Government office. Photo: Makoto Arakaki)

After the dramatic holiday sit-in obstructing the delivery of the EIS to the Okinawa Prefectural Government office, Gov. Nakaima has accepted the delivery (but has not approved the EIS, of course).

The Okinawa Government is now clerically inspecting the documents.

Nakaima, who as governor holds the authority to grant permission for the land reclamation, again said he will not give the green light for the destruction of Oura Bay and Henoko to make way for the US military base opposed by the majority of Okinawans.

(Late December Okinawa rally & sit-in to prevent delivery of the Japanese government's EIS of the proposed destruction of Oura Bay and Henoko to make way for another U.S. military base. Photos: Makoto Arakaki)

Okinawans succeeded in blocking the Okinawa Defense Bureau's (Okinawa branch of the Japanese Defense Ministry) attempt to submit the complete set of Environment Impact Statement (EIS) before Okinawa Prefecture Government opened its office on Jan.4, according to sociologist Masami Mel Kawamura. They hoped that Governor Nakaima would reject the submission of the EIS because of procedural irregularities:

During our sit-in at the Prefectural Government office, we found that the Ministry of Environment has a strict protocol regulating EIS submissions. It requires the project proponents (in this case, the ODB) to bring the EIS, in principle, to the concerned agency/governmental office (in this case, Okinawa Prefecture) during normal office hours. The ODB's submission considerably deviated from this rule because of a delivery at 4 a.m.. There is no reason for Okinawa prefecture to accept the EIS.

Our current goal is to prevent the ODB from completing the procedures required for a proper submission of the EIS by the end of this fiscal year (March). To reach the goal, we must make the Okinawa Prefectural Government acknowledge that the 90-day period for their review of the EIS (governing landfill and reclamation) will not start, according to administrative law until the ODB properly submits the complete EIS.

On Jan. 4, Okinawa prefectural assembly members are coming to the sit-in site to observe the Okinawa Prefecture Government. We are now calling for people to join us at 8 AM to support these assembly members.

Throughout 2010, Tokyo and DC said they would not proceed with the U.S. mega-military base proposal without "local approval." But their official statements no longer mention any concern with democratically expressed approval of US military expansion aims in Okinawa, most likely given repeated official Okinawan statements of opposition, at all levels of government. In November 2011, the Okinawa prefectural assembly, unanimously approved a recommendation that called on the Japanese government to give up on making an EIS report.

(1966 U.S. military plan for a mega-base at Henoko. Image: The Asia-Pacific Journal)

The EIS has been a lightning rod for controversy, especially in recent months. Satoshi Tanaka, the recent head of the Japanese Defense Military's branch in Okinawa, the Okinawa Defense Bureau, compared the strategy behind the Japanese government's delay of the EIS submission to preparing for a rape by surprise assault. His admission resulted in widespread outcry throughout Okinawa.

(In May 2010, Martin Frid posted this clear explanation of the EIS process: "Environmental Assessment 101: Why It Matters For Okinawa".)

Another Happy Ending from Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue & Support (JEARS)

2012-01-03T04:52:00.000-08:00

(Photo by JEARS volunteers, Junko & son in Tokushima City, Tokushima)
The JEARS chickens, who now call the Hototogisu bakery their home, would like to wish all our supporters a Happy New Year! Thank you for helping us save them. ♥

Now loving cared for by Sara and her husband, Shuzo at Hototogisu Bakery & Farm in Okayama.

The JEARS chickens were found and fed by the JEARS team, led by Susan Roberts of the Japan Cat Network (JCN), for many months near the radioactive area in Fukushima. Many volunteers took turns to feed and water the chickens until JEARS volunteer Junko found their new home – an organic farm and bakery in Okayama prefecture, many 100s of kilometers from where they were found.

It was all hands on deck as the eggs were carefully tested for any signs of contamination and the whole team lept for joy when they found out that chickens and eggs were competely free of any contamination -no trace what so ever – and they could safely be transferred to their new home.

Visit Sara's blog here: Wallabi's Farm: The English Hototogisu Bakery and Farm Blog. She has a great recipe for Sataa Andagi OKINAWA donuts!

(Rice drying in the sun at beautiful Hototogisu Farm in Okayama)

New Year's Message from Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue & Support

2012-01-03T02:00:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to all at Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support for all they're doing for the voiceless survivors of 3/11 and the Fukushima meltdowns. Please visit their website if you'd like to help...

Mama cat Rin and her daughter Shii were rescued from Fukushima not a moment too late. Isabella Gallaon-Aoki of Animal Friends Niigata, one of our coalition shelters, tells us that no one at AFN thought the kitten would make it through. The volunteers had to feed little Shii by hand for several months. But look at her now: cuteness pure!

お母さん猫のりんちゃんと娘のしいちゃん。福島から救出されました。JEARS共同シェルターの一つ、アニマルフレンズ新潟のイザベラ・ガラオン青木はその当時の状況を振り返って、こう言います。「あの時はこの子猫が生き延びるとは誰も思いませんでした。ボランティア達が数ヶ月に渡ってミルクを飲ませたり食事をさせたりして。。。見てください、こんな可愛い子に大きくなったんですよ！」

(Charlotte, safe in Niigata, eating her holiday meal in tinsel finery)

Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World: Jan 14-15, Yokohama, Japan

2012-01-02T01:00:00.000-08:00

From our friends at Peace Boat, Greenpeace, Green Action, and other organizers of The Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World:

After the nuclear power plant accident in Fukushima, Japan, the world is now faced with a serious decision. Can we live with the fear of a similar accident occurring yet again?

On January 14-15 2012, the Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World will be held in Yokohama, Japan. Participants from Japan and all over the world will gather to consider the issues surrounding nuclear power and discuss steps that can be taken towards a nuclear power free world.

Come and be a part of this conference.

http://npfree.jp/english.html

福島での原発事故を受け、世界の人々は選択を迫られています。また起こるやもしれない事態を恐れながら生きていかなければならないのでしょうか。1月14日、15日に横浜のパシフィコセンターで脱原発世界会議を開催いたします。日本、そして世界中から人やゲストが来場し、原子力にまつわる問題、そしてこれから私たちが取れる行動を提案していきます。ぜひご参加下さい。

詳細はこちらhttp://npfree.jp/index.html

More somber New Year's for Nuclear Refugees still in Limbo...9 months after 3/11

2012-01-02T00:00:00.001-08:00

A more somber New Year's for nuclear refugees dependent on the Japanese government for assistance. They remain in limbo, nine months after 3/11.

Via AFP: "New Year despair for Japan's nuclear refugees":

"That is the most stressful thing. I would almost rather that the government said we have to abandon hope of ever going back home. I'm trying to be prepared for the worst."

Happy New Year from Okinawa!

2012-01-01T06:39:00.000-08:00

Via Kinay Oshiro: "Happy New Year from Okinawa. A big toast for blocking the Japanese government from submitting the complete set of EIS report before midnight."

Makoto Arakaki: Photographs of the Okinawa Prefectural office sit-in

2011-12-31T23:12:00.000-08:00

(Rally at Okinawa Prefecture office building. Photograph: Makoto Arakaki)

Mark Selden, editor of The Asia-Pacific Journal, notes that Okinawans have created the most vibrant and sustained grassroots movement for democracy and peace in the Asia-Pacific, comparable only to the Korean movement in intensity, longevity, and creativity.

Makoto Arakaki's photographs of the late December sit-in at the Okinawa Prefecture's administration building captures the intensity of not only this latest moment in history, but also of the breadth and depth of the entire Okinawan Movement, now in its sixth decade.

Okinawans, including prominent elected political leaders and journalists, engaged in a successful 24/7 sit-in at the Okinawa Prefecture administration building to prevent the delivery to the Okinawan Prefectural officials of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the DC-Tokyo U.S. Marine base proposal. Part of the EIA did reach the office in a surreptitious 4 a.m. backdoor delivery, but not the entire document.

According to sociologist Masami Mel Kawamura, the Japanese government wanted "to rob the Okinawa prefectural government of precious time for preparation of "Governor's Comments" on the EIS while distracting the media's attention. According to the EIA law and ordinance, Governor's Comments for the airport plan should be issued within 45 days after the submission of EIS while for the reclamation plan they should be issued within 90 days."

The EIS alleges that the destruction of Oura Bay and Henoko to make way for offshore runways for military aircraft would not result in any significant environmental impacts to Oura Bay's biodiverse sea life, including the federally protected Okinawa dugong.

Joy Kogawa's "Three Deities": Okinawa's history & culture of peace

2011-12-30T01:30:00.000-08:00

(Full Moon Peace Festival at Henoko Beach)
Japanese Canadian author Joy Kogawa has long been a supporter of the Okinawan democracy and peace movement. Her brother, Reverend Timothy Nakayama, an Episcopalian minister, served in Okinawa after his retirement. Kogawa's former husband is an Okinawan Canadian whose family lost their home because of U.S. military seizure.

(Joy Kogawa and Reverend Timothy Nakayama.
Photo: Todd Wong, GungHaggisFatChoy)

This excerpt from 'Three Deities," a speech Joy Kogawa gave in Stockholm in 2002 illuminates the profound meaning of the Okinawan culture of peace and examines its threat to the primitive forces of violence:

My brother, a retired Episcopalian priest, was in Okinawa for a few years in the 90’s. He told me that in 1815, Captain Basil Hall of the British navy steamed into Naha, Okinawa and was amazed at what he found. The story goes, that on his way back to England, he dropped in to the island of St. Helena and had a chat with Napoleon.

“I have been to an island of peace,” the captain reported. “The island has no soldiers and no weapons.”

“No weapons? Oh, but there must be a few swords around,” Napoleon remarked.

“No. Even the swords have been embargoed by the king.”

Napoleon, we’re told, was astonished. “No soldiers, no weapons, no swords! It must be heaven.”

A unique culture of peace had developed in one tiny part of our warring planet. We might well wonder about the spiritual heritage of such a people. Today they boast not just the longest living humans in the world – the number of centenarians per 100,000 is six times that of the U.S. – but the world’s longest disability free life expectancy.

According to The Okinawa Program by Dr. Bradley Willcox, Dr. Craig Willcox and Dr. Makoto Suzuki, Okinawan society “… reflects a cultural cosmology where the female embodies and transmits sacred forces (shiji). Most Okinawan villages still have “divine priestesses,” called noro or nuru, whose job it is to commune with the gods and ancestors and serve as spiritual advisers. In fact, until the late nineteenth century, the king’s well-being and success as ruler depended on the spiritual sustenance granted by the high priestess (kikoe ogimi), who was of equivalent social standing. This is a unique cultural phenomenon. Although women act as religious functionaries in other societies, there is no other modern society in the world where women hold title as the main providers of religious services.”

When Japan, that once warring nation, took over the kingdom, there was an entirely bloodless coup. No soldiers were found to help later with the invasion of Korea. A disobedient people, Japan concluded. A kingdom without soldiers was clearly impossible. Okinawa, with its history of peace, must surely have had a culture as close to heaven as this planet has managed. And perhaps therefore a special target for the forces of hate.

On Easter day in 1945, on the day of triumph for the Prince of Peace, war came to the people of peace. The battle of Okinawa was the biggest land battle of history to that point. In twelve weeks, in eighty-four days, 234,000 people died, more than the people killed in August in the two atomic bombings.

My brother was in Okinawa in 1995 on the 50th anniversary of the battle. Beginning at Easter, and for twelve weeks after, with the pastoral candle lit, a breathtaking action of speech took place. For two hours at noon and two hours at night, the dead were recalled and their names read. These were not just prayers for the Okinawan victims -- parents, grandparents, infants, schoolchildren, the familiar members of the community. The embracing in prayer included Japanese and American soldiers, those who had brought this disaster upon the most gentle of peoples. Here was mercy quietly demonstrated. It did not make headline news. But the Prince of Peace, mocked and murdered on Easter day 1945, was powerfully alive on Easter fifty years later.

In Okinawa’s Peace Park, the names are engraved on row upon row of granite slabs resembling the waves of the ocean nearby. A white towering structure encloses a huge statue of Kannon. She is described as an Asian symbol (with no deification) and is the central figure in the structure where each year on August 15 an interfaith service is held.

(Many thanks to Joy Kogawa for permission to excerpt this speech, published at positions: east asia cultures critique Vol. 13, No. 1, Spring 2005).

Masami Mel Kawamura: Ongoing Sit-In at Okinawa Prefecture Office

2011-12-29T23:00:00.000-08:00

Scholar of East Asian history and politics Gavan McCormack has long compared the Okinawan movement to the Polish Solidarity Movement, in terms of tactics and the similar widespread challenge to undemocratic domination by a client state satellite of a world power.

The Polish Solidarity Movement, although it erupted in the summer of 1980, had been fueled by citizen dissatisfaction since 1945, when Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in a betrayal of trust and principles of national self-determination, delivered Poland and other Eastern and Central European countries to the former Soviet Union for military occupation. Okinawa was delivered to the U.S. by the postwar Japanese government, for similar use. The Okinawan movement, like the democracy movements in Eastern and Central Europe, has been in the making since 1945.

The ongoing sit-in at the Okinawa Prefecture Building is one of many examples of Okinawan civil disobedience reminiscent of the Polish Solidarity Movement fueled by collective moral, spiritual, social and political energy passed down through generations.

Sociologist Masami Mel Kawamura:

This shot of the meeting, held at the lobby of Okinawa prefecture building on Dec.28 , shows what our sit-in is like (still now, a considerable people are sitting in Okinawa Prefecture Building).

The media tends to report sensational scenes which emphasize the "conflict" between the Okinawan people and the Japanese government , and to highlight peoples' anger. But we are fighting against the Okinawa Defense Bureau's [Okinawa arm of the Japanese Defense Ministry] outrageous submission of the EIS. Our sit-in is in collaboration with Okinawa Prefecture Assembly members and Diet members from Okinawa.

At the meeting, they reported how they addressed Okinawa Prefecture and Okinawa Defense Bureau, to block the submission of EIS documents, after the Okinawa Defense Bureau's submission of EIS at 4:00 AM.

Although we have been showing strong opposition and Okinawa prefecture is in winter holiday, the Okinawa Defense Bureau is still trying to sneak and deliver the rest of the EIS, which is needed to meet the requirement in EIA process. It forces people now to keep a continuous 24-hour sit-in at the prefecture building.

"Why are we In Okinawa?"

2011-12-29T00:00:00.000-08:00

Via Japan-based Welsh writer Jon Mitchell's blog: "Why are we in Okinawa?"

Why are we in Okinawa? is a grass-roots manga-project designed to teach the world - and in particular Japanese mainlanders and U.S. service members - about the history of the Ryukyu Islands.

Bringing together Okinawa-residents, historians, journalists, social activists, U.S. veterans, university professors and their students, its first print-run will be published in English - followed by Uchinaaguchi and Japanese-language versions.

This is an ongoing project - and all interested parties are invited to make contact to get involved.

GANGJEONG PEACE PHOTO STUDIO open from Dec. 28, 2011 -Jan. 3, 2012

2011-12-28T00:00:00.000-08:00

Seoul-based photographer David Fox:

These young and fully inspired university students are going to open "GANGJEONG PEACE PHOTO STUDIO" from Dec. 28 ~ Jan.3.2012.

The JOONGANG Universiry Photo-documentary team "THE FIELD" had their summer with GANGJEONG and had host several photo-exihibition with their deep depth photography about GANGJEONG and it's struggle against naval base.. This winter, they will do other experimental documenting efforts: "The Peace photo studio"

Everyone in GANGJEONG can visit peace studio for the family,id,snap or any kind of photography which who want and need in the professional quality and grade. The entire studio lighting equipments will be carried out with them. Also in peace photo studio, every products which GANGJEONG PEACE CORP are selling now will be taken pictures by them.

Feel free and hope everyone can join us. For the peace of GANGJEONG.

Noda lifts ban on weapons exports

2011-12-27T21:55:00.000-08:00

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.

Battle of Okinawa Update: Latest Okinawan citizen rally against delivery of EIS

2011-12-27T14:30:00.000-08:00

(Latest rally against the delivery of EIS to Okinawa. Photos: Masami Mel Kawamura)

Update from Kinay Oshiro at Okinawa Outreach on FB:

URGENT. The environmental report was delivered to the prefecture, at 4 in the morning. Another mistreat of Okinawa by Japan.

Lee Myung Bak administration's March of Folly continues in S. Korea: Four Rivers & Jeju Island

2011-12-27T00:00:00.001-08:00

(29 civil society representatives and peace activists including Gangjeong villagers and Father Moon, a Catholic priest, were arrested on Dec. 26, 2011 for obstructing the entrance to the naval base site, located on residential and farm property forcibly seized by the state from the villagers))

In her 1984 book, The March of Folly, historian Barbara Tuchman charted how governments have acted against their own best interests from Troy to the Vietnam War. It would be interesting to see her perspective on the Lee Myung Bak administration's massive destruction of what's left of South Korea's natural environment, from rivers to wetlands to the most beautiful coastline on Jeju Island.

S. Korea ranked the second worst nation in environmental degradation in proportion to natural resources, just behind Singapore, in a 2010 study based on seven indicators: natural forest loss, habitat conversion, fisheries and other marine captures, fertilizer use, water pollution, carbon emissions from land use, and species threat. The professor leading the study noted that, “The environmental crises currently gripping the planet are the corollary of excessive human consumption of natural resources. There is considerable and mounting evidence that elevated degradation and loss of habitats and species are compromising ecosystems that sustain the quality of life for billions of people worldwide.”

Lee may be compared to former Japanese prime minister Kakuei Tanaka, a former construction company executive remembered for his 1970's-era construction boondoggles. Lee, also a former construction company executive, never met a river or coastline that didn't need to be dredged, demolished and paved over, by means of transfer of public funds into private construction company coffers. His "Four Rivers" project will cost S. Korean citizens nearly $33 billion and will, if completed, destroy what's little left of habitat for critically endangered wildlife dependent on shallow rivers and wetlands. His Jeju Island military base plan would, if completed, destroy a soft coral habitat; the Korean peninsula's only natural dolphin habitat; and an indigenous farming (tangerine groves) village.

To achieve his policies, which are not supported by the majority of citizens who want a clean natural environment and democratic society, Lee has relied upon violent tactics reminiscent of South Korea's military dictatorship era, routinely using state power to violate private property rights, democratic process, and individual freedom of expression.

SoonYawl Park, a research fellow at Seoul National University, provides a recent analysis, "Korea's rivers take brunt of 'shoveling' politics," at Asia Times (originally published at The Asia-Pacific Journal):

The Four Rivers project is far from its original goal of developing the regional economy and the rivers into a nature-friendly zone. Instead, it has produced environmental degradation and cultural and ecological destruction, while channeling super profits to the big construction companies.

Security analyst Matt Hoey charts the latest at Jeju Island in this commentary for The Hankyoreh: "Is S.Korean navy finally backed into a corner on the Jeju Base project?"'.

Okinawa Update: Blocking the van delivering the EIA of the Tokyo-D.C. proposal to destroy Oura Bay & Henoko to make way for another U.S. military base

2011-12-26T20:06:00.000-08:00

Kinay Oshiro via Okinawa Outreach on FB:

Blocking the van delivering the Japanese Defense Ministry's Environmental Impact Assessment of the Tokyo-D.C. proposal to destroy Oura Bay and Henoko to make way for a U.S. military base.. Director SHIROMA is convincing the driver to go back.

Noda administration sends EIS by mail to Okinawa despite widespread public outcry

2011-12-26T20:00:00.000-08:00

Kyodo via Mainichi: "Gov't sends environment report on Futenma base relocation by mail":

The report, the sources said, is expected to conclude there would be no problem with noise caused by a U.S. plan to deploy the MV22 Osprey vertical takeoff and landing aircraft in Okinawa in 2012.

Tokyo attempts to subvert Okinawan democratic process by submission of US military base EIS before the New Year

2011-12-26T07:50:00.000-08:00

(Democracy activists in Okinawa stage sit-in. Photo: Henokohama Tsushin blog)
Okinawan sociologist Dr. Masami Mel Kawamura explains the latest citizen action in Okinawa:

Okinawan people stage a sit-in protest in the Okinawa Prefecture Office building today to block the Japanese government's submission of Environment Impact Statement (EIS) for a new US military base in Henoko....

Background and analysis of Tokyo's latest attempt to move forward on this costly project rejected almost unanimously (99% ) by Okinawan citizens at Okinawa Outreach: "Okinawa Defense Bureau to submit EIS":

Amid Okinawa’s strong opposition, the Okinawa Defense Bureau (OBD) [Okinawan arm of the Japanese Defense Ministry] will submit its Environment Impact Statement (EIS) for the planned US base in Henoko/Oura Bay on December 26 to show Washington that the construction plan is on the right track as promised, according to the Ryukyu Shimpo .

By having the ODB submitting its EIS just before the New Year's season, the Japanese government can rob the Okinawa prefectural government of precious time for preparation of "Governor's Comments" on the EIS while distracting the media's attention to the base construction issues. According to the EIA law and ordinance, Governor's Comments for the airport plan should be issued within 45 days after the submission of EIS while for the reclamation plan they should be issued within 90 days.

The Okinawa Prefectural Assembly and municipal assemblies on the islands have adopted resolutions protesting against the submission of the EIS.

On the Street, citizens' groups stage protest rallies everyday against the ODB's submission of EIS and the Japanese government's handling of the base construction issues. Citizens also held rally on December 19 in front of the US Consulate in Urasoe City, criticizing the US government for "interfering" in domestic affairs.

A Christmas Prayer to Save Life & Nature in Jeju Island, South Korea

2011-12-25T20:58:00.000-08:00

(Photo: Han Hyung-Jin, Seogwipo Daily News)

Via Sung-Hee Choi on FB:

[Christmas photo in Jeju] Gureombi (rocky coast) painting drawn by the Jeju artists, installed in a Catholic church of the Seogwipo City, Jeju Island since Dec. 17.

The South Korean Navy wants to blast this sacred and absolute preservation area, covering with cement for a naval base. Many endangered species live there. A village and creatures in the Peace Island are being sacrificed for a war base that would threaten the peace in the world.

Christmas Tidings of Peace & Goodwill at Henoko Outdoor Gallery in northern Okinawa

2011-12-25T20:47:00.000-08:00

(Photo: Henokohama Tsushin blog

Share Your Christmas with Tohoku, Japan

2011-12-25T11:38:00.000-08:00

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...

Peace on Earth, Good Will to Everyone

2011-12-24T23:00:00.000-08:00

Suzy Bogguss & Chet Atkins: "I heard the bells on Christmas Day" circa 1992

I heard the belIs on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play.
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of Peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how as the day had come
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of Peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair, I bowed my head:
'There is no peace on earth,' I said,
'For hate is strong and mocks the song,
Of Peace on earth, good will to men.'
Then pealed the beIls more loud and deep;
'God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With Peace on earth, good will to men'.

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written as a prayer following the critical wounding of his son who joined the Union Army against the poet's wishes, during the American Civil War

Re- EVOL-ution

2011-12-23T21:16:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-22T21:44:00.000-08:00

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.

"The Biggest Global Movement in History": Backstory of Arab Spring & Global Occupy Movement

2011-12-19T23:57:00.000-08:00

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.

We see the merging of these issues in Occupy and related movements worldwide.

Orion excerpts Blessed Unrest here.

STONEWALK KOREA: Apology for the Japanese Colonial Occupation of Korea & Military Sexual Slavery; Fieldwork in Jeju Island & Okinawa

2011-12-18T10:16:00.000-08:00

A 2007 grassroots Japanese apology to Koreans and military sexual slavery survivors for the suffering caused by Japan during its military colonial occupation of Korea, the war, and aftermath...(Participants are still engaged in interfaith-based dialogue between Japan, the Korean peninsula, Jeju Island, Okinawa, and the U.S.)...

Our journey for peace begins today
and every day.
Each step is a prayer,
each step is a meditation,
each step will build a bridge.

-- Maha Ghosonanda

In the spring of 2007, Japanese peace and reconciliation activists commissioned a memorial stone with the inscription "Unknown Civilians Killed in War" written in English, and, below this, "In Apology, Friendship,and Peace" written in Japanese and Korean. Joining together with Korean and American counterparts, they formed STONEWALK KOREA 2007 for a journey throughout the Korean peninsula. Pushing the one-ton stone in a cart in procession, they began in Pusan at the end of April and arrived in Panmunjeom, next to the DMZ, in June.

Their intention: to apologize to all Koreans for the Japanese occupation of Korea, with a special message for the aging survivors of Japanese imperial military sexual slavery.

Participants recorded their multilingual mission at Korean blog and a Japanese website. Others captured the walk on videos posted on YouTube: "The Start," and "Departure from Seoul."

American participant Dot Walsh noted some of the journey's stops:

• The jail where people protested the imprisonment of Lee Si-Woo who was released in January 2008. The photojournalist and peace activist was charged and detained by the South Korean government in April 2007, for disclosing include reports on anti-personnel mines clearance and landmine casualties in South Korea. Lee had examined these records for the Korean Campaign to Ban Landmines, obtaining explicit permission to do this from the government beforehand, according to Amnesty International. His photographs can be viewed online at his website, DEEP THINKING FOR PEACE.

• A makeshift peace museum in a building's basement

• The Japanese Embassy where military sexual slavery survivors have been holding demonstrations on Wednesdays since 1992.

• The House of Sharing Museum that documents "comfort station" history

• A prison that held resisters during the Japanese occupation

• A U.S. military air base outside of Seoul where the peace and security of residents have been violated by noise pollution from jets and the storage of depleted uranium.

• Heyri, an eco-conscious, international residential community for artists of all genres

Japanese participant Mari Enzoe described their encounter with atomic bomb survivors in Hapcheon, known as "Korea's Hiroshima.":

The most memorable thing for me was to see and talk to Hibakusha in Hapcheon. We as Japanese didn't know what to say to them. I can't even speak Korean. If they had not been brought to Japan, they would never have become Hibakusha (survivors of the atomic bombings). But, Mr. Hirose spoke to them in Japanese and many of the Hibakusha spoke fluent Japanese and they seemed to enjoy talking to Mr. Hirose as they are from the same generation, and share the same burden that they have carried for a long time.

The Korean victims of atomic bombings have not received widespread English-language media attention, despite the fact that ten percent casualties of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were Koreans. According to Korean victim advocates quoted in Andreas Hippin's 2005 article in The Japan Times,""The end of silence: Korea's Hiroshima Korean A-bomb victims seek redress," more than seventy percent of the Korean victims in Hiroshima and Nagasaki came from Hapcheon. Most were brought to Japan by its wartime military regime as forced laborers. Others were desperate, landless farmers deprived of livelihood who went to Japan in seek of employment. Around 23,000 hibakusha returned to Korea after the war, where they faced incredible hardships.

Fukuoka resident Tomoko Ueki described how a trial Stonewalk Korea began in Fukuoka prefecture at the Iizuka Cemetery memorial for unknown Koreans who died as forced laborers in coal mines during the Second World War.

American participant Andrea LeBlanc, a member of September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, a peace advocacy group composed of families of September 11, 2001 victims, participated in both Stonewalk Korea 2007 and the 2005 Hiroshima to Nagasaki Stonewalk. At the end of this journey commemorating civilians killed in Japan during the Second World War, some of the Japanese participants conceived the idea for Stonewalk Korea 2007.

Japanese Stonewalker Takao Ogata recounted the latest placement of the Korean memorial stone in early February, 2008:

Now it’s in Hapcheon, located in Gyeonsangnam-do, in the southeast part of the Korean Peninsula. At first, Korean Stonewalkers were thinking of putting the Stone near the DMZ. But they found it very difficult to negotiate with authorities. Hapcheon is known as “Hiroshima in Korea” because many Korean Hibakusha (A-bomb victims) live in Hapcheon. So, Korean Stonewalkers are hoping to create a peace park and museum in Hapcheon in the future and put the memorial stone in the park.

Ogata described the grieving activities that Korean and Japanese Stonewalkers in Okinawa from February 15-18, 2008, and Jeju Island, off the southern coast of South Korea from March 28 to April 3, 2008:

Each island has a similar sad history of war and today’s problem of military bases. Through the fieldwork, we’ll mourn unknown victims and step forward to peace together. Although we are not pulling a stone, we think it’s a peace pilgrimage, following the Stonewalk Korea 2007. Of course, participants from the U.S. are welcomed!

He added that details will be posted (in Korean) at the Korean Stonewalk website.

Peace Abbey a spiritual retreat in Sherborn, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston, purchased a one-ton granite memorial stone and inscribed on it the words “Unknown Civilians Killed In War" to honor all people killed in war. Mohammed Ali, a renowned war objector, unveiled the stone in 1994.

For centuries, countries have honored soldiers who have died in battle. The U.K. buried an "unknown warrior" from the First World War in 1920. Other nations followed suit, putting iconic spotlights on tombs of "unknown soldiers." However, national governments have paid little to the civilian loss of life in wars. Some experts say that in modern warfare, governments often intentionally overlook civilian deaths ("collateral damage") as not meriting close accounting.

Nine out of ten casualties of war are innocent civilians, according to the Peace Abbey leadership, which became concerned about the lack of an official place in the U.S. where citizens can mourn civilian victims of war: men, women and children. Dot Walsh, the Peace Abbey program director, explained, "The idea for Stonewalk was first suggested by a Cambodian Buddhist monk, Maha Ghosananda. He said, 'They don't have a memorial in Washington honoring civilians. Why don't you bring the one here (the Memorial Stone) at the Peace Abbey there?'"

To fill this vacumn, Peace Abbey created another memorial stone and transported it to Washington, D.C. in 1999, hoping it would be placed in Arlington Cemetery, home of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. However, the U.S. Congress refused to accept the stone. Thereafter, Peace Abbey decided to send it around the world to draw attention to civilians killed in war, and as a focal point for peace and reconciliation, supported by the interfaith peace activism of Peace Abbey. Stonewalks have taken place in Ireland in 2000 and England in 2001, and the U.S. in 2004.

One of the Korean ministers who participated in Stonewalk Korea 2007 expressed hope that Japanese, Korean, and American people will join with Vietnamese people and initiate a future Stonewalk in Vietnam.

Originally posted at the Kyoto Journal website on Feb. 23, 2008.

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

2011-12-16T15:00:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-15T15:06:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

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.

In solidarity with waste-pickers (& small farmers) in Durban last week: "Stop Trashing the Planet" • "Our Land is Not For Sale"

2011-12-13T20:00:00.000-08:00

(Wastepickers Alliance and allies at COP15, Copenhagen. December 2010)
South African wastepickers at Durban)

Millions of people worldwide make their living and provide invaluable recycling and green waste disposal services as wastepickers...

Energy and resource conservation policies, in themselves, could solve the world's global resource crisis, and a host of related problems: perceived dependence on nuclear energy; wars over oil and proposed wars over oil shipping lanes; the destruction of ecosystems to produce oil; the devastation of ecosystems to support nuclear power plants, and the destruction of ecosystems for coal and natural gas extraction.

Small farming is the only sustainable method of agriculture and is the traditional form of agriculture worldwide. However, small farmers in Africa and all over the globe are under threat by financial speculators seeking to buy farmland for one reason: to turn a quick profit.

Posting this in solidarity with and appreciation for the wastepickers (and small farmers) everywhere for being in the vanguard of conserving, preserving, and renewing our planet...

Global Alliance of Waste-pickers:

Waste Pickers Tout Only Truly Green Solution to Municipal Waste, Decry Dirty Energy

Durban, December 5, 2011 – Waste pickers attending COP17 today called for a Green Climate Fund with direct community access and an end to CDM “waste-to-energy” projects. Representatives from three continents highlighted the fact that waste pickers are the most effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the waste sector.

Millions of people worldwide make a living from waste picking. They collect, sort and process recyclables, reducing the amount of waste that is sent to landfills and saving valuable natural resources. Today, an increasing number of waste pickers are processing organic waste, diverting it from landfills and therefore reducing methane gas pollution. Waste pickers could further reduce GHG emissions given proper support.

Helen Caldicott: "If Americans change the way they live & decide to take responsibility to clean up the polluted planet, millions will follow."

2011-12-13T19:43:00.000-08:00

Europeans use approximately 50% less energy per capital than Americans, while maintaining the same standard of living. Europeans are cognizant of energy use and conservation: a light turned on in European hotel hallway is automatically extinguished within three minutes.

Yet with American advertising saturating global TV networks, the U.S. lifestyle has become the model for millions of people in China, India, Africa, and Indonesia, and even the Inuit in the Artic. If Americans change the way they live and decide to take responsibility to clean up the polluted planet, millions will follow.

- Helen Caldicott, Nuclear Power is Not the Answer

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

2011-12-12T01:27:00.000-08:00

"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!

David Suzuki: "Increasing wealth at the expense of generations to come—exhausting resources, extinguishing species, & poisoning air, water, & soil"

2011-12-11T06:11:00.000-08:00

Japanese Canadian environmental activist David Suzuki on the environmental and generational costs of economic globalization to enrich the 1%: "Occupy Movement Demands Fresh Thinking -- For Our Grandchildren":

It's not just about the one per cent who rake in an ever-increasing proportion of society's wealth while 99 per cent bear the real costs. It's also about corporate power and the systems that facilitate it. A few corporations have become bigger than most governments.

Occupiers know, because so many are young, that the inequities represented by the one per cent today are also intergenerational. Although not all corporations are bad, many of them, and the super-rich who run them, are increasing their wealth at the expense of generations to come -- exhausting resources, extinguishing species, and poisoning air, water, and soil. The costs of those problems will be most strongly felt by successive generations to come, yet economists discount them...

Globalization does not encourage the highest standards for workers, communities, or ecosystems. Instead, corporations often go for the lowest standards of medical care, wages, and environmental regulations because it's all about maximizing profit. The global economy means our garbage and toxic effluents are shared with the world, dumped into the air, water, and land.

When you buy running shoes, a cell phone, or a car, it's almost impossible to know whether slave or child labor was involved in its production. How can you be aware of the ecological impacts or the toxic materials that may be generated in the manufacturing process? These costs are hidden, yet each time we make a purchase, we become part of that system that exploits people and ecosystems.

To me, the Occupy movement is about putting decisions and democracy back into the hands of people. We need democracy for people, not corporations; we want greater equity; we demand social justice; and we want to recognize and protect our most fundamental needs -- clean air, clean water, clean soil, clean energy, biological diversity, and communities that support our children with love and care.

David Suzuki is a Canadian scientist, broadcaster and environmental activist who, along with all Japanese Canadians, was forcibly removed with his family from his home and incarcerated as a child by the Canadian government during World War II. This human rights violation resulted in a positive outcome for Suzuki. The prison camps were in the middle of wilderness where he experienced deep contact with nature. This catalyzed the young Suzuki's grasp of natural interconnections and set him on a path of science.

In the 1990's, when the dominant English-language media image of Japanese people was of homogenous, submissive workers and consumers, Suzuki traveled throughout the Japanese and Okinawan archipelagos with anthropologist and Slow Life activist Keibo Oiwa to find out if these media stereotypes were accurate.

Instead of finding apolitical, robot-like workers, geisha and gangsters depicted in media, they met diverse, multi-faceted, socially active, and deeply feeling human beings, seared by memories of Japan's militaristic, politically repressive past and aggressive Pacific War. These grassroots Japanese expressed their determination to prevent the Japanese government from ever reviving its disastrous prewar militaristic culture that led to the Pacific War.

Suzuki and Oiwa described their discoveries in The Japan We Never Knew, a roots travelogue about their encounters with Okinawans, Ainu, Zainichi (ethnic Koreans), Japanese environmentalists, organic farmers, Article 9 (Peace Constitution) activists, nuclear-free activists, history and anti-war activists, and peace educators.

US Catastrophe: "From the Dot Com bubble to the scandals of the Enron era to a disastrous war in Iraq to a global torture regime to a housing bubble"

2011-12-10T11:12:00.000-08:00

Middle American Occupy commentators cite failure of vision, selfishness, conflicts-of-interest, and gross incompetence in U.S. leadership as reasons for disastrous U.S. domestic and foreign policies that have brought about the opposite of domestic and global peace, justice, security, and prosperity.

• "Occupy Wall Street becomes Occupy America" (Bill Press, Tribune Media Service, Oct. 20, 2011):

The question I'm most often asked about the Occupy Wall Street movement, or OWS, is: "What's it all about?" And, every time, I'm reminded of the famous New Yorker cartoon of the man who walks into a showroom for luxury yachts. "If you have to ask the price," the salesman solemnly informs him, "you can't afford it."

Similarly, if you have to ask what OWS followers are protesting, you'll never understand. Is it corporate greed? Persistent unemployment? Record-high corporate profits? Home foreclosures? Income inequality? Stagnant wages? Foreign wars? Money in politics?

Yes, it's all of the above -- and more. Quite simply, the protests are directed against every manifestation of a system today that is dramatically tilted in favor of the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans at the expense of the other 99 percent. If there's one statement that sums up the entire movement, it's the banner "We Are the 99 Percent

• "We Are Not Occupying America -- They Are" (Eric Garland, St. Louis Post-Dispatch via Common Dreams, Dec. 2, 2011)

Americans generally are unused to images from the Occupy protests being domestic ones. Grandmothers and unarmed college students pepper-sprayed with alarming casualness. Reporters singled out and beaten. Veterans returning from war in Iraq only to be gravely injured trying to exercise the precious liberties for which they supposedly risked life and limb.

Perhaps, we hoped, that these things were only possible in clearly authoritarian regimes such as Syria, Burma and Iran, but they are now home-grown creations, sharing both technique and intention to keep people from peacefully assembling and asking for a redress of grievances, the most precious right enshrined by the Founding Fathers.

New revelations show complicit activity between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and local police forces to repress the Occupy protests, a collaboration that violates a host of regulations, laws and the very Constitution. Given the pattern of violence in the coordinated response to peaceful demonstrations, it is clear that those in elite positions of government are at the very least guilty of overreaction fueled by anxiety and confusion, or are at worst behind a conspiracy to repress the free speech of Americans asking for political reforms that are entirely reasonable within a functioning democracy. Once again, as it seems to happen so often these days, America's leadership fails.

The United States has been careening into catastrophe after crisis after scandal for more than a decade under the current crop of leaders in the public and private sector. From the frivolous Dot Com bubble to the financial scandals of the Enron era to a disastrous war of choice in Iraq to the creation of a global torture regime spanning from Virginia to Guantanamo to Abu Ghraib to a housing bubble based on pure fraud ending in a trillion-dollar bailout to propping up a debt 'supercommittee" that couldn't agree on how to manage a bake sale. America's leaders seem chronically incapable of doing the right thing.

In the decade since the world-uniting tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, America has faced a great number of difficult situations, and, repeatedly, our leaders cannot manage the institutions of the United States to honorable, successful outcomes.

But this aggression against American citizens with no other goal other than to repress free speech is a turning point. America's leaders can no longer hide behind simple incompetence, as they have with every other scandal from Saddam Hussein's non-existent weapons of mass destruction to the badly blown bubble of fake mortgages. These events are not the result of poor foresight, and "Nobody could have seen it coming" will not function as an excuse. This time, the leaders know precisely what they are doing.

Those currently holding elite positions of influence have shown themselves ill-fit to the job of leading a great, peaceful, just and prosperous nation. The baby boom generation, whose members hold the highest posts of government, military, finance, industry and the media, has failed to produce a cadre of leaders capable of anything other than fulfilling their own selfish interests, either by loading up their pockets with outlandish compensation packages or by staying in positions of power for personal gain while wrecking the institutions they pretend to serve. Given their gross incapacity to function in the positions they currently hold, it is time for society to dismiss these pretenders in the hopes of moving forward to find better, more qualified candidates...

Occupy Together: Interviews with Daniel Ellsberg & Scott Olson at "Countdown"

2011-12-10T09:34:00.000-08:00

Beautiful interviews at American broadcast journalist Keith Olbermann's "Countdown" with Daniel Ellsberg and Scott Olson, the young Iraq vet who was seriously injured during a police assault at Oakland's Occupy site.

Speaking haltingly, Scott said the outpouring of support from vets and other Americans was helping him recover. Asked why he was drawn to the Occupy Movement, he replied, "Diversity of opinion."

Everybody you talk to there is going to have a different opinion and you can always learn something new from talking with somebody else.

Commenting on the militarization of the police force in U.S. cities:

On the one hand, it shocks me a lot. On the other hand, it doesn't. The nation's police officers have been militarized over the past ten years to combat terrorism, but they're combating everyone with an opinion.

These and other interviews are available online at Current.com.

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

2011-12-08T15:37:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-07T23:11:00.000-08:00

(Kim Hughes' photos of Nikko in late autumn)

"Banks that broke the economy also lead on financing coal plants"

2011-12-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

Sustainablebusiness.com via Reuters: "Banks that broke the economy also lead on financing coal plants":

The top three banks that finance coal plants and thus are major contributors to climate change [and the destruction of entire ecosystems] are:

- JP Morgan Chase: $22 billion.

- Citi: $18.27 billion

- Bank of America: $16.79 billion

They are followed by Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, and Royal Bank of Scotland

The top 20 coal financing banks are from the US, UK, Germany, France, Switzerland, China [Bank of China], Italy and Japan [Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group]. Since 2005, the 93 banks analyzed in a study have financed coal to the tune of $309 billion.

"Bankrolling Climate Change," released at the Climate Summit in Durban, South Africa, examines commercial bank lending practices in the coal industry. It was produced by several NGOs - urgewald (Germany), groundwork and Earthlife Africa Johannesburg (South Africa) and international network, BankTrack.

Read the entire report at Banktrack.org.

Not only China and India, but the United States provides examples of the devastation that coal production and burning wrought upon the natural environment. Southeastern Appalachia is reminscent of western Tohoku's breathtaking mountainous landscape and deep traditional culture. This beautiful region, similarly to Tohoku, has become a "national sacrifice zone."

To produce a tiny percentage (around 4%) of U.S. energy output, coal companies have bombed nearly 500 of the oldest mountains in North America encompassing 800,000 acres. Entire ecosystems and centuries-old small farming communities have been obliterated. As in Tohoku, war-like destructive assaults upon nature and people by dirty energy companies have been met with political, social, and media activist resistance by the people of the entire region and their worldwide supporters.

For more information, please see I Love Mountains: End Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining, United Mountain Defense, Plundering Appalachia: A National Sacrifice Zone, Appalachian Voices, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, and 40 Days of Prayer for the Mountains.

For more background on coal in Asia, see "Grassroots Asians part of interconnected worldwide coal-free movement: Coal is not the answer for post-3.11 Japan" (TTT, July 11, 2011)

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

2011-12-05T11:09:00.000-08:00

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

Rice Field in Asuka

2011-12-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

Rice field in Asuka, a region in the Nara Basin, that flourished as Japan's first capital at the end of the sixth century.

Poems in the Manyoshu (Collection of Myriad Leaves)—a vast anthology of Japanese poetry compiled in the eighth century—extol Asuka's exquisite natural landscape of hills, small misty mountains, orchards, farms, and the winding Asuka River. The historical landscape is equally mesmerizing: ancient tombs, stone relics, palace (modest wooden buildings) ruins, and the oldest Buddhist temple in Japan.

The Asuka Historical Museum:
Asuka, some 1300 and more years ago, was home to Japan's ruling dynasty and was thus, for more than a century, the capital of the country. It was at this time that our country adopted much of the relatively matured culture and administrative methodology of China and the Korean peninsula, and it was here that a unified national state was for the first time established in Japan.

Organic Apple Orchard in Hokkaido

2011-12-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

(Heirloom apple orchard in Hokkaido, Japan)
This photograph is of a small orchard in Hokkaido. It was originally part of a large farm, managed by a resident owner, who had to give up most of his acreage during the U.S. Occupation. His heirs, who all went into non-farming professions, still jointly own what is left of their farm, and return to it during weekends and holiday family get-togethers. They, their children, and grandchildren, view the farm and the farming community in which it is situated as part of their identity.

Before the Pacific War, 50% of the arable land in Japan was held by less than 10% of farm owners. Some owners leased small parcels of land to share-croppers, a pattern that also characterized agriculture in the American South during the same period. The Land Reform Act of 1946 forced the break-up of large farms in Japan, enabling the tenants to own rather than lease parcels of land.

The owner of this farm (a remnant of his prior holding) did not mind the break-up of his large farm in theory. He was a friend of renowned peace activist and labor rights activist Toyohiko Kagawa, and supported democratic policies in Japan in the prewar period. But he doubted the efficacy of this U.S.-initiated reform in the long run. The former large farmer predicted that the Land Reform Act, while temporarily appearing to redistribute wealth, would serve, ultimately, to shift ownership of landed wealth in Japan to new forms of concentrated ownership "within fifty years."

Even without land reform, this proved to be the case in the U.S. During the same period the U.S. Occupation forced the redistribution of farmland in Japan, U.S. agribusiness (massive "factory farms'), with the help of federal government subsidization and policies, was on its way to supplanting small family farming throughout the U.S.

So far, however, the U.S. Occupation's land reform has been a democratic success story in Japan—despite other reversals of democratization. Many Japanese family farmers have been able to maintain the tiny plots of land they can call their own. Japanese share a deep perspective of agriculture with Europeans: viewing small farming as a way to maintain the culture, history, ecology, and natural beauty of the countryside.

Japan's small farm culture only improved in the postwar period despite some flight from rural areas by youth seeking economic opportunities in cities. Manufacturing outsourcing (to low-wage China and southeast Asia), corporate restructuring, and the introduction of neoliberal ("Anglo-American") policies in Japan following the bursting of Japan's economic bubble has ended the postwar golden age of productive, welfare capitalism in Japan. Companies fired hundreds of thousands of employees in the 1990's. The number of full-time employees peaked in 1997 and has rapidly declined since. Diminishing opportunities for youth have resulted in an outflight for many from cities back to their rural roots, resulting in the renewal of traditional Japanese farming.

Research shows that small, local agriculture is the most sustainable method of agriculture, requiring little or even no consumption of fossil fuels in production and transportation to markets. Natural forms of agriculture do not pollute, but instead enrich soil, and exist in harmony with ecosystems.

"We call on the Japanese & US governments to respect the democratic wishes of Okinawans who have voted to prevent new base construction on Okinawa.”

2011-12-01T04:44:00.000-08:00

(Okinawans demonstrate on Dec. 1, 2011 at the Okinawa Defense Bureau,
a division of the Japanese Defense Ministry )
Two still relevant statements from earlier this year by Americans who support the Okinawan democracy and peace movement that seeks to halt US military destruction of unique, biodiverse, irreplaceable ecosystems in northern Okinawa (a subtropical rainforest & a coral reef habitat that is the home of the critically endangered and federally protected Okinawa dugong):

January 7, 2011

Dear U.S. Ambassador Roos,

US for OKINAWA, a peace action network formed by U.S. and other citizens from around the world, strongly denounces the sudden restarting of construction of an additional 6 new helipads in Takae, Okinawa. Such destruction further destroys the important biodiversity of the region, endangers the lives of local residents, and shamefully continues to undermine democracy in Okinawa.

As U.S. citizens, we call upon our country to use its great power to start fostering global environmental sustainability—not blatantly destroy the forests, waters and wildlife of other countries under the guise of “security.”

We call upon our country to stop the practice of trodding over the democratic processes of other countries supposedly in the name of promoting the American value of democracy. This is deceitful, and harms not only others, but our own stature in the world as well.

Finally, with an arsenal of more than 13,000 nuclear weapons, a chain of approximately 1,000 military bases around the world, fleets patrolling the world, inordinate stockpiles of conventional weaponry, and annual military spending far outstripping any other country, we call upon our country to halt this unnecessary new military construction in Takae.

It's time for the U.S. to step into a new era of fostering peace and stability in the world through more peaceful and just means. Let's start by halting further destruction of Takae.

Sincerely,

US for OKINAWA
us-for-okinawa.blogspot.com

Network for Okinawa Statement/Press Release on New U.S. Military Construction in Yanbaru Forest & Henoko, Okinawa

Construction Accelerates at Two U.S. Military Sites in Okinawa Prefecture
Advocates Express Concern for Treatment of Peaceful Protesters

Feb. 16. 2011

WASHINGTON – The Japanese Defense Ministry’s Okinawan Headquarters (the Okinawan Defense Bureau) accelerated construction of new facilities at two military bases in northern Okinawa during the last week of January — despite recent signals from U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates that the United States would be more flexible in the realignment of bases in Okinawa. The construction prompted calls of protest from international peace and environmental organizations.

Construction workers pushed past local residents to move material and equipment into Takae Village in the Yanbaru Forest. Crews also replaced a barbed wire barrier with a temporary wall on a beach bordering Camp Schwab in an effort to block the view of new construction from protesters. Residents have continuously protested both construction sites since US and Japanese governments announced their plans at the end of 1996; and cite the many sensitive environmental and cultural treasures at risk. Both sites are home to rare and endangered species found only in Okinawa.

“The actions of the Okinawan Defense Bureau are of deep concern and demonstrate the legitimate grievances of the Okinawan community. We urge all parties to exercise firm restraint. We call on the Japanese and American governments to respect the democratic wishes of Okinawans who have overwhelmingly voted to prevent new base construction on Okinawa,” said John Feffer, spokesperson for US-based Network for Okinawa.

Plans for the US Marine Corps’ jungle training area near Takae Village include six new helipads capable of handling the military’s new V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. Residents object that the construction will surround their village of 160 people and damage the biodiverse Yambaru Forest. Takae’s local residents successfully prevented construction from 2007 until December 2010 when a protest camp was partially destroyed by a US helicopter and construction crews forcibly restarted construction work.

Residents near Camp Schwab oppose construction of a new airbase and military port over coral reefs in Henoko Bay. Military leaders cite this new megabase as a replacement for the existing controversial Futenma airbase in central Okinawa. The plan has drawn international criticism because of the endangered species that live within the construction area. In 2008, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that the U.S. Department of Defense had violated the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) by failing to “take into account” in the planning of the construction of a US military base in Henoko and Oura Bay the effects of the construction on the Okinawa dugong, a Japanese “natural monument.” Last November, Okinawa elected a governor who campaigned on the promise to close Futenma and relocate it outside the prefecture.

“It is an incredible tragedy the Japanese and American governments insist on pushing forward with a construction plan that would cause irreparable damage to one of the world’s most diverse biosystems,” said Mr. Feffer. “During a time of economic crisis and mounting deficits, it is shocking that both countries have embraced a plan that cuts education and social welfare programs while supporting a construction plan that benefits only the military-industrial complex.”

The Network for Okinawa (NO) is a grassroots coalition of peace groups, environmental organizations, faith-based organizations, academia, and think tanks, which oppose additional military construction in Okinawa and support the democratic decisions of the people of Okinawa.

Japanese version:

沖縄・やんばるの森と辺野古における新軍事施設建設に関する
「Network for Okinawa」（沖縄のためのネットワーク）声明文

沖縄のふたつの米軍施設で新たな建設進む
米国支援者たち、平和的な抗議者に対する扱いに憂慮を示す

米国防長官ロバート・ゲーツが沖縄米軍基地の再編に関して最近、より柔軟に対応すると示唆したにも関わらず、日本の防衛省・自衛隊沖縄本部（沖縄防衛局）は、一月の最終週に沖縄北部にあるふたつの米軍基地に新たな施設の建設を進めています。この建設により、国際平和・環境団体から抗議の声があがりました。

建設作業員が建設資材や機材を高江の山原（やんばる）の森へ移動する際、地元住民を押しのけて通り過ぎました。また、キャンプ・シュワブと海辺の境界にある有刺鉄条網を臨時の壁に置き換えることで、建設現場を抗議者の視界から妨げる試みです。住民は、１９９６年末に日米政府が計画を発表して以来、両建設現場では住民たちが反対運動を行ってきました。住民たちは、繊細な環境および文化遺産の危機をずっと訴えてきました。両方の現場は、沖縄でしか見つけることのできない希少種や絶滅危惧種の生息地です。

「沖縄防衛局の行為は大きな懸念であり、沖縄地域の正当な不満をあきらかにしています。私たちは、工事関係者には不適切な行動を慎むよう要求します。私たちは、日米両政府に対し、沖縄の圧倒的大多数の人々が新基地建設阻止のために投票した民主的な願いを尊重するよう求めます」と、米国を拠点にしている「Network for Okinawa」の代表のジョン・フェファー氏は語りました。

高江近くの米海兵隊のジャングル訓練場の計画は、米軍が開発した垂直離着陸機V-22オスプレイが操作できる米軍のヘリパッド６つを含みます。住民は、建設が１６０人の住む村を囲み、生物が多様なやんばるの森に被害を及ぼすと異議を唱えています。２００７年から２０１０年１２月までの間は、建設の阻止に成功していましたが、今回、抗議テントが米軍のヘリコプターによって部分的に破壊され、建設作業員たちが強制的に建設を再開しました。２００７年から２０１０年１２月までの間は、建設の阻止に成功していました。

キャンプ・シュワブ付近の住民は、新航空基地建設と辺野古湾の珊瑚礁を覆う軍事港の建設に反対しています。軍事指導者らは、この新巨大基地は、現在物議を醸している普天間基地の代わりだと述べています。この計画は、建設現場内に絶滅危惧種が生息しているため、国際的な批判を招いています。２００８年、米国連邦地裁の裁判官は、辺野古と大浦湾における建設計画が日本の「自然遺産」であるジュゴンにもたらす影響への「配慮」を、国防総省が怠っていることによる、米国文化財保護法違反であるとの判決を下しました。昨年１１月には、普天間基地を閉鎖し、県外移設を公約した人が沖縄県知事に選ばれました。

「日米両政府が、世界で最も多様な生態系に取り返しの付かない損傷をもたらす建設計画を主張し、推し進めるのは信じ難い悲劇です。」と、フェファー氏は語りました。「金融危機や悪化する財政状況の中、両国が、教育や社会福祉活動を削減し、軍産複合体への利益のみを支援する計画を受け入れるとは、衝撃的です。」

※「Network for Okinawa」（沖縄のためのネットワーク）は、米国と世界の平和・環境団体、宗教的奉仕活動団体、大学・研究機関やシンクタンクの代表者を結びつけ、沖縄に　おける軍事施設建設に反対し、民主的な判断をサポートする草の根のネットワークです。

Background from Hideki Yoshikawa in Okinawa:

The Citizens’ Network for Biological Diversity in Okinawa (Okinawa BD): Call for Your Attention and Action:Protect Yanbaru Forest and Local Community from Helipad Construction

Dear Concerned Citizens and Organizations,

On February 3, 2011, amid local people and their supporters’ protests and calls for dialogue, members of the Okinawa Defense Bureau marched in and began felling trees in Takae area of the Yanbaru forest in Okinawa, Japan to resume the construction of six new helipads for the US military.

The resumption of construction has brought a new intensity to the stand off between the Okinawa Defense Bureau and the local people and their supporters, who have been carrying out a peaceful sit-in protest to protect the living environment and the Yanbaru forest.

The Citizens’ Network for Biological Diversity in Okinawa (Okinawa BD) is calling for your attention to this latest development in the Yanbaru forest and is asking for your action to help halt the Okinawa Defense Bureau’s construction work in the forest.

Located in the northern area of Okinawa Island, the Yanbaru forest (about 26, 000 ha) is one of the richest areas of biodiversity in Japan. It is home to over 1,000 species of high plants and 5,000 species of animals, including numerous indigenous and endemic species such as the endangered Okinawa Woodpecker and Okinawa Rail. It is also home to people who live in small and isolated communities. Takae is one of these communities.

The Okinawa prefectural government promotes the Yanbaru forest as a key area in its efforts to get the Ryukyu Islands designated as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site. The Japanese government announced its intentions to designate the Yanbaru forest as a national park during the10th Conference of Parties to the Convention for Biological Diversity
(COP10) held recently in Nagoya, Japan.

Helipad Construction

Since 1957, the US military has been using a large part of the Yanbaru forest for training. Today, 30% of the Yanbaru forest is a US military training area. In this training area, there are already 22 frequently used US helipads, causing various problems to the environment and the nearby local communities. Thus, since the construction plan was revealed in 1999, local people, NGOs, and experts have been opposing to the plan and expressing their concerns that the construction of new helipads in the Takae area will certainly further impact the Yanbaru forest and the Takae community.

After conducting its Environment Impact Assessment for the helipad construction plan, the Okinawa Defense Bureau has concluded that the construction and use of the helipads would have no impact on the environment and the community. While local people, NGOs, and scientists/experts have criticized the EIA for its lack of transparency, accuracy, and reliability, the Okinawa Defense Bureau has been proceeding with the construction plan, based on the EIA’s “no-impact" conclusion.

International voices, meanwhile, have been loud and clear. The International Union of Conservation for Nature (IUCN) has twice called for conservation of the endangered Okinawa Woodpaker and Okinawa Rail in the forest. On the occasion of COP10 in Nagoya, the Guardian newspaper urged the Okinawa Defense Bureau to “consider alternative sites [for helipad construction] that will not impact Okinawa's unique biodiversity.”

This is why the residents of the Takae community and many others have been opposing the construction plan and calling for explanation and dialogue with the Okinawa Defense Bureau.

Okinawa Defense Bureau Filed Lawsuit

So far, the Okinawa Defense Bureau has shown no willingness to resolve the criticism and concerns. Instead, it has reacted to the local opposition by filing a lawsuit against residents of the Takae community for obstruction of traffic in November 2008, who were engaged in a peaceful sit in protest against the helipad construction.

In what many consider a “SLAPP lawsuit,” the court has ordered both the Okinawa Defense Bureau and the local residents to enter negotiation outside of court. Negotiation has not, however, has taken place as the Okinawa Defense Bureau keeps declining to negotiate.

It is in light of these developments that the Okinawa Defense Bureau marched in and began felling trees in the Takae area of the Yambaru forest and the stand off between the Okinawa Defense Bureau and the protesters has intensified.

Please Voice Your Objection and Concerns!

We of the Okinawa BD ask the Okinawa Defense Bureau and the Japanese government to immediately halt the helipad construction in the forest. We also ask them to enter dialogue with the local people, NGOs, and experts/scientists in order to seek ways to protect the rich biodiversity of the Yanbaru forest and the peaceful living environment for the local people.

We invite you and/or your organization to voice your objection to and/or concern over the resumed construction of helipads in the Yanbaru forest, and to send them to the Okinawa Defense Bureau, the Japanese government, the Okinawa prefectural government, and the US government,

Hideki Yoshikawa

Chief Secretary
Citizens’ Network for Biological Diversity in Okinawa

Contact Addresses

-Okinawa Defense Bureau
infomod@mod.go.jp
Tel: 81-(0)98-921-8131
Fax: 81-(0)98-921-8168

Japan Ministry of Defense
infomod@mod.go.jp
Tel: 81-(0)3-5366-3111

Japan Ministry of the Environment
https://www.env.go.jp/en/moemail/
Tel: 81-(0)3-3581-3351

Okinawa Prefectural Government/Military Base Affairs Office
okinawa@pref.okinawa.lg.jp
Tel: 098-866-2460
Fax: 098-889-8979

US Embassy in Japan
http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/e/info/tinfo-email.html
Tel: 81-(0)3-3224-5000
Fax: 81-(0)3-3505-1862

US General Consulate in Okinawa
NahaACS@state.gov
Tel: 098-876-4211
Fax: 098-876-4243

Information on Yanbaru Forest, Takae Community, and Helipad Construction

- Okinawa Prefectural Government, “The Nature of Yanbaru”
http://www.wonder-okinawa.jp/004/e/yanbaru/index.html (in English)

- Japan Hotspots, “A Treasure Box of Subtropical Laurel Forests”
http://en.japanhotspot.net/feel/photos/importantecosystem/010001/ (in English)

-Takae People’s Blog, ”What is going on in Takae, Higashi village”
http://takae.ti-da.net/ (in Japanese)

-“Voice of Takae” (Jun. 2008)
http://nohelipadtakae.org/files/VOT-english2010Oct14.pdf (in English)

Takae activists share official's "Rape of Okinawa" comment with workers forcibly constructing U.S. military Osprey helipads in Yanbaru Forest

2011-11-30T08:20:00.000-08:00

Via Takae Blog:

See also this related post "Head of Okinawan branch of Japanese Defense Ministry compares DC-Tokyo forced US military construction in Okinawa to "rape"; assault on Yanbaru Forest."

Head of Okinawan branch of Japanese Defense Ministry compares DC-Tokyo forced US military construction in Okinawa to "rape"; assault on Yanbaru Forest

2011-11-30T04:29:00.000-08:00

The head of the Okinawan branch of Japan's Defense Ministry compared DC-Tokyo forced US military construction in Okinawa to "rape." For his transparent comment about US-Tokyo strategy, Satoshi Tanaka was fired yesterday.

Japanese Defense Minister Ichikawa apologized to Okinawans for Tanaka's remark.

In mid-November Tanaka moved ahead, despite local oppostion, with US military construction in biodiverse Yanbaru Forest, a subtropical rainforest in northern Okinawa. The U.S. Marines want to destroy one of Yanburu's most well-preserved areas, a habitat for unique, indigenous species, to make way for military Osprey aircraft heliports.

(For English subtitles, please visit the Okinawa Outreach website or on YouTube. Hit the "CC" button.)

The U.S. Marines, the manufacturer, and congressional representatives from the district in Texas in which the factory is located, have lobbied for years against the axing of the expensive, accident-prone military Osprey aircraft from the U.S. defense budget. This Iron Triangle even beat out former Vice President Dick Cheney who argued against the program. Despite extreme costs, accident risks, and no strategic value for the aircraft, US Marines have pushed to build heliports for the Osprey aircraft in Okinawa since they need someplace to put them, according to some U.S. foreign affairs analysts.

As a result, residents of Takae, an eco-village in Yanbaru Forest, have been in a cold war with the U.S. Marines for years. Residents report assaults by U.S. military helicopters against civilian protesters. Some fly low to the ground, terrorizing villagers destroying their property, and damaging forest trees. One villager reported that a U.S. soldier demanded food, at riflepoint, while laughing at her. These are just a few reports that reflect the tip of an iceberg of accounts of U.S. military injuries and intentional infliction of emotional distress upon local people.

The pattern of U.S. military abuse of northern Okinawans is not recent, but historical. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military forced Takae villagers to dress like Vietcong for war games. US troops sprayed toxic herbicides in the forest. For these Okinawans, U.S. military assaults upon Okinawan property and persons have been continuous from the Battle of Okinawa through the Vietnam War era to today:

Okinawa's two major newspapers, Okinawa Times and Ryukyu Shimpo reported at length on Tanaka's "injudicious remark"; Japanese newspapers called it "indiscreet." It might be better described as a Freudian slip.

More background information on the movement to protect Takae and Yanbaru Forest:

"Voice of Takae".

WWF's "No Military Helipads in Yanbaru Forest".

"Saving the Okinawan Woodpecker," (The Center for Biological Diversity).

John Feffer's Okinawans Continue to Resist in Takae (HuffPost, Feb. 25, 2011).

Jon Mitchell's "Postcard from Takae," ( Foreign Policy in Focus).

Peace Not War Japan’s Film/Live Music Festival Highlights Citizen Movements: Mt. Takao・Okinawa's Yanbaru Forest・ Iraqi Refugees in Jordan (TTT, Nov. 12, 2009).

Takae Village Sit-in protest against US Helipads in Pristine Yanbaru Forest (TTT, Jan. 25, 2010).

"Peaceful New Earth Celebration" in Tokyo spotlights Okinawa, indigenous cultures, sustainability, & global networking (TTT, June 24, 2010).

Biodiversity 100: Preserve the biodiversity on Okinawa Island, including Yanbaru Forest's spiny rat, Noguchi's Woodpecker, & Namiye's Frog (TTT, Oct. 27, 2010).

Save Takae Village and and the biodiversity of Yanbaru Forest (TTT, Jan. 4, 2011).

"Latest Photos of Nonviolent Action to Protect Okinawa's Yanbaru Forest" (TTT, Feb. 3, 2011)

"Futenma is not the only problem" by Yoshio Shimoji (The Japan Times, Feb. 20, 2011).

More background on the V-22 Osprey:

"Key Amendments to H.R.1, Fiscal Year 2011 Appropriations Bill" compiled by The New York Times. (Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez (Democrat, Illinois sponsored an Amendment To Eliminate Financing for the V-22 Osprey Aircraft (H.AMDT.13). The House of Representatives voted (326 to 105, mostly Republican, but also Democrats) against this amendment; resulting in U.S. taxpayers footing the bill for at least $415 million for the V-22 Osprey aircraft this year. So far, the Osprey has cost Americans $60 billion.)

"V-22 Osprey: A Flying Shame" ( TIME Magazine's Sep. 26, 2007 cover story).

"Accidents and incidents involving the V-22 Osprey" (Wikipedia).

"Cuts to U.S. defense budget would hurt some investors, RBC Capital report says" (National Post, Nov. 16, 2010.)

"The Military Money Pit" by Joshua Green (The Boston Globe, June 17, 2010). (Green quotes Dick Cheney's description of the V-22 Osprey as a "turkey.")

"Panel commissioned by Barney Frank recommends nearly $1T in defense cuts" (TheHill.com, June 11, 2010).

Ishinomaki Update

2011-11-29T23:00:00.000-08:00

Update from Matthew on Toshihiko Fujita's citizen-based relief support group in Ishinomaki:

For those looking for more information on Fujita-san's group you can find my English Facebook page for the group here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Koganehama/

Thank you for all of your continued support and I hope to see you all soon at Koganehama Kaikan.

Please see Kim Hughes' luminous post, "Eight months after disaster, tsunami survivors taking things as they come," for more background:

“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".

"Global Gandhian Moment" — Fukushima, Okinawa, the World, Occupy & Civic Empowerment

2011-11-28T01:00:00.000-08:00

Peace Studies and Okinawa scholar Satoko Oka Norimatsu renders a historical analysis of a Japanese political pattern of sacrificing backwaters for the temporary economic benefit of those in privileged zones of urban centers.

Of course, destroying entire regions, ecosystems, and peoples is not a traditional Japanese societal pattern. It was borrowed from the Anglo-Saxon industrial model and has been the basis of global colonial and neoliberal "development." It would take an encyclopedia to chart the forced sacrifice of peoples and ecosystems throughout our planet, for the profit of a miniscule elite, over the centuries.

It would also take an encyclopedia to chart the citizen movements that have arisen throughout the world to challenge these patterns of exploitation and destruction.

Norimatsu, director of the Peace Philosophy Centre in Vancouver and a co-founder of the Network for Okinawa, compares the plight of Okinawans, who have campaigned nonstop since 1996, against forced new U.S. military construction at biodiverse Yanbaru Forest and Oura Bay to the more recent plight of residents of post 3/11-Fukushima. Both groups have endured national governmental and establishment media dismissal of their collective concerns. As a result, Okinawan and Fukushima citizen movements and citizen media, have grown to address a myriad of issues, in parallel the burgeoning of action of citizen groups worldwide.

Norimatsu's fierce take, "Fukushima and Okinawa – the “Abandoned People,” and Civic Empowerment":

Will people of the periphery choose to remain abandoned? Certainly not all. In Northeastern Japan, many people have stood up, taking safety into their own hands. Citizen groups conduct independent radiation measurements and publish their own radiation protection guides. Anti-nuclear power demonstrations spread, with a scale and intensity not seen in mainland Japan since the 1960s anti-Anpo (Japan-US Security Treaty) movement. As seen in Sato Eisaku’s words quoted above, perceptions of commonality between Okinawa and Fukushima – the state imposition of military bases or nuclear reactors on the basis of discrimination against marginal and vulnerable areas at the expense of well-being of those living there — seems to be growing in Japan, awakening some with sympathy with the Okinawan situation on a level not seen before 3.11.

Though the scale of current anti-nuclear demonstrations in Japan are not comparable to those of anti-base movements in Okinawa for the past six decades that mobilize as much as ten per cent of the population, it is notable that some mainlanders seem to emulate the Okinawan movement, using the same symbolic colour yellow, and slogans like “life is precious” (“Nuchi du Takara” in Okinawan). As in the “Arab’s Spring” movements of 2011, civic voices spread through newly emerging social media such as Facebook and Twitter, integrating existing movements, connecting different generations, and merging anti-nuclear, anti-base, anti-neoliberal and the burgeoning “Occupy” movements, suggesting a broader possible social base for movements throughout Japan.

Because of increasing public distrust in the government and mainstream media’s information concerning the crippled nuclear reactors and radiation risks, internet media have attracted a surge of new users in post-3.11 Japan. There is an emerging crop of internet journalists, such as Iwakami Yasumi, Uesugi Takashi, Kinoshita Kota, and Shiraishi Hajime, and many others, as well as widely read bloggers and Twitterers29 Their influence threatens the monopoly on information of the Japanese government and major media, leading the government to call on telecommunication companies to 'take appropriate measures to prevent groundless rumours on the internet...'

With Okinawa’s all-island determination to refuse construction of another military base on their land in the face of unremitting pressure form the Japanese and US governments, and with people across the nation awakening to new dimensions of citizenry and autonomy through alternative media and direct action, are we living in “a global Gandhian moment," as international law scholar Richard Falk suggests, in which the “abandoned people” are empowered and engaged in non-violent confrontations with established powers, making the impossible possible?

An answer is in each of us, and how we capture this critical historical moment.

Satoko Oka Norimatsu is a writer and educator based in Vancouver, BC, Canada. She is Director of Peace Philosophy Centre and a Coordinator of The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. Her upcoming book co-authored with Gavan McCormack, “NO! Okinawa’s Message to Japan and the United States” will be published in spring 2012 by Rowman and Littlefield.

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

2011-11-28T00:01:00.000-08:00

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.

The Clash of Civilizations, Moral Sensitivity & the Evolution of Society

2011-11-27T02:43:00.000-08:00

If the crux of societal and planetary survival is social and moral development, is it possible for the Occupy Movement and related social movements to support a collective shift from decision-making dominated by greed (short-term profit) and fear (war-mongering) to decision-making based on higher levels of multiple intelligence by those who occupy the upper levels of power structures?

Many of the principles in nonviolent social change movements over the past decade (from the Ukraine to Egypt to Wall Street) were disseminated by scholar Gene Sharp. Perhaps it's time for social movements to turn to scholars of emotional and moral development for insights needed to encourage higher level values and behaviors needed to change dysfunctional dominant societal patterns. Emotional and moral development have been a topics for some time in psychology, education, and theology, with many recent advances in scholarship...There's a wealth of insights to draw from, on empathy, dialogue, altruism, healing historical trauma, indigenous renewal, ecological sensitivity, community-building, and love...

In the 1950's, psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg constructed a universal theory of moral development, demonstrating similar patterns across cultures. The first (corresponding to early childhood) is the premoral stage, where the child is deferent to a superior power to avoid punishment. Actions are judged by physical consequences. The second stage is egoistic in orientation, where self-interest is paramount. Children at this level will cheat without guilt. "Survival of the Fittest" and "Looking out for #1" are the slogans of adults who are fixated at this level. In the third stage, children conform to elicit approval from others. The fourth stage is characterized by duty to authority to maintain social order. The last two stages are more complex. People who have achieved the fifth stage of moral development understand and negotiate contractual and institutionalized norms, rules, and laws; diverse points-of-view are considered. At the highest stage, orientation is towards universal principle of justice: dignity and equality for all; respect and empathy for human beings as individuals.

At one end of the spectrum, fraudulent, predatory economic practices reflect the institutionalization of concepts emanating from a regressive level of morality. At the other end of the spectrum, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Okinawan cultural concept of nuchi du takara (Life is a Treasure), the Ecuadorian concept of planetary rights are all examples of the institutionalization of concepts formulated at the highest stage of moral development.

In the 1960's, Kazimierz Dabrowski, a Polish psychologist who survived Nazi-controlled Europe, in a quest to understand human destructiveness and human creativity, constructed a theory of emotional development, based on studies of nonaggressive, highly intelligent, and creative individuals. His studies are well known in gifted educational research.

Psychologist Daniel Goleman popularized similar concepts in his best-selling book Emotional Intelligence and a related title, Ecological Intelligence.

One of the most intriguing articles on moral development has to be Linda Kreger Silverman's "The moral sensitivity of gifted children and the evolution of society." Silverman's multi-faceted article notes the interplay between biology, individuals and the societies in which they are situated:

Social psychologist, David Loye (1990, 1993), drawing from psychology, sociology, archeology, history, evolutionary studies, and brain research... According to Loye (1993), the potential for moral sensitivity...seems to have originated with the emergence of the sex drive, then expanded with the appearance of parental caring at the reptilian level and sociability at the mammalian level, culminating in full blown moral sensitivity with the human capacities for greater emotionality and higher intelligence largely governed by frontal lobe development. From this perspective, moral sensitivity is believed to be essential to the preservation of the species and appears to increase with higher intelligence (Loye, 1990).

Amplifying the work with Riane Eisler (1987), Loye describes two basic forms of social organization with opposing moral frameworks: a primary partnership mode involving equality, freedom, moral sensitivity and peaceful relationships, and a later, corrupted dominator mode that relies heavily on competition, power, domination and moral insensitivity. Loye views the re-establishment of the morality of the partnership mode as an evolutionary necessity if we are to avoid species' extinction. Theorists counted among those who detected these two worlds of morality are Kant (1788/1952), Piaget (1932), Fromm (1947), Freud (1966), Dabrowski (1967) and Gilligan (1982).

Csikszentmihalyi (1993), in The Evolving Self, also detects two worlds: one that leads toward harmony by the cooperative use of energy and one that leads toward entropy by the exploitive use of energy. He substantiates the evolutionary thrust of moral concern and explicates the role of complexity in morality...

Nonviolent social movements for democracy, ecological protection, renewable energy, human rights, and social justice inherently embody high moral values and reflect collective social and moral giftedness. This is the clash of civilizations before us: the majority of people worldwide who want to construct a just, life-sustaining, peaceful, ethical civilization challenging a primitive, dominator-based, violent system that privileges ostentatious material gain and violent power for a few at the cost of exploitation, suffering of the many and the destruction of entire eco-systems.

Empathy gene?

2011-11-26T10:12:00.000-08:00

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.

Psychopathological 1%?

2011-11-26T08:30:00.000-08:00

"Weeding Out Corporate Psychopaths" by Mitchell Anderson, published on Thursday, November 24, 2011, by the Toronto Star:

Given the state of the global economy, it might not surprise you to learn that psychopaths may be controlling the world. Not violent criminals, but corporate psychopaths who nonetheless have a genetically inherited biochemical condition that prevents them from feeling normal human empathy...

A peer-reviewed theoretical paper titled “The Corporate Psychopaths Theory of the Global Financial Crisis” details how highly placed psychopaths in the banking sector may have nearly brought down the world economy through their own inherent inability to care about the consequences of their actions...

Psychopathy should not be confused with insanity. It is best described by Robert Hare, global expert and psychologist, as “emotional deafness” — a biochemical inability to experience normal feelings of empathy for others.

This shark-like fixation on self-interest means that psychopaths often feel a clear detachment from other people, viewing them more as sheep to be preyed upon than fellow humans to relate to...

The human ability to build social capital means that people can cooperate and trust each other. We can reliably predict the behavior of others even if we have never met them. Social capital is the glue that holds together our communities, complex societies, large institutions and the economy. The one and only superpower possessed by psychopaths is their ruthless ability to spend the social capital created by others.

Scientists believe about 1 per cent of the general population is psychopathic, meaning there are more than three million moral monsters among normal United States citizens. There is emerging evidence that this frequency increases within the upper management of modern corporations. This is not surprising since personal ruthlessness and fixation on personal power have become seen as strong assets to large publicly traded corporations (which some authors believe have also become psychopathic)...

Boddy is not hopeful that the current round of expensive public bailouts will solve the problem. If psychopaths have in fact installed themselves in the upper reaches of the world’s financial institutions, their genetic deficiency dictates that their greed knows no bounds. They will continue to act in anti-social, remorseless ways, amplified by their enormous corporate influence until the institutions they represent and perhaps the entire global economy collapses. Obviously, more academic research in this area is urgently needed.

Original article: "The Corporate Psychopaths Theory of the Global Financial Crisis" by Clive R. Boddy, Journal of Business Ethics, Volume 102, Number 2, 255-259.

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

2011-11-25T06:02:00.000-08:00

(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 fact 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.

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.

Occupy Movement: Americans & South Koreans protest US-South Korea FTA deal that will hurt the 99% in both countries

2011-11-23T22:46:00.000-08:00

Via Democracy Now!:

Occupy, South Korean Activists Protest Trade Deal

Occupy Wall Street protesters joined with a group of South Korean activists on Tuesday to rally against the so-called free trade deal between Seoul and the United States. The demonstrators rallied outside the South Korean mission in New York. Protest organizer Adam Weissman of Occupy Wall Street criticized the crackdown on protesters who have been rallying at the South Korean parliament.

Adam Weissman: "It’s outrageous that peaceful protesters are being subjected to a weapon that can cause permanent injury — people have been blinded for life by water cannons — and President Lee, instead of violently assaulting protesters, should respect democracy and listen to his own people who are telling him that they don’t want this FTA (Free Trade Agreement), that it’s putting its country’s laws on the chopping block and compromising their rights in service to corporate profits."

The deal with South Korea is the largest trade agreement the United States has signed since the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico in 1994. South Korean farmers and workers oppose it, saying it threatens their livelihoods. South Korean organizer and church pastor Kim Dong-Kyun said the deal would harm the 99 percent in both countries.

Kim Dong-Kyun: "The FTA is a trade agreement that benefits the one percent of Korea and the U.S., therefore it will bring pain to the 99 percent of America and the 99 percent of Korea. That is why we are doing this with the Occupy Wall Street people from both countries."

Okinawan Dream of Democracy & Peace: Save Takae, an eco-village in Yanabaru Forest!

2011-11-23T20:20:00.000-08:00

The latest in decades of appeals from the Okinawan Democracy and Peace Movement:

Save Takae! Voice your opposition to the resumed US helipad construction!

(Iraq Peace TV in Japan produced this video report of the April 25, 2010 mass rally (that drew over 90,000 people) in Okinawa demanding the closure of U.S. Marine Futenma Air Station and halt to new U.S. military construction in Okinawa. With English subtitles. 6 min. Presented by Labor Beat.)

Good News from South Korea: Mayor Kang of Gangjeong released from political imprisonment at Jeju Island

2011-11-23T14:10:00.000-08:00

Gangjeong village Mayor Kang (in orange shirt) was freed from prison today with the other political prisoners from the village.

Mayor Kang spent 92 days in jail for not standing aside quietly as the South Korean military, in violation of democratic due process, seized farms, homes, and other real property belonging to Mayor Kang and the villagers he represents. The Gangjeong villagers are tangerine farmers and fisherpeople descended from Jeju Islanders who have farmed and fished on this once idyllic coastline for centuries. Mayor Kang and his neighbors received fines and probation for "obstructing business."

What about the prosecutor's role in "obstructing democracy"?

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

2011-11-19T15:00:00.000-08:00

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

Marilynne Robinson: "The earth has been under nuclear attack for almost half a century."

2011-11-18T15:19:00.000-08:00

While on sabbatical in Canterbury in the 1980's, American novelist and essayist Marilynn Robinson was shocked to learn that, during that period, the largest known source of radioactive contamination of the world's environment was Great Britain. For decades, the UK has been discharging nuclear waste from Sellafield, a nuclear weapons and nuclear waste reprocessing complex, into the Irish Sea. The complex, located in a national park (which includes the Lake District) on the northwest coast of England, just south of Scotland, has been storing tons of nuclear waste in an open pit which Robinson calls "the world's nuclear dustbin."

The writer explored her findings in an exquisitely crafted long essay, Mother Country: Britain, the Welfare State, and Nuclear Pollution. Robinson maps out historical threads between the abuse of state authority and power, predatory capitalism, and exploitative, throwaway attitudes that prioritize profit before human lives and the natural environment. Robinson specifically charts the movement from the pre-Elizabethan Poor Laws to state-sponsored industry in the UK.

This revelatory book, published in 1989, was essential reading before the Fukushima era: to enlighten us to the realization that many nations have been nuking themselves and the entire world via radioactive nuclear waste emissions on a daily basis for decades (as well as via the 2,083 "test explosions" conducted in their own backyards or "colonies").

Long before the the Bush/Blair invasion of Iraq on the basis of nonexistent WMD and the preoccupation with possible issues with Iran and North Korea, Robinson questioned the rationality of fears over potential nuclear weapons capabilities and deployment, in light of widespread inattention regarding ongoing nuclear hazards, including the continuous dumping of radioactive nuclear wastes into the Irish Sea at Sellafield.

She concludes, "It is a very comfortable thing to think that the greatest threat to the world is a decision still to be made, which may never be made—that is, the decision to engage in nuclear warfare. Sadly, the truth is quite otherwise. The earth has been under nuclear attack for almost half a century."

In the first part of her prescient and essential book, Robinson describes the layers of history that resulted in the creation of the radioactive nightmare known as Sellafield, located in an otherwise idyllic backwater of England:

:...the largest commercial producer of plutonium in the world and the largest source, by far of radioactive contamination of the world's environment, is Great Britain...The primary producer of plutonium and pollution is a complex called Sellafield, on the Irish Sea in Cumbria, not far from William and Dorothy Wordsworth's Dove Cottage. The variety of sheep raised in that picturesque region still reflects the preference of Beatrix Potter, miniaturist of a sweetly domesticated rural landscape.

The lambs born in Cumbria are radioactive. This fact is ascribed to the effects of the Russian nuclear accident at Chernobyl, but Sellafield is so productive of contamination that there is no reason to look elsewhere for a source. Testing of lamb and mutton was only undertaken some months after Chernobyl, though the plant at Sellafield routinely releases plutonium, ruthenium, americium, cesium 137, radioactive iodine, and other toxins into the environment as part of its daily functioning. The fact that food had not been tested systematically in an area whose economy is based on the production of food as well as the production of plutonium is characteristic of British policy, wherever there is a potential impact of industrial practice on public health.

It should be noted that the plant at Sellafield was built by the British government. It was developed and operated by the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority, and then given over to British Nuclear Fuels Limited, a company wholly owned by the British government. It should be borne in mind that the plant receives waste and reprocesses plutonium for profit, to earn foreign money...

The plant is expanding. Wastes from European countries, notably West Germany, and from Japan are accumulating there, while the British develop means of accommodating the pressing world need for nuclear waste disposal. Their solution to the problem amounts to extracting as much usable plutonium and uranium from the waste as they find practicable and flushing the rest into the sea or venting it through smokestacks into the air. There are waste silos, some of which leak uncontrollably. In an area called Driggs, near Sellafield, wastes are buried in shallow earth trenches. Until the practice was supposedly ended in 1983 by the refusal of the National Union of seamen to man the ships, barrels of nuclear waste were dropped into the Atlantic. In other words, Britian has not solved the problem of nuclear waste, but has in fact greatly compounded it, in the course of producing plutonium in undivulged quantities...

And then the British are not especially fortunate. Sellafield has had about three hundred accidents, including a core fire in 1957, which was, before Chernobyl, the most serious accident to occur in a nuclear reactor. Sellafield was called Windscale originally, until so much notoriety attached itself to that name that it had to be jettisoned. That an accident-prone complex like this one should be the storage site for plutonium in quantity is blankly alarming...

Robinson questions appearance and realities of "democracy" in the UK and other parts of the world in which a tiny minority makes decisions affecting entire populations, largely without their knowledge or input. These decisions made on the basis of exorbitant taxpayer-enabled profit; the nuclear industry would not survive without government subsidies and protections

For thirty years a pool of plutonium has been forming off the English coast. The tide is highly radioactive and will become more so. The government inspects and plant and approves the emissions from it. The government considers the plant poorly maintained and managed, and is bringing pressure to lower emissions. The government is expanding the plant and developing another one in Scotland. Foreign wastes enter the country at Dover and are transported by rail through London..Whose judgment and what reasoning lie behind these practices and arrangements? The question is never broached...

No hearing will ever convene to assess the wisdom of shipping radioactive wastes through a populous capital, or dumping them into the sea, or extracting weapons materials from them to be shipped by air into Europe, and through North America to Japan...

This book is essentially an effort to break down some of the structures of thinking that make reality invisible to us...

I am so angry to the depths of my soul that the earth has been so injured...This book is written in a state of mind and spirit I could not have imagined before Sellafield presented itself to me, so grossly anomalous that I had to jettison almost every assumption I had before I could begin to make sense of it...I must ask the reader to pardon and assist me, by always keeping Sellafield in mind—Sellafield, which pours waste plutonium into the world's natural environment, and bomb-grade plutonium into the world's political environment. For money.

...For decades, the British government has presided over the release of deadly toxins into its own environment, for money, using secrecy, scientism, and public trust or passivity to preclude resistance or criticism and to quiet fears...

If Americans have heard about Sellafield nuclear waste dump and plutonium factory, they have heard the name Windscale, which appears from time to time with little or no elaboration in lists of nuclear accidents. The Windscale fire of 1957, which for our purposes is the history of the public-relations strategies surrounding the event, bears an uncanny, not to say unnerving, similarity to the recent accident in the Ukraine. Windscale was the most serious accident in a nuclear reactor before Chernobyl. It occured in a graphite-moderated reactor with the sole function of producing plutonium for British bombs...

The clientele of Sellafield is a Who's Who of technologically advanced countries: Japan, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Holland, and Sweden. France has its own pipeline into the sea at Cap de la Hague on the English Channel...

According to the New Scientist, in 1986 the Central Policy Planning Unit of the Ministry of the Environment suggested that "it would be prudent to place restrictions on any development along and off the coast near Sellafield which could disturb the concentrations of radioactivity building up in mud and silts."

In her concluding words, Robinson links Sellafield with parallel nuclear history affecting other backwaters throughout the globe. It took more than Chernobyl, it has taken Fukushima, to awaken a majority of citizens in Japan to understanding and action. Fukushima families follow Cumbrian families who raised money to purchase their own Geiger counters because they cannot rely on the UK government's radiation monitoring. At intervals over thirty years, they protest and strike. Yet, most people worldwide know nothing about the suffering of the residents who live daily with plutonium and other nuclear radiation from a nuclear complex in one of England's tourist destinations.

Maybe the beaches at Sellafield had begun to glow in the dark. Islands in the Pacific that were used for atomic testing glowed for years, and contamination levels at Sellafield are like those at testing sites.

...the world's public arrives at this parlous moment with a grinding history behind it, badly educated, starved of information, full of sad old fears and desperate loyalties, injured in its self-regard, acculturated to docility and stoicism...There is no agora, where issues are really sorted out on their merits and decisions are made which, at best and worst, give permission to political leaders to carry our policies the public has approved. This model assumes information of a quality that is by no means readily available to us. It assumes a reasonableness and objectivity which allow information to be taken in and assimilated to our understanding, and in this we are also thoroughly deficient...

My greatest hope, which is a very slender one, is that we will at last find the courage to make ourselves rational and morally autonomous adults, secure enough in the faith that life is good and to be preserved, to recognize the grosser forms of evil and name them and confront them...We have to...consult with our souls, and find the courage, in ourselves, to see, and perceive, and hear, and understand.

-JD

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

2011-11-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

(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

Some sources, including 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 (London) 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)

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)

Dorli Rainey of Occupy Seattle: "Take one step out of your comfort zone."

2011-11-16T23:40:00.000-08:00

He's high drama, however American broadcast journalist Keith Olbermann deserves an Emmy for his brilliant and comprehensive coverage of the Occupy Movement.

Yesterday he interviewed filmmaker Michael Moore, who talked about the Obama administration's coordination of recent raids on protests in various cities.

Olbermann's restrained and reverent interview with Occupy Seattle supporter Dorli Rainey, an 84-year-old retired schoolteacher who was pepper-sprayed in Seattle, is beautiful. Rainey speaks of growing up in Austria during the Nazi era, and witnessing the march towards the shut-down of civil society and diminishment of individual rights and protections. She advises us all to "take one step out of your comfort zone" to address the erosion of civil liberties and due process protections since the George Bush administration.

These and other interviews are available online at Current.com.

* Another great interview with Dorli Rainey at Democracy Now!.

Occupy Love: ”We have not left: we have moved into your consciousness!”

2011-11-16T02:41:00.000-08:00

In Spain, when the time for camping ended, one camp left behind an enormous sign that said: ”We have not left: we have moved into your consciousness!”

The movement is growing and evolving in it’s own organic manner. Expect the unexpected. Occupy Consciousness.

- Filmmaker Velcrow Ripper's latest blog, Occupy Love

Save Jeju Island: Please stop the scheduled Nov. 18 dynamite blast of soft coral habitat at Jeju, a new "Seven Wonders of Nature"

2011-11-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

(Jeju Island is a beautiful volcanic island south of Korea. In 2007, UNESCO named Jeju a natural World Heritage Site. The southern coast of Jeju is home to the only natural dolphin habitat in the Korean peninsula and to the soft coral habitat, clown fish, and other subtropical marine wildlife in this video. In 2001, the Korean Cultural Heritage Administration designated it a national monument protection area. The South Korean government and military-industrial corporations profiting off the project want to destroy it (and farmland and homes forcefully seized, without due process, from the lawful owners) to make way for a mega-military complex.)

* UPDATE * from Sung-Hee Choi on Nov. 18:"It is told that the police have turned down the companies' request for the blast of the Gureombi rocks for three times. It is told that the reasons were: 1. insufficiency of the documents; 2. concern about the incident during the blast; 3. requirement for the agreement with the Island governor.

"We think your continued pressure to the Island Governor Woo (lmw2828@jeju.go.kr) really greatly helped to at least to delay the blast but we don’t know yet when the navy would suddenly conduct the blast without the consultation with the Island governor as the navy has done on Oct. 6 under the excuse of ‘test blast,’

"We so thank you for your solidarity and want to ask to you to continuously pressure the governor Woo. We also want to ask your pressure to the Ministry of Defense (S. Korean Defense Attach: defenattache@yahoo.com) to revoke all the naval base construction policy and not to blast the Gureombi, South Korea so that the military don’t commit crime unilaterally.

"The Headline Jeju reports this morning that the chief of the naval base business committee would be changed on Nov. 23. The newly appointed person will be the guy who has been a vice-commander of the 2nd Fleet, Pyeongtaek base where the large U.S. military base locates.

"Otherwise, there is a trial of the three including mayor Kang Dong-Kyun, villager Kim Jong-Hwan and photographer Kim Dong-Won at 3pm today. There will be the final statements of the three and I will inform on it later. The court decision will be on Dec. 1 and many people here are starting to send the appeal letters to the judge by Nov. 25. I have to hurry for my own appeal at the court at 2pm, too."

Earlier Action Request from Save Jeju Island:

Dear friends of Jeju Island,

On November 18th, the South Korean Navy is scheduled to blast Gureombi, the smooth volcanic rock along the coastline of Gangjeong village where the local people have been fighting day and night almost for 5 years to stop the naval base. Please take 5 minutes to be part of this global collective effort to stop this destructive blast.

Jeju was recently selected among the New Seven Wonders of Nature, which with its UNESCO triple-crowned status makes the island among the world’s most precious cultural and national treasures. In addition, the marine ecosystem that lines Gureombi is an absolute preservation area designated by the South Korean government because of the many endangered species that inhabit Gureombi, including the red-clawed crab and soft coral. The spring water that bubbles up from Gureombi provides up to 80% of the drinking water for residents of Seogwipo City, the southern half of Jeju Island. The destruction of Gureombi threatens the surrounding marine life and the clean water that farmers and villagers depend upon for their survival.

Please take action now and send an email to Jeju Governor Woo urging him to halt the blast and construction of the naval base. The Jeju Island governor should protect Jeju’s pristine nature from being destroyed. Although Governor Woo has the authority to order the Navy to halt construction, he is overseeing the destruction of this pristine coastline.

Gangjeong villagers are pleading for our help to prevent the Gureombi blast at whatever cost. Your contacting the Governor now will not only encourage them but also help save their village and lives. As one villager says, “Gureombi is Gangjeong, Gangjeong is Gureombi.”

STOP the BLAST. Write to Gov. Woo: lmw2828@jeju.go.kr

Dear Governor Woo,

You have the power to stop the blast of Gureombi, a government-designated absolute ecological preservation area. You also have the power to order the Navy to stop construction of the naval base and release innocent citizens. Will you leave behind a legacy of overseeing the destruction of a UNESCO preserve site and ancient Korean relics, or will you be remembered as a protector of democracy and peace on Jeju Island? Uphold your promise to those who elected you and stop the blast and construction immediately. We don’t want the ‘New Seven Wonders of Nature’ to be brutally destroyed.

Sincerely,

Facebook:

Save Jeju Island: Save Jeju Island on FB
No Jeju Naval Base: No Jeju Naval Base on FB

Website:

Save Jeju Island Save Jeju Island

Also see this previous Ten Thousand Things post featuring poignant commentary Sung-Hee Choi, who spoke about how love motivates her work when interviewed by American University anthropologist David Vine who visited the South Korean peace activist when she was a political prisoner in Jeju Island earlier this year.

Finally, this new Al Jazeera documentary, "Activate - A Call Against Arms," is well worth watching:

Aloha: Occupying APEC

2011-11-15T00:00:00.001-08:00

Mahalo to Temple Valley Times for posting Hawaiian musician Makana's "We Are the Many" which he sang before Pres. Obama and other state leaders meeting to discuss "free trade" at the APEC meeting this past weekend in Hawai'i.

PM Noda did not enter into TPP negotiations

2011-11-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

(A Via Campesina (family farmer cross-border network) conference convened in Chiba, Japan earlier in the fall to address the TPP threat to small farmers in Japan and other Asian countries)

Many thanks to Martin Frid at Kurushii for his nuanced and sensitive analysis of PM Noda's ambiguous ("To join or not to join") remarks re whether the Japanese government will or won't enter into Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.

Headlines in the North American media and a favorite Japanese newspaper, the Mainichi, made much ado about nothing: giving the impression that Noda had announced that Japan had formally joined the TPP talks. Martin's post quotes a variety of sources, rendering a multi-dimensional picture from Japanese (and other Asian) perspectives

Asahi Shinbun had somewhat better coverage of the TPP debacle. They quoted coalition partner Shizuka Kamei of the People's New Party, who has experience as a trade negotiator, and is against the TPP:
The TPP concept originated from trade rules established by Singapore and other small countries. The United States is seeking to use them to govern the Pacific Rim free trade zone. If Japan gets involved in TPP rulemaking, it would amount to being unfair to China, South Korea and Indonesia, which are all major trading partners for Japan and not parties to the TPP regime.
Asahi also had this analysis of how difficult it might be for Japan to get serious about negotiations, as different ministries are responsible for different sectors of talks, with opposite goals...

My conclusion is that Noda's announcement, for whatever it is worth, amounts to little of substance. This is how opponents of TPP look at it, according to Asahi's analysis:
DPJ members opposed to Japan's participation in the TPP negotiations watched Noda's televised news conference at a room in the Diet. "I was relieved," said Masahiko Yamada, former agriculture minister who is a staunch opponent of the TPP. "(Noda) did not go as far as to announce Japan's participation in the TPP talks, but stopped at entering consultations."

The archipelago's traditional culture of family farms is a starting point for Japan's transition into a sustainable future. Localized food production on small farms (the only energy-efficient method of food production) is an essential strategy to slow climate change and protect our natural environment and biodiversity.

Among food and climate change experts are calling for the localization of food production. Olivier De Schutter, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, an advocate for sustainable, small-scale agriculture ("Agroecology"), explains:

International trade only concerns nine to 10 percent of the food that is produced globally, yet it has had decisive influence on the way decisions are made on the way infrastructure develops and on how farmers are being supported...

Governments have generally supported export-led agriculture, supported global supply chains, and under-invested in local and regional markets.

Instead of going backwards (shutting down family farms and increasing imports of fossil-fuel intensive, emissions-based, GMO, pesticide-laden food products—that must be transported over long distances—from state-subsidized industrial factory farms and plantations), the Japanese government would be undertaking a domestic and global public service if it would further support and share its countrypeople's ethos of simplicity, sustainability and food security with the world.

Voices from Fukushima: Japanese citizens demand accountability on domestic, global levels as government continues reckless nuclear policies

2011-11-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

Eight months have passed since the disaster of March 11th, since which time I have been riding the same emotional see-saw as many others after emerging from the cocoon of fear and shock that ruled the initial days and weeks following the outbreak of the nuclear crisis. When facing the choice, however, of engaging my critical mind or succumbing to the more comfortable state of mind that most others here seem to have clearly chosen—blissful denial—I seem to find myself on most days choosing the latter.

With the exception of occasionally attending and writing about Japan’s steadily growing anti-nuclear movement, I have by-and-large opted to focus upon my everyday life and personal concerns. For some living in Fukushima, however, no such escape option exists. Every day is filled with uncertainties and questions with regard to matters of basic survival: What food is safe to eat? Can I drink this water? Is it is safe to send the kids outside to play?

Outraged at being forced into this situation, a group of Fukushima women decided to take things to the next level by holding a sit-in last week in front of the Ministry of Economy. Organized by members of NGOs and ordinary citizens, the first leg of the sit-in from October 27-30 was attended exclusively by women from Fukushima, then followed by a week-long solidarity sit-in action until November 5th for anyone else who wished to offer their support.

With the national and prefectural governments continuing to add insult to injury following the 3.11 triple disaster by making one outrageously irresponsible decision after the next, there is plenty to be indignant about: Stopping citizens from attempting their own radiation measurements, radioactive dumping in Tokyo Bay, feeding Fukushima schoolchildren with quite possibly contaminated food, and releasing negligent information regarding radiation figures, for starters.

I visited the sit-in the end of the final week, after darkness had fallen. Around 30 or 40 women (and a few men) were in attendance—a small number compared to the hundreds who were normally there during the daytime, I was told. Speaking with the woman staffing the registration tent, I could barely hear our exchange because of trucks parked nearby with a loudspeaker blaring the same message over and over again: “How dare you women come here and protest without identifying yourself! Each and every one of you should put your face and name on the Internet. What kind of cowards are you?” Unreal.

"Women's Action: We Don't Need Nuclear Power!"

“Typical men!” commented the woman I was speaking with, referring to the voice behind the loudspeaker, as I turned to make my way to those assembled for the sit-in. Trying my best to ignore the loud distraction (and to quiet my own anger at those causing it), I sat down with the women and began listening to the speaker addressing the group. Born and raised in Fukushima but living in Ibaraki at the time of the 3.11 disaster, long-time anti-nuclear activist Yuko Yatabe was propelled by shock to travel to Chernobyl following what had happened in her home prefecture. There, she met with citizens in order to discuss the lessons that might be learned for those in Fukushima now facing similar anxieties.

Yatabe showing artwork drawn by a child from Chernobyl

In response to Yatabe’s presentation, one woman raised her hand and commented about the need for Fukushima citizens to become self-empowered with regard to their own health. I approached her as the group was dispersing to ask her what she meant. I learned that she was named Ms. Shirai, and that she ran a grassroots network for alternative energies. “If people in Fukushima are fearful and depressed, their immune systems will be compromised, and they will be at an increased risk for succumbing to the negative effects of radiation,” she told me in an extremely animated voice. “I am trying to reach as many people as I can with the message that there are things they can do to increase their chances of staying healthy, such as waking up early and absorbing positive energy from the sun, or thoroughly cleaning their food in order to reduce possible radiation consumption.”

Shirai, who aims to help empower Fukushima citizens to take charge of their own health

I returned to the sit-in several days later during the afternoon, when one or two hundred participants were in attendance. I was delighted to meet Ruiko Muto, a Fukushima woman whose moving speech during the September anti-nuclear action in Shinjuku had gone viral (at least in Japanese circles) and had inspired me greatly. “While men may try and approach the world intellectually, we women feel things—particularly the power of life itself,” she told me. “And I believe that there is nothing wrong with approaching activism from this emotional perspective.”

“This may appear to be Fukushima’s problem, but as a matter of fact, it will very soon be Tokyo’s problem, as well as that of other Japanese cities,” said another woman, Setsuko Kuroda, who had also traveled from Fukushima for the sit-in. “For this reason, we must all begin working together and cooperating.”

I also ran into Yuko Yatabe again, and was thrilled to see that she was together with a small group of women including Yukie Tokura from the STOP! Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant movement and performance artist/activist Rena Masuyama who were on their way to deliver a petition to the Diet demanding that Japan cancel a plan to export contaminated food from Fukushima. Thanks go to Shingetsu News for filming the meeting:

Perhaps the most egregious of all (in)actions—the failure to protect children—is now the subject of a worldwide petition from Avaaz that is still collecting signatures. The petition’s website (which was updated November 11th) reads:

Right now, thousands of local residents are still trapped in the highly contaminated areas in and around Fukushima City. With black rain falling from the sky and local crops poisoned, children in families left destitute by the tsunami can’t afford to get out — and the government is failing to help them.

But a group of brave mothers have taken to the streets to ensure their children are helped out of the disaster zone. Hundreds of supporters from around the country have gathered for a sit-in outside the Ministry of Economy in Tokyo demanding that Prime Minister Noda grant their children the opportunity to evacuate. We can stand with them.

This is, literally, the fight of their lives. Children, sitting in the midst of radioactive contamination, don’t have a day to lose. In hours, the government will decide whether to act at an emergency meeting -- let's build a giant outcry for a healthy future for Fukushima children. Sign the urgent petition on the right and forward this campaign widely -- it will be delivered directly to the Prime Minister's office before the meeting.

This blog article from Greenpeace gives beautiful insight into the hopeful aspects of the Fukushima women’s protest, and Tokyo area blogger Ruthie Iida gives a thought-provoking account of her visit to the sit-in on her website, Kanagawa Notebook. Finally, British-born, Paris-based Japanologist Kevin Dodd gives a nuanced account about the post-3.11 culture of silence surrounding nuclear issues (which I also referenced above) on his website Senrinomichi.

As I was leaving the sit-in during my second visit, one woman approached me to say that she had been extremely inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement, and the way that it had taken off globally after being motivated by the Arab Spring and similar demonstrations in Europe. “These protests have their roots in the very same problems as do the nuclear issue in Japan,” she told me pointedly. “The nuclear industry are the 1%, while the rest of us are the 99%. If we want to solve these problems, it is critical that people from around the world continue working together in solidarity.”

--Kimberly Hughes