Testumi Takara: "Okinawans are being discriminated against, that is the fundamental problem."

This BBC article by Philippa Fogarty from last fall (Oct. 3, 2010) provides a comprehensive overview on U.S. military occupation of Okinawa and local insights into the Washington-Tokyo pattern of discrimination against Okinawans:

Okinawans are being discriminated against, that is the fundamental problem”

- Professor Tetsumi Takara, Ryukyu University



The Japanese island of Okinawa is the reluctant host of dozens of US military bases - and a row over moving an airfield has sparked an angry stand-off...

Heading north from the castle, the roads are gridlocked. For 20km, almost without a break, US bases stand on one or other side of the road.

High fences with "Keep out" signs make it clear that these areas are off limits to Okinawans.

Opposite them bars and shops sell used cars and Mexican food. Cargo planes and fighter jets fly overhead.

The bases occupy almost a fifth of the island. They constitute 74% of all US bases in Japan, on less than 1% of its landmass.

Okinawans have been saying for decades that this is not fair. And in April 90,000 residents gathered to protest, in the biggest show of opposition for 15 years...

Okinawa was forcibly incorporated into Japan in the late 19th Century. Sho Tai, the last Ryukyu king and master of Shuri Castle, died in Tokyo in 1901. A process of Japanisation began.

After the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II, Tokyo ceded Okinawa to temporary US control.

The US seized land for bases which now serve as the foundation for the US-Japan security alliance...

Protest over the issue has gone in waves. One came in 1972, when Okinawans found that reversion from US to Japan rule did not result in base closures.

Another came in 1995 after the gang-rape of a 12-year-old girl by three US troops.

The latest wave was triggered by Yukio Hatoyama, elected prime minister in June 2009, who suggested Futenma airbase could be moved off Okinawa altogether, instead of to the north of the island as previously agreed.

"Until then no politician had suggested moving the base out of Okinawa," said Susumu Inamine, the mayor of Nago, the northern city proposed as the relocation site. "The fact that the DPJ [Democratic Party of Japan] said it could gave people hope."

Amid this wave of hope, Okinawans elected four anti-base MPs to the national parliament. That same wave, in January, helped Mr Inamine fight the Nago mayoral election on an anti-base platform and win.

The huge April rally was held. The Okinawan prefectural assembly unanimously backed a letter demanding the removal of the base off the island. Seventeen thousand people formed a human chain around Futenma.

But - after intense US pressure - Mr Hatoyama back-tracked. In May he said he had been unable to find an alternative site for the base. His "heart-breaking conclusion" therefore, was that the relocation should go ahead as planned. Then he stepped down.

Okinawans were furious. Local media described it as a betrayal. Why, people asked, was it more acceptable to put bases in Okinawa than anywhere else in the country?

Since then, the anger has not gone away. Cars and buses sport signs calling for a "peaceful" Okinawa. So do some buildings. Local media remain militant.

Professor Tetsumi Takara, Dean of the Graduate School of Law at Ryukyu University, says the issue is much bigger than just the relocation plan.

Okinawans feel that their voices have been ignored by the Japanese government for decades, he says.

Since becoming part of Japan they have had no control over their fate - during World War II, when Okinawa was the site of Japan's only land battle, in the 1960s when US nuclear weapons were located in Okinawa, in 1972 when US rule ended but the bases stayed.

The rights of Okinawans, he says, have been consistently subordinated to Japanese security concerns. "Okinawans are being discriminated against. That is the fundamental problem," he says.

He says this point is not adequately understood on the mainland.

"When we protested in April, they thought we were protesting about the US military but that wasn't it," he said. "It was more about the questionable treatment we are getting from the Japanese government."

Naoya Iju, of the prefectural government, says that many people think that Okinawans are being treated as second-class citizens...

OKINAWA TIMELINE

1429: King Sho Hashi establishes Ryukyu kingdom, with seat at Shuri Castle

1609: Satsuma clan from southern Japan invade, establish tributary ties

1872: Japan makes Ryukyu kingdom a feudal domain; forcibly absorbs it in 1879

Apr - June 1945: An estimated 100,000 Okinawan civilians die in Battle of Okinawa

Aug 1945: Japan surrenders; US takes control of Okinawa

1972: Okinawa reverts to Japan; US bases stay

. Read the entire article here.

Ainu and Okinawan Human Rights- United Nations Forum on indigenous issues

The tenth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues convened at the United Nations Headquarters, New York from the 16th to 27th of May. Shimin Gaikou Centre (Citizens' Diplomatic Centre for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) vice president, Makiko Kimura, on behalf of her organization, Asia Indigenous Peoples’ Pact, Forest Peoples’ Programme, Citizens' Network for Biological Diversity in Okinawa, No Helipad Takae Resident Society, and Mo-pet Sanctuary Network, submitted a collective statement to the forum.

These organizations urge the Japanese government to fully realize the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and address human rights violations against the Ainu and Okinawan communities. Japan ratified UNDRIP in 2007, and subsequently recognized the Ainu people as the indigenous people of Japan, but does not recognize the indigeneity of the Okinawan people despite UN recommendations.

The report addresses how the government of Japan has violated Articles 29 and 32 of UNDRIP by authorizing projects which affect the lands and/or resources of indigenous peoples (including Okinawans) without "free, prior and informed consent" of the indigenous inhabitants. The report highlights a proposed industrial waste facility project in Monbetsu, Hokkaido, and the (de)construction which will result from the proposal of a new U.S. military base and helipads in Okinawa. The organizations request the direct intervention of the Special Rapporteur to the forum to halt further construction and ensure the establishment of a system by which the Ainu and Okinawans must provide free, prior, and informed consent before such projects are authorized.

Monbetsu City is the site of a sacred river for the Ainu people. Its original name in the Ainu language is Mo-pet, meaning "quiet river." Ainu have sustained themselves from this river and surrounding lands for thousands of years.

"The river used to be naturally winding, with deep pools..the fish breeds naturally here. Once the waste facilities are built and operated, it could bring fatal effects to the wild salmon's habitat."

Despite the historical and intimate relationship between the river and Ainu people, Hokkaido Prefecture, without any consultation with local inhabitants, approved the construction of a dumping site in this natural sanctuary:

First, regarding the Ainu people, the city government of Monbetsu, a municipality in Hokkaido Prefecture (traditional Ainu territory), authorized a plan to build an Industrial Waste Dumping Site near the Monbetsu river on February 26th, 2010. The Monbetsu River is one of the most important places for the co-existence between the Ainu culture and the natural environment, and an important site for autumnal salmon spawning in the Monbetsu area. A traditional ceremony (Kamui Cep Nomi) to thank the deities for providing the Ainu with lots of salmons was revived in 2002, and the ceremony is conducted every autumn by the local Ainu community.

Prior to the authorization, the local Ainu community in Monbetsu, working in collaboration with local Japanese groups supporting environmental conservation, demanded that the city government respect the UNDRIP including land, cultural and environmental rights and the principle of "Free, Prior and Informed Consent" (FPIC) and review the plan from the indigenous peoples’ perspective. However, the city government, unfortunately, has not given any consideration to the Ainu rights and has now authorized this project. As a result, the construction work has been already started, and the local Ainu people have sent application to the Prefectural Pollution Examination Commission (PPEC) to look into the matter.

In 2010, 56 indigenous organizations and 25 supporting NGO and NPOs joined together to gather signatures to a petition calling on Hokkaido prefecture to halt construction plans. One of the petition's signatories, the Ainu Art Project, is producing an animated film entitled The Fox of Shichigoro Stream that describes industrial waste facilities's destructiveness near Hakodate, in southern Hokkaido.

The report also urges the Japanese government to abrogate its proposal to construct a U.S. military base in Henoko and Oura Bay, the ecologically fragile habitat of the Okinawan dugong, and six new helipads in Takae.

Second, regarding the Ryukyuan/Okinawan people, the Government of Japan has not implemented the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Committee and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which call on the government to recognize Ryukyuan/Okinawan people as an indigenous people. As a result, as reported by UN Special Rapporteur Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, Doudou Diene, the heavy presence of the U.S. military bases in Okinawa remains as a form of discrimination against the people of Okinawa. At present, two new military base construction proposalss are being carried out under the agreement between the governments of Japan and the U.S., despite the longtime opposition from local indigenous peoples’ communities.

One massive U.S. military base is being constructed in Henoko and Oura Bay. While the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB) expressed its concerns about this plan in the closing statement of the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP10) in Nagoya in 2010, the Government of Japan has ignored the concerns raised in the statement and is proceeding with the plan. Another military base, six new helipads, is being constructed in Yambaru forest, Takae district of the Okinawa island. In response to their protest, the Okinawa Defense Bureau, the local agency of the Government of Japan, has filed Strategic Lawsuit against Public Participation (SLAPP) against local indigenous community members.

The SLAPP was filed against the sit-in demonstrators at Takae. SLAPPs are gaining currency by Japanese corporations and governmental bodies. They seek to pressure defendants into acquiescence by overburdening them with the cost of legal defense, not only infringing on human rights, but also intimidating citizens into silence. Chugoku Electric Power Company has also filed a SLAPP against those protesting against the Kaminoseki nuclear plant.

The report recommends the following:

1. We recommend the Government of Japan shall establish national and local systems in conjunction with indigenous peoples to obtain their free and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources, in accordance with the UNDRIP.

2. We recommend that the City Government of Monbetsu shall respect Free, Prior and Informed Consent of the local Ainu community concerned, and to reconsider the authorization of the Industrial Waste Dumping Site.

3. We recommend that the Governments of Japan and the U.S. immediately stop the construction of the military bases in Henoko and Oura bay, as well as helipads in Takae and review these proposals.

4. We request the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people shall use his good office to directly intervene in the Government of Japan regarding the construction of the Industrial Waste Dumping Site in Monbetsu city, Hokkaido Prefecture, and the construction of military bases in Henoko and Oura bay and helipads in Takae, Okinawa Prefecture.

Although the Japanese government recognizes the Ainu as indigenous people, this is in name only. Ainu are not guaranteed rights stipulated by UNDRIP. Therefore, Ainu experience rights infringements not only in Monbetsu, but also in Biratori where the government is planning to build another dam upsteam from the defunct Nibutani Dam and in Asahikawa where issues still remain over land promised to the Ainu by law. Furthermore, Hokkaido University refuses to return Ainu remains stolen from gravesites; the Tokyo Ainu have been repeatedly denied the right to build an Ainu community facility in Tokyo; and the Japanese government ignores requests to honor the right for the Ainu to control their own education.

Unless Okinawans are recognized as indigenous people by Japan, it is uncertain whether UNDRIP can be used as a tool to liberate them from the imposition of U.S. military bases. Competing viewpoints among Okinawans complicate this situation: many do not wish to be considered indigenous in the UNDRIP sense. However, growing solidarity in the international indigenous movement support the Ainu and Okinawan struggles and ensure that human and indigenous rights laws will continue to develop in Japan in keeping with global trends.

- Posted by Jen Teeter

"Testimony of a Fukushima Mother" & Green Action's Petition to Protect Children from Radiation-induced Cancers

"Testimony of a Fukushima Mother" by Sachiko Sato, posted at Counterpunch and Green Action's "EMERGENCY petition to roll back reckless radiation limits and protect hundreds of thousands of Japanese children from a lifetime of cancer fear":

OUR PETITION

We ask the government of Japan to take these action, beginning immediately:

Withdraw the 20 mSv per year radiation standard issued April 19, 2011 for children and restore the 1 mSv per year dose limit for children.

Minimize children’s radiation exposure. Increase support for municipal agencies and civil society groups aiding Japan’s thousands of radiation refugees and undertaking urgent decontamination efforts.

In setting radiation exposure limits, take into account “internal” radiation exposure from contaminated food, dust and other sources.

To protect children, maintain official radiation monitoring after outdoor contamination falls below 3.8 microSv per hour, a radiation level still 6 times what triggers a “radiation-controlled” working condition.

To people outside Japan, these demands will sound like mere commonsense. But given the stress and influences on the Japanese government, our people desperately need help for commonsense to prevail and for our children to be protected. Changing public policy in Japan will have the most far-reaching results.

We thank you for your understanding and support.

Free the Kamagasaki 7: Homeless and migrant worker rights advocates unjustly arrested in Osaka- 4 remain in police custody

Labor unions and their supporters are criticizing Osaka city officials because they are denying the right to vote to migrant workers, many whom are risking their lives in earthquake and tsunami-stricken Fukushima.

In 2007, Osaka City invalidated the residency cards of 2,088 people in Kamagasaki, a neighborhood housing many homeless people who work as temporary, migrant day laborers. The reason:their addresses were not valid. Their cards were registered with the Kamagasaki Liberation Assembly Hall, Furusato no Ie, and NPO Kamagasaki, all homeless advocacy organizations. Without residency cards, the homeless are unable to vote, obtain driver's licenses and other official documents.

Since 2007, members of the Kamagasaki Seven have worked to lobby Osaka City to revalidate the residency cards of the homeless migrant workers.

In the beginning of April 2011, these homeless and workers’ rights advocates were arrested by Osaka police for "interfering with a public servant in the execution of his/her duties.” Among those arrested include documentary filmmaker Reo Sato. He was apprehended on April 10th outside of polling boxes in Kamagasaki after casting his vote in the local elections. Prior to voting he walked around the neighborhood with other rights advocates encouraging the homeless to cast their votes despite a lack of residency cards.

On the same day as the original arrests, the police also searched 14 different households, including Sato's. Sato was not home at the time. Police confiscated 250 DV tape recordings, including the entirety of the footage he had been taking of the movement to restore residency rights since 2007.

Police rummage through Leo Sato's documentary footage
(Courtesy of Free K!)

Three of the Kamagasaki 7 were released on April 25th, however four have remained in indefinite detention. Police denied bail requests without justification. Since the arrests, local organizations have been raising awareness of the situation while gathering petition signatures in order to pressure the police for their release. These organizations include the Organization Against the Repression of the Kamagasaki 7 , Free the Kamagasaki 7, Hatarakibito [Working People] , and Kamo Pato Action. A petition started by the 4/5 Kamagasaki Oppression Organization, gaining the support of around 50 organizations thus far, can be found here.

Among the homeless temporary migrant workers affected by the Osaka City decision include 400 laborers from Kamagasaki now working in Tohoku. They face nuclear radiation sickness and endure poor working conditions.

The issue of a requirement of a permanent address to vote affects more than those who live in Kamagasaki. Homeless people in Japan now number 30,000. Moreover, evacuees from the Tohoku region number 200,000. Japanese city officials need to reconsider the requirement of a permanent address to vote.

130 rally for the release of Kamagasaki 7 on April 16th (This and more photos at Hatarakibito)

- Posted by Jen Teeter

Amidst hopeful signs, activists continue impassioned efforts to stop nuclear power plant in gorgeous Seto Inland Sea

Movement supporters' kayaks lined up near site of the proposed Kaminoseki nuclear power plant, Yamaguchi Prefecture, March 2011

A movement to stop construction of a nuclear power plant near the town of Kaminoseki in Yamaguchi prefecture saw a hopeful development late last week when the governor announced that it was considering to refuse any further lease of the land for the plant’s construction. According to an article in The Japan Times:

The Yamaguchi Prefectural Government might invalidate Chugoku Electric Power Co.'s license to reclaim land in the Kaminoseki area for a nuclear power plant, Gov. Sekinari Nii said Thursday.

Nii also told reporters the prefecture will set its policy direction "while examining developments" related to the government's review of nuclear energy policy in light of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

This news was welcomed with cautioned joy by a group of activists whom I met with in March after deciding to leave Tokyo during the initial bewildering days following the earthquake and tsunami, when the nuclear crisis in Fukushima was still unfolding. At this time, throngs of so-called genpatsu nanmin, or “nuclear power refugees”, headed westward from the greater Tokyo metropolitan area for safer climes when it appeared likely that a cloud of deadly radiation could be well on its way toward the Kanto region. At the invitation of a friend in Hiroshima, I boarded an early morning train—well aware of the irony given my destination—to seek refuge and also meet with local anti-nuclear activists, including those involved in trying to stop the Kaminoseki nuclear plant in neighboring Yamaguchi prefecture.

After spending several days and nights in an internet café glued to the news in order to try and make sense of the crisis, one of the first organizers I ventured out to speak with was Shoji Kihara, the author of a book called Nuclear Scandal, which outs the entire system whereby payouts are made to bribe people into supporting nuclear power despite its dangers. At the time, Kihara’s sense was that the Yamaguchi prefectural government would indeed eventually prohibit the plant from being built.

“It is a tragic irony, but in a sense the Fukushima accident probably had to happen in order to wake people up regarding the need for nuclear power policies to change,” he told me. “Electric power companies presently allocate nearly their entire energy budget toward nuclear power, with close to nothing at all for any sort of alternative energies. If the industry had not been so intent upon pushing nuclear power, what happened in Fukushima could have been avoided altogether. But now, people living near the Fukushima plant will experience the same cycle of worry, anxiety and fear that hibakusha have had to endure for more than 65 years, whether in Hiroshima, Nagasaki or Chernobyl.”

Several days later, I had an opportunity to chat with several more anti-nuclear activists while visiting the Hiroshima Center for Nonviolence and Peace, headed by Dr. Mitsuo Okamoto—a professor of Peace Studies under whom I studied while an exchange student in Hiroshima nearly twenty years ago. The professor's wife Tamayo is a committed campaigner against nuclear power, and through her introduction, I received an opportunity to actually visit the proposed plant site together with another dedicated member of the 'Stop Kaminoseki' movement, who travels to the site at least once every week to support the locals in their struggle.

Masahiro Watarida, my host for the day, picked me up several days later in the early morning for the three-hour drive to the plant, located at the tip of a peninsula facing the gorgeous Seto Inland Sea. An extremely kind and soft-spoken man, Watarida retired early from his nearly twenty-year career in the organic produce distribution industry in order to spend a year in the United States learning English and studying food security issues before returning to Hiroshima to become a full-time activist. He was extremely generous with his knowledge regarding the workings of the nuclear power industry and it's effects upon ordinary peoples' lives.

He told me that since the plant site was not in direct view of residents in the town of Kaminoseki, it was easier for the Chugoku Electric Power Company to buy them off and keep them quiet about nuclear power's potential dangers. “The fishermen’s cooperative from Kaminoseki sold their fishing rights around the plant site for hundreds of millions of yen, and the people have also gotten quite used to the cushy arrangement whereby the power company hands out huge subsidies for road repairs and other local projects,” he explained.

Watarida told me that the town of Kaminoseki and its environs are a “hotspot for biodiversity”, rich in seaweed and aquatic creatures such as the sunameri (finless black porpoise), and featuring one of the last pristine untouched spots in the entire Seto Inland Sea. “This was an extremely important area from around the 17th to the 19th centuries in terms of communication and transportation, so there is also enormous potential here in terms of tourism and history,” he explained. “We still have hopes that the local community here will wake up to these possibilities and stop being so dependent upon corporate handouts.”


The story was a completely different one, however, Watarida said, for those living on the nearby island of Iwaishima (mostly fishermen, and their wives), who literally find the proposed nuclear power plant site staring them directly in the face. He said that they had been loudly protesting the plant—which sits a mere four kilometers away from their island—since its inception some thirty years ago. Its fishing cooperative members staunchly refused to sell their rights to the electric power company, choosing instead to put up an impassioned fight to protect their natural way of life.

“Since the islanders of Iwaishima do not have many employment opportunities other than fishing due to being separated from the mainland, many men have gone on assignments to work in nuclear power plants in Shikoku or other parts of Japan,” Watarida explained. “They know the dirty truth of the industry firsthand, and in fact, a majority of these men have already died from cancer.”

After winding our way to the end of the peninsula, we parked the car and headed to an impressively constructed log house that a group of activists had built as their headquarters of sorts. Almost immediately, we came across a friendly looking man who was cutting down some bamboo trees. Watarida told me he was a fisherman from Iwaishima who was helping to lead the movement against the plant. When he heard I was a journalist, he remarked, “tell those people in the big cities if they need so much electricity, they can take this ugly nuclear plant and put it in their own backyard!”

In addition to the fishermen and their wives from Iwaishima, I learned that the movement had also recently gotten a fresh infusion of energy from a cadre of young kayakers concerned with environmental destruction, who began coming in from all around the country to lend their voices and support. Several of them were inside the log house when we arrived, and invited us in to chat over steaming cups of organic biwa (loquat) tea harvested from Iwaishima island—one of the local, small-scale sustainable industries that the islanders were trying to emphasize in their fight against the plant.

One of the youth, I was told, was a twenty year-old who spearheaded a ten-day hunger strike two months earlier with four other young activists in an effort to try and stop construction of the plant. The young man, whose name was Naoya Okamoto but was known mostly by the nickname "Kin", told me that he knew absolutely nothing at all about nuclear power until a year prior; but after learning about it from a friend who had heard a speaker on the issue, he knew he had to act. “Radiation affects young people the worst, but most youth have no idea about this issue,” Kin said. “I wanted to do something to try and change the world before I turned twenty, and I figured that a hunger strike might work in terms of shocking people into paying attention to this critical problem.”


Right to left: Kin,Watarida, and another young movement supporter
After finishing our tea, we made our way down a steep path to the plant site at the peninsula’s tip. Although a moratorium was called on further construction at the Kaminoseki site following the disaster at the Fukushima plant, the Chugoku Electric Power Company tried to find a loophole by sending a crew to the site to conduct “research”, which consisted of blasting dynamite into the ground and then clearing the rubble. “Clearly, this is not ‘research’; it is construction,” Watarida observed. “Just one more of the company’s lies.”

Ignoring both the posted signs and the periodic loudspeaker outbursts telling non-workers to stay away, we proceeded to the water’s edge. Coming down the path, we held on to bamboo railings that had been crafted by the man we ran into earlier, whose name I learned was Yoshito Kanata. We found him sitting on the edge of a kayak, drinking a beer.

“The people who are supporting this plant have been completely brainwashed by money, and are now totally dependent on it,“ he told us after motioning us over. “On Iwaishima, we fish for our own dinner, because nothing tastes better than something you have worked for and gotten through your own sweat and hard work.” He snorted with laughter, raising his beer into the air, but then grew serious again. “If this plant is built and something goes wrong, the entire Seto Inland Sea will be completely destroyed.”

Watarida told me later that Kanata once worked at a nuclear power plant on nearby Shikoku Island, but found the conditions so horrifying there that he lasted only one month, and never returned.

We sat for awhile, watching a bora fish arcing across the bay in a series of graceful, energetic leaps. “These islanders know how to live in harmony with nature, and we need to learn from them,” Watarida finally said slowly, looking off into the distance. “The seashore—it’s a part of the commons.”

Masahiro Watarida points toward Iwaishima from the proposed plant site

Yoshito Kanata standing next to construction clearly underway

Back at the log house, another activist named Yota Nakayama was busy e-mailing and making telephone calls. He said that after the Fukushima accident, he had been contacting the Chugoku Electric Power Company and the Ministry of the Economy every day to demand that construction at the Kaminoseki plant be stopped immediately.

When I told him that I was from Arizona, he told me he had been to the Hopi and Navajo reservations several times as a participant in the Longest Walk, an event organized to raise awareness and facilitate social action regarding various issues facing Native Americans. He was in touch with friends who were on the walk, and told me that when they learned of the disaster in Japan, they had just arrived onto the Hopi reservation.

We both noted that the timing of this was an interesting convergence in light of the Hopi Prophecy, which is a message passed down through several generations that tribal elders decided to release publicly after being horrified to learn that plutonium and uranium taken forcibly from their land (an act that they described as “carving out the earth’s vital organs”) were used to create the atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki—themselves actions that were part of the prophecy.

Their message described how humankind had come to stand at the crossroads of two possible futures, depending on which actions were taken: either peaceful sustainability or total annihilation. I had learned about this from a 1986 documentary film titled Hopi no yogen (The Hopi Prophecy), a classic among social activists in Japan that I had seen the previous year at an arts festival. Unsurprisingly, some were now saying that the recent disaster in Japan was further evidence of the world now having arrived at this moment of truth.

After chatting a bit more with the group, Watarida and I made the drive back to Hiroshima—stopping first on the waterfront in Kaminoseki, where a young man called Nobu—a long-haired musician who was one of the core activists from the log house—had gone to play his guitar and sing in the hopes of reaching out to locals with his message. Although he rarely attracted an audience, he said, still he continued going to sing in the town every day in the hopes that even one local would be touched by his music and consider joining the movement.


Nobu singing for the cause in Kaminoseki
Nobu's melodies were hauntingly beautiful, and while we listened—each of us sitting apart from each other along the dock with our own thoughts, and yet very much together—I felt an incredible sense of oneness with this group and its purpose. I wanted to stop time to keep the feeling, to explore the region further, to go deeper with the connections I had begun to forge. I knew, however, that the time was approaching for me return to Tokyo in order to move on with life—in whatever direction that would turn out to be.

This post was excerpted from 'Finding Hope in Hiroshima,' a photo-essay presently awaiting publication. Kimberly Hughes is a Tokyo-based writer, freelance translator, and university educator. Her writings may be found at http://kimmiesunshine.wordpress.com.

US Nuclear Tests "Betrayal" of Atomic Bomb Survivors

The latest US tests,  took place in November last year and March this year at the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico and used "Z Machine" equipment capable of generating the strongest X-Rays in the world to simulate the fusion that occurs in nuclear reapons. (Photo: EPA)

US Nuclear Tests 'Betrayal' of Atomic Bomb Survivors: A group of anti-nuclear protesters staged a sit-in in the Japanese city of Hiroshima against new nuclear experiments conducted by the United States

May 25, 2011
The Telegraph/UK

The group of 50 protesters at the city's Peace Memorial Park, with its leader, Nobuo Takahashi, 72, saying the latest tests were an "unforgivable act" that insults the victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings...

Mr Takahashi, leader of the Hiroshima Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, read out a protest letter to President Barack Obama, which said: "We absolutely cannot accept the attitude of sticking tot he possession and development of nuclear weapons, even after (Obama) declared his intention to create a world free of nuclear weapons"...

Live streaming of Greenpeace Japan's report on nuclear contaminated waters around Fukushima- May 26 (Sign petition please!)

See you later nuclear power!

The nuclear disaster in Japan continues to unfold as Tokyo Electric Company (TEPCO) has also confirmed meltdowns in reactors 2 and 3, after just releasing information on May 15th that reactor 1 of the Fukushima power plant had indeed experienced a meltdown as early as 16 hours after the earthquake.

Koichi Nakano, a political scientist at Sophia University in Tokyo, told Reuters, "In the early stages of the crisis TEPCO may have wanted to avoid panic. Now people are used to the situation … nothing is resolved, but normal business has resumed in places like Tokyo."

The slow pace at which information is being released is hindering efforts to contain radiation and ensure that residents living in reach of contamination are evacuated to safe locations. Citizens across Japan and the world have been raising their voices against the continued use of nuclear power and the concealment of information (See photo essay on demonstrations against the proposed Kaminoseki nuclear plant in Seto Island, and Ten Thousand Things posts on marches in Jeju Island (Korea), Kyoto, Osaka, Shizuoka, and Tokyo (April 10th and May 7th ).

In response, Greenpeace asked the Japanese government for permission to conduct a survey of the radiation in the coasts surrounding Fukushima.The government only permitted them to survey the ocean 22 kilometers from the shore from May 3rd through 6th. With the help of local fishing cooperatives in Fukushima Prefecture and Miyagi prefecture, Greenpeace examined the levels of radioactive contamination present in marine life.

Here is a video of their activities near the Fukushima coast:

"We are talking here about long lived radioactive materials that might accumulate in the food chain and cause threats to the health of the Japanese people for the coming decades...Although the Japanese government gave us only very limited permission to do our marine research, we did find radioactive seaweed with alarming high levels of contamination." - Female Greenpeace Researcher

"We demand that the Japanese government conduct more serious investigations of the levels of contamination in the ocean" - Male Greenpeace Researcher (Translation of Japanese)

The results will be reported at a press conference on Thursday May 26, from 11:30-12:30 (Tokyo Time). For those unable to attend the press conference, it will be screened live at the following link: http://www.greenpeace.org/japan/ja/library/ustream/

Greenpeace is also collecting petition signatures online calling for:

• no more nuclear plants
• a permanent halt to the use of nuclear plants currently operating

The petition is in Japanese, but it is simple to add your name.

1. Click on orange button.
2. The first field is for your name, the second for your address, and the third for your email address.
3. Choose the second circle in the fourth column if you do not want to receive Greenpeace's mail magazine in Japanese.
4. Then click the orange button under that and you are done.

In order to prevent the next nuclear disaster, Greenpeace is also urging concerned individuals to email the boards of international banks that are funding the construction of a nuclear power plant in Jaitapur, India. These are some of their talking points found here:

* Since the Fukushima nuclear disaster countries such as Germany and China have put moratoriums on nuclear expansion, but India and South Africa announced plans to further develop their nuclear energy programmes. The most worrying of these is situated in a place called Jaitapur in India. Which if completed will be the world's largest nuclear power facility.

* Two of the world’s largest banks, HSBC and BNP Paribas, are part of a group of banks looking to invest in this project.

* The proposed reactors would be built on a high risk earthquake zone on the coast - leaving it vulnerable to earthquakes and potential Tsunamis and flooding.

* The project faces very strong local opposition, as it would have huge impacts on the local environment and economy, affecting more then 20.000 farmers and fisherman.

* HSBC's climate investment update has show that nuclear power is considerably more expensive then renewable solutions, like wind power.

* By removing nuclear power from their investment portfolios, these two banks can be leaders in the clean, safe energy future. We need them to only invest in renewable and energy efficiency technologies.

* For those of you who are clients of the banks you can communicate that you do not want your savings to be used in financing dangerous nuclear projects like Jaitapur, you want your bank to support clean, safe and sustainable energy.

Germany, China, and Italy have laid to rest plans to build new nuclear plants. Toshiba has recently announced that they will turn the focus of their kaleidoscope away from nuclear energy and instead concentrate on renewables. However, Prime Minister Kan and Japanese bureaucrats ignore the tell-tale signs that nuclear power is morally, functionally, and ethically extinct, and instead continue to insist that nuclear power can be used safely in the future.

The funding currently being channeled into nuclear in Japan, can be shifted to renewables like photovoltaic and wind energy instead. This will allow Japan to realize its proposal to equip all new buildings with solar panels by 2030, even sooner. Plus, the loss of more lives and the destruction of livelihoods can be prevented.

- Posted by Jen Teeter

The Asia-Pacific Journal: "What Price the Fukushima Meltdown? Comparing Chernobyl and Fukushima"

(A joint survey conducted by the Japanese and U.S. governments has produced a detailed map of ground surface radioactive contamination within an 80-kilometer radius of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.))

Tokyo Electric Power Company, TEPCO, has now acknowledged the early meltdown of at least three reactors in the first multiple meltdown in nuclear history. Matthew Penney and Mark Selden have organized and assessed the contentious literature comparing Chernobyl and Fukushima in their recent article, "What Price the Fukushima Meltdown? Comparing Chernobyl and Fukushima," published at The Asia-Pacific Journal and republished at Truthout and Znet.

Along with Greenpeace on Twitter (gpjen) and Fukushima Update, Kyoto-based Green Action's blog, The Asia-Pacific Journal has been the best source of comprehensive in-depth investigative English-language reporting and analysis of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant failure, attempted cover-ups, and radiation risks. APJ editors and contributors recognized early on the seriousness of the accident and radiation risks The online journal has published some fifty articles on Japan's 3.11 earthquake/tsunami/nuclear power disaster in the last three months and several more must-read pieces are in the works.

Penney and Selden conclude that Fukushima radiation exposure to school children is at the center of the debate; challenging the Japanese government's failure to "respond effectively to critics of policies that pose long-term risks to the nation’s children."

For updates, consider subscribing to APJ's free Weekly Newsletter announcing new articles, and visiting them on Facebook and Twitter.

Gangjeong, Jeju Island, South Korea — "One Island Village's Struggle for Land, Life, and Peace"

Every summer, hundreds of dolphins, traveling from Alaska, visit the sea off the village of Gangjeong, Jeju Island. Video courtesy of Yang Dong-Kyu, a filmmaker who took this haunting footage of dolphins responding to his calls in summer 2009. 

Renowned Korean film critic Yang Yoon-Mo, has been on a hunger strike against the destruction of the Gangjeong coast to make way for a nuclear naval base, for almost two months. He is approaching death. Artist and peace blogger Sung-Hee Choi has been arrested along with 7 other people who are also protesting on behalf of the sea, dolphins (the Gangjeong coast is the only natural dolphin habitat in South Korea), soft coral, and other sea life. They represent the 1,500 villagers of Gangjeong and the members of environmentalist, faith-based, and peace NGOs worldwide who support them.

Anders Riel Müller's article is a tribute to the villagers' struggle to protect this beautiful ecosystem from destruction and to build genuine democracy in South Korea.

Originally published at the Korean Policy Institute website (with links to articles and a video of the author's visit to Jeju Island)

One Island Village's Struggle for Land, Life, and Peace

Anders Riel Müller, April 19, 2011

In early April I had the chance to visit one of the most beautiful areas in South Korea. Gangjeong Village on the island of Jeju is a small farming and fishing community on the island's southern coast. Entering the village you see citrus groves and greenhouses on all sides. On the main street, women were sitting on the sidewalk cleaning fish and selling them to the locals. The cherry trees lining the main street were just beginning to bloom. It was a welcome break from congested and crowded Seoul where I live. In many ways it reminds me of the island in Denmark where I grew up. Nothing special seems to be going on, and that's the beauty of it. But this community of approximately 1,500 farmers and fishermen is in the midst of a struggle against the South Korean government's attempt to build a major naval base right in the middle of their village. The Navy and the Korean government claim that the base will have minimum impact on the environment and that it will create jobs and attract new tourists to the area. The villagers will have none of it. They see that the base will destroy their way of life, their village and the peace that Jeju islanders strive for. But the navy continues to raze farms and fishing grounds despite their protests.

Jeju's Geo-strategic Curse

The island of Jeju is as far away from Seoul as you can get geographically and mentally. This autonomous island province, located south/southwest of the Korean peninsula is in many ways distinct from mainland Korea. It's relative geographic isolation, volcanic geological history, and warmer climate has formed a people whose traditions, food, and culture is as distinct as the islands natural features. Because of this, Jeju is also the biggest single tourist destination in Korea often named "Honeymoon Island" as it is a favored destination for newlywed Korean couples. The island economy is also distinct. Agriculture, tourism, and fishing are the three main economic sectors, helping the island preserve its natural beauty and traditional way of life. Development in Jeju can be said to have followed a pace in which it was possible to modernize without having to completely compromise the island's environment, traditions and culture. This is not to say that Jeju is an untouched island paradise. Luxury tourist resorts, golf courses, and tacky tourist attractions can be found in many places, but once you venture a bit off the beaten path you will find the Jeju that makes it a special place.

Nevertheless, Jeju's curse is its strategic location between South Korea and Japan, and its close proximity to China. It is only 300 miles from the Chinese mainland and Shanghai. For centuries, Jeju has been the battleground for conflicts that had little to do with the islanders themselves. In modern times, Jeju was annexed along with the rest of the Korean Empire by Japan in 1910. Thousands of island men were sent to work in mines and factories in Japan and Manchuria, while women were forced into prostitution to service the Japanese Imperial Army. Towards the end of World War II, the Japanese heavily fortified the island, deployed 70,000 soldiers, and forced the islanders to construct coastal defenses in anticipation of a U.S. invasion. When Japan surrendered in 1945, Jeju joined the rest of Korea to celebrate the end of decades of colonial rule and exploitation. But for the people of Jeju, the horrors experienced under Japanese rule were nothing compared to what was to come.

The Jeju Massacres

The division of the Korean Peninsula by the United States and the Soviet Union turned Jeju into a battlefield for subsequent cold war conflicts on the peninsula. In 1948, with U.S. and U.N. support, South Korea held elections that established a separate state in the south, thus solidifying Korea's division. In response, 30,000 islanders in Jeju went out to protest the elections, which was abruptly ended when police opened fire and killed eight protesters. This prompted riots throughout the island and the boycott of the South Korean elections by Jeju islanders. Unfortunately, the United States overseers annulled the Jeju election results due to their lack of participation, and Syngman Rhee was elected without the votes from Jeju counted. But that wasn't all. Korean right wing nationalists labeled the entire island as Communists sympathizers. When U.S. backed leader Syngman Rhee took power following the elections, he initiated a massive "Red" cleansing campaign targeted the Jeju general population. Using the South Korean military and ultra rightist paramilitary groups from the Northwest Korean Youth Association, the Rhee government employed a scorched earth strategy of repression resulting in the indiscriminate raping of women and burning of villages. Thousands of people were killed. It is estimated that 70 percent of entire villages were razed to the ground and 30,000 people—ten percent of the island's population—were murdered. It was a brutal precursor to what the mainland would experience during the Korean War.

At the newly constructed Peace Park Museum and Memorial for the massacre, one can take a few moments to reflect on Jeju's fate as a battleground for imperial and ideological conflicts and the meaningless loss of lives that people here have suffered. I went there on April 4th for the commemoration of "Sasam" as the massacre is called locally. From the thousands of people who were gathered for the memorial ceremony, it is clear that the massacre has left deep scars in Jeju society. For years, any mention of the massacre could lead to imprisonment and torture. Relatives of those who had been labeled as Communists were prevented from taking public service positions or jobs in many companies. Many are still afraid to talk about what happened.

It was not until 2006 that the late President Roh Moo-Hyun officially apologized for the massacre and designated Jeju "Island of World Peace". For 50 years, successive governments in Seoul silenced the Korean people's memories of systematic murder, rape and torture. As one exits the museum, a sign reads: "Jeju April 3rd Incident will be remembered as a symbol of the preciousness of peace, unity and human rights." But the government's memory is short. Plans for a major naval base on Jeju had been in the works since 2002 at different locations, but opposition from local residents halted construction several times.

The Plight of Gangjeong Village

In Gangjeong however, the navy and the South Korean government seem determined to construct the base by any means necessary. I met an artist and activist Sung-Hee Choi is living in Gangjeong to support the struggle of the villagers. Gangjeong means the "Village of Water," she says, referring to the abundance of surface fresh water in the area, a rarity on this island of porous volcanic rock. The clean water from the Gangjeong stream is what makes the farmland some of the most fertile on the island. Greenhouse after greenhouse and miles of citrus orchards confirm that farming here is a good way of life for the residents. Much of this will soon be paved over if the Navy and central government get their way. As we walk down to the beach, we pass bulldozed fields with chopped down wilted citrus trees and collapsed green houses. The Navy contractors from Samsung and Daerim are not wasting any time. It is quite obvious that such physical destruction is part of the Navy's strategy to silence resistance in the village. Some residents have already given up the fight and sold their land fearing that they will be fined if they did not sell. The government alleges that the construction is legal, that the residents have been offered fair compensation, but many locals feel pressured and cajoled into selling their land.

Down at the beach one quickly recognizes that this is a uniquely beautiful coastal stretch. The volcanic rocks, many coves and unique fresh water tidal pools provide habitats for a wealth of animal and plant life. Underneath the water, endangered soft corals provide habitat for an abundance of sea life. The importance of these ecosystems have been officially recognized by UNESCO as part of its designation of the Jeju biosphere reserve and the provincial government is currently seeking nomination as one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World. But again the government seems to care little about these designations. Construction companies have already destroyed large areas of volcanic rock formations with their bulldozers and trucks.

As we walk along the cliffs and lava rock formations, we have a moment to stop at a few of the fresh water tide pools filled with marine life. "I never noticed these pools before," Sunghee says. "I have been too busy watching the navy watching us." She points to the navy headquarters a few hundred yards away from where they track and monitor all movement on the coast. Except for a few women gathering shellfish, we are alone. Sunghee tells me that usually spies working for Samsung or the Navy disguised as sport fishers watch them. I can see that the constant monitoring is taking its toll on both activists and villagers. Each time I saw Sunghee over the few days, she always looked exhausted. From the perspective of villagers and activists, the navy is playing a game of psychological warfare with those who oppose base construction. We walk back to where we entered the beach. Artworks, posters and boards tell visitors about the unique ecosystems of this coastal stretch and how all of it will be destroyed by the base construction.

On the rocks we meet well-known movie critic Professor Yang Yoon-Mo. A Jeju native, Mr. Yang has lived in a tent on the rocks for four years to protest the base construction. I ask for a brief interview but Mr. Yang declines. "There is no more to be said or explained," says Yang. "Now I just want to enjoy the beauty of this place." It is a beautiful and quiet spring day and the coast is almost deserted besides a few tourists. The peace is disturbed only when two minivans come down to the beach. Sunghee's and Mr. Yang's faces light up. The minivans have transported solidarity delegations from Okinawa and Gwangju to Gangjeong to support the villagers. Both delegations have experienced the consequences of being victims of larger geopolitical and ideological conflicts. Okinawans have protested U.S. military presence for decades and Gwangju delegates are relatives of the victims of the brutal Gwangju massacre in 1980.

Sunghee explains that construction machines are usually there, but that they were probably withdrawn for fear of conflict with protestors during the weekend of the Sasam commemoration and the solidarity demonstration announced by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). Several villagers, including the mayor, have been injured and arrested from skirmishes with the police. It seems that this day the Navy and construction companies have decided it is wisest to withdraw given all the media attention during Sasam.

Why the Naval Base on Jeju

The Korean Navy claims that the new "eco-friendly" naval base will create jobs and increased security for the island. But it is difficult to imagine an eco-friendly 50-hectare naval base that will house 8,000 marines, up to 20 destroyers, several submarines and two 150,000-ton luxury cruise liners. Considering that each destroyer has up to a 100,000 horsepower engine it is difficult to see how the base can be considered safe for an ecologically sensitive environment, not to mention that most of the volcanic rock formation will be paved over with cement and concrete. The second argument is that the new base will provide an economic boost for the island. But what kind of jobs will be created? People in Gangjeong are farmers and fishers living off the wealth of land and sea. The jobs that usually accompany military bases are more likely to be in service industries such as bars, brothels and souvenir shops. The sheer size of the naval base will inevitably lead to the complete erasure of this community, and the villagers know it.

The final argument for the base is that it will provide vital security for the island. But history shows otherwise. Any time a major military force has been present on the island it has led to death, displacement, and destruction of the local population. Jeju islanders experienced atrocities from the Japanese during the occupation and later by their own countrymen during the Jeju massacre. The real issue here is not about the security of Jeju, but rather the strategic placement of a new naval base tasked with securing shipping lanes which are the lifeline of South Korea's resource intensive corporations. This new strategically located fleet will also take on an increasingly offensive role in the East China and South China Sea.

In a recent article Christine Ahn and Sukjong Hong reveal how the base will play a strategic role in efforts by the U.S.-South Korea-Japan alliance to reign in Chinese naval expansion. While South Korea claims that the base is not intended for use by the United States, the likelihood that the U.S. Navy would utilize the base in any military conflict in the region is obvious given U.S. operational control over Korea's military. The base is also viewed by some in the military establishment as symbolic of South Korea's emergence as a world power in which the navy will play a central role. In an interview with the conservative paper JoongAng Daily Admiral Jung Ok-keun of the ROK Navy said, "The establishment of the flotilla is a sign that we are becoming one of the powerful navies in the world, the goal we have been dreamed of." There can hardly be any doubt that this new 953 billion Won naval base will serve as a strategic offensive outpost for South Korea and its allies. In this context it is difficult to understand how a base in Gangjeong will increase security for Jeju residents. In a potential military conflict with China, Gangjeong will be an important strategic target, just as Pearl Harbor was for the Japanese in WWII.

Still Hope

Sunghee and I walk back to the village. She is clearly encouraged by the arrival of the Gwangju and Okinawa delegations, and re-energized by the peaceful and beautiful coastline. After teaching an English class to some local students, we walk over to one of the local restaurants for dinner before joining a solidarity demonstration organized by KCTU later that evening. We have to give up finding food in the center of the village because most of the restaurant owners have left for the demonstration. Sunghee tells me that the village has been torn apart by the struggle - neighbor against neighbor, and relatives and against relatives. Many have given up, exhausted and fearful of the Navy. Not all, however, have thrown in the towel.

We arrive at the community soccer field situated right across the road from the main gate to the Navy headquarters. We greet the dog that activists, in a gesture of humor, have placed to watch the Navy headquarters, and join the 1,300 protesters who have come from all over Korea to support the villagers. It is already dark when we arrive, but the hundreds of candles held by the protesters provide a comforting atmosphere. Protesters are of all ages and walks of life: families with children, villagers, workers and activists. Watching the crowd sing songs for peace and reunification, it is hard to believe the government's claim that the protest is the work of a handful of extreme activists.

Sitting in the bus on the way back to my hotel, I reflect on the last few days in Jeju and how if this naval base is not stopped, the Gangjeong villagers' livelihoods, histories and traditions may soon be erased from memory, all because of strategic geo-political ambitions that have nothing to do with them or their way of life. On April 6th, two days after my visit to Gangjeong, the navy began construction again. Sunghee Choi and Yoon-mo Yang were arrested and detained by the police. Sunghee was released the following day, but Mr. Yang was not released until April 8th. Meanwhile the villagers continue to block the construction of the base. To stay updated, follow Sunghee Choi's blog.

This UNESCO World Heritage designated island stands to lose much of what makes it part of our world heritage. The transformation of Jeju into a military base also shows that much has yet to change in South Korea before a true democracy is established. The strategies of subtle coercion and lack of transparency by both the Navy and the South Korean government against its own people are discouraging to any person concerned about democracy and the rights of people. The struggle of Gangjeong villagers for land, life, and peace should concern us all.

Anders Riel Müller is a fellow with the Korea Policy Institute living in South Korea

To prevent the destruction of the Gangjeong region and coast, the only dolphin habitat in the Korean peninsuala, and to support the the villagers of Gangjeong, Professor Yang, and the former governor of Jeju Island, please write to the Korean Ambassador in your country. Here's the website to send messages to Ambassador Han Duk-soo in the U.S.: http://www.dynamic-korea.com/embassy/meet.php The site asks for votes for Jeju Island as one of the "Seven Wonders of the World." Please ask the Embassy not to destroy its "Seven Wonders of the World."

Photo Highlights of ALL WEEK LONG "No to Nuclear" Rallies in Kyoto, Japan- Last walk today 2pm

Students, workers, Tokyo and Tohoku evacuees, hundreds of people have come from far and wide to raise their voices against nuclear power EVERY DAY in Kyoto all this week. The daily walk through downtown Kyoto is not organized just for the sake of protesting. Participants are coming together to learn, exchange ideas, build networks, and formulate proposals to create a nuclear-free Japan.

Come today to Sanjo Ohashi to join in the final demo for the week.

• Meet at 2pm
• March at 3pm

Organized by: Organization to Stop Kansai Electric Nuclear Power Plants

Organization contact info: genpatsu.tomeru@gmail.com/090-9860-9860
http://genpatsumoumuri.seesaa.net/
http://ooburoshiki.tumblr.com/
https://twitter.com/#!/oooburoshiki

Here are some photo highlights from the week. More to come!

Day 1- Hundreds proclaim "No Nukes" in the heart of downtown Kyoto

A variety of appeals to put an end to nuclear power

Day 2- "We are against nuclear power too"- Queers against nukes

Day 3- Japanese citizens are outraged at government regulations have increased the radioactive load for children to 20 mSv/year.

Day 4- Ibaraki Parliament member Keiki Yamashita will run throughout his constituency carrying this flag "Let's get rid of nuclear power"!

Day 5- Yuki designs clothing to support the anti-nuclear power movement

Day 6- 250 people met at the riverside to join in the march

Will you be in the picture on day 7? Hope to see you there!

- Posted by Jen Teeter