Tokyo breaks promise of a nuclear-free Japan

Via The Japan Times via Kyodo/Jiji: "Cabinet fails to OK new nuclear strategy Deadline for abolishing atomic energy by 2030s not endorsed":

The document that the Cabinet signed off on stirred speculation that it gave special consideration to big business and governments that benefit from hosting nuclear facilities, the main entities opposed to the publicly favored zero option."

An Ancient Jewish Prayer for Peace...

My Yiddish-speaking grandmother handed this picture down to me several years ago. Regardless of religious and cultural beliefs, all peoples hope for the same thing—Peace.

A Prayer for Peace

Let peace reign over all,
Let none, in fear or hate
evermore shed blood in Our presence.
Grant us peace, the blessing above
all blessings we owe Ourselves.
Grant us peace that we may all
live in grace.

I know we will find peace one day.

—Jen Teeter

1980's postage stamp depicting friendship between Arabs & Jews in Israel

Thanks to Makiko Sato for this 1980's postage stamp from Israel of a child's drawing depicting friendship between Arabs and Jews:

Attached is a scanned image of the old postal stamp I have kept for 30 years, from when I had a Jewish penpal in Israel.

Around that time, there was an integrated school somewhere in Israel or Palestine—so children of Jews and Palestinians could share the same classrooms.

I don't know that kind of education still exists, but I hope so.

DiaNuke.org: Residents of Koodankulam, India protest in the sea against nuclear plant

Photo: Via DiaNuke.org via OutlookIndia.com via AP

For over two decades, Indian citizens across Tamil Nadu, the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula, have been protesting against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP). Thousands have joined in the past month because they are concerned that hot, radioactively contaminated water discharged from the nuclear plant into the sea will poison fish and other marine life. They are also concerned forced displacement after a nuclear accident, as has happened to residents of Fukushima.

Patibandla Srikant details this history in "Twenty years of resistance at Koodankulam" published at InfochangeIndia.org in November, 2011:

According to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board’s (AERB) stipulations, a 1.6-km radius around a nuclear power plant should have no habitation, while the next 5-km radius should have a small density of population; in a 16-km radius population must not exceed 10,000. Two reactors, Unit-I and Unit-2, are ready for testing in December this year, but no rehabilitation has been carried out to date. Government after government has changed in Tamil Nadu and in New Delhi, but the plight of the people struggling against the Koodankulam nuclear power plant continues. The central government finally seems to have taken cognisance of the protests thanks to a letter from the Tamil Nadu chief minister. But people in and around Koodankulam village continue to live with the fear of nuclear risk and threat to livelihoods.

The KNPP has its roots in the 1974 Pokhran [nuclear explosion] test conducted by India. Following the test, India came under the influence of the Soviet nuclear establishment because of its isolation from the West (the US had stopped fuel shipments to the Tarapur nuclear power plant after the 1974 test). Against this backdrop the nuclear deal with the Soviet Union was discussed as early as 1979 during Morarji Desai’s prime ministership. Finally, in 1988 the Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi signed the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project deal.

This triggered opposition in and around Koodankulam. The proposal to draw water for the nuclear reactors from the nearby Pechiparai reservoir and to discharge waste water into the sea threatened the livelihoods of the people. In May 1989, around 10,000 people assembled to protest against the plant under the banner of the National Fish Workers’ Union (NFWU). During this protest, police opened fire and disconnected the mike, preventing anyone from speaking. However, the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev losing power and the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi stalled the Koodankulam nuclear power plant.

Unfortunately, the nuclear project picked up steam again. Over the past decade,Tamil Nadu residents attempted legal and environmental challenges, but were blocked by manipulative tactics.

Indians have engaged in popular resistance against nuclear plants throughout the country, but, as in Japan, they are up against "economic growth-oriented development" that require national sacrifice zones that will destroy natural environment and victimize locals. Srikant explains:

In the context of globalisation, government after government in India has pledged 8-9% growth rates. Such growth rates would naturally require more energy for consumption. Given increasing awareness of environmental issues, nuclear energy is often perceived as a viable alternative to high-polluting thermal power plants and big dams.

It is in this context that increased investments in nuclear power plants need to be seen. In spite of the high costs and risks involved, successive governments showed keen interest in pursuing nuclear energy.

Such a pursuit of growth rates is putting an enormous burden on many people, particularly the marginalised sections of society – rural populations, tribals, dalits, women, the poor and others. Big projects like nuclear power plants are posing a threat to the livelihoods of these people, while putting them in a hazardous situation in the long run.

Therefore the people of Koodankulam are fighting for their survival. During a brutal repression over the last two days by police, Anthony Samy, a fisherman, was killed.

Japan's ongoing nuclear melt-throughs have not only shocked almost everyone in Japan into nuclear-free action, but have spurred others everywhere, including those were previously silent about the nuclear radiation in their backyards, and those who have long been actively resisting nuclear power, as the people of Koodankulam, to see the interconnections of nuclear issues across borders and to work for a nuclear-free world.

On Aug. 7, 2012, people of Koodankulam, India praying for the

victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima

"We have chance to save Koodankulam...."

Photo: Amirtharaj Stephen, Dianuke.org

Kumar Sundaram, editor of DiaNuke.org, a India-based nuclear-free world advocacy organization that is a long-time supporter of the Hydrangea Revolution, understands the planetary history and structures of the nuclear industry. DiaNuke engages at multiple levels: critical, scientific, public-dialogical, prophetic (truth-telling) & organic (making connections, showing the common ground between diverse people).

DiaNuke articles, including those by Tokyo-residents Ruthie Iida and Jacinta Hin on the weekly Friday night protests, support a public dialogical working through of the collective shock and trauma that those of us exposed to nuclear radiation and those threatened with nuclear radiation must deal with as we also work to make our world nuclear-free.

DiaNuke's meta-message of the primacy of humanity always brings home the common ground that unite us all. This post is a shout out of gratitude to DiaNuke for their support of the Hydrangea Movement; facilitation of deep dialogue; and a heartfelt prayer for the people of Koodakulam and throughout India, that they may live free of fear of radioactive fallout; and for the political leaders in India for the wisdom to see and hear the profound message of these nonviolent resisters spoken with the power of truth (satyagraha).

(Arundhati Roy, via Countercurrents.org)

ドキュメンタリー・ドリーム・ショー—山形in東京2012 Documentary Dream Show - Yamagata in Tokyo 2012

6 more days...

The Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival is the largest and most prestigious international film festival for documentary in Asia, and runs every other year in the northern Japanese city of Yamagata.

In the off-years, the festival brings a part of the previous year's screening program to Tokyo.

Close to 100 films will be screened during a festival period of Aug. 18 - Sept. 21 this summer at two Tokyo art house cinemas: Auditorium Shibuya and Pole Pole Higashi-nakano.

Most films will be screened with English subtitles, including many from Asia and Japan.

Venue: Aug. 18-31 Auditorium Shibuya http://a-shibuya.jp/

Sept. 1-21 Pole Pole Higashi-nakano

For details: www.cinematrix.jp/dds2012
For inquiry: 03-5362-0671 (Cinematrix)

August 18 at 1until September 21 at 11:45pm in UTC+09
オーディトリウム渋谷, ポレポレ東中野

自分の目で見る。感じる。 いざ、ドキュメンタリーの祝祭へ

山形国際ドキュメンタリー映画祭2011の上映作品を中心に、100本近くを一挙にお披露目します。
大賞を受賞した『密告者とその家族』の監督をイスラエルより迎えてトークイベントなども盛込み、インターナショナル・コンペティション、アジア千波万波の新作に、キューバ特集など目玉企画も交えたドキュメンタリー特集上映！

会期：8月18日〜31日　オーディトリウム渋谷　http://a-shibuya.jp/
　　　
9月1日〜21日　　ポレポレ東中野 www.mmjp.or.jp/pole2

料金：当日1回券 一般=1400円　3回券 当日・前売=3600円
　　　フリーパス券=15000円（50枚限定）※YIDFFヴィンテージTシャツ付き
フリーパスは劇場窓口のみ販売（会期前にも販売します）。フリーパス購入希望の方は、ご利用の方の写真（3cm×2.5cm）をご持参下さい。フリーパスは記名ご本人のみのご使用となります。

詳細は→www.cinematrix.jp/dds2012
お問い合わせ：03−5362-0671（シネマトリックス）

Heiwa Kataoka: Friday Night Nuclear-Free Protest in Tokyo

Friday night Nuclear-Free Protest. Photo: Heiwa Kataoka

KJ Fresh Currents: Ongoing Friday Nuclear-Free Protests in Kyoto & Osaka

Via KJ Fresh Currents:

The Japanese government's commitment to a zero nuclear future is a significant step forward, but their ill-defined and somewhat distant deadline (sometime in the 2030s), and contradictory commitment to maintain the reprocessing program at Rokkasho cannot satisfy those who have been protesting each Friday since the controversial restarts in Fukui. The anti-nuclear movement has gained ground this week, but protests will continue until all the nuclear facilities are shut down for good. Here are the details for the Friday protests in Kansai (same time every week).

＊＊＊ PLEASE SHARE ＊＊＊

Kyoto 17:00-19:00
Outside Kanden Kyoto
https://plus.google.com/101615694937780488930/about?hl=en

Osaka 18:00-19:30
Outside Kanden
https://plus.google.com/101315689952581452988/about?hl=en

日本語での詳細はここで見つけることができます...
京都
http://ameblo.jp/harinaosu/
大阪
http://twitnonukes.blogspot.jp/
よろしくお願いします

Solidarity With Tohoku: Summer School Campfire & Drumming

Solidarity with Tohoku:

The neighborhood in Tsukidate consists of both the old rice farming community, and the new evacuee community from the coast. The children were thus part of an event that brought both communities together.

Evacuee residents from the neighboring temporary container housing were invited to join camp events...

18 months after 3/11 - 343,000 still living in temporary housing (mostly shipping containers) in Tohoku

Tsukidate container temporary housing. Photo: Solidarity with Tohoku (SWTJ)

Sept. 11 marks 18 months since 3.11 and the start of the Fukushima meltdowns.

Kyodo's photo essay and progress report, "Tohoku long way from healing 18 months on" (published at JT) reveals hundreds of thousands are still homeless:

Tuesday marked the 1½-year anniversary of the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters that devastated the Tohoku region, with confirmed deaths standing at 15,870 and 2,814 people still missing.

An additional 1,632 people died of disaster-related causes, including fatigue and poor health while living in evacuation shelters.

Some 343,000 people still live in about 136,000 temporary housing units, including private properties rented by the government...

A population drain has been a major problem in the disaster zone because many who evacuated have started new lives elsewhere and have no plans to return.

In Pacific coastal areas hit hard by the tsunami, authorities have been slow in preparing housing sites for collective relocation to safer ground.

Reconstruction has been particularly slow in Fukushima Prefecture amid the triple-meltdown disaster at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, which spewed massive radioactive fallout. And the effectively nationalized Tepco has been slow to mete out damages payments.

A number of municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture plan to construct "temporary towns" for evacuees to help them assemble outside their hometowns, but they have made scant progress.

Official data show that about 71,000 people from Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures had evacuated outside their prefectures as of August, including about 61,000 from Fukushima alone.

In Sendai, which is now home to more than 3,000 households of evacuees from outside the city, efforts have been made by the local social welfare council to put together residents hailing from the same localities...

Asahi reports:

As for homes for disaster victims, construction has begun on only 470 houses out of some 23,000 units planned to be built, while 24 homes have been completed. The construction of some 15,000 homes is not expected to be completed by the end of fiscal 2013, which is the deadline for evacuees to move out from temporary housing complexes. While some 21,500 homes in about 310 districts in 26 municipalities are planned to be relocated under the anti-disaster collective relocation promotion project, the relocation of only about 8,600 homes in some 150 districts in 18 municipalities has been given the green light from the central government.

One of the best close-up sources of English-language information on 3/11 survivors we've found is at Kyoto-based Solidarity with Tohoku's blog. The group is engaged in consistent support at multiple levels for the people of Tohoku.

...more than 300,000 people lost their habitual hometowns. These coastal people now mostly live in temporary container housing built for them by the government at the edge of towns and villages in the hilly interior of the country. However, little is done to socially integrate these displaced people into the culturally different rice-farming communities of the interior regions of northeastern Japan.

Container houses are made out of recycled shipping containers or new containers of similar design. They're also called "prefab" or "cargo container houses."

Photos of architect-designed shipping container housing reflect some (albeit stark) elegance. Shigeru Ban's shipping container housing appears pleasant inside, although the exterior could use greenery. The Ex-Container Project, formed by a group of architects, advocates for the use of new ex-containers as temporary, even permanent housing in Tohoku.

Shigeru Ban + Voluntary Architects Network + MUJI's Container Housing in Onagawa, Miyagi.
Photo: John Tubles, Archinect blogs

Apparently old shipping containers are being marketed worldwide as low-cost housing for migrant workers and trendy habitats and commercial buildings (restaurants, art galleries) for the economically privileged. This article published in August at an online design magazine reports on shipping container work camps for temporary oil field workers in Texas and a UK shipping container mobile hotel.

Why shipping containers? Is there a surfeit of them? The article cited above and comments at this architectural discussion forum say this is the case. Shipping containers are being marketed as housing and commercial units in countries with negative trade balances with China (where they come from) because these containers travel one-way; it's expensive to ship them back to China empty from the US & Japan.

However, their use for habitation has raises issues, especially when addressing their suitability for long-term or even short-term (depending on the condition of the container) temporary housing.

Steel conducts heat and cold therefore shipping containers used as homes in environments with extreme temperature variations (Tohoku winters) will normally have to be better insulated than most brick, block or wood structures. In temperate climates, moist interior air condenses against the steel, becoming clammy and forming rust unless the steel is well sealed and insulated.

Of more concern, Brian Pagnotta at Archdaily says "...the coatings used to make the containers durable for ocean transport also happen to contain a number of harmful chemicals, such as chromate, phosphorous, and lead-based paints. Moreover, wood floors that line the majority of shipping container buildings are infused with hazardous chemical pesticides like arsenic and chromium to keep pests away. The entire structure needs to be sandblasted bare, floors need to be replaced, and openings need to be cut with a torch or fireman’s saw. The average container eventually produces nearly a thousand pounds of hazardous waste before it can be used as a structure. All of this, coupled with the fossil fuels required to move the container into place with heavy machinery, contribute significantly to its ecological footprint."

This is a photo of a temporary shipping container shelter in Tanohate in Iwate prefecture (the entire village was washed into the sea) that does not look it meets basic standards.

Martin Frid of Kurashi (who is taking a closer look) responds:

What I saw and photographed in June 2011 in Minamisanriku looked very temporary, clean and organized. We stopped there briefly to open our vans and many people emerged who appreciated the clothing, books, candy, food.

What I heard was that some people rejected the design and the sterility of the environment, but for some, it is the only way to manage. I also saw the large water tanks and sewage systems that go with this setup. Camps (if that is the right word) are often located near schools or on other public land, but residents in the neighborhood (in normal housing, untouched by the tsunami) may have complaints too, I don't know. Obviously the entire supply side, including stores and banking and postal services are another huge issue.

There are some permanent housing projects, including this beautiful collaboration between Rias no Mori and Kogakuin University. John Tubles of Archinect notes, "This community of 11 units perched atop a hill overlooking Shirahama Coast. According to one of the residents the not only the thought of permanence is comforting, but as well the tangible familiarity of these materials contribute to the easiness of living in place that was severely affected by the disaster."

"A permanent housing community aimed towards building “re-normalizing” the life of victims by creating a permanent housing unit that utilizes as much traditional material (ie. domestic wood beams+columns, slate and plaster) and carpentry as possible. A collaboration between Rias no Mori and Kogakuin University, this community of 11 units perched atop a hill overlooking Shirahama Coast." Photo: John Tubles, Archinect blogs

However, Tubles adds that isolation is also an issue at this scenic site as well as Ban's project in Onagawa:

Both are away from any form of community amenities like shopping, civic buildings or place of work. Moreover locating housing communities on hilltops and making it a viable solution demands for higher density, therefore more housing units and adequate social spaces takes the back seat.

For example, when I visited the Onagawa housing facility, there are designated social spaces that were locked and not used because of the lack of managing personnel, and the main covered public space is only really utilized during market days which is once a week. So often young children are not out playing and socializing with neighbors instead they are limited within the confides of their housing units.

Gavan McCormack: "This is no longer an opposition movement but a prefecture in resistance, saying “No.”

A must-read for anyone who follows Okinawa and Japan...Published on Sept. 9, at the Ryukyu Shimpo, (one of Okinawa's two major newspapers): Gavan McCormack's "This is no longer an opposition movement but a prefecture in resistance, saying 'No.'”

Great issues are at stake in the Osprey contest and the 5 August Meeting. After four decades of lying to, discriminating against, and betraying Okinawa, time and again, decade after decade, the governments of Japan and the United States now seem to have provoked it to an intolerable degree. By determining to impose on it something that the people of Okinawa say they will not accept, they substitute authoritarianism for democracy...

Two decades after the end of the Cold War, the relationship between Tokyo (backed by Washington) and Okinawa resembles nothing so much as that between Moscow and Budapest or Warsaw at the height of the Cold War. Okinawan views are as much respected and listened to in Tokyo and Washington today as once Hungarian and Polish sentiments were respected in Moscow.

After decades of struggle, however, on these issues there is no longer an Okinawan “government” and “opposition.” Local government heads and assemblies, social and citizen groups are one, and it is the conservative Governor who suggests that if the Osprey are so safe they could be deployed to Hibiya Park or Shinjuku Gyoen. This is no longer an opposition movement but a prefecture in resistance, saying “No.” Japanese history has no precedent for this.

There is of course much more at stake than the Osprey. The Okinawan movement that says “No” to the Osprey says “No” also to the Futenma substitution project at Nago and “No” to the Osprey Helipad construction project at Takae. It also is deeply sensitive to other signs of intention to militarize the Southwestern islands in general and turn it into a front-line of confrontation with China: to construct a new (Self-Defence Force) base on Yonaguni, to have US and Japanese forces gradually merge and share the existing bases (in the name of “bilateral cooperation”), and to turn Shimojishima airport on Miyako Island and Mageshima in Kagoshima Prefecture into bases.

When the DPJ abandoned one by one its 2009 electoral pledges and began to morph into a clone LDP, mainland Japan sank into a stupor of political disillusion, but Okinawa returned to struggle with renewed energy...

Today’s Okinawa struggle is a root a struggle over how Japan is governed and how it should be governed. In a rapidly changing world in which the US is losing both its economic and its moral authority, how can it be in the national interest for Japan to cling to its client state dependence on the United States and to steadily militarize? The anti-militarist Okinawan struggle constitutes a precious resource, pricking the national conscience and spurring mainland Japan to greater civic courage...

Gavan McCormack is a scholar specializing in East Asia and a coordinator of The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. His recent books include Client State: Japan in the American Embrace and Resistant Islands: Okinawa Confronts Japan and the United States (excerpted today at APJ.