Japan at Crossroads on Eve of Election: Top-Down Shock Doctrine or Citizen-Led Social Change?

With Japan’s Lower House parliamentary election scheduled for this Sunday, parties and candidates are rushing to fill the anticipated vacuum to be created by the likely losses of the reigning Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).

Campaigning for many major parties kicked off early this month in Fukushima prefecture, where candidates emphasized their various strategies for post-3.11 Japan. While this includes openly anti-nuclear messages on the part of several, including the newly formed Mirai no To (Future of Japan Party)—a coalition that has recently brought a number of smaller parties into its fold that wish to end the country’s use of nuclear power—not all parties share this stance.

Notoriously pro-nuclear Tokyo ex-governor Shintaro Ishihara recently joined forces with Osaka mayor Toru Hashimoto to form the new Nippon Ishin no kai (Japan Restoration Party), which has continuously changed its position on the nuclear power issue. Meanwhile, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader Shinzo Abe, who many say is next in line for the Prime Minister position, has said that a zero-nuclear policy is “irresponsible”.

With pre-election polls suggesting that the LDP is poised for a “landslide win,” many are incredulous at the possibility that the party responsible for building up the nuclear industry in the first place during its long postwar reign may be put back in power so soon after last year’s nuclear disaster. Greenpeace staff member Kazue Suzuki put it most succinctly: "This is the first election since the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and if it does not result in an anti-nuclear government, that will be one of the wonders of the world.”

There are thankfully some bright spots on the election landscape, including Tokyo gubernatorial candidate Kenji Utsunomiya, although he faces a tough race with favored candidate (and Ishihara protégé)  Naoki Inose. In general, however, with the suddenly-called election being held the year following the 3.11 crisis, the media now spinning (pun intended) out of control about military threats from China and Korea, and many confused voters unsure how to make sense of the myriad of smaller political forces cropping up to challenge the existing LDP vs. DPJ two-party framework, it does not seem out of place to invoke some version of Naomi Klein’s theory regarding the shock “doctrine”: “using the public’s disorientation following massive collective shocks – wars, terrorist attacks, or natural disasters -- to achieve control by imposing economic shock therapy.”

Indeed, the prospect of a re-crowned Prime Minister Shinzo Abe implementing his vision of a Japan that has been beefed-up both economically and militarily is even more difficult to swallow when considering the failures on the part of past governments to confront the human costs that their policies have directly engendered. As usual, then, it has been artists who have stepped in to fill this gap, voicing the suffering that mainstream government and media channels have left unspoken.

The most epic among these is the 17-minute song “Human Error” by Kyoto-based band Frying Dutchman, which directly names the socioeconomic and political forces responsible for the recent nuclear disaster. Another recent deeply poignant piece, which may be viewed at the top of this blog post, is “Children of Doomsday” from San Francisco Bay Area-based artist Maya Stickney, who uses muted drawings and haunting music to make her point about the forgotten children of Fukushima.

The strongest case urging both politicians and local citizens to embark on a course for change rather than “more of the same”, however, comes directly from Fukushima residents themselves. The documentary film “Women of Fukushima”—which comes to us from Paul Johanessen, who directed the powerful short film “Then and Now” about tsunami survivors in the city of Ishinomaki—makes this point startlingly clear in the last comment of this three-minute clip:

“We are fighting to show that there are more important things than money.”

Lower House elections in Japan will be held Sunday, December 16^th.

The Nuclear Free Now! global conference takes place Saturday, December 15th-Sunday, December 16^th in Tokyo and Koriyama (Fukushima). 

To sign a petition urging continued economic support for Fukushima families choosing voluntary evacuation, please sign this petition from Avaaz.

--Kimberly Hughes

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Kenji Utsunomiya: Nuclear-Free, Social Justice Candidate for Governor of Tokyo

Kenji Utsunomiya, former president of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, is the embodiment of the best of progressive Japanese nuclear-free political and social vision. 

Last month, the lawyer participated in the November 11 Occupation by 1 Million People Against Nuclear Power Plants" that was hosted by the Metropolitan Coalition Against Nukes (an organization that has held nuclear-free rallies every Friday evenings since 3/11). 

His opponents, Tokyo Vice Governor Naoki Inose and former Kanagawa Governor Shigefumi Matsuzawa, want to continue Governor Shintaro Ishihara's neoliberal policies and expensive pursuit of the 2020 Olympics. A Tokyo Olympics would only benefit a few at the expense of the many in a metropolitan area experiencing increasing rates of homelessness and hunger because of structural poverty. Many neighborhoods in Tokyo are best characterized as slums and the homeless find the city's government increasingly hostile instead of supportive. 

Utsunomiya explains, adding that he would support job creation, public welfare and senior citizens: "Ishihara didn't care about enriching Tokyoites' lives. During Ishihara's tenure, the number of those who starved to death or went on welfare in the 23 wards doubled."

Inose, known for his chain smoking, supports smoking in public venues, despite the health consequences to non-smokers. He is also known for personal extravagance at public expense. In 2007, he had a private toilet was installed in his office at a cost of some ¥4.5 million ($50,000). 

Utsonomiya has dedicated his career to challenging structural poverty. As a lawyer, specialized in poverty-related law cases, including helping victims of predatory lending overcome the burden of multiple loans.  He even served as honorary mayor of a makeshift village for homeless workers in Tokyo's Hibiya Park in 2008. 

Utsunomiya has the support of former PM Kan, who supports a nuclear-free Japan. He  said he will cooperate with other municipalities to persuade the central government to go nuclear-free. The poverty lawyer promised to provide support for victims of the Fukushima nuclear meltdowns, promising to offer housing in Tokyo.

I want to push forward with a policy to abolish nuclear power starting in Tokyo...I absolutely cannot approve of nuclear power...

FRYING DUTCHMAN special no nukes performance and talk by Toshiya Morita in Kyoto Dec 12th

Travel route of radiation from Fukushima
shared by Toshiya Morita and available here

During the parliamentary elections, the Frying Dutchman, a dance-rock band known for its outspoken stance against nuclear power, gave a special performance at Bukkyo University in Kyoto tonight. Following, writer Toshiya Morita who has been covering the nuclear accident since March 11, 2011, spoke to the need for everyone to be prepared for another nuclear disaster.

The Frying Dutchman became popular throughout Japan after their post-disaster performance of "Human Error" at Sanjo Bridge, a popular gathering spot in Kyoto. "Human Error" details the fallacies of nuclear power, the process by which the nuclear industry has tricked the public, and the tireless efforts of the anti-nuclear movement in Japan. Their set opened with this song:

Genpatsu Iranai!
No more nuclear power!
(Applause)

Dondondondondon Koe ageyou ze!
Keep raising and raising and raising your voices!
(Applause)

Ai wo komete FUCK YOU!
With love FUCK YOU!
(APPLAUSE)

Koe wo ageyou!
Koe wo agete minna de tomerushikanaize!
Raise your voices, raise your voices-
all we can do join forces to stop nuclear power!
(APPLAUSE)

Okashii da ze! Okashii da ze!
It's not right! It's not right!

(Applause)

Okane yori motto daiji no aru yo ne!
There are things more important than money!

(Applause)
Wasureta ha ikenai ne!
We can't forget!
 (APPLAUSE)

Shizen enerugi minna dashite ikou!
Everyone, let's all use natural energy!
(APPLAUSE)

Minna de koe wo agemashypu!
Enryou nakute koe agemashyou!
(APPLAUSE)

Nani ga daiji ka saikakunin shiyou ze!!

Ai!
Love!
(AI)

Ai!
Love!
(AI)

AI!
Love!
(AI)

AI
LOVE
(AI)

Genpatsu ha hitsuyou nai!
We don't need to nuclear power!
(APPLAUSE!!)

Genpatsu hantai!
(APPLAUSE!!)

For the full English and Japanese lyrics of "Human Error" check the FRYING DUTCHMAN website. Despite the ongoing nuclear disaster, there are still political parties that promote the continued use of nuclear power, do not discourage its use, or do not even discuss nuclear power in their platform. The FRYING DUTCHMAN may have power to convince people to vote against nuclear power.

The FRYING DUTCHMAN will also be one of many performers at the Nuclear Free Now! Conference in Tokyo on the 15th of December from 3:30-5pm at the Hibiya Outdoor Music Hall.

Following the performance, which was more raging than a dance hall, Toshiya Morita urged the audience to develop an exit strategy well before a nuclear disaster strikes, pointing out that Kyoto is within the exclusion zone for a nuclear disaster, only 60 kilometers from the Ohi nuclear reactor.

"My wife and I have planned to meet at Kyoto station should their be a nuclear accident. That way we can both meet and get on the bullet train immediately. If trains are not running, like after Fukushima, then we have a plan for which bus to take....By the way, who were the first people to leave Fukushima after the disaster? The family members of the workers at Tokyo Electric who controlled the reactor because they already knew how to evacuate in the event of a nuclear disaster." 

Regardless of stance on nuclear power, he urged the audience to not only prepare an evacuation strategy for themselves, but to be prepared to accept evacuees emphasizing the impossibility of depending only on the government. Next he discussed how radiation has flowed from Fukushima along the paths of major roads and trains tracks contaminating major cities throughout Eastern Japan. Osaka and Kyoto have also been contaminated through food coming in from contaminated regions.

Although the accident of four nuclear reactors of the Fukushima nuclear power plant has not been converged, 
the athletic meet of spring of an elementary school is being held in Fukushima. The children who do play 
ball and race have to do a mask so that the dust of radioactivity may not be inhaled. May 2002

He also noted how parents and children have not been vigilant in ensuring children are wearing masks to prevent the inhalation of radiation contaminated dust. He pointed out how the child to the left of the picture was clearly not wearing a mask properly during an outdoor Sports Day event, and showed other photos of unmasked children, or children that did not cover their noses with the masks.

Finally, he shared the advice of Dr. Shintaro Hida, a doctor who entered Hiroshima immediately after the U.S. government dropped the nuclear bomb over the city. Also, receiving radiation poisoning himself, he studied how radiation changed the lives of over 6000 people. He asked the oldest living survivors of the bombing how they lived so long, and they most common answer was "by not overeating."

In the end, he reminded us that the people in Fukushima are fighting harder than anyone now in Japan to get rid of nuclear power. It is because of their courage and determination that we have come this far.

- Posted by Jen Teeter

Support Indigenous Ainu of Japan and Maori of New Zealand in cultural exchange

Exchange Program participants with Matarahi Skipper at his Maori Workshop in Ainumosir Hokkaido

In less than two months time, seven Ainu youth from all over Japan, will become the first of hopefully many groups of Ainu, to participate in an intensive 5-week-long exchange with the Maori of Aotearoa New Zealand through the Aotearoa-Ainumsor Exchange Program (AAEP). Their mission- to learn experientially from the initiatives of Maori people to maintain their cultural traditions while shaping modern society. Proposed by Maori Party MP Te Ururoa Flavell, these future Ainu leaders will engage in fieldwork program in several fields:

• Maori language education
• Maori media
• Maori tourism industry
• Maori policy
• Maori policy-making

They will also join in on important Maori events and celebrations including the annual Ratana Celebration, Waitangi Day, and the Maori Cultural Festival. The program participants were selected after a rigorous application process which included essay writing and interviews, and a solid commitment to a sharing what they learn in their communities upon return to Japan.

The Ainu and Maori, while separated by miles of ocean, share many similarities in their history, culture, and efforts to revitalize their rights, culture, and position in (now) mainstream societies. However, despite years of struggle and determination, the Ainu have only just gained recognition as an indigenous people by the Japan government; up until 2008, they were referred to as "former aboriginals." According to AAEP,

Due to anxiety about deeply rooted discrimination which pervades society, or the inability for people to discover meaning in being Ainu, there are still many people who have yet to assert their Ainu identity. According to a Hokkaido Prefecture survey there are about 24,000 Ainu people, however in reality there are several times more Ainu people than that figure leads us to believe. Out of the 5,000 to 10,000 Ainu people living in the Tokyo metropolitan area alone, only around 100 of them are active as Ainu.

The Maori have been successful in regaining their rights as indigenous people since 1970s. They have long maintained a strong presence in politics, run Maori language radio and TV programs/stations, have pioneered a groundbreaking approach for language education called Kōhanga Reo (language nests), and have their own universities. The Maori tourist industry is flourishing and as the years pass, education about Maori history and culture is being incorporated into mainstream education, creating a more cohesive New Zealand society. AAEP hopes to build a generation of Ainu leaders that are proud of their identity as Ainu who will work to create a Japan that is more accepting of diversity.

Maya Sekine (pictured below) is the youngest participant in the group:

Irankarapte. Ku-rehe anakune Sekine Maya ne (My name is Maya Sekine).  What I would like to learn in Aotearoa is the similarities and differences between Ainu people and people in Aotearoa. I would also like to learn about Maori language and cultures. When I come back here, I would like to do my best to utilize what I learned in Aotearoa. Suy unukar an ro (See you later.)

Hirofumi Kibata (pictured above far left) hopes this experience will open him to a new world "not only for himself, not only for Ainu and Maori, but so that everyone can see the world from a new perspective." You can read more messages from the participants at the Aotearoa-Ainumosir Exchange Program (AAEP) blog.

Once the participants reach Aotearoa, several organizations, including the Advancement of Maori Opportunity, will cover transportation, most meals, and accommodation.  Over the past 9 months, AAEP has raised enough money to cover most of the airplane tickets, but funds are still needed for several more tickets for interpreters and the AAEP chair, insurance, daily expenses, reports and information exchange sessions in Japan, and maintenance of the program for future exchanges.

Maya Sekine, from Nibutani, is a heritage learner of the Ainu language.  

In order to raise these funds, AAEP has launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. Already, in two days, they have received 35% of their goal of $10,000. With your help, they can reach their goal or even surpass it. A successful Indiegogo campaign encourages a crowd of people to support it, not only with monetary donations, but by spreading the word through social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and Google+. The more people talking and donating to the campaign, even in small amounts, the more momentum the campaign gains, which brings even more people to the project.

Become a part of the movement to bring resurgence to the Ainu culture and Ainu society in Japan! In exchange for contributions, you can receive an Ainu jaw harp, an original program T-shirt or unique woodblock print designed by Ainu artist Koji Yuuki, head of the Ainu Art Project.

                         

Watch the video below to find out more, or click here to watch it directly on the campaign site!

"No Nukes Live 2012" brings playfulness, seriousness to Tokyo stage

                                                     Event headliner, the Inoue Ohana band

Musicians have long been known for offering some of the most cutting-edge and creative social critique around the globe, and Japan is no exception—particularly with regard to post-3.11 nuclear issues.  

This past Sunday, November 25^th, a No Nukes live event was held at Shin Sekai ("New World"), a small basement club in Tokyo’s Nishi-Azabu district, taking up the tradition of other local event series that have combined music with commentary on nuclear issues, including No Nukes More Hearts and Atomic Café.

The event was organized and headlined by the fantastically upbeat Inoue Ohana band, which features both Hawaiian and reggae tunes. The night’s lineup also featured many additional artists, including slack key guitarist Kamoku Takahashi, folk singer Yara Tomonobu, hula dancer Miho Ogura, and the legendary Rankin’ Taxi, whose video “You Can’t See It and You Can’t Smell It”(referring of course to radiation) went viral in the weeks following the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The evening was billed as a “party”, and—capturing the spirit of the evening— the ever rabble-rousing Rankin’ Taxi followed up his performance of a song regarding the dangers of the precariously placed fuel rods at Fukushima Daiichi plant’s reactor #4 (whose video I had technical problems uploading—will try again shortly!) by commenting—in his trademark quirky and yet serious style— “Well, we shouldn’t really be having fun at a time like this, but hey, let’s have ourselves some fun!”

Each of the evening’s artists took time to reference the dangers of the nuclear power industry. Guest speaker Umi Hagitani, a social activist for numerous causes including nuclear issues, gave an illuminating overview of the workings of the nuclear industries and anti-nuclear activism in both Japan and the USA, where she has spent most of the past decade.

To summarize the highlights of Umi’s talk, she emphasized that we must consider nuclear issues as a whole, taking into account its various aspects, including uranium mining and testing, and the effects on (often indigenous) communities; as well as the interconnections between nuclear power, weapons, and testing, which are often overlooked in both countries. She pointed out that the mainstream media in the U.S. suppressed the voices speaking out against Three-Mile Accident in 1979, and that the government began almost immediately thereafter to promote the construction of nuclear power plants in other regions of the country—resulting in continuing environmental and health damage, along with citizen unawareness regarding what was actually taking place. She pointed in particular to the nuclear facility in Hanford, WA—profiled in filmmaker Hitomi Kamanaka’s “Hibakusha”—where radiation dating back to the early 1940’s has penetrated all the way down into the water table, causing numerous cancers (that were denied by the government as having any connection with the plant).

Umi pointed out the borderless nature of damage from the Fukushima nuclear accident, explaining that cesium is now showing up in Pacific herring in Alaska, which indicates that internal radiation exposure is something not limited to Fukushima or to Japan alone. She also asserted that lying governments and complicit media are a shared feature of both the United States and Japan, explaining that since 3-.11, anti-nuclear activists from the two countries have been working together to expose the way that the nuclear industry has been working to pollute the land where we live, while companies meanwhile continue profiting from decontamination efforts, and governments attempt to quash any citizen movements that speak out against negative effects such as rising illnesses and human experimentation.

“I recently watched ‘Women of Fukushima’, where one of the speakers said that if people in Tokyo did not begin speaking out about low-dose radiation exposure suffered by Fukushima citizens, their situation would never change,” Umi explained. “Given our privilege living in urban areas with access to all sorts of technologies, we need to raise our voices against these unjust systems by continuing to advocate for Fukushima citizens’ right to relocation, to support Fukushima citizen radiation efforts, and to educate ourselves regarding nuclear-related matters,” she said.

An interview with Umi in English may be downloaded from the website of the Nuclear Hotseat, and more information about her work is available at No Nukes Asia Actions.

--Kimberly Hughes

Mangetsu Matsuri (Full Moon Festival) for Earth, Life, & Peace: Nago, Okinawa, Nov. 24, 2012

Full Moon Festival 2009, Henoko, Okinawa

Greetings from Okinawa!

Yes, it is the time of the year again for Mangetsu Matsuri (Full Moon Festival) in Okinawa.

A grassroots music festival to celebrate, Earth, Life and Peace, the Mangetsu Matsuri now enters its 14th year. This year's Mangetsu Matsuri will be held on November 24 Saturday at Oura Wansaka Park, Nago, Okinawa.

Just like in the previous years, the Mangetsu Matsuri Organizing Committee is inviting you to send your message (please keep it less than 100 words) to the festival. Email address:yhidekiy@gmail.com

Your message will be translated into Japanese and both the original message and the translation will be posted on a bulletin board at the festival.

Please join us to make this year's Mangetsu Matsuri most exciting and memorable ever by sending your message!


Hideki Yoshikawa
Save the Dugong Campaign Center
Citizens' Network for Biodiversity in Okinawa

Stances of Japanese political parties on nuclear power

The following newspaper clipping taken from the Chunichi Shinbun that also appeared in the Tokyo Shinbun on November 16, 2012 extrapolates party policies based on party manifestos and the stances/statements of their leaders. However, be forewarned- it should not be taken for granted that these are the actual policies of the parties.

For instance, the clipping makes it seem as though the Minshuto is promoting denuclearization, while they have not made any statement in their manifesto to that effect. Governmental decisions by the current Minshuto-led administration have also led to the resumption of construction of the Ohma and Higashidori nuclear power plants in Aomori Prefecture and reactor 3 of the Shimane plant in Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture. 

"Nuclear power policies of each of the Japanese political parties (derived from campaign pledges and stances of party leaders)- translation of heading"

*Translation of chart- commentary and related links in italics. See here for more analysis in Japanese.
 

Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan/DPJ)-promptly realize the elimination of nuclear power; encourage the introduction of renewable energies to take place of nuclear power ("On Sept. 14, the Noda administration pledged to abandon nuclear power by the 2030s and to build no new reactors in that time, but industry minister Yukio Edano said Sept. 15 the government would authorize the completion of the three reactors currently being built"- see Asahi Shinbun")

Jiminto (Liberal Democratic Party of Japan/LDP)- with safety as a number one guiding principal, decide which plants should be restarted; conclusions to be made about all reactors within 3 years; within ten years conceptualize a new framework for the stable supply of energy.

Kokumin no seikatsu ga daiichi (People's Lives First) - make a dramatic shift of energy policy and permanently halt the use of all nuclear reactors over the next decade (This stance is supported and made clear in their party policies- Toward "Zero Nuclear Power Generation" to Protect People's Life!)

Komeito (New Komeito)- reject all new construction (of nuclear power plants); decommission two-thirds of existing plants by 2030 and decommission all plants in 40 years.

Kyosanto (Communist Party of Japan)- promptly realize a zero-nuclear power Japan; call for a repeal of all restart policies; stop the export of nuclear power (see nuclear export article- Washington Post)

Minna no To (Your Party)- separate power production and supply and liberalize retail energy markets; promote the introduction of renewable energies; allow the elimination of costly and unsafe nuclear power from the markets by natural selection (Although seemingly anti-nuclear, this party once considered making an alliance with the Japan Restoration Party which is pro-nuclear, and is now seeking to find "synergies" with it )

Shamintou (Social Democratic Party/SDP)- realize a nuclear-free Japan by 2020, 100% natural energy by 2050 (natural energy definition, the SDP was pro-denuclearization prior to the nuclear accidents in Fukushima: see article here in Japanese)

Nihon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party)-abolish all current plants by 2030; continue the export of nuclear power (Japan Restoration Party, headed by Osaka mayor Hashimoto, and former Tokyo Govenor Ishihara's party- the Sunrise Party to merge)

Kokumin Shin To (The People's New Party)- make denuclearization a future aim, and promote the research of new forms of energy that are appropriate for a nation founded on education and science/technology

Shin to Daichi - Shinminshu (New Party Daichi/Earth- New Democrats)- "Return to the earth, learn from the earth. We are against nuclear power" -statement by party leader Suzuki Muneo (Suzuki Muneo is well-known for his 2001 statement that Japan is “one state, one language, one nation,” although later his party pledged to protect the indigenous rights of the Ainu people: see footnote 16 in Mark Winchester's for more details and more sources "On the Dawn of a New Ainu Policy")

Taiyo no To (Sunshine Party)- "It is reckless to decide whether it (nuclear energy) is right or wrong without discussing how much energy we need""It would be foolish to give up on all of the technological systems we have developed." Party leader Ishihara Shintaro (This party was formed when former Tokyo mayor Ishihara broke with LDP. This party has been dissolved, and the five lawmakers in this party have merged with the ten in the Japan Restoration Party.)

Genzei Nippon (Tax Cut Japan)- promote technological development for renewable energies by getting rid of nuclear power; take advantage of a nuclear-free Japan for sitting industries

Midori no To (Greens Japan)- "It is an embarrassment internationally and historically that Japan has restarted nuclear reactors even though the accident (reactors at Fukushima) is ongoing. We should eliminate nuclear power, which has undermined the livelihoods of Japanese citizens" (Greens Japan has made denuclearization a core part of their campaign and includes statements declaring its anti-nuclear policy on its campaign signs. See photo below)

Shinto Kaikaku (New Renaissance Party)-  "At a bare-minimum, we must further strengthen safety regulations of nuclear power plants while at the same time stop being wasteful in our use of energy" - Party Leader Masuzoe Yoichi

Shinto Nippon (New Party Japan)- party leader Tanaka Yasuo participates in anti-nuclear demos in front of prime minister's residence in Tokyo (This party only has one member- Tanaka Yasuo)

Sign reads: Towards the elimination of nuclear power: LDP = X (does not support elimination), DPJ = △　(unclear of position), Greens Japan = ◎ (no more nuclear power). It is possible to eliminate nuclear power!- Greens Japan

- Posted and translated by Jen Teeter.

Great Chain of Nonviolence: Writers Oe, Murakami, Lianke, & Civic Leaders from Japan, Okinawa, South Korea, Taiwan, & China call for end to nationalistic aggression

(Nobel laureate & Article 9 defender Kenzaburo Oe voices support for 
Japanese civic group's call to "Stop the vicious cycle of territorial dispute!”. 
Photograph: The Hankyoreh)

Responding to the political and media circus over unresolved (since the Pacific War)  territorial disputes between Japan, China and South Korea, Japanese writers, journalists, scholars, and civil society leaders held a press conference on Sept. 28, 2012 in Tokyo to publicize their call on Japan to "recognize, reflect on, and sincerely articulate its historical issues" in East Asia.  The group, supported by Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe, jointly signed a civic statement: "Stop the vicious cycle of territorial dispute!”.

Jeong Nam-ku, Tokyo correspondent of The Hankyoreh detailed the event:

They included Atsushi Okamoto, former editor-in-chief of the leading Japanese progressive journal Sekai (The World); attorney Masatoshi Uchida, a longtime figure in lawsuits claiming compensation for issues in South Korean-Japanese history; former Asahi Shimbun Seoul bureau chief Koh Odagawa; and Ken Takada, an activist with the Citizens' Association Against Revision of the Constitution. Around 800 citizens signed the appeal, including children's writer Kayoko Ikeda, military critics Tetsuo Maeda, former Nagasaki mayor Hitoshi Motoshima, and Oe.

The statement urged the Japanese public "not to forget that the backdrop for the current territorial frictions is modern Japan's history of invading Asian countries."

The participants gave a number of suggestions for reducing friction, including enacting norms of behavior to deter such conflicts in East Asia, setting up forums for dialogue and discussions toward joint development of local resources, and establishing a framework for private dialogue linking South Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, and Okinawa.

On the same day, Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami published a column in the Asahi Shimbun expressing concern that the violent nationalism stirred by the territorial conflict was destroying East Asian cultural bridges: "We cannot block the path for souls to cross national borders."

In response to Oe's & Murakami's public statements, Chinese novelist Yan Lianke penned a call for reason and peace, published at The New York Times on Oct. 5:

Again and again, I pray in these dark nights: Please, no more guns and drums. All wars are disastrous. The bloodstains of the Sino-Japanese war during World War II remain vivid even today in our collective memory.

The day after, on Oct. 6, the East Asia Citizens Forum, comprised of representatives from South Korea, China, Taiwan, Okinawa, and Japan, held a forum in Taiwan and issued a statement, “Facing history, resolving disputes, working towards peace in East Asia”  in conjunction with a petition calling for peaceful relations, starting at the grassroots level, between citizens of East Asian countries, despite recurrent belligerent nationalism at the government level.   Park Min-hee, correspondent for the South Korean progressive newspaper, The Hankyoreh, reported:

The campaign is being led by Professor Chen Guang Sheng of Shanghai Jiao Tong University of Taiwan at the helm, Prof. Lee Dae-hoon of Sungkonghoe University (NGO studies, member of Democratic Professor Association International Solidarity Committee), Atsushi Okamoto, former editor in chief of Sekai magazine of Japan, Nohira Shinsaku, representative of Peace Boat, Prof. Wakabayashi Jiyo of Japan’s Okinawa University, Prof. Wang Xiaoming of Shanghai University, and Prof. Han Jialing of Beijing Academy of Social Sciences.In an email interview with the Hankyoreh on Oct. 24, Prof. Chen said, “I hope the solidarity and signature campaign in East Asia can ease tensions in the region and act as a chance to inform the people that the government is not the only group that has power to make decisions concerning this issue. There are other opinions in civilian society.” He went on to say, “I hope this campaign will pave the way for other experiences and sentiments within East Asia to be exchanged and understood, and lay the groundwork for future common understanding.”
...Prof. Lee Dae-hoon [of of Sungkonghoe University in South Korea], who participated in the forum said, “The campaign is focused on the goal of uniting East Asian civil society and preventing territorial disputes from escalating while resolving the situation in a non-militaristic and peaceful way. We must not allow territorial disputes to be used to satisfy imperialistic power or agression.” He added, “The campaign was started with intellectuals at the center, but we will gather citizens’ signatures in the next few months. Based on citizens’ opinions, we will lead activities to seek and propose solutions on these territorial conflicts.

Japanese writers & civil society leaders again call for a

calm, diplomatic response to territorial disputes 

at Oct. 18, 2012  rally in Tokyo. Photo: Asahi Shimbun)

The Japanese civic group followed their Sept. 28 press conference with  a demonstration rally in front of the No. 2 Lower House members' office building in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward on Oct. 18, covered by Hatsumoto Hosokawa for Asahi:

Pointing out that "territorial issues rock nationalism in any country" and that "action on one side leads to action from the other," the group's Internet statement urged people to "reflect upon history" and called for resolution "through peaceful dialogue."

This snowballing of dialogue between citizen groups and the public is a form of collective grassroots empowerment that peace studies scholar Johan Galtung calls the "great chain of nonviolence".

Okinawan Democracy

Okinawan opposition to US MV-22 Osprey aircraft testing and flight training.

(Photo: Naofumi Nakato)