Message from Arao Shunsuke, Fukushima resident

Dear Friends,

It’s been nearly 3 years since the hideous catastrophe at Fukushima Daiichi began.

I am an ordinary citizen who lives in Nihonmatsu City, in Nakadori, Fukushima and I am opposed to nuclear power. I would like to give the following message along with my respects to all those people fighting for a better future.

As you are all aware, Fukushima Daiichi is nowhere near under control, there are still massive problems with it. At the end of last year, I came across this satirical haiku:
Everything is under control, lies Shinzo (Abe-PM)

That about sums it up…radioactive water is still leaking, there is still a very long way to go until it can be decommissioned, and we must be prepared for a long term battle which will go beyond the present generation. Even now over 100,000 people from Fukushima are still living in miserable conditions in temporary housing.

The committee investigating health management of Fukushima citizens, which used to hold secret meetings, announced on February 7th that 75 children have either confirmed thyroid cancer or a strong possibility of thyroid cancer, but they still refuse to recognize that the nuclear accident has anything to do with it. And in Nakadori and other places in Fukushima, a million people are being forced to live exposed to low level radiation over an extended period. Many citizens of Fukushima mutter “we are guinea pigs.”

The monitoring post, which is in the square in front of the Nihonmatsu City Hall, shows 0.3 microsieverts per hour; the lawn at the entrance shows 0.7 and the reading in my living room is 0.2. But this is above the level of 1 millisievert per year (0.23 microsieverts per hour), which is the exposure limit for the general public.

If we look at the situation at the end of last year in Nihonmatsu regarding decontamination efforts, only half the number of the houses which were scheduled for decontamination were actually decontaminated, and the effectiveness of the decontamination was also not more than 50%. Places that have radiation levels of 1 millisievert or more per year are designated as necessary for decontamination, but the evacuated areas are not getting below this level, yet the authorities declare that below 20 millisieverts is safe and try to get everyone to move back. This does not make any sense at all.

Meanwhile TEPCO has not taken any responsibility for spreading radiation not just throughout Fukushima, but throughout the world. Whether it’s damage to health or property, they have shown an extremely cold shoulder or feigned politeness but have in no way at all fulfilled the responsibility of a corporation which has caused such terrible damage. All they do is raise electricity prices and request bailouts of taxpayer’s money in order to maintain their own survival.

In these circumstances, we would like to reiterate our demand that the ‘law to support children and other victims of the nuclear accident’ be implemented as soon as possible.
More and more people are realizing that nuclear energy generation is a failed technology which humankind has still not been able to control. From the point of view of disposal of the radioactive waste also, people are realizing that we are nearing the point of collapse.
So many people in the past have warned us about nuclear power, but long ago Takagi Jinzaburo had this to say about the advent of today’s society: “Gigantic systems such as the nuclear energy industry or development of space technology make most of the people into one cog in the machine and kill the humanity inside us.”

Despite this, why are we unable to stop nuclear? Who is making the most profit from nuclear? And what should we do right now?

We are continuing our journey on this small but beautiful planet, through the limitless universe. All of us must join our strength so that this delicate vehicle, which we are riding, which we have borrowed from our children and grandchildren, can be protected and handed over to them intact.

Arao Shunsuke
E-mail: arasyunda4@kjf．biglobe．ne．jp

Blog (in Japanese): http://blog.goo.ne.jp/arao-311

Arao-san also writes poems…here is a translation of one of them:

Can you see?

Please come to Fukushima
It’s like nothing ever happened…but

Can you see?
The radiation that swirls around?

Can you see?
Radiation maybe in the food that child is eating…

In the shadow of an ordinary day
What sort of anxiety swirls?

Can you see?
Inside the hearts of the people who live with low level radiation?

Please, gaze with the eyes of your heart, with the eyes of science
At the reality that can’t be seen.