It’s been three years since the Fukushima nuclear accident.
Some of us participated in the silent vigil held by the members of Fukushima Response Bay Area. We dedicated 20 minutes for the victims in Fukushima. The sun was very bright.
We all headed towards the Consulate General of San Francisco after the vigil. This is our 20th monthly rally against nukes. We called for an action across the US to have an action simultaneously at consulates and an embassy. The result was a coordinated action at 10 consulates and one embassy. Prior to this action, Ms. Hayakawa, the consul at San Francisco, who walks down to the pedestrian road to meet with us told us via phone that she would not come down this time, and it was an order from Tokyo to any embassy and consul across the US. She also says that he cannot make an appointment to receive our letter, and she could only receive our petition letters via snail mail. At 2:15pm, we still attempted to ask at the ground floor security that our representative would like to get in with our photo id. Security promptly called the consulate, and told us that somebody will come down so we could wait for him at the lobby. 15 of us lined up and waited, but then after 45 minutes, nobody came down to see us. We called the consul directly, then we were forwarded to his voice mail. We left a message that we will wait, keep our gathering, and would wait for his phone call.
No phone call after half an hour. Why did she say that she was going to come down or send somebody in the first place? Did she mean anything?
We are not terrorists, but just wanting to hand some petition letters. Why weren’t we allowed to enter, and be told to wait so she will meet…which was a lie or just sheer rudeness. Herresponse lacks honesty.
But this is what Japanese government does to its citizens all the time. When they smell something, they just cover it up. This doesn’t mean that our anger has no place to go. We must be angry, and we shall not be silence. We need to raise our voice and say it is wrong.
Fukushima victims are the survivors of this Japanese government and nuclear industry. It is a matter of life, but our government does not see and cannot even determine any connection between children with thyroid cancer and this ongoing nuclear accident. This is injustice. We could only fight.
After 30 minutes of demo, we tried die-in action for the first time. Please see the video.
There were 80 people who joined us. Thank you for all who joined. Thank you for all who supported us from afar. Thank you. There were poems, music, die-in, and march…a variety of action gave our gathering such a power. No Nukes! No Restart! Save all the children!
The 20th Every 11th of Month No Nukes Rally in San Francisco, 3/11/2014
Chizu Hamada
Ustream 3.11 2014 SF
Video streaming by Ustream
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On March 11, 2014, on the third anniversary of the initial explosions at Fukushima Daiichi, No Nukes Action Committee in San Francisco organized a nation-wide action in 10 U.S. cities, among them Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Most of these actions involved presenting a letter of concern directly to the consulate or embassy in these cities. At the same time, No Nukes Action, in collaboration with Fukushima Response Bay Area held a demonstration at the Japanese Consulate in San Francisco followed by a die-in. During our previous 19 demonstrations, beginning in June of 2012 at the consulate, the consul had always been willing (and mostly very gracious) to meet us on the sidewalk in front of their offices, but on the third anniversary of the disaster, Consul Hayakawa categorically refused to meet with us or to accept delivery of our letter in person, advising the demonstration organizers that they could use “ordinary mail.” Perhaps, with the passage of the Secrets Preservation Act in December, 2013, and with our mass action involving 11 U.S. cities, the official consular offices have received orders from Tokyo. Perhaps it is safe to assume someone is running scared, a barometer that at last our concerns are being heard.
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in san francisco, we had a magnificent day, we began at 2:30 with attempts to deliver our letter in person, eventually to be promised that the consul would in fact come down. but that never happened. we waited some 45 minutes. we held a rousing demonstration with chizu hamada taking charge. this diminutive japanese woman held her own throughout the rally. it's the first opportunity she had to really show her stuff, because somehow the gaijin managed to overshadow her, but she is a force unto herself. throughout the demonstration, it was live-streamed directly to japan. we read the letter we had composed for the occasion, with passouts for all present containing both the japanese and english versions. the press was in attendance, and the S.f. chronicle carried coverage today of our plans for a die-in which happened as scheduled, with a second team outlining bodies in chalk. we may have had as any as 50 people present, most of whom joined a march which hit market street, with our banners on display, and went as far as union square.
it was our most successful and dynamic rally, the 20th of our monthly appearances before the japanese consulate.
the consulate did confer with the police, who were there in very negligible numbers.
a good time was had by all.
cecile pineda
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The text of the NoNukesAction Committee letter is below:
March 11, 2014, Day 1095 following the start of the global disaster at Fukushima-Daiichi
To: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
Your Honor:
According to the Feb. 28, 2013 issue of the New York Times, your government announced that Japan’s nuclear plants are slated for re-start once “tougher” safety guidelines are put in place as recommended by the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority. Does the Nuclear Regulation Authority plan to issue tough guidelines to prevent the occurrence of earthquakes in the Japanese archipelago where the Philippine Sea Plate, the huge Pacific Plate, the North American Plate, and the Eurasian Plate all converge?
The Shimokita Peninsula where reprocessing plant Rokkasho is located is a most fragile formation which lay at the bottom of the sea as recently as 5,000 years ago, but Rokkasho was designed to withstand only 20% to 25% of the Tohoku quake’s magnitude. An explosion at Rokkasho would expose people within a 100-kilometer radius to levels of radiation ten to one hundred times the lethal level, meaning instant death. Does the Nuclear Regulation Authority have plans to bring radiation victims back to life? Do its plans make provision for the eventual sacrifice of Japan?
Mrs. Masako Mori describes the Secrets Preservation Law which passed December 7, 2013 as an effort to "protect the people's right to know.” But the law provides for up to ten years imprisonment for anyone who either inquires or reports anything about the status of your three meltdowns at Fukusima Daiichi, or what may be happening to the water table when the corium reaches it. It's an amazing law that can reveal the truth at the same time as concealing it! Does the Japanese government have plans to conceal from observation by satellites the plumes and explosions which result?
Your plans to forcefully repatriate evacuees to areas contaminated by 20 mSv within one year will save your government and TEPCO billions of yen. Does your government have plans to allocate those monies for the treatment of the thyroid cancers, and other malignancies resulting from the relocation of your old people, your women and men, and your own children to the contaminated area?
Sincerely,
Cecile Pineda
Author of Devil’s Tango: How I Learned the Fukushima Step by Step
2550 Dana St. Berkeley, CA 94704
No Nukes Action Committee and S.F. Bay Area Residents
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