“Please do not repeat the tragedy of Fukushima! After Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, people used to say that such an accident would not happen in Fukushima. But it happened. If we do not stop nuclear power, another accident will definitely happen again. And if another accident happens, children will be the first victims. My children and I are suffering. We cannot live in our house, which we love. We live everyday with fear that we may get ill one day. It is heart breaking to see children who can no longer laugh from their heart since 3.11. Do not victimize children simply because you want to generate power. For whom is economic development, if children must be its victims? Let Fukushima be the last one to suffer from such a tragedy. Aren’t children the treasure of any country? Is it not the minimum responsibility of adults to protect the children? If we cannot protect our children, there is no meaning for us adults to exist. We do not need nuclear reactors anywhere on this planet. Because everywhere on the earth, there are children living. Let us all protect the children of the world."
Sachiko was speaking through a megaphone (photo above left) to Japanese Prime Minister Noda, as well as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, both of whom had just exited their limousines a half block away, during a protest rally co-sponsored by Beyond Nuclear at the UN Plaza in New York City, September 2011. You can download the PDF of her statement - in English and the original Japanese, here.