Call for international protest against Japanese Prime Minister Noda's decision to allow the restart of Ohi nuclear power plant
June 12, 2012 [A PDF version of this call is posted here.]
Dear Friends,
The Japanese Prime Minister Noda has announced his decision to order the restart two nuclear reactors in the town of Ohi in the prefecture of Fukui in Western Japan. He also claimed that nuclear energy will remain an important source of energy for Japan also in the future, thereby reconfirming Japans nuclear energy policy.
Despite all our efforts, despite the strong resistance in the region of Western Japan surrounding Ohi, and despite the fact that a majority of the Japanese people is against nuclear power, the Japanese government is bowing to pressures of the nuclear lobby in Japan. We have tried hard on our own, but now we believe that coordinated international pressure on the Japan government is essential to bring on real and substantial change. We believe that the Japanese government and the Japanese public will react very sensitively to international pressure, so we wish to ask you for your support to initiate and coordinate international protest against the Japanese government.
Specifically we suggest the following action within the following days (preferably on Wednesday to Friday this week / June 13~15, 2012):
1. Please assemble in front of the Japanese embassies in your capital to voice your protest against the decision and policy of Prime Minister Noda
2. Please try to submit a letter of protest -addressed to Prime Minister Noda- to the Japanese Ambassador in your country and request the Japanese Ambassador to forward this letter of protest to the Japanese Prime Minister
3. Please try to seek coverage of this action by your local and international media, especially Japanese media, as well as on the Internet
4. Please give us notice about your planned action, so we can organize a press event in Japan to reinforce your message to the Japanese government.
Please note that we wish these protests to be absolutely civil and peaceful, and to fully observe the sovereign rights of the Japanese embassies abroad.
A draft letter of protest is attached, so you just need to sign it.
We thank you for your support.
Japan, June 11th, 2012
Hideyuki BAN, Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center (CNIC)
Kanna MITSUTA, FoE Japan
Aileen Mioko SMITH, Green Action
Daisuke SATO, No Nukes Asia Forum
Akira KAWASAKI, Peace Boat
Kaori IZUMI, Shut Tomari