On March 26, NHK covered an antinuclear power demonstration in Germany that attracted thousands of protesters. The report pointed out that the demonstration was sparked by the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear reactor. The next day, there was a march by Japanese antinuke protesters in Tokyo. Though it was much smaller than the German demonstration, it seems odd that the Japanese media didn’t cover it, given how sensitive people have become to the subject of nuclear energy.
Ever since the tsunami damaged the cooling system at the Fukushima plant on March 11, setting the crisis in motion, the nuclear energy industry and the authorities who support it have received an enormous amount of criticism in the press for their handling of the crisis and, to a lesser extent, the content of their policies. Under such circumstances, reporters might be expected to run to the sort of people likely to say “I told you so!” — but the antinuke contingent remains for the most part invisible.
Continue reading at Japanese antinuclear voices are still struggling to be heard
