As staffers trickle out of the powerful Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) on their way home from work, a group of women from Fukushima Prefecture shout at them through a megaphone.
“When are we going to be able to return to our hometowns? Will they ever be safe to live in again? When will you take responsibility for this?” the women call out toward the ministry, which has been responsible for both promoting nuclear energy and overseeing its safety in Japan.
A Buddhist monk in white and orange robes from the pacifist Nipponzan-Myohoji sect is reciting anti-nuclear chants to the beat he is tapping out on a hand drum.
The informal group of dozens of protesters has maintained a camp outside METI for more than two months. It represents an undercurrent of anger throughout the country that, eight months after a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered a nuclear crisis, the situation at the severely damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has yet to be secured.
Continue reading at Japan’s anti-nuclear protesters find the going tough, despite Fukushima disaster
