「議論をやり直して」… 原発政策の見直し巡る意見交換会が紛糾 政府の拙速な決定に批判集中 埼玉via 東京新聞

Posted on 2023/01/25 by nfield

　経済産業省は20日、政府が昨年末にまとめた原発の積極活用を柱とした脱炭素社会実現の基本方針について、一般市民を対象にした意見交換会を関東経済産業局（さいたま市）で開いた。拙速な議論で原発推進の方針を決めたことへの批判が相次ぎ、紛糾した。　

◆募集は1週間前…「アリバイづくりしたいだけ」

　意見交換会は19日の中部経済産業局（名古屋市）に続いて2回目。経済産業局がある全国10都市で、3月1日まで1回ずつ開く。

　さいたま市での意見交換会は、開催1週間前にホームページ上で募集告知をしただけ。会場とオンライン中継ともに事前申込制で、会場は24人、オンラインには114人が参加した。冒頭、経産省が説明しようとする前に、出席者から「既に決まった方針に意見を言って意味があるのか」と声が上がった。

経産省の担当者は、ウクライナ危機によるエネルギー情勢の変化を受け、原発を安定的な脱炭素電源として活用していくと説明。出席者は「原発は事故が起きれば人が管理できなくなる。地震が多い国で稼働させることは不安。再生可能エネルギーに力を入れてほしい」などと、原発推進に否定的な声が大半だった。

　政府の検討の進め方にも批判が集中。「国民的な議論をしないまま決めた方針は白紙撤回するべきだ。再度、時間をかけて公聴会などを重ねて議論をやり直してほしい」「意見がどう反映されるのか、まったく見えない」などの発言が続いた。経産省の担当者は「意見は今後のエネルギー政策の検討の参考にする。意見交換会は継続的な開催も考える」と答えた。

　会合は1時間半を予定したが、出席者からの発言が相次いで約3時間に及んだ。終了後、栃木県小山市の自営業小栗秀夫さん（63）は「経産省は『検討する』と答えるだけで、意見を聞いたアリバイづくりがしたいだけなのが明らか。事前周知もほとんどせず、とても姑息こそくなやり方だ」と憤った。　（小野沢健太）

[…]

全文

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Mapping the atomic tests via Beyond Nuclear International

Posted on 2023/01/24 by nfield

Interactive map tells the story of nuclear weapons tests and their toll

From the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)

During the First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW, ICAN launched a new interactive resource to discover the (hi)stories of nuclear weapons testing. 

On the new website you can discover an interactive map as an educational tool to provide an overview of what we know about the impacts of nuclear weapons use and testing of the over 2,000 nuclear weapons detonated since 1945, featuring dozens of survivor testimonies and stories of their activism for justice. 

For example, you can learn about the story of Dr. Enver Thoti Bughda, a medical surgeon and Uyghur rights activist from Xinjiang China. After exposing the devastating effects of nuclear tests on the local population in the Lupnur region, he was compelled to leave China and seek political asylum in the UK where he continues to promote awareness of the shocking consequences of the nuclear tests.

Or listen to the stories of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, who are fighting for restitution for the harm they suffered from the Trinity Nuclear Test in New Mexico, US.

Or you can watch the stories of people affected by the nuclear weapons tests conducted by the United States in the Marshall Islands assembled by students from the Marshall Islands Students Association in Suva, Fiji.

Moreover, the website also answers the most important questions about nuclear weapons testing, such as how many nuclear weapons have been used or tested and how the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons addresses the legacies of nuclear weapons testing and use.

We hope that this resource will be useful to many of you to both dive more into the stories of survivors, and pass these stories on.

About the tests

From 1945 to 2017, more than two thousand nuclear test explosions were conducted around the world, resulting in epidemics of cancers and other chronic illnesses. Large swathes of land remain radioactive and unsafe for habitation, even decades after test sites were closed.

While more research is needed, there are already a lot of in-depth resources out there about nuclear weapons testing, production and use and its impacts around the world.

If you’re ready to dive deeper, we have collected some key resources.

Few survivors of nuclear testing anywhere in the world have ever been compensated for their suffering. Where efforts have been made to clean up former test sites, they have been woefully inadequate. The victims of these toxic experiments must not be forgotten – and their demands for justice and assistance must be met.

[…]

To engage with the full interactive map and additional information, click here. For more on the TPNW and the nuclear weapons ban, see the ICAN website.

[…]

Read more.

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Scientific opposition to Japan’s planned release of over 1.3 million tons of radioactively contaminated water from the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster into the Pacific Ocean via NAML.org

Posted on 2023/01/24 by nfield

The National Association of Marine Laboratories (NAML), an organization of more than
100 member laboratories, opposes Japan’s plans to begin releasing over 1.3 million tons
of radioactively contaminated water from the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into
the Pacific Ocean commencing in 2023. This opposition is based on the fact that there is
a lack of adequate and accurate scientific data supporting Japan’s assertion of safety. Furthermore, there is an abundance of data demonstrating serious concerns about
releasing radioactively contaminated water.

The Pacific Ocean is the largest continuous body of water on our planet, containing the greatest biomass of organisms of ecological, economic, and cultural value, including 70 percent of the world’s fisheries. The health of all the world’s ocean ecosystems is in documented decline due to a variety of stressors, including climate change, over-exploitation of resources, and pollution.


The proposed release of this contaminated water is a transboundary and transgenerational
issue of concern for the health of marine ecosystems and those whose lives and livelihoods
depend on them. We are concerned about the absence of critical data on the radionuclide
content of each tank, the Advanced Liquid Processing System, which is used to remove
radionuclides, and the assumption that upon the release of the contaminated wastewater,
“dilution is the solution to pollution.”


The underlying rationale of dilution ignores the reality of biological processes of organic binding, bioaccumulation, and bioconcentration, as well as accumulation in local seafloor sediments Many of the radionuclides contained in the accumulated waste cooling water have half-lives ranging from decades to centuries, and their deleterious effects range from DNA damage and cellular stress to elevated cancer risks in people who eat affected marine organisms, such as clams, oysters, crabs, lobster, shrimp, and fish. Additionally, the effectiveness of the Advanced Liquid Processing System in almost completely removing the over 60 different radionuclides present in the affected wastewater—some of which have an affinity to target specific tissues, glands, organs, and metabolic pathways in living organisms, including people—remains a serious concern due to the absence of critical data.

The supporting data provided by the Tokyo Electric Power Company and the Japanese
Government are insufficient and, in some cases, incorrect, with flaws in sampling protocols,
statistical design, sample analyses, and assumptions, which in turn lead to flaws in the
conclusion of safety and prevent a more thorough evaluation of better alternative approaches to disposal. A full range of approaches to addressing the problem of safely containing, storing, and disposing of the radioactive waste have not been adequately explored, and alternatives to
ocean dumping should be examined in greater detail and with extensive scientific rigor.

NAML calls on the Government of Japan and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
scientists to more fully and adequately consider the options recommended by the Pacific Islands Forum’s Expert Panel. We believe public policy decisions, regulations, and actions must keep pace with and make use of relevant advancements in our scientific understanding of the environment and human health. In this case, we believe policy makers have not fully availed themselves of the available science and should do so before making any final decisions on releasing this contaminated water into the Pacific. NAML members are unified in our concern about use of the oceans as a dumping ground for radioactively contaminated water and other pollutants because such actions can negatively affect the long-term health and sustainability of our planet.

We urge the Government of Japan to stop pursuing their planned and precedent-setting release of the radioactively contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean and to work with the broader scientific community to pursue other approaches that protect ocean life; human health; and those communities who depend on ecologically, economically, and culturally valuable marine resources.

Adopted by the NAML Board of Directors, December 12, 2022.

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Don’t dump on us: Pacific Islanders, marine scientists, urge Japan not to dump Fukushima radioactive water into the ocean via Beyond Nuclear International

Posted on 2023/01/24 by nfield

By Linda Pentz Gunter

The nuclear power industry has a long history of disproportionately impacting people of color, Indigenous communities and those living in the Global South. As Japan prepares to dump more than 1 million tonnes of radioactive water from its stricken Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant site into the Pacific Ocean some time this year, history is about to repeat itself.

To remind us of that — and to warn against this reckless and entirely unnecessary action (Japan could and should expand the cask storage pad on site and keep storing the radioactive water there) — the leader of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) has spoken out.

In a recent column in the UK daily newspaper, The Guardian, Henry Puna wrote that “continuing with ocean discharge plans at this time is simply inconceivable”, given how directly it once again discriminates against — and will likely seriously harm the health of — the peoples of the Pacific. Puna took care to remind readers “that the majority of our Pacific peoples are coastal peoples, and that the ocean continues to be an integral part of their subsistence living.”

[…]

The plant produces 100 cubic metres of contaminated water daily, a combination of groundwater, seawater and water used to keep the reactors cool. The water is theoretically filtered to remove most harmful isotopes, other than tritium, which is radioactive hydrogen and cannot be separated from water. It is then stored in casks on site where authorities claim they are running out of space. However, independent watchdogs are not convinced that the filter system has successfully removed other dangerous radioactive isotopes from the waste water.

Most recently, the 100-member American group, the National Association of Marine Laboratories (NAML), expressed its fervent opposition in a strongly worded position paper released last month. Their opposition, they wrote, “is based on the fact that there is a lack of adequate and accurate scientific data supporting Japan’s assertion of safety. Furthermore, there is an abundance of data demonstrating serious concerns about releasing radioactively contaminated water.”

The report went on: “The proposed release of this contaminated water is a transboundary and transgenerational issue of concern for the health of marine ecosystems and those whose lives and livelihoods depend on them. We are concerned about the absence of critical data on the radionuclide content of each tank, the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), which is used to remove radionuclides, and the assumption that upon the release of the contaminated wastewater, ‘dilution is the solution to pollution.’”

The scientists accused Japan of ignoring the inevitable processes of bioaccumulation and bioconcentration, which contradict the dilution contention. The Association also called out what it saw as shoddy or incorrect science conducted by Tepco and the Japanese government, including “flaws in sampling protocols, statistical design, sample analyses, and assumptions, which in turn lead to flaws in the conclusion of safety and prevent a more thorough evaluation of better alternative approaches to disposal.”

Japan has consistently rejected on-going onsite storage — presumably due to the expense, given the land space is there and more casks could be provided. In the view of some, the eagerness to dump the water— largely contaminated with tritium (a form of radioactive hydrogen that cannot be separated from water) and likely other undeclared radionuclides — is a public relations exercise to make the problem “go away” and restore normal optics to the site. The site cannot also be fully decommissioned so long as the tanks are there.

[…]

“How can the Japanese government, who has experienced the same brutal experiences of nuclear weapons in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, wish to further pollute our Pacific with nuclear waste?” they asked in a statement quoted in a New York Times article in December. “To us, this irresponsible act of trans-boundary harm is just the same as waging nuclear war on us as Pacific peoples and our islands.”

Pacific Islanders are naturally suspicious, having been lied to before. It took two days before the by then radiologically contaminated people of Rongelap were evacuated subsequent to the massive Castle Bravo atomic test, America’s biggest bomb that devastated Bikini Atoll. Marshall Islanders were treated as guinea pigs in the aftermath of the tests there, as the US government examined the impact on people living in a radiologically contaminated environment — even as the true dangers were hidden from them. Consequently, claims by the Japanese government that their Advanced Liquid Processing System had removed the worst of the radionuclides from the waste water to be dumped, have been met with skepticism at best.

Now, their concerns are supported by marine scientists.

“The effectiveness of the Advanced Liquid Processing System in almost completely removing the over 60 different radionuclides present in the affected wastewater—some of which have an affinity to target specific tissues, glands, organs, and metabolic pathways in living organisms, including people—remains a serious concern due to the absence of critical data,” said the statement from NAML.

[…]

Read more.

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In the Pacific, Outcry Over Japan’s Plan to Release Fukushima Wastewater via New York Times

Posted on 2023/01/24 by nfield

By Pete McKenzie

Dec. 30, 2022

Every day at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, officials flush over a hundred tons of water through its corroded reactors to keep them cool after the calamitous meltdown of 2011. Then the highly radioactive water is pumped into hundreds of white and blue storage tanks that form a mazelike array around the plant.

For the last decade, that’s where the water has stayed. But with more than 1.3 million tons in the tanks, Japan is running out of room. So next year in spring, it plans to begin releasing the water into the Pacific after treatment for most radioactive particles, as has been done elsewhere.

The Japanese government, saying there is no feasible alternative, has pledged to carry out the release with close attention to safety standards. The plan has been endorsed by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog.

But the approach is increasingly alarming Japan’s neighbors. Those in the South Pacific, who have suffered for decades from the fallout of a U.S. nuclear test in the Marshall Islands, are particularly skeptical of the promises of safety. Last month, a group representing more than a dozen countries in the Pacific, including Australia and the Marshall Islands, urged Tokyo to defer the wastewater releases.

[…]

Much of that mistrust is rooted in the unlikeliest of events. In 1954, snow fell on the tropical atoll of Rongelap. Residents of the reef, in the Marshall Islands, had never seen such a thing. Children played in it; some ate it. Two days later, U.S. soldiers arrived to tell them the “snow” was actually fallout from America’s largest nuclear test, which took place on nearby Bikini Atoll and irradiated Rongelap after an unexpected change in wind direction.

[…]

In the test’s aftermath, hundreds of people suffered intense radiation exposure, leading to skin burns and pregnancy complications. Decades later, people of the Marshall Islands still feel its impact through forced relocations, lost land and heightened cancer rates. “You feel this deep sorrow,” Ms. Racule said. “Why were we not good enough to be treated like human beings?”

[…]

In a statement last year, Youngsolwara Pacific, a prominent environmental advocacy group, asked, “How can the Japanese government, who has experienced the same brutal experiences of nuclear weapons in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, wish to further pollute our Pacific with nuclear waste? To us, this irresponsible act of trans-boundary harm is just the same as waging nuclear war on us as Pacific peoples and our islands.”

[…]

To soothe Pacific concerns, Japanese authorities emphasize that their analysis shows that the wastewater plan is safe. Almost all radioactive particles will be removed from the wastewater before it is released, except for a hydrogen isotope called tritium that Japanese experts and others say poses a relatively low health risk.

“By diluting the tritium/water mixture with regular seawater, the level of radioactivity can be reduced to safe levels comparable to those associated with radiation from granite rocks, bore water, medical imaging, airline travel and certain types of food,” Nigel Marks, a nuclear materials researcher and associate professor at Curtin University, said in a statement distributed by the Australian Science Media Centre.

[…]

Motarilavoa Hilda Lini, a prominent politician and activist in Vanuatu, has said, “We need to remind Japan and other nuclear states of our Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific movement slogan: If it is safe, dump it in Tokyo, test it in Paris, and store it in Washington, but keep our Pacific nuclear-free.”

[…]

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‘No miracles needed’: Prof Mark Jacobson on how wind, solar, and water can power the world via The Guardian

Posted on 2023/01/23 by nfield

Damian Carrington

“Combustion is the problem – when you’re continuing to burn something, that’s not solving the problem,” says Prof Mark Jacobson.

The Stanford University academic has a compelling pitch: the world can rapidly get 100% of its energy from renewable sources with, as the title of his new book says, “no miracles needed”.

Wind, water and solar can provide plentiful and cheap power, he argues, ending the carbon emissions driving the climate crisis, slashing deadly air pollution and ensuring energy security. Carbon capture and storage, biofuels, new nuclear and other technologies are expensive wastes of time, he argues.

“Bill Gates said we have to put a lot of money into miracle technologies,” Jacobson says. “But we don’t – we have the technologies that we need. We have wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, electric cars. We have batteries, heat pumps, energy efficiency. We have 95% of the technologies right now that we need to solve the problem.” The missing 5% is for long-distance aircraft and ships, he says, for which hydrogen-powered fuel cells can be developed.

Jacobson’s claim is a big one. He is not just talking about a shift to 100% renewable electricity, but all energy – and fossil fuels still provide about 80% of that today. Jacobson has scores of academic papers to his name and his work has been influential in policies passed by cities, states and countries around the world targeting 100% green power. He is also controversial, not least for pursuing a $10m lawsuit against researchers who claimed his work was flawed, which he later dropped.

[…]

Jacobson divides approaches to the energy transition into two camps: “One says we should just try everything – they’re the ‘all-of-the-above camp’ – and keep investing huge amounts of money in technologies that may or may not be available to work in 10 years. But 10 years is too late.” Carbon emissions must fall by 45% by 2030, scientists agree, to keep on track for no more than 1.5C of global heating.

His camp takes a different approach, Jacobson says: “Let’s focus on what we have and deploy as fast as possible. And we will improve those technologies just by deploying, bringing better solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles and so on. Some people just don’t realise the speed that we need to solve these problems, especially air pollution – 7 million people die every year. We can’t wait.”

However, there are major barriers to a rapid rollout of a 100% renewable energy system, he says: “The No 1 barrier is that most people are not aware that it’s possible. My job is trying to educate the public about it. If people are actually comfortable that it’s possible to do, then they might actually do it.”

He adds: “The policy of all-of-the-above is also a big barrier to a transition. In the US, for example, in the recent [climate legislation], a lot of money was spent on carbon capture, small modular nuclear reactors, biofuels, blue hydrogen. These are all what I consider almost useless, or very low-use, technologies in terms of solving the problems. And yet, a lot of money is spent on them. Why? Because there are big lobby groups.” Another barrier is funding the upfront costs of renewable energy in poorer countries – rich countries need to help, he says.

Jacobson believes progress towards a 100% renewable energy system can be fast: “The goal is 80% by 2030, and 100% by 2050. But, ideally, if we can get 80% by 2030, we should get 100% by 2035 to 2040.”

[…]

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Roger Stahl discusses Theaters of War: How the Pentagon and CIA Took Hollywood with WSWS via World Socialist Website 

Posted on 2023/01/21 by kojimaaiko

[…]

RP: Could you speak about the movie Godzilla and how the original version, which was conceived of as a warning about the dangers of nuclear war, and what the latest version of this film has now been transformed into?

RS: It is useful to step back and look at how nuclear weapon proliferation and stockpiling has been normalized by Hollywood and the Pentagon over the years. Godzilla is a good example. You’re right that since the first movie in the ’50s, the franchise has been a critique of the bomb and nuclear proliferation, which is one reason why there has been no Pentagon support all the way through to 2014.

It’s not the only reason. There was a version made in 1998, which starred Matthew Broderick. In that movie the military are a bit like the Keystone Cops. They fire missiles at Godzilla but miss and take down the Chrysler Building. The military don’t look good and so the entertainment office objected and denied assistance.

The military did fully support the 2014 version of Godzilla, though, which showed them in a heroic light. More importantly, it turned the anti-nuclear narrative on its head. The military took out references to Hiroshima, and suddenly nuclear weapons are part of the solution to the monster problem. This was a huge PR victory for those intent on holding us all hostage to an accidental Armageddon.

The military denied help to the producers of the next version of the film in 2019. We don’t know the exact reason—maybe there was less of a heroic role—but the tragic thing is that the narrative of “nukes save the day” persisted.  That’s after just one intervention by the DoD.

[…]

Read more at Roger Stahl discusses Theaters of War: How the Pentagon and CIA Took Hollywood with WSWS

ref. 米「ゴジラ」原爆批判のせりふ削除していた　国防総省が脚本に抗議　2014年映画 via 沖縄タイムス

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米「ゴジラ」原爆批判のせりふ削除していた　国防総省が脚本に抗議　2014年映画 via 沖縄タイムス

Posted on 2023/01/20 by yukimiyamotodepaul

　【ジョン・ミッチェル特約通信員】ハリウッド映画「ＧＯＤＺＩＬＬＡ　ゴジラ」（２０１４年）の製作に協力した米国防総省が広島の原爆被害を取り上げた途中段階の脚本に抗議し、製作者側がせりふを削除していたことが分かった。同省は協力打ち切りを持ち出して圧力をかけていた。

同省は俳優の渡辺謙さんが演じる科学者が原爆投下に触れるせりふを「完全に不必要で不当だ」と批判。高官は「もしこれが広島と長崎に原爆を投下した決定への謝罪や疑問視を意味するなら、そこで終わりだ」と、協力撤回の意向を内部文書に記していた。

　米ジョージア大学のロジャー・スタール教授（コミュニケーション論）が、バージニア州の海兵隊図書館で関連文書を入手した。文書によると、映画を製作したレジェンダリー・ピクチャーズ社は国防総省との交渉で、米軍機や艦船の撮影許可を得る代わりに、脚本の点検を受けることに合意していた。

（略）

本紙が入手した１２年６月段階の脚本では、せりふは約１分間あり、負傷した父が学校の校庭で黒焦げの遺体に囲まれて目を覚ました様子を振り返るはずだった。

　同省が１３年２月に抗議し、このせりふは削除された。完成版では、科学者が原爆投下時刻の午前８時１５分で針が止まった父の腕時計を米海軍司令官に見せるシーンがわずかに残るだけになった。

全文は米「ゴジラ」原爆批判のせりふ削除していた　国防総省が脚本に抗議　2014年映画

ref. Roger Stahl discusses Theaters of War: How the Pentagon and CIA Took Hollywood with WSWS via World Socialist Website 

Posted in *日本語 | Tagged , , | Comments Off on 米「ゴジラ」原爆批判のせりふ削除していた　国防総省が脚本に抗議　2014年映画 via 沖縄タイムス

次世代型原発や60年超運転「閣議決定目指す」　資源エネルギー庁が福井県に方針説明、規制庁も via 福井新聞

Posted on 2023/01/19 by nfield

　経済産業省資源エネルギー庁は1月18日、次世代型原発への建て替え推進や60年を超えた運転延長を認める利用政策案を盛り込んだ政府の基本方針を福井県と福井県議会に説明した。県庁で櫻本宏副知事と面談した山田仁資源エネルギー政策統括調整官は「必要なプロセスを経て閣議決定を目指している。関係法案を通常国会に提出すべく検討を加速する」と指摘。原子力規制庁も同日、新たな規制制度案を説明した。

　政府は昨年末、脱炭素化に向け原発を積極活用する基本方針を取りまとめた。山田調整官は60年超運転に関して「電力の安定供給や脱炭素への貢献といった利用政策の観点から経産省が審査認可を行う」と述べた。一方で「定期的な、より厳格な審査に合格しない限り、経産省の判断がどうあれ運転は認めない枠組み。関係法案の詳細な制度設計を原子力規制委員会が検討している」とし、安全性を担保した上での利用政策との考えを強調した。

[…]

⇒県議会からは「安全最優先」求める意見相次ぐ

　原子力規制庁は山本哲也地域原子力安全調整官が来庁し、運転開始30年後から10年以内ごとに劣化状況を確認する新たな制度案を説明し「さまざまな劣化評価を行い、規制に抜けがないよう対応する」と述べた。「運転60年までの劣化の評価は経験や蓄積があり、現行の考え方が基本」と強調。40年超運転を審査する際に重要機器の劣化状況を把握する「特別点検」は原則維持し、60年超の評価手法は今後の検討とした。

全文

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脱原発のプラカードを着けた男性が受けた「注意」駅員やバス運転手から…どうして？via 東京新聞

Posted on 2023/01/19 by nfield

　横浜市に住む男性が原発に関連する標語のプラカードを胸と背中に下げてJRや同市営バスに乗車しようとした際、駅員や乗務員（運転手）から「外してほしい」と求められた。プラカードは公共交通機関の場ではふさわしくない行為なのか。男性が「表現の不自由の空気を感じた」というが、その顛末てんまつは。（野呂法夫）

◆記者が声を掛けると、元原発技術者の男性は語った

昨年11月16日昼過ぎ。記者が川崎市のJR川崎駅から東海道線上り電車に乗ると、「原発を並べて自衛戦争はできない」と書かれたプラカードをつるしてドア付近に静かに立つ男性がいた。背中には「自衛隊を戦争のための部隊から災害救助即応隊にしよう」とあった。

　ロシアのウクライナ侵攻で原発が有事に標的となる危険性が問われるなか、関心を抱いて声をかけた。

　男性は小倉志郎さん（81）。2011年の東京電力福島第一原発事故後に原発の危険性を訴えてきた東芝の元原発技術者だった。

　小倉さんは私が記者と知ると新橋駅（東京都港区）で下車後、「どう思いますか」と話し始めた。横浜駅のホームにいると、30代とみられる駅員からプラカードを外すよう求められ、「駅構内にそんなルールを掲示しているのか」と尋ねると、「掲示はしていないが、駅という場所でやるべきではない」などと話した。結局そのまま電車に乗り込んだ。

横浜市営バスの乗車でも同じ経験をした。9月28日に40代の運転手から「バスの中では外してほしい」と言われ、「誰かの指示ですか」と聞くと、「私の判断です」と。このときは運行を遅らせてはいけないと思い、外したという。

　小倉さんは2016年の参院選で改憲勢力が憲法改正発議に必要となる全議席の3分の2を超えたことに危機感を覚え、外出時に着衣サイズのプラカードをつるす一人デモを始めた。標語は「きみ！せんそうにいくなよッ　きゅうじょうをまもろうよ」と社会情勢に応じて変えてきた。

　買い物のスーパーで注意されたことはなく、たまに高齢女性から「私も同じ考え」と声をかけられる一方で、東京・六本木では中年男性から「売国奴は出て行け」と怒鳴られたこともある。

　小倉さんは「駅構内や建物、車両内では無言です。標語のプラカードをつるすのも表現活動の一つなのに、表現の自由が社会の中で萎縮、自己規制していないといいのですが」と問いかける。

◆横浜市交通局「対応としては適切でなかった」

　公共交通機関の場で標語をつるすのは許されないことなのか、尋ねてみた。

　横浜市交通局自動車本部の石渡春男・運輸課長によると、小倉さんを注意した運転手は標語の中身が分からなかったが、男性が車内で何か言葉を発し、他の乗客に迷惑を及ぼさないようにしたと説明。もめ事がない中での乗客への対応としては適切でなかったため指導したという。石渡課長は「お客さまの考えや思想は個人の自由。ただ他の乗客に迷惑を及ぼすような場合は注意させていただくことになる」とした。

　JR東日本横浜支社の広報担当は「駅構内で社会問題にメッセージを表現することを一概に制限するものではないが、他のお客さまが不快に感じたり迷惑に思うようなことがあれば、おやめいただくよう声をかけさせていただく場合がある」と回答した。

◆「やめさせる権利、乗車を拒否する権利はない」

　志田陽子武蔵美術大教授（憲法）の話　「戦争反対」などＴシャツや着衣、プラカードのメッセージの内容からそれをやめさせる権利、乗車を拒否する権利はない。公務員や公共交通機関の職員が業務中に政治的な表現をしてはならないルールがあるとしても、一般の乗客に守らせる必要はないし、混同してはいけない。東京都の人権プラザでの美術作家企画展で、都人権部が関東大震災時の朝鮮人虐殺に触れた映像作品の上映を禁じたが、現場が責任を問われることを恐れたと思われ、表現の自由に対する「萎縮の先回り」「権力者への忖度そんたく」をしない社会にしていかなければならない。

原文

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