A large park filled with overwhelming 170,000 “No Nukes!” voices

 

On July 16, 2012, a very sunny day, thousands of people gathered in Yoyogi Park in central Tokyo one after another from all around Japan, where there was a big rally against nukes. Many members of national and local trade unions also joined the rally, including teachers, medical workers and dockworkers, as well as great many individuals and members of grassroots groups. The rally, “July 16: Farewell to Nukes”, attracted much more people than the one that was held on September 19, 2011 in Tokyo with 60,000 participants. Japanese people, who were supposed to be obedient, finally stood up. The large park was filled with not only the summer heat but also outrage of the people. All the participants were smiley and confident of eliminating all nuclear power plants. (M)

（Y）Report with photos (Y)

 

 代々木公園を埋め尽くした脱原発の声～空前の17万人が結集！

晴 天に恵まれた7月16日、東京・代々木公園は熱く燃えた。参加者は関西、北陸、東北、長野など、文字通り全国からバスを連ねてやってきた。労働組合も教 組、医労連、全港湾、全労連、地区労はじめ大結集。そしてさまざまな市民グループ、とくに個人参加が目立つ。「7.16さようなら原発集会」は、昨年9月 19日の6万人を質量ともに上回る巨大集会となった。「おとなしい」と言われ続けた日本の民衆が、ついに立ち上がったのだ。うだるような暑さに加え、代々 木公園は怒りの17万人でヒートアップした。参加者はみんな笑顔、「絶対原発はなくせる」という自信に包まれていた。（M）

 写真報告

Poverty being even more serious – “Anti-Poverty Campaign: National Caravan TV”

 

 The “Anti-Poverty Campaign: National Caravan” started from Kushiro, Hokkaido on July 14, 2012. This caravan was broadcast in Tokyo in the afternoon of this day, joined by UTSUNOMIYA Kenji, a lawyer (center). Part one began with a report from Kushiro that referred to the situation in which one in 17 people is on welfare, followed by many other reports from all around Japan through Skype. Part two was a corner of quizzes about poverty, and the answers about Japan were funny but frightening: “Japan’s poverty rate is fourth highest among OECD member countries”, “Japan is the only developed nation with continuously decreasing wages”, and “The ratio of non-regular employees in Japan is 35%”. Mr. Utsunomiya said, “The situation has been rather worsened. It is the most important that those in poverty raise their voice. We would like to make it possible through the caravan”. (M)

 

すさまじい貧困の実態 浮き彫りに～「反貧困全国キャラバンTV」放送

7 月14日北海道・釧路から「反貧困全国キャラバン」がスタートした。この日の午後、東京・新宿のスタジオでは「キャラバンTV・3時間生中継」が放送され た。ゲストは宇都宮健児さん（中央）。「17人に1人が生活保護」という釧路の実態をはじめ、スカイプで、北海道・埼玉・愛知・滋賀・岐阜・三重・福岡・ 沖縄の各地から生の声が寄せられた。第2部の「反貧困クイズ」は爆笑の連続だったが、「OECD加盟国で日本の貧困率は第4位」「先進国で賃金が下がり続 ける唯一の国」「非正規率35％」など、日本のすさまじい実態を知り、回答した若者たちも青ざめた。宇都宮さんは「派遣村から変わっておらず、むしろ悪く なっている。当事者が声を上げることが一番大事。キャラバンを通してそういう状況をつくっていきたい」と語った。（M） 

It’s time to raise our voice – Rally against deployment of Ospreys

 

 On July 11, 2012, there was a “July 11 Rally against the Deployment of Ospreys at Futenma Air Base, Okinawa” in central Tokyo. Transports carrying Ospreys that are said to be dangerous as to be called “widow makers” are heading to Iwakuni and Okinawa, in which there are US military bases, from California. The Okinawa Prefectural Assembly is preparing a mass protest rally for August 5 in the island. On the same day, a rally will be held in Tokyo in solidarity with the one in Okinawa. It is time for us to raise our voice against the deployment of Ospreys. (OZAWA Kuniko)

 

いま声をあげるとき～普天間基地へのオスプレイ配備中止を求める7.11集会

7 月11日、東京の文京区民センターで「沖縄・普天間基地へのオスプレイ配備中止を求める7.11集会」が行われました。オスプレイを乗せた輸送船はすでに アメリカ、カリフォルニアを出発し、岩国そして沖縄に向かっています。沖縄では県議会が主導して、8月5日島ぐるみ抗議大会への準備が進められています。 東京では日本教育会館一ツ橋ホールで「オスプレイ配備阻止！10万人沖縄県民大会に呼応する8.5首都圏集会」が行われます。オスプレイ配備に反対し、声 をあげていきましょう。（尾澤邦子）