Friday Evening Anti-Nukes Protest on 12 October: Protesters from all over the country gather in front of PM's office

On 12 October, several thousand people gathered in Kasumigaseki area of central Tokyo for the Friday evening anti-nukes protest, demanding suspension of the operation of the Oi nuclear power plant and provision of due protection measures for children in Fukushima. Protesters from all over the country spoke of their opposition to nuclear power in front of the Prime Minister's office, the main gate of the Diet and various other places in the area. Women from Oma, a small town in Aomori, the northernmost prefecture of the main island, where construction of a new nuclear power plant had just been resumed and from Hakodate, a city in Hokkaido facing Oma Town across a channel, appealed for cancellation of the Oma nuclear power plant project. Elderly citizens from Hokkaido and Kyushu as well as from the metropolitan area expressed their anger at the government that continued to ignore people's wishes. People encouraged one another. Despair in the government and feeling of solidarity among protesters felt in the area were probably shared among those protesting elsewhere across Japan at the same time.

On 13 October, a large rally organized by Good-bye Nukes One Million People's Action was held in Hibiya Koen Park in central Tokyo. Approximately 6500 people marched through business and administrative districts near the park led by Nobel laureate in literature OE Kenzaburo and other leaders of the action group. An anti-nukes rally was held in Paris as well on the same day. In response to the call for action jointly sponsored by a group of Japanese expatriates in France, Yosomono (Foreigners) Network France, and a local anti-nukes organization, SNP, some 400 people gathered in Place de la Bastille. The program of the rally included speeches and Kansho Odori, a folklore dance of Fukushima. (based on reports by shinya and others)

 

 Photos of the 12 October protests

 
全国各地から官邸前にやってきた～10.12脱原発金曜行動

10 月12日金曜日。この日も首相官邸と国会正門前周辺では大飯原発の停止、福島の子供を救えと数千人の人たちが抗議行動に参加した。 大間と函館から来た女性が切々と大間原発建設中止を訴え、栃木、東京、九州、旭川から高齢者が駆けつけ民意無視し続ける政府に対し怒りをぶつけ、参加者と激励しあった。国会周辺 は民意を無視し続ける政治への無力感が、だがそれは自分たちの手で未来を取り戻そうとする意思と連帯感となり、静かだがはちきれれんばかりに充ち、全国に 繋がっていた。

10月13日午後にはさようなら原発100万人アクションの主催による「10.13さようなら原発集会in日比谷」とデモ行進が行われ、主催者発表で6500人の参加者が、集会後、大江健三郎さんなどを先頭にデモ行進した。 同日、パリのバスティーユ広場でも、在留邦人の脱原発団体「よそものネット・フランス」が、「脱原発パリ」SNPの共催で集会を開き、約４００人が、スピーチやかんしょ踊りを繰り広げた。（shinyaほか）
写真速報

Meeting of Mothers and Female Teachers Reveal Harsh Working Conditions at Schools in Fukushima

The 38^th Meeting of Mothers, Female Teachers and School Workers of Fukushima was held on 29 September in the city of Koriyama. Some 200 attended in the meeting organized by the Fukushima Prefectural Teachers Union. Since the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster of March 2011, school workers in Fukushima have been struggling under harsh working conditions: They are victims of the disaster themselves, but required to fulfill greater responsibilities for protecting children. The situation is harder for female teachers and school staff than for male counterparts. More than two thirds of the time spent for the meeting was allocated to group discussions where attendees were divided into 5 groups of different discussion topics. The discussions reflected difficulties that attendees face in their respective work places. (By YUMOTO Masanori)  YouTubeVideo (no subtitles)

「学校現場」の過酷な労働環境～第38回福島県母と女性教職員の会

９ 月２９日、「第３８回福島県母と女性教職員の会」が郡山市で開催され、２００
名が参加した（主催・福島県教職員組合）。震災以降「児童・生徒たちを守らなけ
ればならない」と同時に被災者となった教育労働者は、福島の職場から離れることが
できないという厳しい労働条件の中で今も働き続けている。中でも女性教職員は、
男性以上により過酷な中を生き抜いてきた。集会は５つの分科会討論にその３分の２
を費やしすすめられ、討論には現場の生の姿が投影された。  （湯本 雅典）  
動画（YouTube）

"No more tyranny by IMF and World Bank!" Protest Actions held in Tokyo and Sendai

While the annual assembly of IMF and the World Bank was held in Japan from 9 to 14 October, various protest actions took place. The first official event of the assembly, the Meeting on Disaster Prevention and Development, co-hosted by the Government of Japan and the World Bank, was held in Sendai, the central city of the region severely hit by the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, on 9 and 10 October. The 2012 IMF and World Bank assembly was originally planned to be held in Cairo, but the Egyptian government declined due to the political uncertainty. The Government of Japan then came forward with the idea of hosting the meeting, with the intention to appeal to the world the nation's recovery from the disaster. The disaster-stricken region however is still struggling with multifold difficulties. Several Japanese and Korean media activists who have been witnessing and recording the reality of recovery conducted a protest action on 9 October in front of the hotel where Sendai meeting was being held.

 

In the afternoon of Saturday, 13 October, a casseroles (pots and pans) demonstration was held in Tokyo as part of the GlobalNoise worldwide action. Several hundred protesters marched in central Tokyo beating drums or pots and pans in their hands and chanting slogans denouncing domination of the economy by IMF and World Bank that favors the richest 1% of the world population. The march passed by the Tokyo International Forum in Marunouchi district, the venue of the annual assembly and the conferences of Finance Ministers and presidents of central banks from G7/G20 countries, and the main office of TEPCO. 

 

LaborNet TV broadcast a program on 12 October in which two leading activists of civil society organizations discussed how IMF and World Bank have destroyed economy of many third world countries with the notorious structural adjustment programm.  

(compiled on the basis of reports by Y and others) Photos of the Sendai protest

Photos of the Tokyo protest  Archive Video of LaborNetTV on IMF and the World Bank (no subtitles)

IMF・世銀による経済支配はもうたくさん！～総会場に肉薄する抗議デモ
 
10 月9日から14日まで日本でIMF（国際通貨基金）年次総会が開催され、この間、いくつかの抗議行動が行われた。10月9日、10日、年次総会の最初の公式イベントとして日本政府と世界銀行が主催する「防災と開発に関する仙台会合」が開かれた。当初、IMF/世銀の総会はエジプトで開催される予定だったが、政情不安を理由にエジプトが総会のホストを放棄したことで、「震災からの復興」を世界にア ピールすべく、日本が今回の年次総会のホストを引き受けることになった。しかし、政府が力説する「震災からの力強い復興」とは裏腹に、その現実は相変わら ず悲惨だ。 仙台で災害と復興の記録を続け、復興の実情をつぶさに見てきた日韓のメディア・アクティビストが9日、仙台会合が開かれている仙台市内のウェスティン・ホ テル前で、「復興の現実」を訴えて小さな抗議デモを行った。東京でも期間中いくつかの行動が組まれた。10月13日の、GlobalNoise世界同時アクションの一環として行われたキャセロールデモには多数の参加者が集まり、銀座の水谷橋公園で集会を開いたあと、会議場の東京フォーラム（千代田区）周辺をデモ行進、「ＩＭＦ・世銀による経済支配は、もうたくさんだ！」。激しい怒りのコールと、ドラム、鍋などを打ち鳴らす音が一時も止まずに、さわやかな秋の空に響きわたった。レイバーネットTVでも、10月12日、NPO活動家2人をゲストに迎えて、「IMF・世界銀行の正体～世界の貧困をつくるのは誰?」という特集を放送した。  

仙台の写真速報・東京の写真速報　・レイバーネットTV「IMF/世銀特集」

Workers Exposed to Radiation: Structure of 'Disposing of Workers' Highlighted in the Negotiation with the Government

Members of the Workers-Exposed-to-Radiation Project of the Emergency Action on the Fukushima Nuclear Crisis, trade unions, other civil society groups and individuals had negotiation with government officials on 11 October, seeking for better measures to protect workers at the disaster-hit Fukushima No.1 Nuclear Power Plant who are exposed to high levels of radiation. Ministries represented in the meeting were Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Most workers at the nuclear power plant are hired by subcontractors, often tertiary or more, that tend to fail in abiding by Labor Standards Act, Health Insurance Act and other regulations providing worker protection. Those attended the meeting submitted demands to the government and requested replies. The demands were  1) stricter administrative guidance for TEPCO and primary subcontractors to ensure that the worker protection regulations be observed by secondary and other subcontractors;  2) provision of livelihood insurance to the workers suspended from working after the ceiling exposure dose per year is exceeded; and 8 other items. (By MATSUMOTO Chie)

被ばく労働問題で政府交渉～浮かび上がる「使い捨て」の構図

福 島原発惨事以降、高い線量下ではたらかざるをえない労働者保護のため、１０月１１日に関係省庁との交渉が行われた。交渉に参加したのは、厚生労働省、文部科学省、環境省、経済産業省の各省と、福島原発事故緊急会議被曝労働問題プロジェクトをはじめとする個人や、労働組合や市民団体だった。下請け構造に支えられている原発労働について、労働基準法や健康保険法などの法律を順守するよう東電や元請け会社を指導すること、労働者が被曝線量を超過した後も生活保障することなど１０項目の要求に対しての各省から回答を求めた。（松元ちえ）

Victims of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Disaster Bring Charges against TEPCO and the Government

In the former half of October, meetings were held across the country to inform general public of the criminal complaint that accuses of TEPCO executives and experts of Nuclear Safety Commission regarding the March 2011 meltdown disaster of Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant. Residents of Fukushima organized a group in March this year and 1.324 of them filed  a criminal complaint with Fukushima District Public Prosecutor's Office on 11 June. The complaint was accepted on 1 August. Investigation is expected to start soon. In order to press the case strongly, the accusers have been calling for participation of a greater number of people since August. In the meeting that was held in Kameido, Tokyo, on 6 October, the leading accuser MUTO Ruiko spoke to the participants. "With the accident occurred in Chernobyl in 1986, we learnt that an accident at a nuclear power plant would be a catastrophe. Spent nuclear fuels and the enormous amount of radioactive waste that was brought about as a result of the disaster at Fukushima No.1 plant have been imposed upon younger generations. We want to examine thoroughly what our society and the government have been doing with the atomic energy and find out what went wrong. This is why we decided to file a criminal complaint. And we want to do so together with many people. All the residents in Japan  have been affected by the disaster in Fukushima. We urge you to regard the issue as your own and join the legal case." (By OZAWA Kuniko)

福島原発事故の責任をただす！～「福島原発告訴団」説明会

10 月6日、東京の亀戸で行われた「福島原発告訴団」の説明会に参加しました。今年3月、福島原発告訴団が結成され、6月11日、1324人が福島地方検察庁 に告訴しました。8月1日に受理され、これから捜査が始まります。事故の責任を大勢の人たちで訴えていきたいと8月から全国の人びとに告訴団入会がよびか けられています。武藤さんは「チェルノブイリの事故で原発の恐ろしさを知った。使用済み核燃料や今回の事故で出た大量の放射性廃棄物は、若い人や子どもた ちに押しつけることになる。この国のあり方、原子力行政のあり方を問いたい。そんな思いで告訴を呼びかけています。みなさんも自分の問題として、被害者の一人として告訴団に加わってほしい」と訴えました。（尾澤邦子）