They came looking for answers, and left feeling brushed off.
They came looking for answers, and left feeling brushed off.
More than five months have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake crippled the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on March 11, and children in disaster-hit Fukushima Prefecture are desperate to get their lives back to normal. They took their case to the central government on Aug. 17 and were far from satisfied with the results.
Four children from the prefecture, all from elementary and junior high schools, visited the First Members' Office Building of the Lower House in the capital's Chiyoda Ward.
Directly addressing government officials tasked with handling the crisis and bureaucrats in the education ministry, the children spoke about the hardships they have endured since the onset of the crisis.
"I want government officials to allow my school friends to evacuate to the same area together," said one student, a 13-year-old girl from Miharu who evacuated to Tokyo in June.
The girl added that she was deeply saddened at being transferred to another school. She also said she does not understand why people in the prefecture had to experience such tremendous adversity, given that the plant supplied electricity to people in Tokyo.
Stumped by the questions from the children, the government officials repeatedly responded, "We will do our best."
At a news conference following the meeting, an 11-year-old boy said he didn't understand why the officials did not take their questions seriously, even though they are adults.
The children also submitted about 40 letters from other children from the prefecture. One letter read, "Can I bear a healthy child?" and "Until what age can I survive?" while another said, "Dear Prime Minister Naoto Kan, I want all nuclear power plants to be stopped."
The 13-year-old girl said she wants to know what the government thinks about the letters. She wanted Kan more than anybody else to attend the meeting, she said.
About 300 people from the Tokyo area and other parts of Japan attended the meeting. A 10-year-old boy from Tokyo's Kunitachi, who was accompanied by his mother to the meeting, said, "I was truly touched because the children talked in their own words, and the meeting made me realize that both adults and children have to give more serious thought to the issue."