Still suffering 27 months after the meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, evacuees from Fukushima Prefecture made sure their voices were heard loud and clear at shareholders' meetings held by nine regional electric power companies on June 26.
Still suffering 27 months after the meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, evacuees from Fukushima Prefecture made sure their voices were heard loud and clear at shareholders' meetings held by nine regional electric power companies on June 26.
"To what extent do you even think about the evacuees?" Ryuko Tachibana, 73, asked company management of Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 plant, at its shareholders' meeting at the Yoyogi National Stadium 1st Gymnasium.
She took part in the shareholders' meeting for the first time after being asked to join the group demanding that TEPCO get out of nuclear power generation. It took her more than three hours to reach the Yoyogi gym from her temporary housing in Motomiya, Fukushima Prefecture.
Tachibana's home was in Namie, also in the prefecture, about 10 kilometers from the Fukushima No. 1 plant.
She fled her home from March 12, 2011, the day after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. However, her evacuation course coincided with the direction in which radioactive materials spread from the plant. Not realizing the danger she faced, Tachibana moved to various community centers and gymnasiums that were set up as evacuation centers.
The nuclear accident was not the catalyst for her anti-nuclear stance. She did not change the opposition to the nuclear plant she had even from the beginning as others in the community looked coldly at her for being opposed to the construction of the facility near Namie.
"The wealth in terms of money and products that is generated by nuclear power is a false wealth," Tachibana said. "It is not something that should be left for the future of our children."
She taught English in junior high school until retirement. At one time, Tachibana taught at the junior high school in Futaba, where the Fukushima No. 1 plant is located.
As she was evacuating after the nuclear accident, Tachibana was struck by painful memories from her childhood. She was born in Dalian, China, where her parents had moved to during World War II.
She and her family were forced to return to Japan after the nation's defeat in the war, and the fear and concerns she felt as a child have remained with her throughout her life.
"The nation will not protect the people," she said. "The same thing will happen again as long as there are nuclear plants."
With so much time having passed since the accident, and evacuees having grown accustomed to life in temporary quarters, Tachibana feels that people's interest in the issue has weakened.
As she explained the anti-nuclear proposal at the meeting, she also had a feeling of wanting the public to pay attention.
"Displaying a stance of making every effort as a company to bring about a society with no fear of radiation will be one way of atoning to the evacuees who have suffered deep psychological pain," she said.
Meanwhile, other anti-nuclear activists stood outside of the venues for other major electric power companies shareholders' meetings to hand out fliers stating their position.
Yui Kimura, an official with the Nuclear Phase-Out TEPCO Shareholder's Movement, used a handheld mike to call out to the shareholders as they were heading for the meeting.
"A company that has received public funds should be more open to the public," she said. "I hope you will fulfill your social responsibility today."
Another former Fukushima Prefecture resident also tried to remind shareholders of what evacuees have been forced to endure.
Kyoichi Watanabe moved to Sapporo after the Fukushima nuclear accident and now heads a group that is calling on Hokkaido Electric Power Co. to quit nuclear power.
Hokkaido Electric is one of four companies planning to apply to the Nuclear Regulation Authority to restart their nuclear reactors after new safety standards go into effect July 8.
Currently, 48 of the nation's 50 nuclear reactors remain offline after concerns rose following the triple meltdown at the Fukushima plant.
While Watanabe's group submitted a proposal at the shareholders' meeting on June 26, it was voted down.
"I know from personal experience what is now happening in Fukushima," he said. "I feel (the Fukushima accident) has only now just begun, rather than having ended. I will continue with this activity."
(This article was compiled from reports by Takayuki Kihara and Yoichi Tsunashima.)