The creator of a slogan on signboards touting a “bright future” from nuclear energy opposes
The creator of a slogan on signboards touting a “bright future” from nuclear energy opposes
“The signboards should be preserved as a negative legacy and used to pass on to future generations the stupidity of human beings,” said Yuji Onuma, 39.
Onuma came up with the phrase “Nuclear energy is the energy of a bright future” in 1988, when he was a sixth-grader at Futaba Kita elementary school. His submittal for a homework project received an award, and the slogan became a fixture on two signboards that hang across streets welcoming visitors at the center of the town of Futaba.
The signboards now are an ironic reminder of the devastating effects of the Fukushima nuclear accident. Part of the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant lies within the town.
Futaba officials decided to remove the brittle signboards because they could fall and hit people or passing cars.
Onuma, however, informed the Futaba government and town assembly on March 16 of his opposition to the removal plan.
“I want to think about what to do after consulting with the town assembly,” Futaba Mayor Shiro Izawa said.
Like all residents of Futaba, Onuma’s life has been turned upside down because of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Onuma’s wife was pregnant when the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami triggered the nuclear accident in March 2011. The couple moved to various parts of Japan and finally settled in Koga, Ibaraki Prefecture, in May 2014.
During his four-plus years as an evacuee, Onuma reflected back on his elementary school slogan. “Rather than a bright future, nuclear energy has simply destroyed my hometown,” he said.
He learned in March that the town government was planning to set aside 4.1 million yen ($34,000) in the budget for the next fiscal year to remove the signboards.
“Even though there are many public facilities on the verge of collapsing all around the signboards, removing only the signboards would be an act of not facing up to the mistaken past,” he said. “If there is that much money available, reinforcement work can be carried out. I want to pass on the truth to our children.”
Onuma plans to begin a petition drive seeking the preservation of the signboards.
(This article was written by Masakazu Honda and Takuro Negishi.)