Even after the Oi plant was restarted, over 150,000 citizens were trying to get to the Prime
Minister’s residential office despite the rain and the policemen blocking the
exit of the nearest subway station.
(Only one out of 14 was open.)
Here is a video of people trapped in the subway station.
There was media blackout including NHK which has been a national
broadcasting company and drawing its operational expenses from a public viewing
fee. The demo originally started with 300 people in
March. The number of people increased
week after week through the internet, reaching over 200,000 just before the Oi
Nuclear power station was restarted. This
is the biggest demonstration since the one over the new U.S.-Japan Security
treaty in 1970. Finally, the mainstream
media started to report on the demo, although they have been avoiding broadcasting
the report during prime time and trying to downplay its size. All Prime Minister Noda said
about it was, “There was a big commotion.”
It’s not really part of Japanese culture to stand up
against the government, but many more people are now realizing the importance
of expressing themselves and getting themselves heard. Prime Minister Noda and the government need
to listen to them rather than listening to the nuclear industries and big
corporations. Without it they cannot claim that Japan is a democratic country.
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