For July 7, the day of Tanabata, which is the symbolic day for realizing wishes in a Japanese calendar year, a photographer Nonoko Kameyama and her friends have organized the project called “A Million Mothers" - Wish to the Prime Minister. The purpose of the project is to send anti-nuclear messages to Prime Minister Abe, who has been aggressively promoting nuclear technology and exporting nuclear reactors to other countries while the aftermath of Fukushima nuclear accident is far from its closure.
Kameyama began to take pictures of mothers who evacuated from areas affected by Tsunami and the nuclear accident. She herself fled to Fukuoka with her twin sons, then 6 month old, from Tokyo, where she was working as a successful fashion photographer. In Fukuoka (located on the southern island of Kyushu and 550 miles away from Tokyo), she encountered many mothers in a similar situation. They evacuated but lived with solitude in a new environment. This is especially true for mothers evacuated from outside Fukushima since people generally think that evacuation is not necessary unless you are from Fukushima. In result, such evacuee mothers are emotionally distressed and experience many hardships. Kanayama, however, turned things around, made connections with fellow mothers and empowered herself by taking their pictures. She published a book called "100 mothers” in November 2012, and its powerful anti nuclear message has inspired many people in Japan.Kanayama and her group have launched "the Tanabata Project" to make a bigger movement involving more mothers and the general public. The participants will gather in front of the Prime Minister’s office in Tokyo, and the mothers of Fukushima will join them. Many other groups are organizing and supporting the project in various parts of Japan that day.
You can read the letters addressed to the Prime Minister in Englsih, Spanish , French and Korean. You can also support the movement by sending your letters and messages to the home page of "Project of 100 mothers" and their FB event page. (Links are shown below)
The letter and paper stripes with people’s anti-nulcear wishes as well as Kameyama’s book will be mailed to Abe.
The English letter to Prime MInister Abe is here.
Do you want to send a message with your support or join them making wishes?
info@100mothers.jp
Kameyama’s essay on the Elogogist (English)
http://www.theecologist.org/Interviews/1908767/100_mothers_against_nuclear_energy.html
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