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Prayer and protest at Japan anti-nuclear rally
Agence France Presse - March 11, 2012
Memorial ceremonies and anti-nuclear demonstrations were held across the northeast region where an estimated 160,000 people were forced to evacuate after the monster waves triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
Around 16,000 people including citizens, refugees, activists, children and foreigners, gathered at a baseball stadium in Koriyama some 60 kilometers (37 miles) away from the plant.
Participants called for an end to nuclear energy in Japan and compensation for victims from operator Tokyo Electric Power, a year after the March 11 quake-tsunami sparked the world's worst atomic disaster in a generation.
"Our town has turned out to be another Chernobyl," Masami Yoshizawa, who ran a cattle farm in Namie, 10 kilometers (six miles) from the plant, shouted through a loudspeaker.
"We are in despair now, but I will get back my hometown even if it takes me the rest of my life," said Yoshizawa as he stood atop a wagon displaying pictures of his cows lying dead in their shed. "I won't be beaten, no matter what. I will keep on fighting," he said.
A group of monks in brown and white robes chanted Buddhist sutras as activists carried banners reading: "We will never forget the March 11 Great Earthquake. We will never forgive the nuclear accident."
"Fukushima is being forgotten day by day," said Yumiko Ono, a 34-year-old graphic designer from Tokyo. "If we don't raise our voices right now, another accident could happen. We want to tell the world that the crisis and the hardship is still going on," she added.
A moment of silence was observed at 2:46 p.m., the moment the 9.0-magnitude quake struck below the Pacific sea floor, sending monster waves crashing into Japan's northeastern coast. The tsunami swamped cooling systems at the plant and sent three reactors into meltdown, spewing radiation into the environment.
Participants joined hands in silent prayer, as a siren echoed over the stadium. They then began marching through the city.
As night fell, more than 300 people gathered for a candlelight ceremony in front of local government offices in Fukushima city.
Organizers laid out candles in the form of a Chinese character of "kizuna," meaning bonds between people, while musicians, including popstar Mayo Okamoto, performed.
"I came here to make a wish; this tragedy will never happen again and I can go home as soon as possible," said Chieko Daito, 35, who was evacuated from Iitate after high levels of radiation were found there.
Public anger over the nuclear disaster and a growing distrust of the technology means the last of Japan's 54 reactors are expected to go offline within weeks.
But experts caution that resource-poor Japan – already suffering from plunging exports as the global economy stutters – can ill afford the rocketing cost of importing the extra fossil fuels it will now need.
Shinichiro Takiguchi, executive senior researcher at Japan Research Institute, said the shuttering of nuclear plants is not sustainable.
"Basically, the general consensus for the long term is reduce nuclear power" but not stop it, he said. "It's more reasonable to increase the use of other energy sources and gradually reduce nuclear while taking additional safety measures."
Worldwide, the disaster caused faith in the technology to stumble, but not collapse, and predictions that atomic power would have to be abandoned have proved wide of the mark.
"Fukushima did cause a slowdown in plans for new reactors and prompted a focus on an energy mix," said Colette Lewiner, an energy specialist at French consultant group Cap Gemini. "But it wasn't the end of nuclear, contrary to what perhaps was being predicted after the accident."
Since the disaster France, Britain and the US have all declared they will press ahead with new reactors, while China and India remain on course for building scores more in coming years.
In 2011, about 60 countries approached the International Atomic Energy Agency about starting nuclear programmes, the IAEA said in February, including Vietnam, Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Belarus.
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