2 June 2011
\nTo: Foreign Media in Japan<\/p>\n
Amid calls to halt all nuclear development in Japan, following the unprecedented disaster in Fukushima, Hiroshima-based utility Chugoku Electric is pushing ahead with a total of three new nuclear reactors in Matsue and Kaminoseki, the latter despite three decades of opposition by local island residents, and recent warnings on the need to safeguard biodiversity in Kaminoseki\u2019s \u201cKiseki-no-Umi\u201d – “Sea of Miracles.”<\/b><\/p>\n
Chugoku Electric Power Co. Inc. (head office, Hiroshima city) has a new reactor (No. 3) nearing completion at the Shimane Power Plant, close by Matsue city. Two more reactors are planned for the new Kaminoseki Nuclear Power Plant, located on the Seto Inland Sea coast 70 km south-west of Hiroshima, a project which has been actively opposed by nearby islanders for the last 30 years.
\nIwaishima is a small island 3.5 km offshore from the site of the plant. Its residents, mostly grandmothers and grandfathers now, have refused to accept 1 billion yen as compensation. In weekly protest demonstrations, they have used their boats and their own bodies to try to block construction. Many young people from around Japan have come to support them, including a kayak team working with the local people trying to prevent planned landfill from proceeding. The company has retaliated by obtaining a Supreme Court ruling setting a penalty of 5 million yen per day if work is obstructed.
\nInternational academics and scientists have expressed deep concern over the plant\u2019s threat to the biodiversity of the nearby sea, and recent documentaries have depicted the islanders\u2019 hard-fought campaign against the plant, and highlighted the island\u2019s beautiful environment.
\nOn March 17th, the governor of Yamaguchi Prefecture requested Chugoku Electric to temporarily suspend the project. However, parties opposed to the construction of Kaminoseki Nuclear Power Plant demand its complete termination. The triple meltdown and resulting emissions of high levels of radioactivity into the air, land and ocean in Fukushima has proved beyond doubt that the safety of nuclear power cannot be guaranteed, and its threat to the environment cannot be ignored.
\nThe grandfathers and grandmothers of Iwaishima are not interested in the company\u2019s promises of safety and financial prosperity. They understand real wealth. All that they want is to pass on to their successors the traditional cultural heritage and unspoilt natural environment that they have known all their lives. They want the Kaminoseki Nuclear Plant project terminated, permanently.<\/p>\n
\u25a0Information available in English \u25a0Recent Movies on Iwaishima \nJapanese Utility Still Committed to New Nuclear Reactors<\/b><\/p>\n
\n\u25cfChugoku Electric Power
\nhttp:\/\/www.energia.co.jp\/e\/energia\/profile\/profile.html<\/a>
\n(Head Office)
\n4-33 Komachi,Naka-ku,Hiroshima-shi,Hiroshima
\n730-8701,Japan
\nTel: +81-82-241-0211 Fax: +81-82-523-6185
\n\u2605General meeting of stockholders is scheduled for June 29, 2011. Local citizen\u2019s organizations (\u201cIwaijima-citizens against building the Kaminoseki Nuclear Power Plant
\n\u25cfEnglish leaflet from Iwaishima islanders
\n“No Nuclear Power Plant in Our Community! Iwaishima says no to nuclear power”
\nhttp:\/\/shimabito.net\/200907english.pdf
\n\u25cfKaminoseki: Nuclear Power Plant, Human Rights and Biodiversity
\nhttp:\/\/hotspotkaminoseki.soreccha.jp\/<\/a>
\nEnglish Blog by ANKEI Yuji, Professor of area studies in Yamaguchi Prefectural University. Head of the Comittee for Conservation of Kaminoseki Biodiversity, Ecological Society of Japan. A member of the Amnesty International. Sc. D., Ecological Anthropologist.
\n\u25cfRecent blog post at Ten Thousand Things
\n\u201cAmidst hopeful signs, activists continue impassioned efforts to stop nuclear power plant in gorgeous Seto Inland Sea\u201d
\nhttp:\/\/tenthousandthingsfromkyoto.blogspot.com\/2011\/05\/amidst-hopeful-signs-activists-continue.html<\/a>
\n\u25cfRecent news article in Japan Times
\nMay 15, 2011 “Utility and opponents lock horns over planned N-plant”
\nhttp:\/\/search.japantimes.co.jp\/cgi-bin\/fl20110515x3.html<\/a>
\n\u25cfRecent news article in LA Times
\nMay 5, 2011 \u201cJapan islanders oppose proposed nuclear plant, year after year\u201c
\nhttp:\/\/articles.latimes.com\/2011\/may\/05\/world\/la-fg-japan-nuclear-protest-20110504<\/a>
\n\u25cfRecent article in Yale Environment 360
\n17 Mar, 2011 \u201cJapan\u2019s Once-Powerful Nuclear Industry is Under Siege\u201d
\nhttp:\/\/e360.yale.edu\/mobile\/feature.msp?id=2383<\/a>
\n\u25cfCNIC Newsletter
\nhttp:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/newsletter\/nit133\/nit133articles\/kaminoseki.html<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\u25cf”Houri no Shima (HOLY ISLAND)”
\nDirector: HANABUSA Aya
\n2010\/JAPAN\/105 minutes
\nEnglish page: http:\/\/www.hourinoshima.com\/english\/<\/a>
\nTrailer: http:\/\/www.hourinoshima.com\/\u4e88\u544a\u7de8\/<\/a>
\n\u2605HANABUSA Aya and KOIDE Hiroaki, Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute, will hold a seminar on June 11 in Kobe.
\nhttp:\/\/civil-society-forum.com\/?p=546<\/a>
\n\u25cf”Ashes to Honey: Toward a Sustainable Future” (2010)
\nDirector KAMANAKA Hitomi
\nTrailer: http:\/\/888earth.net\/888tv.html<\/a>
\nfrom same director
\n“Rokkasho Rhapsody” (2006)
\nTrailer: http:\/\/www.rokkasho-rhapsody.com\/en\/_preview\/trailers<\/a>
\n\u25a0Main Information in Japanese
\n\u25cf\u795d\u5cf6\u5cf6\u6c11\u306e\u4f1ablog (Blog of Iwaishima Islanders)
\nhttp:\/\/blog.shimabito.net\/<\/a>
\n\u2605The list of movie clips of protest movements
\nhttp:\/\/shimabito.net\/siryou%20200909100922.htm<\/a>
\n\u25cfNuclear reactors under construction \/ plan on Chugoku Electric Power website (Japanese only)
\n\u5cf6\u6839\u539f\u5b50\u529b\u767a\u96fb\u62403\u53f7\u6a5f\uff08\u5efa\u8a2d\u4e2d\u3000\u55b6\u696d\u904b\u8ee2\u958b\u59cb\u3000\u5e73\u621024\u5e743\u6708\u4e88\u5b9a\uff09
\nhttp:\/\/www.energia.co.jp\/atom\/atom13-1.html<\/a>
\n\u4e0a\u95a2\u539f\u5b50\u529b\u767a\u96fb\u6240\uff08\u6e96\u5099\u5de5\u4e8b\u4e2d\uff09
\nhttp:\/\/www.energia.co.jp\/atom\/kami_menu.html<\/a>
\n\u25cf\u9577\u5cf6\u306e\u81ea\u7136\u3092\u5b88\u308b\u4f1a (Association to Protect the Nature of Nagashima)
\nhttp:\/\/www2.ocn.ne.jp\/~haguman\/nagasima.htm<\/a>
\n\u25cf\u30ab\u30f3\u30e0\u30ea\u30a6\u30df\u30b9\u30ba\u30e1\u56fd\u969b\u30b7\u30f3\u30dd\u30b8\u30a6\u30e0 (International Conference on Japanese Murrelets, April 10, 2011 at Hiroshima)
\nhttps:\/\/sites.google.com\/site\/nagashimanoshizen\/<\/a><\/http><\/p>\n