The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Volume 10 | Issue 27 | Number 2 | Article ID 3784 | Jul 01, 2012

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Muto Ruiko and the Movement of Fukushima Residents toPursue Criminal Charges against Tepco Executives andGovernment Officials　　武藤類子と、東京電力役員・政府当局者を刑事告訴する福島県民の運動

Tomomi Yamaguchi, Muto Ruiko

Muto Ruiko and the Movement ofFukushima Residents to PursueCriminal Charges against TepcoExecutives and Government Officials

Tomomi YAMAGUCHI and Muto Ruiko

Translation by Norma Field

Muto Ruiko's speech in Japanese(http://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/atomicage/2012/07/09/muto-ruiko-atomicage/)

Summary

Muto Ruiko is a long-time antinuclear activistbased in Fukushima. She is also one of 1,324Fukushima residents who filed a criminalcomplaint in June 2012 pressing chargesagainst Tepco executives and governmentofficials.

This article introduces Muto’s activism onnuclear energy, her life before and after theFukushima Dai’ichi disaster, and her recenteffort to mobilize citizens for the criminalcomplaint. An English translation of Muto’sspeech at the University of Chicago on May 5,2012, follows.

Keywords

Muto Ruiko, Fukushima, Criminal Complaint,Nuclear power plant, Energy pol icy,Community divisions, Tepco, Women, Natureand Environment

Introduction by Tomomi YAMAGUCHI

On September 19, 2011, Muto Ruiko traveledfrom Fukushima to Tokyo to speak at theGoodbye Nuclear Plants (Sayonara genpatsu)rally in Meiji Park. Her delivery, quiet yetconfident, conveyed a deep sense of sorrow,anger, and power. “One by one, each of uscitizens is demanding that the state and Tepcoacknowledge their responsibility. And we areraising our voices to say, ‘No more nuclearreactors!’ We have become ogres of Tohoku,quietly burning with fury.” (Muto 2012: v;translation modified)1 The voice of a personwho had committed her life to antinuclearactivism since Chernobyl, and whose ownlivelihood was destroyed by the catastrophe,had a powerful impact on the audience of60,000 gathered in the park in Japan’s largestantinuclear power rally. Posted on the internet,the video traveled far and wide, generating aripple effect.

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Muto delivering her speech at the GoodbyeN u c l e a r P l a n t s R a l l y . ( S o u r c e(http://www.chiisanakimochi.com/2011/09/21/さよなら原発5万人集会-武藤類子さんのスピーチ/))

While engaging in multiple antinuclearact ions—organiz ing gather ings andparticipating in sit-ins, and giving speechesaround the country—Muto’s most recentcommitment is to a movement seeking to filecriminal charges against the officials of Tepcoand the government. She is one of 1,324Fukushima residents (including some who haveevacuated) who filed a criminal complaint withthe Fukushima Public Prosecutors office onJune 11, 2012, demanding that charges bebrought against thirty-three Tepco executivesand government officials. Muto played a centralrole in organizing this movement and is theleader of the group of complainants.

Muto Ruiko’s speech on May 5 at the AtomicAge II: Fukushima Symposium at the Universityo f C h i c a g o(http://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/atomicage/symposium-top/aboutsymposium/) was deliveredin the midst of efforts to meet the goal ofsecuring 1,000 Fukushima complainants. Byway of introduction to her speech, I will givethe background to Muto’s activism on nuclearenergy and her effort to mobilize citizens forthe criminal complaint. I will also introduce herpersonal life before and after the FukushimaDai’ichi accident, which in itself has profoundpolitical meaning.

Muto Ruiko and Her Antinuclear Activism

Muto Ruiko was born in 1953. She currentlyresides in Tamura-cho, Fukushima Prefecture,about 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the Daiichiplant. Having worked as a print artisan andspecial education teacher, she was running hero w n w o o d l a n d c a f é . (http://www.chiisanakimochi.com/2011/09/21/

さよなら原発5万人集会-武藤類子さんのスピーチ/)

Since the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 Muto hasbeen involved in antinuclear activism. Thatyear, her sister, who grew up in an era whennuclear weapons were being tested throughoutthe Pacific, was diagnosed with leukemia. Mutowrites in her book, From Fukushima To You(Otsuki shoten, 2011), that her sister’ssuffering gave her added motivation to work onnuclear issues. She subsequently organized andparticipated in actions in Fukushima,Rokkasho2 and numerous other sites. As shesaid in Chicago, she is especially drawn towomen-centered, non-violent actions againstnuclear energy.

In November of 2010, Muto, with fellowactivists, launched a project called “HairoAction: 40 Years of Fukushima Nuclear PowerPlants.” (http://hairoaction.com/) The projectdesignated March 26, 2011 to March 26, 2012a s t h e “ A c t i o n Y e a r f o r N u c l e a rDecommiss ion ing.” The goa l was todisseminate information through events, theinternet, and printed materials to work towardending Japan’s reliance on nuclear energy. Partof the project involved examining the kind ofs o c i e t y t h a t c o u l d e m e r g e a f t e rdecommissioning. The starting date of March26 marked the fortieth anniversary of theReactor Number One of Fukushima Dai’ichiNuclear Power Plant. That is to say, the TohokuEarthquake and tsunami, and the FukushimaDai’ichi Power Plant disaster occurred justbefore the Action Year was to begin. Sincethen, while struggling with a sense of havingbeen “too late” as well as with the everydaychallenges of having lost her means oflivelihood, Muto has devoted much of her timeto securing the human rights and health oflocal residents and evacuees. As she put it inher speech at the Goodbye Nuclear Power rally,

We, the people of Fukushima, wantt o s h a r e o u r s u f f e r i n g ,

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responsibility and hope, and tosupport each other as we moveforward with our lives, whether wehave left our hometowns or havedecided to live on in Fukushima.Please join with us. Please takenote of the actions that we areundertaking: negotiations with thegovernment, courtroom strugglesto support evacuation, organizingevacuation and respite care,decontamination, measuringradiation levels, and learning aboutnuclear reactors and radioactivity.And we will go anywhere to tellpeople about Fukushima. … Pleasehelp us. Please don’t forgetFukushima. (Muto 2012: v ;translation modified)

As Muto writes in her book, emphasizes in herChicago talk, and told me multiple times inconversation, she sees power and hope inwomen’s action and solidarity.3 It is aconviction she has kept from the start of herengagement in the antinuclear movement,whether focused on Chernobyl, Rokkasho, orFukushima. Recent examples are the sit-indescribed in her Chicago talk, “No MoreNuclear Power Plants: Sit-in by 100 Womenf r o m F u k u s h i m a , ”(http://onna100nin.seesaa.net/) staged in frontof the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industryin October 2011 or “The Women’s Group forB r e a k i n g w i t h N u c l e a r P o w e r . ”(http://www.nnpfem.com/)

Muto’s faith in women and the style ofmovement that she has pursued seem to bedeeply influenced by the course of the feministmovement since the 1970s, especially that ofwomen’s liberation, even though she herself didnot participate directly. Her stance onleadership within activism – that it is better tohave leadership shared among participantsrather than identifying a single leader – the

“hiraba” (level field) ideal - is also reminiscentof Beheiren (Japan Peace-for-Vietnam Citizens’Alliance).4

Some might find Muto’s trust in women’sstrengths and their special bonds essentialist.Neither in her claims nor in her activism,however, does she focus on women’s roles asmothers and wives. There is no question thatshe cares about the extremely difficultsituations confronting Fukushima motherssince the Fukushima Dai’ichi accident, but inher statements and activities, she is careful tohonor the diverse situations and needs ofwomen.5

There is another dimension to Muto’ssensitivity that should be underscored. Not onlyhas she herself been a special educationteacher, but she has a long and close friendshipwith Asaka Yuho, a disability as well asantinuclear activist. In Chicago, Mutoemphasized the impact that this friendship hashad on her. In her Chicago talk she referred tothe fear o f parents o f ch i ldren wi thdisabilities—especially single mothers, whobear some of the heaviest burdens—thatradiation would bring further division anddiscrimination. As Asaka Yuho warns, theantinuclear movement itself risks fosteringprejudice and discrimination by circulatingphotographic and other images of disabledpeople as a warning of the consequences ofradiation exposure.6 Muto’s longtime concernfor people with disabilities has a concrete linkto her current activities. When she was aspecial education teacher, she worked withparents to launch “The Carrot House” so thatstudents would have a place to work aftergraduation. This enterprise, which includedvegetable and poultry farming and recyclingused oils for biofuel production, was hard hit bythe 3.11 disaster. As it looks to develop newkinds of work, Muto continues to deliver eggsas she has for twelve years. Along with theeggs, she disseminates information about thecriminal complaint and collects the statements

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of customers wishing to sign on.

Ongoing Issues in Fukushima: The “SafetyCampaign,” Decontamination and Division

Muto repeatedly emphasizes the challenge of“division” in her discussion of ongoingproblems for Fukushima residents. To beginwith, the siting of nuclear power plants oftencauses deep community divisions. (Yamaguchi2011) In Fukushima, a major disaster, and theresponses of the government and Tepcoworsened already existing divisions andcreated new ones. From among many issuesthat Muto addressed in her talk, I will focus onthe “safety campaign” and decontamination. Amajor source of division lies in the fact thatpeople have not known what information totrust, a situation exacerbated by the “safetycampaign” promoted by the FukushimaPrefectural Government, the Japan AtomicEnergy Agency, and other institutions.Fukushima Prefecture has actively promoted a“safety campaign,” symbolized by the hiring ofYamashita Shunichi as radiation riskmanagement adviser. Yamashita’s credibilityrests on from his long-time association with theGraduate School of Biomedical Sciences atNagasaki Univers i ty . Fo l lowing h isappointment, he has made numerous publicappearances emphasizing the negligible healtheffects from the disaster and conversely, theseriousness of psychological risks—i.e.,radiophobia.7 The Japan Atomic Energy Agencyalso has been holding “Gathering[s] to AnswerQuestions on Radiation” for teachers andparents of pre-schoolers and primary andsecondary school students since July 2011.These continue to this day.8 Powerpoint slides(http://www.jaea.go.jp/fukushima/pdf/setsumei.pdf) used at JAEA gatherings make clear thatthe sessions are designed to encourageteachers and parents not to worry. All of theseoccasions have functioned to disseminate adistorted message about the “safety” ofradiation exposure. NPO Human Rights Nowissued a report on its field-based investigation

in November 2011 in the cities of Fukushimaand Koriyama that harshly criticized this“safety campaign” as further isolating anddiv id ing Fukushima res idents , evenaugmenting their stress levels by discouragingthem from sharing their anxiety and worriesabout radiation.9

Muto points out that the government’s do-nothing stance has subjected people to furtherdivision and difficulties. What the governmenthas promoted—decontamination and transfer ofdebris—is deeply problematic. The HumanRights Now report reveals that the nationalg o v e r n m e n t a s s i g n s m o s t o f t h edecontaminat ion work to munic ipa lgovernments outside of the evacuation zone.Due to a labor shortage, municipalities arerelying on local residents and out-of-townvolunteers, all amateurs, to perform thedecontamination. In Koriyama city, citizenswere encouraged by the municipal governmentto volunteer for the decontamination effort, andthere have been cases of unwilling youngwomen and even children being forced toparticipate. (Human Rights Now 2011)Moreover, as the Asahi Shimbun reported inJanuary 2012, it is the large constructioncompanies that are getting the big contractswith municipal governments to do thedecontamination, making it difficult for localcompanies to compete.10

There is an even more basic issue: thequestionable effectiveness of decontamination,commonly taking the form of power-hosinghard surfaces (roads, roofs, walls) or removingsurface soil. Even Reconstruction MinisterHirano Tatsuo told the Mayors of Namie Townand Nihonmatsu City, municipalities whoseresidents have all evacuated, that lengtheningthe time of street-washing had only a limitedeffect.11 In the meanwhile, contaminated debrisis being transported around the country forincineration and burial, with the centralgovernment making acceptance of the debrisan issue of patriotic solidarity sweetened with

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financial incentives.12 As a recent Asia-PacificJournal Feature article suggests, theincineration and disposal of radioactive debris,the combined result of the tsunami and nucleardisaster, is causing community divisionsouts ide of Tohoku in such relat ivelyuncontaminated areas as Kitakyushu. (AsiaP a c i f i c J o u r n a l F e a t u r e 2 0 1 2 )“Decontamination” (josen) and debris removal(although tellingly, the phrase commonly usedis “debris acceptance,” or gareki ukeire) lookmore like the transfer of radioactive soil orwaste from one place to another, or, in the caseof the combined process of incineration andburial, from the land to the skies and backagain. These procedures are extremelylucrative for some. How would the money spenton decontamination compare with what itwould cost the government to transfer citizens,especially children, to safer places? What if thegovernment tried to deal with the political andfinancial costs of dealing with Tohoku debris inTohoku, so as to preserve safe placeselsewhere?

Filing a Criminal Complaint against TepcoExecutives and Government Officials

Muto Ruiko is the leader of the Fukushimaresidents’ group that filed a complaintdemanding that criminal charges be broughtagainst the leaders of Tepco and the relevantgovernmental agencies in the Fukushima PublicProsecutors office on June 11, 2012. Theexecutive secretary of the group, SatoKazuyoshi, an assemblyman from Iwaki City,stated at a press conference on June 11 thatthe people of Fukushima were resolved not “tocry themselves to sleep”: they want those inrelevant leadership positions to be heldcriminally responsible. He continued, “I believethat this day is the outcome of the deep angerand sorrow stored in the hearts of Fukushimacitizens, of the varied emotions accumulating ineach of us over the past year during which ourlivelihood has been destroyed. I am convincedthat today we are taking the first step toward

our recovery.”

This criminal complaint action, which asks theProsecutors Of f ice to undertake aninvestigation in order to bring criminalcharges, should not be confused with a civiltrial demanding compensation from Tepco andthe government. The Washington Post reportsthat victims of the Fukushima Dai’ichi accidenthave filed about 20 lawsuits against Tepco sofar.13 The number of civil suits is far fewer thanthe numbers brought in similar cases in theU.S., such as the several hundred suits filedagainst BP for its Gulf oil spill. The WashingtonPost suggests as reasons the lack of provisionfor class-action suits in the Japanese judicialsystems as well as the existence of a specialnuclear accident law that limits liability to thenuclear plant operator, and which also preventsindividuals from being held liable. Civil, asopposed to criminal cases, may be much moreburdensome for the plaintiffs, the time involvedeven longer and therefore more daunting forplaintiffs and their supporters.14 Yet, there havebeen attempts to file civil cases, and MutoRuiko is involved in them as well. For example,Tepco shareholders filed a large-scale suitagainst the company on March 5, 2012. Fortytwo shareholders, including Muto Ruiko andSato Kazuyoshi of the criminal complaintgroup, joined in a suit against former andcurrent Tepco executives; the lead attorneyrepresenting the case is Kawai Hiroyuki, whoalso represents the Fukushima criminalcomplaint group. The plaintiffs jointly ask for arecord 5.5 trillion yen in compensation,claiming that the accident was caused by thenegligence of Tepco executives.15 This may bethe largest civil damage suit ever filed in Japan.Kito Masaki, one of the plaintiffs, who is also anattorney in the case, writes that since this is alawsuit brought by the shareholders on behalfof the company against the accused whoal legedly damaged the company, a l lcompensation, if admitted by the court, will bepaid to Tepco as a company, and not to theplaintiffs. According to Kito, the plaintiffs hope

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that Tepco will use the money to compensatevictims.16 Clearly, Muto, Sato and severalothers have been engaged in multiple courtactions, both civil and criminal, in order topress Tepco’s liability for the FukushimaDai’ichi accident.

There have been previous attempts by citizensto pursue the criminal responsibility of Tepcoand government leaders. For example, ThePeople’s Tribunal on Nuclear Power was heldon February 25, 2012, in which seven victimsfrom Fukushima, including Muto Ruiko, offeredtestimony.17 Such “people’s tribunals” serve asimportant occasions for giving a dignifiedhearing to victims ignored in official channelsand for gathering information and creating arecord when the state is unwilling to do so. Bytheir nature, however, they cannot directlyprovide redress. Writer Hirose Takashi andjournalist Akashi Shojiro brought a criminalcomplaint to the Tokyo Public ProsecutorsOffice on July 15, 2011.18 The Fukushima groupsees signif icance in the fact that thecomplainants in the Fukushima complaint areordinary Fukushima citizens and more than1,000 of them, rather than a few individuals.They also emphasize the importance of theirdecision to file their complaint with theFukushima Public Prosecutors Office, and notTokyo, noting that the prosecutors inFukushima are fellow victims of the nucleardisaster. As the group declared on March 16,when it officially started to gather people to beparty to the complaint:

We have decided to f i le ourcomplaint with the FukushimaPublic Prosecutors Office. This isbecause we believe it is the publicprosecutors of Fukushima, who areforced to endure radiat ionexposure while they work incontaminated conditions, who, asparents and victims themselves,bear the burdens of a harsh,

inescapable reality, who ought toconfront the reality of this accidentmost seriously. (From “We ShallSeek Responsibi l i ty for theFukushima Nuclear Accident!Declaration to Submit Complaint(http://skazuyoshi.exblog.jp/17546754/),” March 16, 2012)

Photos from the day of filing the criminalc o m p l a i n t ( S o u r c e(http://kokuso-fukusimagenpatu.blogspot.jp/2012/06/blog-post_6347.html))

The organizers of this action officially startedto cal l for people to jo in them as co-complainants on March 16, holding multiplemeetings to explain the nature of thisprocedure. When Muto visited Chicago in earlyMay, she was in the middle of trying topersuade 1,000 residents to join. The numberat the closing of the first round of applicationson June 3 was 1,324 people, far more than she

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thought possible in the beginning. All wereliving in Fukushima at the time of the Dai’ichiaccident, although their current residencesextend from Hokkaido to Okinawa to foreignc o u n t r i e s . T h e y r a n g e i n a g e f r o moctogenarians to kindergarteners.

The group plans to file a second round laterthis year, this time inviting non-Fukushimaresidents to join. Kawai Hiroyuki, one of theattorneys representing the case, said at thepress conference that he would like to get3,000, or even10,000 or 100,000 people, to jointhis complaint. He believes that a surge inpublic opinion is key to moving the prosecutorsto indict.

The complaint names 33 people: from Tepcoincluding CEO Katsumata Tsunehisa and 14other executives; from the Nuclear SafetyCommission, Chairman Madarame Haruki andfive others; from the Nuclear and IndustrialSafety Agency, Terasaka Nobuaki and twoothers; from the Atomic Energy Commission,Chairman Kondo Shunsuke; leadingbureaucrats of the Ministry of Education andScience; and three radiation risk managementadvisors appointed by the Governor ofFukushima, including Yamashita Shunichi; andKinugasa Yoshihiro, an academic who hasserved on many governmental committees onnuclear energy, earthquake and tsunami.

The complaint asks the prosecutors to presscriminal charges against these officials fordamaging the lives, health and property ofFukushima residents and plant workers. Itpoints out that Tepco and the governmentfailed to take appropriate measures to preventthe accident, despite knowledge that thereactors were being operated in earthquake-prone Japan. It further states that even thoughexperts had pointed out the risk of a tsunami atthe Fukushima Dai’ichi Nuclear Power Plant,Tepco and the government had ignored thewarnings. Yasuda Yukio, another attorneyrepresenting the plaintiffs, emphasized that the

“nuclear village,” consisting of Tepco, thecentral government, and scholars whopromoted nuclear power, such as those servingon the Nuclear Safety Commission, the Nuclearand Industrial Safety Agency, and the AtomicEnergy Commission, were especial lyresponsible.19 Data predicting the spread ofradiation from SPEEDI (System for Predictionof Environmental Emergency Dose Information)was not released promptly. Officials repeatedlydescribed the situation as “safe,” resulting inthe delayed evacuation of residents, furtherexposing them to the radioactive plume.20

Outside experts such as Yamashita Shunichiappeared suddenly before Fukushima residentsto declare that they were safe. Attorney Yasudaasserted that given that more than 1,000Fukushima residents had filed a criminalcomplaint against such “experts,” they shouldno longer have the authority to studyFukushima residents’ health. 2 1

The compla in t does not pursue theresponsibility of politicians such as then PrimeMinister Kan Naoto or former CabinetSecretary Edano Yukio. Attorney KawaiHiroyuki explained that these were excluded inorder to avoid blurring the focus of thecomplaint with controversy over politicians’roles. Instead, they had chosen to concentrateon “the ones who were clearly bad,” Kawai tolda June 11 press conference.

According to the legal team, whether low doseinternal radiation exposure is recognized ascausing bodily harm will be a key issue. Kawainotes, however, that there were many injuriesin addition to low-dose exposure. He includesTepco workers who died at the accident site,residents who died while evacuating, andsuicides among the victims of Tepco’s actions.In addition to individual Tepco officers, Tepcoas a corporate entity is accused of havingviolated pollution laws in disseminatingsubstances harmful to health.

Kawai estimates that it will be at least a year

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before the results of the criminal complaint arein. First of all, the prosecutors must decidewhether to accept the complaint formally. Theywill weigh the reports of the parliamentaryFukushima Nuclear Power Plant AccidentInvestigation Committee due at the end of June,the government Investigation and VerificationCommittee due at the end of July, and Tepco’sown report released on June 20.22 They mayalso conduct some investigations themselvesbefore deciding whether to accept thecomplaint . Only then wil l they begindeliberations as to whether to prosecute.

To date, no public office has raised the issue ofcriminal responsibility on the part of thegovernment or Tepco. The governmentinvestigation committee even stated at theoutset that it would not consider individualresponsibility. This complaint, according toattorney Yasuda, is meant to demonstrate thatthe accident was not “beyond the scope ofexpectation” and therefore could have beenprevented.

During the press conference held after thefiling on June 11, Muto Ruiko read thefollowing statement issued by the FukushimaComplainants:

The Fukushima Complainantsfor Criminal Prosecution of theNuclear Accident

Group Statement

June 11, 2012

Today we 1,324 residents ofFukushima Prefecture filed acomplaint with the FukushimaPubl ic Prosecutors Off ice ,demanding that it press charges ofcriminal responsibility for theFukushima nuclear accident.

We who have been robbed of our

daily life, we whose human rightshave been trampled upon by theaccident—we have pooled ourstrength and raised our voices inanger.

To take the first step towardseeking prosecution required agreat deal of courage on our part.

To ask that criminal charges bebrought against other humanbeings has meant that we had toexamine our own way of life.

We believe, however, that thisprocess has profound significance.

•We are challenging a society thatfails to value all who live in it, inwhich sacrifice is always beingimposed on some members;

•We are coming together again,even expanding our ties after beingdivided and torn asunder by theaccident;

•We who were hurt and lost indespair are reclaiming ourstrength and dignity.

We believe that this is the way tofulfill our responsibility towardschildren and young people.

Standing together with those whocannot raise their voices and withother living things, it is each of usindividuals who will change theworld.

Refusing to be divided, recognizingthe power of our unity, unflinching,we wi l l cont inue to pursueresponsibility for the accident.

The Fukushima Complainants for Criminal

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Prosecution of the Nuclear Accident(http://kokuso-fukusimagenpatu.blogspot.jp/)

The Statement’s message of recoveringconnections and building solidarity amongFukushima residents addresses the situation inwhich provision or denial of governmentcompensation, availability or lack of means forevacuation, belief or skepticism about the“safety campaign” have all created bitter riftswithin the community.23

Philosopher Takahashi Tetsuya claims thatnuclear power plants constitute a “sacrificialsystem.” (Takahashi 2012a) The Statement,while declaring that Fukushima residents wereforced to sacrifice themselves, also engages inself-reflection: “To ask that criminal charges bebrought against other human beings has meantthat we had to examine our own way of life.”

While in Chicago, Muto told me that this sort ofaction is a new style of activism for her. Up tonow, she has mainly been involved in non-violent, alternative, woman-centeredantinuclear activism. Recourse to officialauthority – the court – is new for her, and sheexperiences some uneasiness or at any rate, isfeeling the differences: women’s alternativeaction vs. male-dominant legal action, amovement without leaders vs. one with aclearly designated leader. Despite suchreservations, in the briefing session after thecomplaint was filed, Muto said,

The story of every single personwilling to meet with me told mejust what a difficult life had beenimposed on these people, deprivedof routine, forced to changeeverything from the ground up,robbed of their human rights,subjected to pain, indignation, andsorrow. We somehow have to makethis complaint bear fruit. Everypage of the submitted statementsreads like a piercing cry from the

heart. I tell myself, we can’t letthese feelings go to waste. Untilrespons ib i l i t y i s proper lyacknowledged, there can be norecovery in any genuine sense inFukushima.

People’s testimonies were similarly crucial inthe case of the 15-woman lawsuit against thedispatch of Japanese Self-Defense Forces toIraq filed by attorney Nakajima Michiko. In thiscase, the invocation of their own histories andexperiences by women of different generationswas key to supporting the claim that peoplehad a constitutional “right to live in peace.”(Yamaguchi and Field 2007) The criminalcomplaint lodged by Fukushima residentsshows a similar valorization of the sharing oflived experience by people in their own words.

As Takahashi Tetsuya argues, the nuclearpower plant disaster was a serious humanrights violation for which responsibility must bepursued. (Takahashi 2012b) That process couldalso be key to Fukushima residents’ recoveringtheir voices. Muto also mentioned that peopleof Aizu, the region of Fukushima furthestremoved from the power plant, used to tell herthat they were not victims of the accident, butrather of “rumor damage.”24 Yet throughconversation with Muto and others, some Aizupeople began to recognize themselves as actualvictims of the disaster and not simply of rumor,and began to express themselves as such intheir own words. This, too, is an important stepto overcoming division.

Muto’s L i fe Before and After theFukushima Catastrophe

An indispensable part of Muto Ruiko’s talk atthe Atomic Age II symposium was thedescription accompanied by slide show of hereveryday life before the Fukushima Dai’ichicatastrophe. The details of her normal life hada deep impact upon the audience by helpingthem to visualize what had been lost.

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In 2003, when she was about to turn 50, Mutoresigned her teaching position and used herretirement pay to build a home and small café(Kirara, “shining”), in wooded hills across froma river. After Chernobyl, the antinuclear energymovement in Japan had been invigorated, butdespite many serious accidents, nuclear powerplants continued to be built, and people startedto lose interest in the anti-nuclear movement.Encouraged by the former but despairing overthe latter, Muto began to re-examine the wayshe was living her own life, especially withrespect to how she used energy. She decidedthat she wanted to live in a way free of themany kinds of discrimination and the sacrificeof precious lives required by the promoters ofconsumption. (Muto 2012: 51-52) The way sheprepared for her new life “in the acorn forest”reflects this resolution. When she was 42, shebegan by carving out a hillside, digging outtree roots, moving soil, creating a level space,and building a hut. (See slides 20-29 here(http://portal.sliderocket.com/BUVLA/MutoNF))

Café Kirara, with solar panels (Source:Muto Ruiko’s Presentation Slides forA t o m i c A g e I I : F u k u s h i m a(http://portal.sliderocket.com/BUVLA/MutoNF))

After the Fukushima Dai’ichi catastrophe,however, she had no choice but to close her

café. All the meaningful aspects of her life, inwhich antinuclear messages were deeplyembedded, abrupt ly and completelyvanished—although, given the distinctiveinvisibility of radiation, the material elementsappeared unchanged. The slides she showed inC h i c a g o a s p a r t o f h e r t a l k(http://portal.sliderocket.com/BUVLA/MutoNF)showed the many things she had lost and couldnever recover.

When the Fukushima Dai’ichi accidentoccurred, she evacuated first to Aizu and thento Yamagata Prefecture with her elderly motherand dog. After a month, however, her motherwanted to go home. Muto was torn, for she hadheard stories about other seniors, who, onceevacuated, started to show symptoms ofdementia and other health problems, and somewho had even died as a result. She made thedifficult decision to return.

Not only the challenges of everyday life, butantinuclear activism, especially the criminalcomplaint movement, have kept Mutoextremely busy. While walking in Cook CountyForest Preserve to visit the site where theChicago Pile, the world’s first nuclear reactorcreated as part of the Manhattan Project, liesburied, she told me that her everyday life wasno longer fun in the way it had been, sosometimes she felt as if she had lost thepurpose of her life. Now, she spends a greatdeal of time each day in front of a computerscreen or on the cell phone. Even though shewas involved in antinuclear activism before theFukushima Dai’ichi disaster, she had still beenable to enjoy her life at the café surrounded bynature. This precious side of her life is gone.

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A butterfly alights on a flower painted ont h e K i r a r a d o o r w a y ( S o u r c e(http://portal.sliderocket.com/BUVLA/MutoNF))

She has not, however, given up hope. When Iasked her to sign her book, For You FromFukushima, for me, she wrote, “To Tomomi:Let’s create a new world together – Ruiko” anddrew a little flower.

Muto Ruiko

5 May 2012, Chicago

(Translated by Norma Field)

More than one year has passed since thenuclear disaster that accompanied theearthquake and tsunami. At the time, I wasrunning a small café in the mountains aboutforty-five kilometers from the Fukushimareactors. The disaster transformed my life. Iwould like to share with you some of the thingsthat happened when the accident occurred.

On March 11, following the assault of theearthquake and the tsunami, there was a radioannouncement stating that control rods hadbeen inserted and the reactors had shut down.But that evening, news came that all power forcooling the reactors had been lost. I had someknowledge about the likely consequences ofsuch a situation, and feeling the urgency, Iwent around the neighborhood, encouragingfriends to evacuate. We ourselves got in our carto leave. At this point there had been noinstructions from the government. That night,those within three kilometers of the plantbegan to evacuate. The next day, there was anexplosion at Reactor Number One, and theevacuation zone was extended to twentykilometers. There were some victims of thetsunami who were still alive, but rescue squadshad no choice but to evacuate and weretherefore unable to save these people.Livestock and pets—many living things—wereleft behind in the evacuation zone. Manyelderly people died on the road. Seniors andpeople with disabilities faced severe difficultiesin the course of the evacuation itself as well asin the shelters.

Muto Ruiko speaks , Norma Fie ldtranslates, at Atomic Age II: FukushimaSymposium on May 5, 2012 at theUniversity of Chicago (Photo by TomomiYamaguchi)

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In the meanwhile, what was the government ofJapan up to? It was not telling citizens aboutthe information transmitted by SPEEDI orabout the reactor meltdowns. In order tominimize the impact of the disaster, itembarked on a “safety campaign”—i.e., acampaign to reassure citizens that all wasunder control. Beginning with those areasregistering the highest levels and extending toevery corner of Fukushima Prefecture, peoplewith the title of radiation risk managementadvisers went around saying, “Everything’s allright. You don’t need to worry.” Furthermore,the government raised the annual permissiblelevels of radiation exposure for humans andalso raised the levels allowable for food.25

This is what happened to citizens as aconsequence:

•There was virtually no distribution ofpotassium iodide.26

•People ended up fleeing to areas with higherlevels of radiation.

•They stayed outdoors to clean up debris fromthe earthquake

•They took their children with them to stand inlong lines to wait for water delivery trucks andto use public telephones.

•Outdoor afterschool activities resumedquickly.27

People did not know what information theycould trust, and this contributed to their beingdivided one from the other:

•If a parent worried about water quality sent achild to school with a water bottle, that childwould be told to drink tap water, like all theothers.

•A middle-schooler sobbed that she did notwant to escape to a safe place by herself. Whatwould become of her friends?

•Many families have been driven to leadingseparate lives, the fathers, saddled withmortgages and tied to jobs, staying behind inFukushima, and the mothers and children goneto other prefectures.

•In some towns, huge indoor play areas havebeen constructed, equipped with jungle gyms,swing sets, and sandboxes. The children seemhappy enough as they play, but no sunlight orrefreshing breeze or birdsong can reach them.

•Strange monitoring posts dot the landscape oftowns and villages. They indicate the levels ofatmospheric radiation from moment tomoment.

Radiation Monitoring Post (Minami-Soma,F u k u s h i m a ) ( S o u r c e(http://www.apamanshop-fukushima.com/07048601/1000820))

And, with the passage of one year, thegovernment has committed vast sums todecontamination, as if that were the onlyavailable means of lowering radiation exposure.Local governments, excepting those of areaswhere the Fukushima Daiichi Plant is sited,have begun to call for the return of residentswho have evacuated:

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•There is no support whatsoever for the rightto evacuate voluntarily or to travel for “respitecare.” 28

As for decontamination, the major constructioncompanies have a virtual monopoly oncontracts. Those who do the actual work, allthe while exposed to radiation, are those samepeople who lost their houses or jobs because ofthe disaster. Or else, they are residentsengaged in decontaminating their owndistricts. The effectiveness of such measures isdoubtful. The slogan “Don’t give up [ganbare],Fukushima!” serves as a rallying cry forrecovery. Although I understand theattachment we all have for the places where wegrew up, the cry rings hollow in my ears.

•In one municipality, regulations limitingoutdoor activities in schools have been lifted asof April 2012.29

•Plans are being made for outdoor marathonsand whistle-drum parades for even youngchildren.

•Middle-schoolers from other prefectures havecome as volunteers to clear up debris in thecoastal areas.

•The state’s safety campaign is adoptingvarious guises to penetrate small gatherings ormeetings for people interested in cancerprevention.30

•There have been cases of dealers falsifying theorigin of ingredients for school lunches.31

•The government has been exerting tacitpressure on supermarkets and retailers whohave established their own safety standards,arguing that needlessly strict standards willcause confusion.32

The government’s do-nothing stance hascaused people to be subjected to furtherdiscrimination and division:

•Single mothers of children with disabilities,who face special obstacles in trying to evacuateor to travel for “respite care,” feel guilty aboutcontinuing to expose their children to radiation.

•People who are concerned about radiation andplead the need for evacuation and protectionare said to “worry too much.”

•The lines demarcating evacuation orcompensation zones have served to turn peopleagainst one another.

•People are worried about their children’shealth. They feel the need for every possibleform of protection. At the same time, they, andthe parents of children with disabilities, areincreasingly fearful of further division anddiscrimination brought on by radiation.

•Projected shortfalls of electricity are used toproclaim the need for reactor restarts; reactorsare to be exported in the name of economicgrowth.

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Sit-in and arrest at Rokkasho, September,1991 (Courtesy Shimada Kei, Rokkasho:Kakunenryokichi no aru mura to hitobito,2 0 0 1 ) ( S o u r c e(http://portal.sliderocket.com/BUVLA/MutoNF))

During March and April of 2012, there werefrequent tremors; everyone is fearful aboutReactor No. 4, where spent fuel rods are heldin exposed pools after explosions compromisedthe structure.

Tossed this way and that, hurt and exhausted,people eventually abandon their wariness ofradiation. They stop up their ears: we have nochoice but to go on living here. We don’t wantto hear anything more.

Like radiation itself, the divisions among peoplepenetrate every aspect of life. Toward the endof 2011, the government issued a statementdeclaring that the nuclear accident was under

control. The media reported likewise. But forthe victims, not a single thing about thedisaster has been resolved.

That is the nature of a nuclear disaster.

It was twenty-six years ago, when theChernobyl disaster occurred, that I learned forthe first time about the dangers of nuclearpower.

Nuclear power is a form of electricitygeneration that involves the exposure ofworkers at every stage, beginning withuranium mining and extending to wastedisposal. Uranium mining leads to the exposureof Native Americans; the depleted uraniumproduced as a byproduct of uraniumenrichment becomes a weapon that continuesto harm the health of Iraqi and Afghanchildren. The routine operation and inspectionof nuclear power plants inevitably involvesworker exposure. Once there is an accident, asin Chernobyl and Fukushima, ordinary citizensare exposed to devastating amounts ofradiation.

Even before the current disaster, I was besetby feelings of despair about the atomicage—about all the radioactive substancesscattered around the earth by nuclear tests andreactor accidents, about nuclear wastes thatremain dangerous for tens of thousands ofyears. Might this not be something that humansshould never have touched? Wasn’t thisdisaster, which implicates all forms of life, theconsequence of human arrogance? What arewe to do about the radioactive substances thathave been scattered about, the rubble ands ludge they have ming led wi th , thecontaminated earth? It is a painful thing tohave to impose this burden on young people.

After the Chernobyl disaster, I started amovement within Fukushima Prefecture tooppose nuclear power. I have organized variouskinds of lectures, presented demands andnegotiated with Tepco, held petit ion

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campaigns, called for referenda, and issuednewsletters. Direct, nonviolent action is what Ihave felt best suited for. I have never beenparticularly adept at speaking in front of othersor pursuing the technical or social aspects ofnuclear power, but appealing directly, puttingmyself on the line, feels right. At the time of theserious accident at Reactor No. 3 of theFukushima Daini Plant that began with damageto the reactor recirculation pump in January 6,1989, I organized a “Women’s Relay HungerStrike.” In 1992, I started a “Camp for WomenWho Proclaim We Don’t Need a Nuclear FuelPlant” at Rokkasho Vil lage in AomoriPrefecture. It was at the time when uraniumhexafluoride, an ingredient in reactor fuel, wasto be transported to a uranium enrichmentplant that was part of the nuclear fuel cyclefacility at Rokkasho. Women gathered from allover Japan to try to stop this first shipment ofradioactive materials to Rokkasho. We set uptents along the truck route and camped out fora month. On the day of the delivery, signalingwith songs, one, maybe two women at a timewould leave the group, find a spot that wasn’theavily guarded, and sit down on the road. Wewere driven out time and again, but we didmanage to stop the trucks for fifty minutes.

Muto among other women in front of METIf o r t h e s i t - i n ( S o u r c e(http://fukushima20110311.blog.fc2.com/blog-date-201110.html))

After the current disaster, we held an actioncalled “Sit-in by 100 Fukushima Women WhoSay We Don’t Need Nuclear Power” in front ofthe Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industryin Tokyo. Many people were participating in asit-in for the first time in their lives. More than2000 women came from all over Japan. Wehave been negotiating with Tepco, held a “WeDon’t Need Nuclear Power Gathering ofLife/Earth” at the one-year anniversary, andmaintained a relay hunger strike to opposerestarting nuclear power plants. Today, May5 th, all 54 reactors in Japan have ceasedoperations pending regular inspection andmaintenance. In other words, we are at nuclearzero. We are going to encircle METI as wedance an old folk dance of Fukushima calledthe “Kansho dance.” (I believe they are dancingit at this very moment.)

My focus on action by women does not stemfrom a desire to exclude men. While it is truethat women have historically been subject totremendous discrimination and oppression, inthe dog-eat-dog, cutthroat world of present-daysociety in which economic interests haveprimacy, it could be men on the frontlines whoare the more oppressed. In this sense, I thinkthat women might have a different sort ofreserve power. They’re willing to act onimpulse and use their intuitions. They’re suppleand good at enduring patiently. They like to becomfy, and they know how to enjoy themselves.I sn ’ t i t poss ib le , in the way they dothings—having faith that it will all work outsomehow—that there’s a key to a different kindof society from what we have today? This iswhat I said to the women on the morning of thesit-in:

Welcome, brave women! Thank you, each andevery one who has come from far and wide,using your own time and energy and money.The boundless love and clear-headed thinkingof women, together with the power ofnonviolence, will create a new world! Let’s sit,talk, and sing together!

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Women in front of METI, holding thebanner, “Women Choose Life! We do notChoose Nuc lear Power” (Source(http://www.kinyobi.co.jp/kinyobinews/?p=1402))

The citizens of Fukushima are working onvarious actions all the time. Together withsupporters from around the country, they areadvancing plans for evacuating children andyoung people or arranging for respite cures.They are developing pathways for securing safefood and opening centers where citizens canbring in food to be measured for levels ofradionuclide contamination. We are active inmaking recommendations for legislation tosupport victims.

In March, we launched an organization to seekthe prosecution of Tepco and pertinent nuclearregulatory agencies. We are busy seeking amembership of 1000 by June.33 I believe it isimportant for those who have been victimizedto stand up and plead their cases in their ownwords. This is also a process for knittingtogether the feelings of those who have beendivided, for healing the injuries suffered byeach, and for recovering our strength anddignity.

Japan, in the course of making economicgrowth its greatest priority, developed an

unprotesting citizenry suited to become docileworkers and consumers. It learned how tocontain citizen anger. Society, schools, and themedia all worked to ensure that no thinkingwould take place. We need to becomeconscious that we let ourselves get placed onthis track. Now is the time when citizens haveto recover their self-confidence and their pride.It’s important for each of us to think with ourown heads and to act within our capabilities,for each of us in fact has wonderful powers.

Now, I would like to share with you a little ofthe life I led, close to nature, before the nucleardisaster.

In the course of my antinuclear activism, Ifound myself often beset by despair andpowerlessness over nuclear proliferation. Itwas at such a moment when I turned my gazetoward my own way of life. The electricity thatwe turn on so casually: when I realized that itsgeneration entai led various forms ofdiscrimination and the sacrifice of many lives, Ithought I wanted to do as much as possible toput myself at the polar opposite of such astructure . I began to c lear part o f amountainside and to embark on a life of self-sufficiency as much as possible.34

“From an Acorn Forest: Life before March11”

Photo from Muto Ruiko’s PowerpointPresentation, composed by Muto, Shimada

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Kei and Aiko Kojima.

For the entire powerpoint slides withEnglish explanations, see Sliderocket(http://portal.sliderocket.com/BUVLA/MutoN F ) a n d P D F(http://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/atomicage/files/2010/12/MutoNF.pptx-copy.pdf).

I should say that I never thought of this lifefocused on energy conservation as hard. Itwasn’t about deprivation. There’s pleasure inusing our heads and exercising our ingenuity. Itfeels good to try to be in harmony with nature.Isn’t it possible, that in exchange forconvenience, we’ve been robbed of such joys?

Because of the nuclear disaster, however, thislife, modest but sustained by careful use of theearth’s energy, nourished by nature’s bounty,and full of the pleasure of exercising ingenuity,will never come back. It will take a long, longtime—perhaps 300 years—for the atmosphereto recover.

We need to reflect deeply on the nuclearweapons and power plants present in the worldtoday. And we need to rethink our consumptionand energy usage. Let us consider whatconstitutes abundance, what sort of values willmake each of us truly happy, and initiate theactions necessary for realizing these values.

The nuclear disaster of Fukushima has broughton the worst situation imaginable, but today, Iam able to meet all of you gathered here. Thisis also a chance for citizens to join hands,support each other, and help create a newworld.

Let us walk together.

Tomomi Yamaguchi is an assistant professor ofAnthropology at Montana State University. Herco-authored book in Japanese (with Ogiue Chikiand Saito Masami), Social Movements ata Crossroads: Feminism's "lost years" vs.grassroots conservatism, is forthcoming in

September 2012. Her current research involvesnationalism, racism and xenophobia incontemporary Japan, particularly on the“Conservatives in Action” movement.

I would like to express my special thanks toMuto Ruiko, for her moving speech and sharingher stories with me, Norma Field for providingtranslation and editorial suggestions, AikoKojima for compil ing the powerpointpresentat ion accompanying Muto ’spresentation, Mark Selden for giving helpfulcomments, and Yuki Miyamoto, along withNorma Field, for co-organizing the Atomic AgeII: Fukushima event. I would also like to thankthe Japan Committee of the Center for EastAsian Studies at the University of Chicago formaking Muto’s visit to Chicago possible.

Recommended citation: Tomomi YAMAGUCHIand Muto Ruiko, "Muto Ruiko and theMovement of Fukushima Residents to PursueCriminal Charges against Tepco Executives andGovernment Officials," The Asia-Pacific Journal,Vol 10, Issue 27, No. 2, July 2, 2012.

Sources

Asia-Pacific Journal Feature. 2012. “Eco-ModelCity Kitakyushu and Japan’s Disposal ofR a d i o a c t i v e T s u n a m i D e b r i s(https://apjjf.org/-Asia_Pacific_Journal-Feature/3770).”

Hirose, Takashi, Yukio Yasuda and ShojiroAkashi. 2011. Fukushima Genpatsu Jiko noHanzai wo Sabaku (Judging the Crimes ofFukushima Nuclear Power Plant’s Accident)Tokyo: Takarajimasha.

Jobin, Paul. 2012. “Fukushima One Year On:Nuclear workers and citizens at risk.'(https://apjjf.org/-Paul-Jobin/3729)”

Kamanaka, Hitomi, Tsuchimoto Noriaki andNorma Field. 2007. “Rokkasho, Minamata and

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Japan’s Future: Capturing Humanitiy on Film.(http://www.japanfocus.org/-Kamanaka-Hitomi/2614)”

Kingston, Jeff. 2012. “Mismanaging Risks andt h e F u k u s h i m a N u c l e a r C r i s i s .(https://apjjf .org/-Jeff-Kingston/3724)”

Matsumoto, Mari. 2011. “Nuclear Energy andReproductive Labor- The Task of Feminism.(http://www.jfissures.org/2011/11/28/nuclear-energy-and-reproductive-labor-–-the-task-of-feminism/?fb_ref=.TtPLaMxRYFU.like&fb_source=home_oneline)” Fissures in the PlanetaryApparatus, November 28.

Muto, Ruiko. 2012. Fukushima kara anata-e(From Fukushima to You) Tokyo: OtsukiShoten.

Nishioka, Nobuyuki. 2011 “Toward a PeacefulS o c i e t y W i t h o u t N u c l e a r E n e r g y :Understanding the power structures behind the3.11 Fukushima nuclear power disaster.(https://apjjf.org/-Nishioka-Nobuyuki/3669)”

Quintana, Niguel . 2012. “Radiat ionDecontamination in Fukushima: A criticalp e r s p e c t i v e f r o m t h e g r o u n d .(https://apjjf.org/-Miguel-Quintana/3730)”

Slater, David. 2011. “Fukushima Womenagainst Nuclear Power: Finding a voice fromTohok (https://apjjf.org/events/view/117)u.”

Takahashi, Tetsuya. 2012a. Gisei no Shisutemu:Fukushima, Okinawa. (Sacrificial Systems:Fukushima, Okinawa.) Tokyo: Shueisha.

Takahashi, Tetsuya. 2012b. Presentation at“What 3.11 Means to Me: A symposium inhonor of Norma Field,” University of Chicago,March 10, 2012.

Tanaka, Yuki. 2007. “Oda Makoto, Beheirenand 14 August 1945: Humanitarian wratha g a i n s t i n d i s c r i m i n a t e b o m b i n g(http://www.japanfocus.org/-Yuki-TANAKA/253

2).”

Williamson, Piers. 2012. “Plutonium andJapan’s Nuclear Waste Problem: Internationalscientists call for an end to plutoniumreprocessing and closing the Rokkasho plant.(http://www.japanfocus.org/-Piers-_Williamson/3766)”

Yamaguchi, Tomomi and Norma Field. 2007.“Gendered Labor Justice and the Law of Peace:Nakajima Michiko and the 15-woman LawsuitOpposing Dispatch of Japanese Self-DefenseF o r c e s i n I r a q .(https://apjjf .org/-T-Yamaguchi/2551)”

Yamaguchi, Tomomi. 2011. “The KaminosekiNuclear Power Plant: Community Conflicts andthe Future of Japan’s Rural Periphery.(http://www.japanfocus.org/-Tomomi-Yamaguchi/3614)”1 Muto ’ s speech on the ant inuc leardemonstration that attracted 60,000 citizensc a n b e f o u n d h e r e(http://nuclearfreeplanet.org/blogs/this-is-about-how-we-live-muto-ruiko.html)(translationmodified), and also on Youtube with Englishs u b t i t l e s h e r e(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=559qQJz2bmk).

2 For Rokkasho, reprocessing, and spent fuel,see documentarians Kamanaka Hitomi andTsuchimoto Noriaki in Kamanaka, Tsuchimotoand Field (2007) and Willamson (2012).

3 David Slater (2011) has noted that womenhave been a powerful presence in post 3.11antinuclear movements.

4 See Tanaka (2007) on Beheiren and itsfounder, Oda Makoto.

5 Matsumoto Mari states that the term“mother” was over-represented in post-Chernobyl antinuclear activism in Japan, on thepremise that the main motivation for women tobe involved in the antinuclear movement had to

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do with their perspective as mothers. Althoughsome feminists are critical, Matsumoto arguesthat posing demands such as “save thechildren” or “protect mothers” in post March11 Japan may be functioning as a way toprotest the state and the nuclear industry,given the “safety campaign” and the visiblefailure of government to protect mothers andchildren. (Matsumoto 2011)

6 See Asaka Yuho ’ s b log en t ry here(http://asakayuho.com/genpatsu_crisis/stop_campaign.html/).

7 “People are suffering from radiophobia(http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/studying-the-fukushima-aftermath-people-are-suffering-from-radiophobia-a-780810.html),”Der Spiegel, August 19, 2011.

8 S e e t h i s(http://www.jaea.go.jp/02/press2011/p12033002/index.html) for the JAEA’s schedule for Q&Asessions during the current fiscal year.

9 S e e h e r e(http://hrn.or.jp/activity/area/cat147/201111/)for the report.

1 0 A s a h i S h i m b u n(http://www.asahi.com/business/topics/economy/TKY201201310154.html), January 31, 2012.

1 1 4 7 N e w s(http://www.47news.jp/CN/201206/CN2012061701001751.html), June 17, 2012.

1 2 S e e t h i s(http://one-world.happy-net.jp/ukeire/) for thepercentage of local governments acceptingdebris in map form.

13 For example, Watanabe Mikio of KawamataTown of Fukushima Prefecture, about 40kmnorthwest of the Dai’ichi plant, filed a civil suitagainst Tepco. Watanabe had to evacuate, andhis wife committed suicide during theirtemporary visit to their house. He has

demanded 90.4 million yen ($1.13 million) forh is wi fe ’s death on May 18. See TheW a s h i n g t o n P o s t(http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/japans-nuclear-victims-seek-compensation-but-not-a-d a y - i n -court/2012/06/25/gJQAe8GO1V_story.html),June 25, 2012, for the Watanabe lawsuit. Thesame article also appears in The Japan Times(http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120627a3.html#.T-pGOM1rdWS), June 26, 2012.

14 For example, as part of a different researchproject, I have been following a case onobstruction of operations and defamation ofcharacter of members of the TokushimaTeachers’ Union by neonationalist citizens’groups, Team Kansai and Zaitokukai (CitizensRefusing to Tolerate Special Rights for Koreansin Japan.) In this case, the victims, belonging tothe Tokushima Teachers’ Union, filed acriminal complaint first. When some of theaccused were not indicted, they filed a demandto the Committee for the Inquest of Prosecutionto reexamine the case. They waited for theoutcome of the committee’s conclusion,recently released on June 21, 2012, to decideon whether and when to file a civil suit. Thevictims have said that the civil case mayrequire additional organizing and support andtherefore, they wish to proceed with thecriminal case first.

1 5 S e e h e r e(http://tepcodaihyososho.blog.fc2.com/) formore information on the shareholders’ lawsuitagainst Tepco executives.

1 6 S e e t h i s l i n k(http://kito.cocolog-nifty.com/topnews/2012/03/post-0b65.html).

17 Takahashi Tetsuya, a philosopher at theUniversity of Tokyo, discussed the People’sTribunal in detail at his speech on March 10,2012, at the University of Chicago Symposium,“What 3.11 Means to Me.”

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18 See Hirose, Yasuda and Akashi (2011).

19 See Nishioka (2011) on the power structuresbehind the 3.11 nuclear disaster; see alsoKingston 2012 for the structure of the “nuclearvillage.”

2 0 S e e t h i s l i n k(http://www.minpo.jp/globalnews/detail/2012061101001612).

21 See Yamashita’s position on nodules andcysts found in Fukushima children (andcomparison to Nagasaki) and Helen Caldicott’sr e b u t t a l h e r e(http://fukushimavoice-eng.blogspot.com/2012/0 5 / f u k u s h i m a - c h i l d r e n s - t h y r o i d -examination.html).

22 Tepco tries to escape responsibility for theaccident by stating that the cause of theaccident was the “unexpectedly high tsunamiwaves” and blaming the Cabinet for itsconfusing-causing intervention. (MainichiS h i m b u n(http://mainichi.jp/select/news/20120621k0000m040059000c.html) June 20, 2012; AsahiS h i m b u n(http://www.asahi.com/politics/update/0620/TKY201206200550.html) June 20, 2012) See alsoKingston (2012) on Tepco’s risk assessmentsand the perspective of Madarame Haruki, headof the Nuclear Safety Commission.

23 Writer Amamiya Karin also pointed out theserious community divisions in Fukushimaduring her talk at the University of Chicago onMarch 11, 2012.

24 On the issue of “rumor damage” (fuhyo higai)related to food, see Aiko Kojima’s blog entry(http://artfoodandpolitics.blogspot.com/2011/04/on-fuhyo-higai-harmful-rumor.html).

25 The Ministry of Education and Science issueda notice in April 2011 to the FukushimaPrefectural Board of Education and otherrelevant institutions that the temporary

permissible radiation level for the use of schoolgrounds and buildings would be 20mSv/year,far higher than the standard 1mSv/year for thegeneral public. (Ministry of Education andS c i e n c e(http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/houdou/23/04/1305174.htm)) In addition, Tokyo Shimbunreported on April 18, 2012, that documents ithad secured through a freedom-of-informationrequest revealed that in April 2011, theMinistry of Education and Science, which hadoriginally set the limit for use of school groundsat 3μSv/hour (approximately 26.3 mSv/year),had secretly raised it to 3.8μSv/hour (or33.8mSv/year), thus reducing the number ofschools whose grounds would be off-limits toone-third of what the somewhat more stringentstandard would have required. (Tokyo Shimbun(http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/feature/nucerror/list/CK2012041802000126.html), April 18,2012). The annual permissible level of radiationexposure for workers at the Fukushima Dai’ichiNuclear Power Plant was raised from100mSv/year for emergency situations to250mSv/year. Even for non-emergencysituations, the l imit was raised from50mSv/year to 250mSv/year. In November2011, the government issued an orderreinstating the 50mSv/year or 100mSv/yearlimit depending on the nature of the workinvolved. (Press release by the Ministry ofH e a l t h , L a b o r a n d W e l f a r e(http://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/houdou/2r9852000001yeem.html) as of December 16, 2011.) Thegovernment raised the annual permissibleradiation level for food to 5mSv in March 2011and brought it back to the original 1mSv inApril 2012.

26 Potassium iodide (KI) pills can help preventthyroid cancer, which is one of the mostcommonly recognized health risks of a nucleardisaster. According to the NY State Departmentof Health, “Taking KI saturates the thyroidgland with stable (non-radioactive) iodine. Thisprevents or reduces the amount of radioiodinethat can be taken up by the thyroid. .... To be

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most effective, KI should be taken before orshortly after exposure to radioiodine.” (link(http://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/radiological/potassium_iodide/information_for_the_public.htm)) The Japanese government issued areport in September 2011 acknowledging thatit had failed to hand out the pills immediatelyafter the accident. Government disastermanuals require local municipalities to wait forthe central government to issue an orderbefore distributing the pills, but the centralgovernment did not order distribution until fivedays after the outbreak of the disaster. By thetime the pills were distributed, many people inthe severely affected areas had alreadyevacuated and therefore missed the chance toreceive them. Many affected people were alsounaware of the pills. (The Wall Street Journal(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204010604576596321581004368.html),September 29, 2011.)

27 Mainichi Shimbun reported that 51 publicprimary schools in Fukushima city, locatedapproximately 62 kilometers north of theFukushima Dai’ichi Plant, held outdoor sportsmeets in May 2012 (The Mainichi Shimbun(http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120512p2g00m0dm036000c.html), May12, 2012.)

28 I borrow this term to translate hoyo from thewebsites of organizations sponsoring programsfor children affected by Chernobyl, such as this(http://www.belarusguide.com/chernobyl1/chlist.htm).

Hoyo appears more and more frequently todescribe time spent away from sites with high-exposure levels to promote psychological andphysical recovery.

29 Koriyama City of Fukushima Prefecture isreported to have lifted the regulation limitingoutdoor activities as of April 2012 as a result of“decontamination” activities (i.e. removal ofsome soil) from school grounds. (FukushimaM i n p o

(http://www.minpo.jp/pub/topics/jishin2011/2012/03/post_3520.html), March 25, 2012. The cityis also considering reopening outdoor schoolswimming pools.)

30 Muto’s reference indicates that the “safetycampaign” is now extending beyondgovernment-sponsored public lectures andseminars on nuclear energy and radiation tosmall gatherings, including those simplydedicated to cancer prevention.

31 The media have reported some instances offalsification of the origin of school lunchingredients. For example, the Nikkan SPA!website reports that when a Yokohamamunicipal assemblywoman investigated thesource of beef used in the city’s school lunchprogram, she found that beef from Fukushimahad been included in school lunches althoughthe labeling failed to provide clear information.(Nikkan Spa! (http://nikkan-spa.jp/45434),August 20, 2011) Josei Jishin magazine recentlyreported that a rice dealer in Nagano wasinvestigated by the police for selling rice grownin Fukushima mixed in with rice from Aomorias rice grown in Nagano. The report alsoexplains that rice grown in Fukushima canlegally be labeled “Product of Japan” for schooll u n c h p u r p o s e s . ( J o s e i J i s h i n(http://zasshi.news.yahoo.co.jp/article?a=20120604-00000301-jisin-soci), June 4)

32 The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry andFisheries issued a notice on April 20, 2012 to270 food industry organizations, includingrestaurants and supermarkets, to follow thesafety standards decided by the governmentand to discontinue their own examination ofradiation levels in food according to their ownstricter standards. See Asahi Shimbun(http://www.asahi.com/politics/update/0421/TKY201204200862.html), April 21, 2012, Also seet h e n o t i c e(http://www.maff.go.jp/j/press/shokusan/ryutu/pdf/kyoukucho.pdf) by the Ministry.

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33 As stated in the Introduction, the groupgathered a total of 1,324 people as of June 3,the closing date of the f irst round ofapplication.

34 In her book, Muto goes on to give concreteexamples of the global exploitation entailed bynuclear energy, discriminatory in targetingvulnerable populations. She states that nuclearpower is always accompanied by the exposureof workers to radiation, from the mining ofuranium to disposal of various kinds of waste.

She points out that uranium mining hasexposed Native Americans in the U.S. withserious consequences, and depleted uranium, aby-product of uranium enrichment, hasseriously harmed the health of children in Iraqand Afghanistan. Nuclear power plant workersare also exposed to radiation during dailyoperations and at inspection time, and once anaccident happens, ordinary citizens areexposed to massive radiation, as in Chernobyland Fukushima. (Muto 2012:47-48)