Voice Of FUKUSHIMA

There was a big anti-NUKE gathering in September in Tokyo. A speech given by a woman from Fukushima moved people deeply. I tried to translate it for foreigers. I'm not sure if I could translate it successfuly, but could you guess what she said in her speech and forgive my mistakes?

Ruiko Muto's speech at the gathering on Sep.19th in Tokyo　

People from Fukushima, would you all stand up, please.

Hello, everyone,we came from Fukushima. Today, we came together in a line of buses , from Fukushima Prefecture, from refugee camps.Among us, there are many who are joining these gatherings or demonstrations for the first time. We talked and decided to come, to tell the sorrow caused by the explosion at the Fukushima nuclear plant. We are the ones to demand "No Nukes"

First of all, I 'd like to say, I deeply respect each of you all who have worked to save lives during these hard days since March 11th. And, I am so grateful to the people who gave us their helping hands, cooperated with us, and supported us in many ways. Thank you very much. And, as the generation that have had this happen to them, I have to apologize sincerely to the children and the young people whom we made carry this heavy burden.

Everyone, Fukushima is a very beautiful place. In the east we view the blue Pacific Ocean, and in the central area, we have rich orchards of peaches, pears, and apples. Around the Inawashiro Lake and Mt.Bandai,we have Aizu Plain with golden rice fields. Beyond them, we see deep rows of mountains. The mountains are green and the waters are clear, our homeland. But after the accident at the nuclear plant on March 11th, invisible radiation fell on us, and we are now nuclear victims.

In the state of confusion, many things happened among us. People were split between uneasiness and the quick advertisement which declear "It's safe." So many people felt anxious and sad in the community, in the work place, at school, and at home. Day after day, we had to choose and decide; refuge or not, eat or not, make the children wear masks or not, dry the laundry outside or not, plow the farm or not, and say something or keep our mouths shut. We had to make many difficult decisions.

Now a half a year has passed, and things are becoming clear: like "The truth is hidden." "The nation never protects its people." "The accident is not over yet." "The people of Fukushima will be the nuclear test subjects." "A huge amount of nuclear waste remains." "There are people that insist on pushing the nuclear power plants even though we have these victims already." " We were thrown away." We sigh deeply tired and desperate.

But we dare say, "Don't fool us." and " Don't kill us." We, the people of Fukushima, now begin to stand up quietly in the anger and sorrow. Fathers, mothers, grandfathers, and grandmothers to save the childen, young people not to be deprived their future, working people to save the nucler plant workers who are treating the troubled plant suffering from the terrible amount of radiation, farmers in the desperation whose farms were polluted, disabled people to stop the new kind of discrimination and separation, each of these citizens are inquiring after the responsibility of the government and Tokyo Denryoku. And we are saying, " We don't need nuclear power stations any more."

We are the demons of Tohoku(North-eastern Japan) who keep the flame of anger under our skin quietly. We, the people of Fukushima, both those who leave the hometown and those who stay and llve there, want to share our anguish, responsibility, and hope, and live togethr helping each other.

Connect with us. Pay attention to our action; negotiation with the government, evacuation, lawsuit, refuge, employment, cleaning of the radiation, measurement of the radiation, learning about the nuclear power station and radiation, and so on. We will go anywhere and will talk about Fukushima. One of us is now making a speech far in New York today. We are doing everything we can do now. Help us. Never forget Fukushima, please.

I would like to tell you one more thing. It's about our way of life, our style of living. We have to imagine what is beyond the outlet we plug casually. We should thimk over the fact that convenience and development is dependent on discrimination and sacrifice. Nuclear power stations are over there.

Human being is just one of the creatures living on the Earth. No other creatures destroy their own future. I want to live a right life that is harmonious with this beautiful planet as the creature on it. I want to live a life which is not luxurious, but energy-saving, resourceful, and creative.

No one exactly knows how to make the new world that is opposite from the nuclear power stations The only thing we can do is not to obey some other's decisions, but think deeply with seriousness ourselves, open our eyes wide, decide what we can do, and act. Remember that everyone of us has the power to do so. We have courage to change. Take our self-confidence back, which has been deprived of.

When we liken the power to promote nukes to a wall standing vertically, our strength is to join and widen levely. Take a hand of your neighbor standing next to you now. Let' s listen to the pain of the others. Let the tears and anger allow. Let's extend the warmth of our joined hands all over Japan, and all over the world. Even if our burden is incredibly heavy, and our journey is so harsh, we shall survive lightly and pleasanly supporting each other.

Thank you. .