<< Buddhist monk Tetsuen Nakajima submitting the petition to Mikio Iwanaga, a Fukui prefectural government official
They submitted a petition to Fukui Governor Issei Nishikawa asking
him not to agree to the restart, which the Noda administration is
pushing for before midsummer.
On May 30, about 100 members from the Interfaith Forum for Review of
National Nuclear Policy gathered in the prefectural government office in
Fukui.
“We want to think together about how to create a prefecture that does
not depend on nuclear power,” said Buddhist monk Tetsuen Nakajima, who
is serving as the chief priest of Myotsuji temple in Obama, Fukui
Prefecture.
Mikio Iwanaga, a Fukui prefectural government official who accepted
the petition, said, “We want to ask the central government to ensure
safety at nuclear power plants.”
In the petition, the leaders criticized government leaders for only
thinking about jobs, the need for electricity and safety from a
technological aspect as they seek to restart the reactors.
They also demanded that the Fukui prefectural government share some
of the hardships resulting from the accident at the Fukushima No. 1
nuclear power plant and awaken to the “stupidity” of the operation of
nuclear reactors, which is conducted even knowing that residents and
workers will be exposed to radiation.
One of the 100 religious leaders was Tokuun Tanaka, 37, a priest at
Dokeiji temple in Minami-Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, who evacuated to
Sakai in Fukui Prefecture after the accident at the Fukushima No. 1
nuclear power plant in March 2011.
Tanaka evacuated to Fukui Prefecture along with his wife and four
young children as he had previously received his ascetic training in
Eiheiji temple in Eiheiji, also in Fukui Prefecture.
Since coming to Fukui Prefecture, he has often returned to Fukushima
Prefecture where many of his Dokeiji temple’s parishioners are still
residing. He has talked with them and asked what difficulties they are
facing.
“Some towns in Fukushima Prefecture may have become rich thanks to
the nuclear power plants there. But many people there are now regretting
that. They are lamenting that an irrevocable situation has taken
place,” Tanaka said.
When he evacuated to Fukui Prefecture, he had concerns as the
prefecture is home to the largest number of nuclear reactors in Japan.
“In Fukushima Prefecture, we were pretending to believe the safety
myth (of nuclear power plants). We were lulled to sleep. But we were
awakened forcibly. Fukui (Prefecture) is still sleeping. It should take a
step forward before the suffering like the one in Fukushima occurs,”
Tanaka said.