Looks like the movement ran out of steam. Guess the next article on it will say "Anti-nuclear rally outside Noda's residence draws about 10"

So self satisfied, confident in your belief that all is well with things nuclear, that the misguided anti nuclear activists are gradually giving up and will either see the (nuclear generated) light or concede that since they do not have all the answers, they will let the nuclear mafia, the politicians in their pocket, the bureaucrats who stack public hearings (and, no doubt, news forums like this one) with plants, have their way. They created the problem, they make sure that alternative solutions are underfunded, they-through the likes of Dentsu control Kisha clubs and reporting via advertising and the threaten to remove it if serious solutions are talked about, if serious reportage is allows to see print or be broadcast. I have news for you-we have not given up, we have not lost steam.

You probably do not knowing any of those who wanted to evacuate but did not because the gov did not provide the funding. Or those that did opt to leave because their chances at maintaining their farms were ruined, and they have opted to start again somewhere far away, because of concern for internal radiation on their young kids. I do, here in Kyushu, and they left despite the hardships the above mentioned nuclear mafia imposed by limiting compensation, by delaying evacuation orders, by arbitrarily creating threshold levels that were higher than they should be. Some continue as farmers through land grants by local Nagasaki towns. Some have taken up new jobs as food stall owners at festivals. One I met at a demo in front of Kyushu Denryoku yesterday, who just arrived a month ago with her 2 kids, struggling to get by. Meanwhile, Kyuden stacked the public meetings on the fate of Genkai plant, and their cohorts around the country have collectively spit in the faces of the citizens they supposedly serve by falsifying data, covering up faults, ignoring warnings about fault lines, hiring people off the streets of Sanya and Aireen to act as nuclear gypsies, the invisible poor, some so old they will die before radiation gets to them. It wasn't always thus-on the nuclear given of Fukui they used to hire the young and able as well, until some of them DID die of leukemia. The nuclear industry's dirty little secret.

Smugness about the numbers who show up at a demo is a thin disguise for the contempt you have towards people who do not think it merely quaint or fashionable to choose bean sprouts, fish, mushrooms free of contamination...who do not fall for the lies about the background radiation of a banana, who know that things have entered the food chain, that the seas are continuing to be polluted, that the initial failure to move people far away has given some a head start on contracting nuclear related diseases later in life that responsible commentators say cannot be ruled out by assurances from the likes of Fukushima Dai VP "niko niko, smile and you won't have anything to fear" Yamashita and his band of "goyo gakusha".

correction-nuclear ginza..IPad changed it to nuclear "given".

I think the only thing which has run out of steam are the reactors. Even if the weekly protests end, which it will, sooner rather than later, it does not mean there's a change in public opinion about nuclear energy.

For many, next week is the Obon festival, when people head back to their home towns.

We still haven't had any of the predicted power blackouts. In Kansai, since the beginning of July, there have been very few days, when the power demand exceeded what could have been provided without the Oi reactors.

What will be the future use of nuclear energy, 30%, 15% or 0%? I don't think anyone really knows. Opinion polls have 70% indicating 0% or a much reduced rate.

It's starting to look like come the next general election, the DPJ might run on a no nuclear energy ticket, which I think is the real reason behind those town hall meetings.

But not everything looks rosy. Production of CO2 has increased by 17%, so even if nuclear energy returns to the original 30%, there's a need for using renewable energies.

The country produces about 20 million tons of biomass every year. The main problem is collecting it. This could help reduce the amount of coal burnt. Some biomass is already being used with coal.

Before the pro nuclear supporters jump on the band wagon, even if we return to levels prior to the 3/11 nuclear disaster, there's still a need to invest in renewable energy.

@ Paul Arenson

Excellent post ! If only I could have calmed myself down enough, I may have written something similar. Although I didn't say anything that could be in any way considered "insulting", as predicted, my post was removed...

basroil

Looks like the movement ran out of steam. Guess the next article on it will say "Anti-nuclear rally outside Noda's residence draws about 10"

Yeah, no, basroil. There has been massive protests every friday since the restarts and that has not stopped. This is just a new one on top of that.

Oh wait this wasn't the new one, however they are planning new protests in different locations.

Next step, drag Noda from his home and tar and feather him!

I also hope this means that they have now realized that protesting isn't enough, they are now aware that enough people are anti-nuclear, so they will try to turn knowledge that into action. Get politically involved. Vote for people who have clear anti-nuclear policies.

Anti-nuclear rally outside Noda's residence draws about 1,000

This is now dangerous and don't be deceived that people are giving up! I guess many of them must be hiding somewhere mapping plan B. Others could be busy putting eviction notices on people's doors they suspect to be sympathisers of nuke electricity. While many could be taking the war to online campaigns, from where, they will spring up with something more damaging.....Theres is need to fund out what they are up to....

Rick KisaAug. 11, 2012 - 06:02PM JST

Others could be busy putting eviction notices on people's doors they suspect to be sympathisers of nuke electricity.

If you see any of that, be sure to report it to the police. Harassment like that is a potentially serious matter, especially if it continues. Don't let your convictions cloud your judgement on what is right and wrong.

The Asahi quoted the police as 9,000 last Friday. Claiming only hundreds is grossly inaccurate.

I don't know how much longer citizens will continue to gather, but Friday was the Japanese equivalent of Christmas Eve, with a great many people either on their way or packing to return to ancestral homes and clean their family graves. What one wonders, however, is how long Japan can continue to use a ridiculously expensive form of energy in lieu of abundant, cheaper, safer alternatives. Ishiba Shigeru recently noted a reason for it finding favour in Japan yet, the right wing fantasy about Japan building atomic bombs. But surely, at some point, the bottom line will prevail.

Here's a businessman's take on the issue, CEO of a corporation that profits from building nuclear power plants. "They're finding more gas all the time. It's just hard to justify nuclear. Gas is so cheap and at some point, economics rule," the newspaper quoted GE CEO Jeff Immelt as saying in an interview on Monday…"It's really a gas and wind world today," said Immelt, referring to two sources of electricity he said most countries were shifting towards as natural gas became "permanently cheap". http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/30/us-energy-power-nuclear-shale-idUSBRE86T0AX20120730

A new generation has drawn the line.

The protests will continue as the dangers of nuclear contamination will just become more apparent as time goes on.This problem cannot be swept under the carpet even though there is a massive campaign to do so.

basroil

Over 70% of Japanese people are in favor of 0% nuclear by 2030. The protesters represent them, and former Prime Minister Hatoyama, political kingmaker Ozawa, and a number of other leading Japanese politicians are now running on the antinuke platform. I am sure their research is fairly accurate.

Von RothbartAug. 12, 2012 - 01:31PM JST

Over 70% of Japanese people are in favor of 0% nuclear by 2030.

Even NHK polls show just ~35% for 0. Not sure where you magically doubled that number.

It's pretty safe to say that nuclear is "over" in Japan... The very few people who still support nuclear are in the minority.

HopeAndChange2012Aug. 12, 2012 - 10:17AM JST

A new generation has drawn the line.

What new generation? College aged students in Engineering and science are overwhelmingly pro-nuclear or not anti-nuclear.

And professor Koide of a Kyoto University research lab, an expert rarely quoted in the mainstream press, who prefer the Toden connected educators at Todai, has lamented that fact.....which also has to do with the Keidanren-Meti-Dentsu-Kisha club conspiracy to promote things nuclear and keep humanistic concerns out of the discussion, These are the people who have given Japan a black eye with their "everything for the economy" focus, and they are irrelevant.. They are not the barometer of octal change-they represent the status quo. They are like the bureaucrats and newspaper publishers in Ibsen's Enemy of the People who brand doctor Stockman thusly because he warned the community about pollution in the public baths. In fact, he is-like the kid n the Emperor's New Clothes- a voice for truth. Koide sensei is cut from the same cloth. And you will not see many journalists reporting on what he says, since it does not further the amoral aims of the engineers. Recall how few scientists had any morals before their bomb burned killed hundreds of thousands. Only one or two left the Manhattan project before. And even after, there were few scientists who expressed many reservations. I would not expect young people who are products of a system that promotes science and industry rather than science for people.

octal change--> social change. Damned IPad.

I would not expect young people who are the products of such a system to have undergone a moral conversion, but social change rarely comes from the elite.

Paul ArensonAug. 12, 2012 - 05:07PM JST

I would not expect young people who are the products of such a system to have undergone a moral conversion, but social change rarely comes from the elite.

Most colleges mandate the same types of courses as in the US, and there they include engineering ethics which practically grind into you that human lives are worth more than money. Knowing that these people see that protesting against nuclear means protesting for coal and other fossil fuels that hurt both people and the environment far more.

As for social change, peaceful social change usually comes from the elite. Only a few times has non-violent change been achieved by the masses, and even then there are pockets of violence. The posts by Rick Kisa demonstrate this uptick in violence even when it is overall peaceful protests.

@basroil

Most colleges mandate the same types of courses as in the US, and there they include engineering ethics which practically grind into you that human lives are worth more than money.

Never heard of that before, never had it in my day, but it don't matter much, because I can tell you, after many decades of working, it don't happen like that.

An engineer does what the company wants him to do, unless they are willing to lose their job. If that means cutting safety corners, most will do it. I always refused to do anything which I thought wasn't safe.

Most companies don't really care about anything except profit. Engineers are a dime a dozen.

I have worked in chemical plants where it was cheaper for the company to pour neat poisons, like arsenic, down the drain, and pay the fine, than dealing with the problem.

When the reactor was built for the the No4 reactor at Fukushima, it was deformed because it was cooled too quickly. The company changed the drawings, so no one would notice. The engineers knew what had happened but kept quiet. After 20 years or so, an engineer did come forward, and told the gov't about it. They refused to believe him.

Lots of bad stuff happens.

"human lives are worth more than money" Guess TEPCO never knew that one?

Basroil:

As for social change, peaceful social change usually comes from the elite. Only a few times has non-violent change been achieved by the masses, and even then there are pockets of violence. The posts by Rick Kisa demonstrate this uptick in violence even when it is overall peaceful protests.

The elite only make changes, however small, when forced to by mass movements, when it is no long sustainable for them to commit murder in imperial wars or to cover up social injustices they perpetrate. They never make change out of some deep seated conviction.

As to Rick Kisa's posts: First of all, I took the posts by RK to be tongue in cheek. In any case, it is laughable to think that anyone in the anti nuke movement would be resorting to violence against pro nuclear people.

This thinking follows the same Modus operandi of those who seek to paint anti left/green movement, such as anti-neoliberalism protestors, as part of "black blocks" bent on trashing bank windows in order to discredit the movement. In reality very few people in such movements do this. Yeah, there are some, but the overwhelming majority do not, and there is much documentation of uncovered plots such as using police provocateurs-rock carriers in Quebec in 2007 and rioters in 2010 Toronto as justification for repression including arrests of journalists.

So your advice "If you see any of that, be sure to report it to the police. Harassment like that is a potentially serious matter, especially if it continues. Don't let your convictions cloud your judgement on what is right and wrong" is quite funny, or scary if one wants to think that perhaps you yourself are part of a disinformation campaign to blacken the image of the protesters. I make no such charges. I have no way to prove it. I would prefer to think you are just being naive. But the fact that people out to protect power and privilege do resort to such disinformation, that journalists in Japan, because of their membership in Kisha clubs that serve to limit people's access to the truth, are enjoined form reporting freely, that METI officials and politicians form the LDP and DPJ, including Edano, have been in the pockets of the nuclear industry, that Tepco and GE whistleblowers have revealed a number of dirty tricks--all this points to the desperate efforts of the industry to fight back.

The words you use mirror exactly those who specialize in disinformation. I would not know if you are doing this intentionally or if you just believe these incredible scenarios. I have been involved in social change movements for 45 years and have seen my share of loonies on the left, but they are few and far between, and most sensible people give them wide berth. Most troubling has been those in power out to weaken a movement by making false charges, using police intimidation (the LDP went so far as to use yakuza to deal with anti-Ampo protestors in the 60s), or popping up wherever they came to sow discord and confusion.

No-one is resorting to the kinds of tactics Rick Kisa mentions. At the Nagasaki rallies I met only a wide variety of people-scientists, parents, idealistic college kids, members of various Buddhist and Christian sects, teachers, and even people involved in alternative energy who told me how hard it is to push their alternatives, how they are ignored by the government. I saw no people threatening to lynch pro-nuclear citizens in the middle of the night. That is the stuff of fantasy.