Tanka poems against the war

Cherry blossoms at Hase Temple, Nara

The eighth season of cherry blossoms has come since Fukushima Daichi nuclear disaster, and you can see awesomely beautiful cherry blossoms all around Japan now. Every time I see them, I feel like forgetting the nuclear accident in Fukushima, but it has never ended and is lasting like forever.

Japanese government is working hard to make the accident appear to end, and taking measures to return the evacuees to the still heavily contaminated areas of less than 20mSV/year. Unfortunately, there is not so much news coverage about it in Japan, so ordinary Japanese people pay little attention to it. However, the nuclear evacuees are doing whatever they can to let their voices heard to protect their children and their human rights.

I have been supporting nuclear evacuees, such as Mitsuko who made a speech at Global Greens in Liverpool in 2017. After that she bravely made a speech at a pre-session of United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. Last month, on March 19th, another evacuee, Ms. Morimatsu, made a moving speech at United Nations Human Rights Council. They were ordinary women before the disaster, and I sometimes chat with them like ordinary women do, but now they are so strong standing firm and calling for their human rights at the global stage.

Please read the articles or watch the movie, and let their voices heard all around the world.


■Fukushima evacuee to tell UN that Japan violated human rights
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/11/fukushima-evacuee-un-japan-human-rights

■Full speech of Ms. Morimatsu at UN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35hLjDjvyUk&sns=fb

You can read Ms. Sonoda's speac at Global Greens at my blog
■An Evacuee's Speech at Global Greens Congress in Liverpool
http://tankaagainstwar.blogspot.jp/2017/06/