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The protest comes shortly after the three-year anniversary of Japan's March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that led to the meltdown of fuel-rods at several reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant, prompting the worst nuclear disaster the world has seen since Chernobyl. The plant continues to leak radiation, and neither owner TEPCO or the Japanese government have offered a clear plan for stabilization.
"We have to seriously think about whether nuclear power is a good idea for Japan," said protester Masatoshi Harada, quoted by AFP. "This is an opportunity for Japan to drop nuclear power."
In addition to Saturday's march, Fukushima cleanup workers demonstrated at the headquarters of TEPCO on Friday to protest dangerous working conditions and poor wages, Al Jazeera and AFP report. A similar worker protest took place Friday outside Maeda Corp, one of the contractors hired to cleanup the ravaged plant.
Since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, Japan's commercial nuclear reactors have been halted. Yet, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently vowed to shift course and start the process of re-opening the country's commercial nuclear reactors. Regulators are currently deliberating whether to permit the restart two reactors at Kyushu Electric Power's Sendai power plant.
Saturday's rally follows protests of tens of thousands in cities across Japan last weekend to demand the government say no to nuclear power.

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Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |

The protest comes shortly after the three-year anniversary of Japan's March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that led to the meltdown of fuel-rods at several reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant, prompting the worst nuclear disaster the world has seen since Chernobyl. The plant continues to leak radiation, and neither owner TEPCO or the Japanese government have offered a clear plan for stabilization.
"We have to seriously think about whether nuclear power is a good idea for Japan," said protester Masatoshi Harada, quoted by AFP. "This is an opportunity for Japan to drop nuclear power."
In addition to Saturday's march, Fukushima cleanup workers demonstrated at the headquarters of TEPCO on Friday to protest dangerous working conditions and poor wages, Al Jazeera and AFP report. A similar worker protest took place Friday outside Maeda Corp, one of the contractors hired to cleanup the ravaged plant.
Since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, Japan's commercial nuclear reactors have been halted. Yet, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently vowed to shift course and start the process of re-opening the country's commercial nuclear reactors. Regulators are currently deliberating whether to permit the restart two reactors at Kyushu Electric Power's Sendai power plant.
Saturday's rally follows protests of tens of thousands in cities across Japan last weekend to demand the government say no to nuclear power.

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The protest comes shortly after the three-year anniversary of Japan's March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that led to the meltdown of fuel-rods at several reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant, prompting the worst nuclear disaster the world has seen since Chernobyl. The plant continues to leak radiation, and neither owner TEPCO or the Japanese government have offered a clear plan for stabilization.
"We have to seriously think about whether nuclear power is a good idea for Japan," said protester Masatoshi Harada, quoted by AFP. "This is an opportunity for Japan to drop nuclear power."
In addition to Saturday's march, Fukushima cleanup workers demonstrated at the headquarters of TEPCO on Friday to protest dangerous working conditions and poor wages, Al Jazeera and AFP report. A similar worker protest took place Friday outside Maeda Corp, one of the contractors hired to cleanup the ravaged plant.
Since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, Japan's commercial nuclear reactors have been halted. Yet, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently vowed to shift course and start the process of re-opening the country's commercial nuclear reactors. Regulators are currently deliberating whether to permit the restart two reactors at Kyushu Electric Power's Sendai power plant.
Saturday's rally follows protests of tens of thousands in cities across Japan last weekend to demand the government say no to nuclear power.

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