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After the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Muneyoshi Abe (right), a resident of Onagawa Town, Miyagi Prefecture, held a banner saying, “Let Fukushima be a lesson to us all. Muneyoshi Abe (right) holds up a flag with the slogan “Oppose Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant” (from the photo book “50 Years in the Town of Nuclear Power Plants”).
December 22, 2022
A photo book titled “50 Years in the Town of Nuclear Power Plants: Thinking about the Future from Onagawa” was published to document the struggle to stop the construction of Tohoku Electric Power Company’s Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant (Onagawa Town, Miyagi Prefecture, and Ishinomaki City). While the Kishida administration has been pushing for nuclear power, Mikiko Abe, 70, the editor of the book and a member of the Onagawa Town Council, says, “I would like people to come into contact with the faces and thoughts of the local residents who have been fighting for half a century against nuclear power plants. (Norio Noro)
The plan to build a nuclear power plant in Onagawa was announced in 1968, and the struggle against the plant by fishermen and others began. Mr. Abe returned to his hometown after graduating from Chuo University in 1975 and joined in the struggle led by his father, Muneyoshi, who ran a shipping agent. He was outraged when he saw police riot police raising their shields and beating him, and began filming with a camera.
In September 1976, women in kappo-gowns marching in a demonstration at the “Three Towns United to Absolutely Stop Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant” rally held in Onagawa (from the photo collection “50 Years in the Town of Nuclear Power Plants”).
Residents blocking an overnight bus carrying supporters to the prefectural government’s “nuclear power plant briefing,” a demonstration at sea on a fishing boat, and a request to protest Tohoku Electric Power Company…. Standing on the frontlines of the struggle, the film records their thoughts and actions in defense of “the sea is life.
In 1977, the Onagawa Fisheries Cooperative Association passed a resolution at an extraordinary general meeting to invite nuclear power plants to Onagawa. While opponents were celebrating when the only thing reported outside was the “rejection of the abandonment of fishing rights,” which had been decided at the same time, Mr. Abe took a picture of himself shouting, “We passed a resolution to invite the nuclear power plant, so don’t shout ‘Hooray!
Construction of Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 began in 1979, and commercial operation began in 1984. In 2008, when the opposition to the plant continued, a town official asked Mr. Abe to preserve the photos he had taken, saying, “The struggle against the plant is part of Onagawa’s history, so I want to preserve it.
Mikiko Abe
However, her house and the town hall were hit by the tsunami in the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, and her precious photos and CDs were lost. However, she was lucky enough to find the data on a CD she had given to an acquaintance in Sendai City, which was left on the computer of another friend. Teiji Wada, 70, a native of the town and the head of the publishing company Ichiyo-sha (Kita-ku, Tokyo), and others have been working together to compile a photo collection.
The book contains approximately 340 photographs, including those taken by Mr. Abe in the 1970s, when the struggle was fierce. The book also includes testimonies from fishermen and others who describe the situation at that time, the Great East Japan Earthquake, and other events.
On April 26, after the accident at TEPCO’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Mr. Abe stood with Mr. Soetsu at the site of their debris-strewn home. That day marked the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in the former Soviet Union. On the momohiki that had washed ashore, he wrote “Let Fukushima be a lesson to you? and “All nuclear reactors must be decommissioned! and “All nuclear power plants must be decommissioned! Muneyoshi passed away in 2012 at the age of 86, following in his father’s footsteps.
The Kishida administration has announced a shift in nuclear power policy to promote nuclear power for the first time since the Fukushima accident. Furthermore, the administration has been touting nuclear power as a decarbonizing and effective countermeasure to global warming.
Mr. Abe said, “The large amount of wastewater emitted from nuclear power plants is 7 degrees higher than the temperature of seawater, and this will contribute to global warming. Decommissioning or building new reactors requires enormous amounts of energy and increases carbon dioxide emissions. How will radioactive waste be disposed of and managed? I hope that people will see the origin of the struggle against nuclear power and deepen their understanding of the need for nuclear power plant phase-out,” he said.
Photo book “50 Years in the Town of Nuclear Power Plants” looks back on the struggle against the construction of the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant.
The photo book is A4 size, 136 pages, 2,200 yen. Ichiyo-sha Publishing Co.
https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/221467
