On June 25, the international day of action for the abolition of nuclear weapons, the 2011 peace march walking along one of the three major courses of North East Japan entered Fukushima City, the capital of Fukushima Prefecture. At the relay rally held jointly by the marchers of Yamagata and Fukushima at a mountain path between the two prefectures, the organizers announced that the march was an active part of the international day of action initiated by the ICAN campaign.
In the afternoon, 75 people marched in Iizaka, to the North West of Fukushima city, appealing for the abolition of nuclear weapons and a switch of policy from nuclear to sustainable energy. Many marchers are young, with half of them in their age 10s or 20s. They were joined on June 26 by another group of marchers coming along another major course from Miyagi Prefecture. In the evening, the marchers held a joint rally at the City’s Machinaka Square where representatives of the people in the heavily contaminated towns and villages, now living in evacuation, will spoke and music, songs and other local cultural programs were performed. The messages sent from overseas, including those written on two flags by participants of the International Space Conference, held last week in North Andover, USA, were also presented.
The 2011 the Peace March against A&H Bombs is continuing simultaneously along the 11 major courses running in all different areas in Japan, heading towards either Hiroshima or Nagasaki. The march along the Sea of Japan entered Fukui prefecture on June 24. The prefecture is known as the place where Japan’s nuclear power plants are most heavily concentrated. More than 80 people took over the march from the neighbouring Ishikawa Prefecture and walked though many towns and villages toward the Prefectural Capital. On the Miyazaki-Nagasaki course in Kyushu Island, more than 50 people assembled in the rally held at the Town Hall of Ebino City on June 24. The Mayor of the city, with some 70 office staffers, attended the rally. He signed the “Appeal for a Total Ban on Nuclear Weapons” and made a speech to thank the marchers for their work. On the Tokyo-Hiroshima course, some 600 citizens walked in Kyoto.
In the Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear accident-stricken areas, the number of participants in the march year is much larger than last year in every major city of Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi and now Fukushima Prefectures.
