Fukushima Declaration of Human Rights
(Revised on 25 Nov. 2012)
We are currently living in a state of great anxiety and insecurity. "Utsukushima, Fukushima," they used to say, playing on the word for "beautiful" (utsukushii) in Japanese. We never imagined that one day we would see the name of our prefecture written in katakana, an ominous reminder of the fact that "Fukushima" now means much more than just a geographical location. We never imagined that we would have to worry so much about the problem of radioactive contamination.
In the immediate aftermath of the nuclear plant accident, all of us - young and old, male and female - were exposed to radiation. Since then the amount has decreased, but we are still subject to external and internal radiation exposure. The ionizing effect of the invisible radiation that is emitted from the nuclear plant causes damage to our genes. At one point the shock we felt was so great that we had to discuss whether or not we should keep living here with our family members. We are still forced to make difficult decisions, such as whether to let our children play outside or not. We cannot even breathe deeply without thinking about radiation. This situation is a source of great mental stress.
Although many people are going about their lives in an environment in which they face health risks from radiation, this does not mean that they are indifferent to these risks. They have purchased pocket geiger counters to check radiation levels, and worry every day about how best to avoid external and internal exposure to radiation. The issue of how to protect children, who are more sensitive to radiation exposure, is a compelling issue, which makes us worry about the future.
There are also many people who evacuated from the places they knew and loved. Whether the evacuation was forced or voluntary, they are now living detached from the lives they used to lead. As well as an economic burden, living apart from their families and local communities has also caused psychological pain.
Both those who are still living in Fukushima and those who have left Fukushima share a feeling of attachment to their hometowns. Nevertheless, the sad fact is that there is a growing emotional divide between those who remain in Fukushima and those who have left or are leaving Fukushima.
We have lost so many things as a result of the nuclear plant accident; we do not want to lose anything more.
- We have the right to the pursuit of happiness under the Japanese constitution;
- We have the right to determine whether we evacuate or not;
- We have the right to know, which means we have the right to obtain as much information as we feel is necessary about the problem of radiation damage;
- We have the right to demand a free and equal society free from discrimination;
- We have the right to a healthy body, to feel love for nature in Fukushima, and to enjoy our lives;
- We have the right to demand full reparation for damage to our property and assets caused by radiation contamination;
- We have the right to demand that our beloved Fukushima be returned to its pre-accident state:
We want to drink the water without worrying. Bring back the Fukushima frombefore the accident, where we were able to eat rice, vegetables, fruit, fish and meat with peace of mind.
Bring back the Fukushima we used to know, where we enjoyed the smiles on the faces of our children and good relationships with our families and our neighbors, without worrying about radiation;
- If it is impossible to restore Fukushima to its pre-accident state, we have the right to demand reparations for what we have lost.
We hereby declare that we are standing up to reclaim our rights, to bring real smiles back to the faces of people in Fukushima.
November 25, 2012
We, the undersigned, endorse the Fukushima Declaration of Human Rights.
[list of signatories]
Fukushima prefecture, Fukushima City:
Kazuhide Fukada, Tomoo/Setsuko Onuki, Kanae kondo, Koichi/Junko Koike, Hazuki Ishida, Yukie Tachikawa, Yasuhiro Abe, Ayumi Saito, Kazuhiko Matsumoto, Kazuko Ishikawa, Yayoi Murakoshi, Hiroko Sato, Mineko Furiya, Chie Omine, Fumiko Hirai, Masako Kikuchi, Sachio Baba, Hiroko Watanabe, Noriko Goto, Yuko Niji, Nobuyuki/Yuko Tezuka, Tomiko Ogawa, Makiko Sato, Yoko Koseki, Fumiko Takawa, Chie Hattori, Mieko Muroi, Yuzo/Keiko Sato, Ei Tanaka, Kazuko Takahashi, Masahiko Sato, Emiko Shishido, Yukio Wada, Shizuko Suzuki, Motoko Nakamura, Takeru Arakida, Tadashi Kobayashi, Etsuko Hyakawa, Nobuyuki Shouji, Nobuko Fukase, Youko Hatanaka, Junko Nagasawa, Minoru Watanabe, Kozo Kanno, Toshisada Obata, Reiko Obata, Ritsuko Ueki, Akiko Sakuma, Sanae Satou, Hiroyasu Shioya, Hiroto Ishimoto, Aiko Ishimoto, Shouko Ishimoto, Junki Ohzeki, Yukiko Ohzeki,
Date County: Kaori Ohta, Sakurako Ohta, Mitsuo Ohta
Nihonmatsu City: Ryo/Sachiko Noji, Tomoe Edaguchi, Shunsuke Arao, Fumiko Arao
Koriyama City: Kou Shinoda, Keiko Narita, Akio HIrono, Tokuko Kurosawa
Date City: Nobuko Haga, Kazune Saito, Ikuko Watanabe, Mituhiro Tohyama
Soma City: Aya Mariko
Iwaki City: Motomi Yamanobe
Sukagawa City: Kanji Nabemoto
Namie Town: Mituhiro Tohyama
Miyagi Prefecture: Shigeto Obata, Akihiko Morita, Junichu Aoyagi, Mikiko Sato
Yamagata Prefecture: Asuka Hozumi
Niigata Prefecture: Naosuke Nakamura, Ayako Nkajima
Ibaragi Prefecture: Akira Abe, Teruaki Arakawa, Shin Jo, Tetsuji Ito
Tochigi Prefecture: Moritaka Handa
Saitama Prefecture: Ayumu Kuroda, Michiko Saitoh
Chiba Prefecture: Masamune Shimo, Kouji Shibata, Atsuko Muro, Naomi Tokura, Masafumi Nagamura
Tokyo Prefecture: Keiko Ogawa, Tomoko Koide, Mitsuko Kurashina, Jun Hori, Masumi Iino, Yuji Sunaga, Taiki Ohkouchi, Masaki Nomura, Noritake Matsumoto, Kazuha Yano, Hideaki Higashi, Izumi Saitoh, Masayoshi Takeuchi, Mie Koizumi, Takehi Hiramoto, Rintaro Umenai, Yoshi Yamazaki, Asuka Hoshino, Masaaki Kojima, Kazuko Kurata, Yoshiko Ueno, Keiji Matsuyama, Hiroyuki Abe (Mayor of Tama City of Tokyo), Kiyomi Usui, Seiji Nkamura, Hideaki Sato, Yuzo Kokubo
Kanagawa Prefecture: Taro Hirano, Ryoshu Mochizuki, Teruo Hattori, Tooru Ohkane, Tsukasa Murakumo, Mayumi Gunji, Haruhiko Azuma, Toshiyuki Kurosawa, Yuko Ohmori, Yuh Hosoya, Michiko Kokubu
Gumma Prefecture: Naoto Kitamura
Yamanashi Prefecture: Eiko Shohbi
Shizuoka Prefecture: Kuniyuki Hayashi, Mariko Azechi, Shigeru Aiso, Hiroko Higasihayama, Hiroyuki Sakamoto
Aichi Prefecture: Etsuo Miura
Gifu Prefecture: Masato Komori, Mika Hayashi, Hiromi Minoura, Eiki Sato
Toyama Prefecture: Ei Hayashi
Shiga Prefecture: Hideko Kataoka
Kyoto Prefecture: Ryo Yoshida, Kosho Nezu, Kazue Kitajima, Eri matsumoto, Kazunori Kuwabara, Komei Hosokawa, Chihiro Ibaraki, Keiichi Tanaka, Kaori Kishi
Osaka Prefecture: Hidemune/Hiroko Mitamura, Teruo Mishima, Noriko Sakurai, Mayumi Fukuda, Chika Sonobe, Noriko Matsumoto, Takahiro Nishimura, Yasuko Senda、Mikio Hamada
Hyogo Prefecture: Teruko Sakaguchi, Junichi Hibino, Joji Kusaka, Yusuke Komiya, Koshiro Ogawa, Hiroshige Mizuno, Atsuhiro Ochiai
Wakayama Prefecture: Masami Nishizawa, Tatsuya Usui, Izumi Nishide, Hiroko Fukuda, Hirono Miura
Shimane Prefecture: Shinichi Irii
Yamaguchi Prefecture: Fumi Kowada
Kagawa Prefecture: Maki Matsuura, Miyuki Sakaiya, Akiko Akiyama, Chinami Matsumi
Fukuoka Prefecture: Eiko Takayanagi, Yasuyuki Ikeda, Seiko Ikeda, Koichi Toshima, Yoshimitu Yamaura, Mie Tanaka, Yoshimi Ohmori
Kumamoto Prefecture: Tetsuya Nomura
Germany: Miyuki Tsuji, Hisayo Nagashima
France: Kurumi Sugita
[Translator's note: This is the translation of the original Japanese version as of November 25, 2012. Names in Roman may not be correct, as the original signatures are given in Chinese characters without reading.]
Translated by Kyo Kageura, Professor of University of Tokyo