People are saying that since Tokyo has no nuclear plants, and since the city holds few Tokyo Electric Power Company shares, the concept of eliminating nuclear power is not an issue in the upcoming governor election.

Have we already forgotten…

… that most of the electricity produced at the Fukushima Daiichi plant was sent to Tokyo? In order for us in the city to have this electricity, we imposed years of risk on people living in the coastal regions of Fukushima. And when shit finally hit the fan, they were the ones left to deal with the aftermath of the calamity. There are still 150,000 displaced people living in limbo.

We living in Tokyo are in part responsible for the nuclear accident.

Saying that “nuclear power won’t become a campaign issue” is like saying that we might have been indebted to them in the past, but now that they’re not sending us any electricity, it doesn’t concern us anymore. This convenient forgetfulness is arrogant.

Voters in Tokyo need to be conscious that NOT making nuclear power an issue in the upcoming election is exactly the same as dumping Fukushima.

– Atsushi Funahashi

(translated by Ivy Oldford)