Naples, Italy: Atomic Bomb Survivors Call for Abolition of Nuclear Power

Nine survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were on a bus in Naples, Italy, when they heard the news that hundreds of people are being treated for radiation exposure due to explosions at a nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan in the aftermath of the massive earthquake that struck Japan on March 11.  The atomic bomb survivors, or Hibakusha in Japanese, gave testimony of their experiences several times in Naples, to junior high school students and to the public.

 

 "The most horrible part of the atomic bomb is the radiation that it releases," said Sakaguchi Hiroko, a second generation Hibakusha whose mother was exposed to the atomic bomb at the age of 23 in Nagasaki.  "Radiation has no color or shape.  However, it penetrates the body and damages DNA."  Because Ms. Sakaguchi's mother was not near the hypocenter of the atomic bomb, she didn't have any immediate injuries.  But later she died of rectal and lung cancer. 

 

The radiation released from an atomic bomb and the radiation released when a nuclear power plant malfunctions are the same, and Ms. Sakaguchi is concerned for the people who have been or are being exposed to radiation in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami which led to an explosion at a nuclear power plant.  "The myth that Japanese technology is good enough to make nuclear energy safe and clean has been broken by this earthquake," Ms. Sakaguchi said.  "We cannot stop earthquakes, but we can stop nuclear power.  And we must," she said, quoting Felicity Hill, a leader in the struggle against nuclear energy.   She urged the audience to work toward developing sustainable energy and creating a world with no war and no nuclear weapons.  "It's not only the nuclear bomb, it's all stages of the nuclear fuel cycle, including the uranium mining, that create risks for human beings." 

 

Ms. Sakaguchi, born four years after the atomic bomb, emphasized that radiation affects not only those who are exposed but also future generations.  "Radiation causes a special damage, and that damage is also in my body," she said.  Several of her classmates and cousins, also second generation Hibakusha, have died of leukemia.

 

An Italian junior high school student asked why Japan, after having experienced nuclear bombs, has nuclear power plants.  Tasaki Noburo, who was exposed to the atomic bomb in Nagasaki, explained that until now Japan has relied heavily on nuclear power, and has exported nuclear power overseas.  "But because of the earthquake we now know for sure that nuclear power plants are very dangerous," he said.  He recommended the use of solar and natural energy.  "The use of nuclear power is not just a problem in Japan.  Many countries use nuclear power, and they all share the same concern," he said.  "As Hibakusha we know the horrors of radiation.  We really have to think about how to move forward to make clean and safe energy," he said.

 

Yamanaka Emiko, exposed to radiation in Hiroshima when she was 12 years old, explained how radiation affects not only future generations, but also human relations.  "When I was a teenager I had a boyfriend," she said.  "For four years we had a lovely relationship, and eventually he proposed to me.  But his parents forbade our marriage, saying that they didn't want any Hibakusha in the family."

 

Nishida Goro, exposed to the atomic bomb in Hiroshima at the age of three, also emphasized that radiation is the scariest part of nuclear weapons.  Mr. Nishida's mother was not in Hiroshima when the bomb exploded, but she was unknowingly exposed to radiation when she entered the city of Hiroshima several days later.  His mother passed away when he was in high school, after she had suffered many years from an enlarged spleen caused by radiation.  "Radiation is invisible but it comes out in sicknesses such as cancer and leukemia, and it has a strong effect on people and the environment," Mr. Nishida said.

 

Currently in Japan, radiation has been released during several explosions at a nuclear power plant in Fukushima, and radiation has been detected in the populous Tokyo area. 

Kakefuda Itsumi, a psychologist in Tokyo, said that in evaluating nuclear power people should consider the psychological impact of nuclear disasters.  "People in Tokyo and the surrounding area are experiencing a lot of stress due to worry about radiation," she said.  "Some have started to move away.  Radiation is not visible, and people can't obtain accurate information.  Even the authorities don't know what is happening," she said.  "Nuclear power plants are not worth having."

 

 

Worried about Japan

I was on a bus with nine Hibakusha (survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) when I heard the news that 400 people in Japan are now receiving treatment for radiation exposure due to the nuclear accident caused by the earthquake in Japan.  The Hibakusha had just given testimony about their experience of nuclear bombs to a group of junior high school students in Naples, Italy.  I'll have an article about it on the Peace Boat website soon.

 

It seems like my friends in Japan are doing ok, although I'm very worried about the radiation.   I am not able to get news every day, but today in Naples I was able to use internet, and buy an English newspaper.  On the ship we're doing fine although of course people are worried. 

 

Here is a photo of me in Morocco taken just before the earthquake.  This party was our welcome as we got off the ship!  My favorite experience in Morocco was going to a hammam (public bath) with two friends.  We were scrubbed, massaged, covered in mud and wrapped in plastic, and it was sooooooo relaxing.  Also in Morocco, I visited an NGO that works with street kids. 

 

Before Morocco, we stopped in Las Palmas on Spain's Canary Islands, and I visited a center for immigrants.  I've also been busy onboard giving a couple of presentations about migrant farm workers and immigration issues and human trafficking. 

 

Tonight we will leave Naples, and in a couple of days we'll be in Piraeus, Greece.

In a new ocean

We spent an entire day passing through the Panama Canal, and then we were in the Atlantic!  I had a free morning in Panama so I went to the beach with a couple of the English teachers onboard.  In Cartagena, Colombia I visited a dance school that teaches low-income kids to become world class dancers, and in Trinidad (Trinidad and Tobago) I went to a steel pan factory and learned how that instrument is manufactured.  I haven't had time for blogging, but you can read my articles about the ports and more on Peace Boat's website.  Now we are crossing the Atlantic, heading for the Canary Islands.  In a few days we'll be at the mid-way point around the world.

 

Due to the war going on in Libya, we won't be stopping there, and we will instead spend an extra day in Naples.  It looks like things have settled down in Egypt and we will be able to go there, and if everything works out with visas and government permission we will also make a quick stop in Saudi Arabia!

 

Onboard, I'm busy with events and writing articles.  I gave a talk on migrant farm workers a few days ago.  Also, I have a volunteer Japanese teacher (classes started last week), and amazingly I have a lot more opportunity to practice Japanese here on the ship than I ever did in Japan.  I try to go to dinner by myself rather than with other volunteers.  That way I get seated with passengers, and they are always happy to try to chat with me in Japanese.  I've been improving at making basic conversation.  Many of the passengers are retired people, and since older Japanese people tend to speak less English, and they have lots of time, they make good conversation partners for me.

 

Here's a picture of a performance at the dance school in Cartagena, and one of me climbing up on the top deck of the ship trying to get a good shot of the Panama Canal locks.

Just left Peru!

We made it across the Pacific and spent two days in Peru where I joined a cultural exchange with a theatre and art collective in a slum near Lima. They have a circus which provides education and fun for local kids.  You will be able to read more about it on the Peace Boat website in a few days. 

 

Tomorrow we will pass through the Panama Canal and stop in Cristobal, Panama, on the Atlantic side of the canal.  I've been pretty busy writing for Peace Boat, and haven't had much time to write on my own blog, but I'm enjoying this voyage immensely, meeting many great and fun people and learning and participating in all kinds of interesting things.  I do miss being in touch with all my friends and family, though!  I hope you're all well.

Aboriginal Australians and uranium mining

On Peace Boat I interviewed a group of Aboriginal and activist Australians regarding uranium mining.  Getting to know many interesting guest educators who are onboard between ports is one of the many things I'm enjoying on the ship, and I particularly enjoyed writing about this group.  If you have a chance to read just one of my articles, I recommend this one:

 

http://www.peaceboat.org/english/index.php?page=view&nr=94&type=20&menu=64

Aboriginal Australians and uranium mining

On Peace Boat I interviewed a group of Aboriginal and activist Australians regarding uranium mining.  Getting to know many interesting guest educators who are onboard between ports is one of the many things I'm enjoying on the ship, and I particularly enjoyed writing about this group.  If you have a chance to read just one of my articles, I recommend this one:

 

 

Swimming with sharks, petting sting rays

Yesterday I swam with sting rays and black tip reef sharks on the island of Moorea, next to Tahiti!  The sting rays rubbed up against me and let me pet them.  They feel exactly like cooked portabello mushrooms!  The sharks were small, and although they were literally right next to us, and I could look right at them with a snorkel on (my first snorkeling experience - thanks to Lasik!) our guide said that they have plenty to eat and are not interested in biting humans. 

 

I also got to snorkel over a coral reef, and I saw lots of tropical fish, sea anemones with fish swimming among them just like Nemo, and lots of sea creatures that I can't identify.  Since it's my job to report on the voyage, I get to go on tours for free at most of the ports.  And I'm lucky it's free, because Tahiti is VERY expensive!  A can of beer at a convenience store costs US $4, and my dinner of raw tuna in coconut milk, and no beverage, cost $17!

 

Today we are back on the boat heading toward South America, and our next stop will be Callao, Peru on February 17.  Onboard there is lots to do and I seldom have any down time.  During the first segment of the voyage, we had a conference onboard which brought together survivors of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Tahitians fighting to get compensation from France for the health effects caused by French nuclear testing in French Polynesia, and Aboriginal Australians fighting the uranium mining that is destroying their home and their health.  As a reporter, I have a chance to interview all of the interesting guest speakers who come onboard. I especially enjoyed getting to know the Australians and writing about their issue, which is devastating their communities.  My article about them will be posted on Peace Boat's website in a couple of days.  http://www.peaceboat.org.

 

In researching the article about the Tahitian nuclear test site workers, I learned that France conducted 46 atmospheric and 137 underground nuclear tests in French Polynesia between 1966 and 1996.  Before 1966, France tested nuclear weapons in the Sahara Desert in Algeria.  The local workers, working next to the mushroom cloud, had nothing but army-issued shorts and T-shirts to protect them.  The U.K. and the U.S. conducted even more nuclear weapons tests. The U.K. tested nuclear weapons on Aboriginal land in Australia, and on Christmas Island, and the U.S. did nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands, which the ship passed a few days ago, as well as New Mexico and Nevada. 

 

Local people are still suffering and dying because of this, and the environment is forever destroyed.  What makes some countries feel that they can test nuclear weapons in places inhabited by people they deem less important?  Many of the tests were done not to gain scientific information, but merely to show off might.  It's nuclear colonialism and nuclear racism, and it continues to be perpetrated to this day.  Countries that buy uranium from Australia are causing Aboriginal people who live near the mines to become sick and die.  We need to stop using nuclear power as well as eliminate nuclear weapons!

 

But not everything is serious on the ship -- the weather has been beautiful and tropical for the last couple of weeks, and I usually eat breakfast and lunch outdoors on the pool deck.  I have a nice spot for practicing yoga in front of windows looking out at the sea, but I haven't yet been able to do balance poses on the moving ship!  Dancing is more difficult, but fun, on a ship too.  When I'm in my room, which is on the 4th deck, just above the water line, I can hear the waves crashing against the outside of the ship.

 

We crossed the International Date Line last week, and so January 30 was 48 hours long for us. I haven't seen my email in almost two weeks, but I'll try to check in and answer them soon!  I hope that you are healthy and happy and staying warm!

 

The photos above show me swimming with a sting ray, sting rays and sharks swimming where I swam, and me at the beach in Moorea.  The water was an amazing turquoise!