Demonstrators call for nuclear power stations to stay switched off

Tens of thousands of people rallied in Tokyo yesterday demanding that Japan abandon nuclear power as the country prepares to restart another reactor shut down after last year’s tsunami caused meltdowns at the Fukushima power plant.

Led by Nobel-winning novelist Kenzaburo Oe, pop star Ryuichi Sakamoto and artist Yoshitomo Nara, the protesters expressed outrage over a report that blamed the Fukushima disaster on Japan’s culture of “reflexive obedience” and held no individuals responsible.

The rally at Yoyogi Park was the latest and among the biggest – drawing possibly as many as 200,000 people, according to organisers – in a series of large protests that is unusual for normally reserved Japanese.

“We want to leave a world without nuclear power for our children,” said hospital worker Takeshi Shinoda.

Until last month, when prime minister Yoshihiko Noda decided to restart the reactor at Ohi plant in central Japan, all of the nation’s 50 working reactors had been offline.