Japan anti-nuclear protests mark 6 months since quake (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Anti-nuclear protesters took to the streets of Tokyo and other cities on Sunday to mark six months since the March earthquake and tsunami and vent their anger at the government's handling of the nuclear crisis set off by meltdowns at the Fukushima power plant.

In one of the largest protests, an estimated 2,500 people marched past the headquarters of the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, and created a "human chain" around the building of the Trade Ministry that oversees the power industry.

The magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan's northeastern coast left 20,000 dead or missing and crippled the Fukushima plant, triggering the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.

The accident that led to radiation and contamination fears spurred widespread calls for an end to Japan's reliance on nuclear power in the quake-prone country.

Protesters, marching to the beat of drums, called for a complete shutdown of nuclear power plants across Japan and demanded a shift in government policy toward alternative sources of energy.

Among the protestors were four young men who declared the start of a 10-day hunger strike to bring about change in Japan's nuclear policy.

"I believe it is very important that the young generation voices opposition against nuclear power, and in order to bring our point across we need to put ourselves on the line and that's why we chose to hunger strike for 10 days," said 20-year-old Naoya Okamoto.

Japanese media reported similar protests in other cities across Japan on the day many offered prayers to those who died in the March 11 disaster.

(Reporting by Olivier Fabre; Writing by Tomasz Janowski)

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Japan marks three months since tsunami with protests (AFP)

TOKYO (AFP) – Thousands of people staged anti-nuclear rallies in Japan on Saturday as the country marked three months since its massive quake and tsunami, which resulted in the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years.

Radiation continued to leak from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, some 220 kilometres (140 miles) northeast of the capital, amid simmering public frustration over the government's slow response to the triple catastrophe.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan, under heavy pressure to step down, visited part of the disaster zone where 23,500 people were killed or are still unaccounted for while 90,000 others remained holing up in crowded shelters.

In the tsunami-hit port town of Kamaishi, Kan -- who was on his way to a memorial service -- was pressed by a fishery official to pass an extra relief budget as soon as possible. "I will work hard," the premier replied.

Media reports said that around 100 anti-nuclear events were staged nationwide, including in the western cities of Osaka and Hiroshima, which was devastated by a US atomic bomb in 1945.

In the capital an estimated 6,000 demonstrators, some carrying placards reading: "We don't want nuclear power plants" marched by the head office of the Fukushima plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), in a rally organised online by the Japan Congress against Atomic and Nuclear Bombs.

But dozens of apparently right-wing activists, some of them holding the military rising-sun flag, jeered from the roadside condemning the calls to downgrade Japan's nuclear ambitions.

TEPCO, once the world's biggest utility, has seen its share price plunge more than 90 percent since the March 11 disaster.

A minute's silence was observed at various places nationwide at 2:46 pm (0546 GMT), the moment the 9.0-magnitude quake struck below the Pacific seafloor sending monster waves over the country's northeastern Tohoku region.

"It is time to shift to renewable energy sources," Greenpeace director Kumi Naidoo told a rally at Tokyo's Yoyogi Park before they took to the streets holding sunflowers and gerbera daisies.

"I have yet to have a child but I come here with my neighbours and their children because of the fear we feel every day," Misuzu Kiyozumi, a 34-year-old housewife from the suburban city of Ichikawa, told AFP.

The prime minister attended a meeting with leaders in Kamaishi on ways to improve survivors' lives while newspaper editorials criticised his government's handling of the calamity.

"I heard what they really need. I want to incorporate into a second supplementary budget what has not been included in our first supplementary budget," Kan told reporters after the meeting.

The mass-circulation Yomiuri Shimbun said his government's assistance to disaster-hit communities "has been insufficient."

"The removal of rubble has been overly delayed. Construction of makeshift housing for evacuees has yet to get on the right track," it said.

Rebuilding the muddy wastelands of the Tohoku region -- an area now covered in 25 million tonnes of rubble -- will take up to a decade and cost hundreds of billions of dollars, experts say.

A 20-kilometre (12-mile) no-go zone has been enforced around the Fukushima nuclear plant, which emergency crews hope to bring into stable "cold shutdown" between October and January.

Environmental and anti-nuclear group Greenpeace called on Japan this week to evacuate children and pregnant women from Fukushima town, about 60 kilometres from the stricken plant, because of what it said was high radiation.

Since the disaster, Japan has raised the legal exposure limit for people, including children, from one to 20 millisieverts per year -- matching the safety standard for nuclear industry workers in many countries.

In the wake of the disaster, Kan has said resource-poor Japan will review its energy policy, including its plans for more nuclear reactors, while making solar and other alternative energies new pillars of its energy mix.

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Anti-nuke protests in Japan, 3 months after quake (AP)

TOKYO – Protesters in Tokyo prepared Saturday to hold mass demonstrations against the use of nuclear power, as Japanese marked the three-month anniversary of the powerful earthquake and tsunami that killed tens of thousands and triggered one of the world's worst nuclear disasters.

The magnitude-9 earthquake that hit off Japan's northeast coast March 11 caused a massive tsunami that devastated the coastline. The disasters knocked out power and cooling systems at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, about 140 miles (225 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo, setting off explosions, fires and large radiation leaks at the facility.

Official reports released earlier in the week said the damage and leakage was worse than previously thought, with nuclear fuel in three reactors likely melting through their main cores and larger containment vessels. The reports also said radiation that leaked into the air amounted to about one-sixth of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.

Hundreds of plant workers are still scrambling to bring the crippled Fukushima reactors to a "cold shutdown" by early next year and end the crisis. The accident has forced more than 80,000 residents to evacuate from their homes around the plant.

The disasters have renewed a national debate on the use of nuclear power in Japan, which has few natural resources and is heavily reliant on atomic energy. Some nuclear plants across the country have been shut down in the wake of the disaster, leading to fears Japan may not have enough electricity for the peak summer months.

Three months after the disasters, which killed about 23,000 people, 90,000 are still living in temporary shelters such as school gyms and community centers. Some families have been moved into temporary housing, but supplies are short and sufficient housing is not expected to be completed for several more months.

All along the coast, a massive cleanup effort continues as cranes and dump trucks haul away the wreckage from hundreds of thousands of buildings that were destroyed or damaged by the tsunami.

Also Saturday, embattled Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan was scheduled to visit a tsunami-damaged region in northern Iwate prefecture (state).

Kan, who reached the one-year mark of his tenure earlier this week, has been under fire for his handling of the disasters and the country's recovery plans. He survived a no-confidence vote earlier this month, in part by promising to step down once the country's recovery takes hold.

Speculation about when he will step down has been rampant since, with Japan's two main opposition parties considering a grand coalition to lead the country's recovery. Kan is Japan's fifth leader in four years.

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