"Amid invisible terror, we were witnesses"

By: Arata Maeda, a member of Fukushima Farmers’ Alliance; resident of Aizumisato, Fukushima Prefecture
Location: Aizu Misato
Japan Family Farmers Movement News
July 17, 2011
Translated by Andrew Barshay, Professor of History, University of California Berkeley.
Editied by Fusako de Angelis

Assaulted by invisible terror
Even now, after four months
We remain driven from our birthplace, our hometown
At Level 7, with no change in the situation
Tens of thousands of livestock starved to death
In the deserted villages.
Only the stink from their corpses rises into the air

Across the mountains and rivers of our native land
Stolen by something that will not show itself,
The seasons pass, as if nothing at all had happened

There, where the cuckoo cries,
can it be only in our dreams
That we toil and sweat?
There, where we cannot even set foot!

Once, long ago, it was our country’s policy
that we were driven to Manchuria
There, after our country’s defeat, we were ordered to commit mass suicide
To escape back home we had to abandon our children

And now, as then, these homes of ours
are destroyed as our country’s grand plans again collapse in ruin

This time, although it’s a slow death that takes its time in coming
Just as on that day, isn’t it forced collective suicide all over again?
Isn’t it the human experiments of Unit 731 all over again?

Friends, friends, we can’t just stand here grieving and crying,
Over these four month’s, amid invisible horror,
What we have witnessed with our own eyes
Is the true face of terror that says:
No matter what,
For profit’s sake, the reactors must stay on

All right then! If that’s how it is
We’re ready to take them on,
for the sake of our children and their children

Just like the Kanto Army before them,
these bastards hid the facts,
and were the first to run from danger.

And now they wear an innocent face
and prattle on, about safety and reconstruction

No way will we let them take these lives so easily!
Oh friends, friends. My dead friends.

前田新（まえだ　あらた）　福島県農民連　会津美里町在住

『しんぶん農民』（2011年7月17日）

見えない恐怖のなかでぼくらは見た

見えない恐怖に脅かされて
4ヶ月も過ぎたいまも
ぼくらは、ふるさとの町を追われたままだ
レベル７、その事態は何も変わっていない
何万という家畜たちが餓死していった
人気のいない村に、その死臭だけが
たちのぼっている

姿を見せないものに
奪われてしまったふるさとの山河を
何ごともなかったように季節が移ってゆく
郭公が鳴くそこで、汗を流して働くのは
もう、夢のなかでしかないのか
ぼくらは、そこに立ち入ることもできない

かつて、国策によって満州に追われ
敗戦によって集団自決を強いられ
幼子を棄てて逃げ帰ってきたふるさとを
あの日と同じように、一瞬にして
国策の破綻によって叩き壊された
しかもこれは痛みのない緩慢な死だが
あの日と同じ集団自決の強要ではないのか
７３１部隊の人体実験ではないのか
なかまよ、悲しんで泣いてはいられない
この4ヶ月の間、見えない恐怖のなかで
ぼくらがこの眼でみたものは

それでも、儲けのために
原発は続けていくという恐怖の正体だ

よし、そうならば
ぼくらも孫子のために、腹をすえてかかる

かつて関東軍のように、情報を隠し
危ないところからは、さっさと逃げ帰って
何食わぬ顔で、安全と復興を語る奴らに
そう簡単に殺されてたまるか
なかまよ　死んでいった、なかまよ

¹ Unit 731 (Japanese: 731 部隊 Nana-san-ichi butai) was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) and World War II. It was responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes carried out by Japanese personnel.

Visit the No Nukes Action Committee website for more details.

Japan Multicultural Relief Fund members visit NPO Woori Hakkyo

Holding 2 sheets full of love and strength that people from the Bay Area, San Diego, Seattle, Seoul and many other places shared in solidarity with students, teachers and parents of Tohoku and Koriyama Korean schools! (from L to R: Kyung Hee, Mr. Park, Haruki, Mr. Kim, and Yongna)

In August 2011, Yongna Ryo, Haruki Yang-Saeng Ha/Eda and Kyung Hee Ha were fortunate enough to make our visit to NPO Woori Hakkyo. NPO Woori Hakkyo is one of the seven recipient organizations in Japan that Japan Multicultural Relief Fund has been working with in the ongoing efforts of recovery from the M9.0 earthquake that had hit the eastern parts of Japan.

Founded in 2008 as a non-profit organization, Woori Hakkyo has been supporting K-12 and college students of Korean descendants in Japan, including those attending the Ethnic Korean schools (a.k.a. Woori Hakkyo, literally translates to "Our School" in Korean language) and Japanese schools.

Tohoku Korean school (in Sendai) and Koriyama Korean school (in Koriyama) are located in the disaster region, and Koriyama Korean school is located less than 40 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The students of Koriyama Korean schools were quickly transferred to Niigata Korean school, and they have not been able to return ever since.

NPO Woori Hakkyo staff members, Mr. KIM Yong Hun and Mr. PARK Kyung Ho told us that the decontamination of the ground at Koriyama Korean school is not fully funded by the national or municipal governments because Korean schools are not recognized as "legitimate" schools by the Japanese law. Similarly, Tohoku Korean school will not receive any financial support to rebuild their school building that was destroyed by the earthquake. Being excluded and isolated, Korean schools and communities still strive to recover--physically, materially and psychologically--from the unprecedented scale of destruction. NPO Woori Hakkyo, in conjunction with other Korean community organizations, has been playing a central role in the recovery efforts, and they continue to do so.

"I am very grateful for their generosity in sparing time to meet with us despite their busy schedules. The meeting was personally rewarding for me because I had only been able to communicate over emails with those who are doing the work for community recovery in Japan. Even though it is no longer international news these days, the people's sufferings and struggles continue to be everyday reality, and I hope we can strengthen this network of solidarity even further."
--Haruki

"It was very honorable to meet with staff members, and I really appreciate them for making the time to talk with us. It had a huge meaning for me to hear information about the reality of our people and community, and their continuous struggles in Japan directly from the people who have actually been there and seen what have been going on, especially because it was extremely difficult to hear through the media or other sources. I was also glad to hear that our work in USA could become their support on the recovery, and I would like to keep our work for the community recovery."
--Yongna

Video Message from the Fukushima Network for Saving Children from Radiation /「子どもたちを放射能から守る福島ネットワーク」ビデオメッセージ

Video with subtitles: http://www.universalsubtitles.org/ja/videos/o9gtNtWoaqpZ
Website: http://kofdomofukushima.at.webry.info