Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Fukushima: Will we Survive Japan?

Living in Japan for 15 years, I dreaded August. It was the month of remembrances, the month of reminders of the atomic bombs my country of birth had dropped on my adopted country. Now Japan, and we, face another nuclear disaster. Can we face it together?  https://www.tugg.com/go/gtcgak

Fifty-eight years ago this August, the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While it’s obvious to all that the radiation emanating from those violent acts had hideous effects on a wide population, TEPCO and the Japanese government maintain that outside of the evacuation zone, there is no direct, demonstrable effect on public health of the triple meltdown at Fukushima. We cannot remain in the dark about this, for it affects the whole planet, or at least the Northern Hemisphere. Fortunately for us, American filmmaker Christopher Noland was living and working in Tokyo on March 11, 2011 and was able to capture breaking news and the immediate aftermath of the triple disaster, as well as six months’ worth of official and individual response to the radioactive, social and economic fallout. Informative, touching and powerful, Noland’s film “311: Surviving Japan” will be screened at the Rialto Cinemas in Sebastopol on August 12, 2013. Please reserve a ticket online in this “Tugg”-organized event and join members of the citizens’ group “FukushimaResponse” for the film and discussion. https://www.tugg.com/go/gtcgak. The film starts at 6:00pm and at least 50 tickets must be purchased online for this important informational event to take place. 

In organizing this screening, FukushimaResponse hopes to increase public awareness of the disastrous health & economic risks we on the west coast now face as the situation in Fukushima continues to deteriorate. Serious contamination of the ocean has been occurring since three reactors at the Japanese nuclear plant exploded, and levels have recently spiked as the melted reactor core material, called “corium,” burns underground. Peer reviewed scientific studies indicate that the effects of radiation from Fukushima have already reached our shores, and are getting worse. Indeed, the danger is global in scope.

Given the risks of global contamination for generations to come, this is not a reasonable way to handle this crisis. “311: Surviving Japan” is an important, compassionate film that will help you understand the tragedy that is destroying the people of Japan, and the urgency with which we, as a species, should be responding to this critical threat to life on earth.