Last year saw a new dimension added to the anniversaries of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Unlike in the past, people and groups involved with the cause of abolishing nuclear weapons started calling for the phaseout of nuclear power generation, including dropping plans to build new nuclear power plants while decommissioning existing plants, one by one.
This attitude was driven by the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which has made the risk of radiation exposure all too real for many people.
This year we hear voices spreading at the grass-roots level, calling on Japan to stop its reliance on nuclear power. Every Friday evening, tens of thousands of people gather near the Diet Building and the prime minister's official residence, calling for an end to Japan's use of nuclear power.