Hiroshima's thoughts turn to Fukushima

[AsahinaKimi]

By ERIC JOHNSTON
Staff writer/Japan Times

HIROSHIMA — On the eve of the annual ceremony to remember the dropping of the atomic bomb, the thoughts of many in Hiroshima were on those living near the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

"Nobody knows the fear and uncertainty Fukushima residents face over radiation levels better than the people of Hiroshima," said Setsuko Kumazaki, 68, who lost several relatives on Aug. 6, 1945.

While media polls over the past few months indicate a majority of Japanese favor reducing or eliminating the nation's reliance on nuclear power, traditional groups formed to seek the abolition of nuclear weapons are more divided.

At a symposium Thursday organized by three groups, there were calls for Japan to abandon nuclear energy in favor of renewable sources. But other participants called for a freeze on new nuclear plants or the continued use of nuclear power for peaceful purposes.

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