on Rokkashomura film

 Comments on Rokkashomura Rhapsody

-Tomoko Seto

In Rokkashomura Rhapsody, thanks to Kamanaka san’s efforts to include portrayals of local people on both sides, I found that ongoing problems in Japan, not limited to that of nuclear plants, should to be more seriously discussed from various directions. It was a great opportunity for me to learn about the local fishermen’s protest in the 1980s, the recent conditions of the reprocessing plant, urban/rural cleavages, and the lives and opinions of the opponents and proponents in the village. According to Kamanaka san, voluntary screening of the film is beginning to spread widely in Japan. Together with the current revelation of scandals surrounding nuclear power plants as well as Kamanaka san’s appearance in the mainstream media in Japan, more people are likely to become interested in the film, which will probably lead to more support for the local opponents struggling on the spot. I am concerned about the possible effects of popularity of the film on activism at the local level.

From the film, we learned that the proponents also had their own reasons and affection toward their hometown. I wonder how they will be affected by a possible large-scale opposition triggered by the film, which may or may not be happening at this moment. If strongly pressured, will they eventually change their mind? In the worst case, the opposition to the reprocessing plant from outside the neighborhood could unwittingly stigmatize people on the side of the reprocessing plant. The division between the proponents and opponents of the plant at the very local level must not be escalated to a fierce conflict between them. Rather, however naïve it may sound, criticism must be directed to the corporation running the plant, the local and central governments, irresponsible scientists, the corrupt mainstream media, and, more importantly, consumers of a massive amount of energy – ourselves. At the local level, the opponents and proponents should eventually be able to have opportunities to listen to each other as neighbors. In the film, people on both sides mentioned the future of their children as their particular concern. Both hope for a better future of the locality, but against the background of the reality of local economic needs and energy consumption that does not seem to decrease, what can we, outsiders who are critical of the operation of the reprocessing plant, contribute to help, while minimizing the possibility of conflicts among the local residents?

Another point I noticed was a kind of protest that looked new to me. At the beginning of the film, there were several protesters in front of the plant with a van from the Social Democratic Party. I wonder if the party and other major organizations, such as the Green Peace Japan, are helping activities of local opponents like Kikukawa san and Tomamechi san. In any case, to me, both women look far from a stereotypical image of activists that I had held from the image of the student activists in the 1960s and 70s. When giving a speech in front of the municipal office building, for example, Kikukawa san’s voice was clear but quiet, without screaming. Similarly, Tomamechi san did not look conspicuously strong but rather cheerful, although she must have already gone through a lot of hardships when she had made a decision to start organic farming, away from the neighboring farmers affiliated with the JA. Each of the two women greatly values her own work that is central to her life, and opposes the reprocessing plant in order to continue enjoying her life. My question is whether such a quiet, “part-time” (as Kukukawa san mentioned), yet incredibly firm, local protest is really new or atypical in the history of Japanese social movements. I wonder if such quiet local protesters did exist elsewhere in the past but were ignored by the general public. Kamanaka san’s job depicting these “new” type of activists who look very much like “aunties next door” inspired me to think how and why the stereotyped image of militant social protesters were created.

Lastly, I was impressed because a large number of people showed up to see the film last Friday, perhaps as a result of the advertisement throughout the university community and of the word-of-mouth. But I wondered to what extent we could expect the power of word-of-mouth to persuade those who are not at all interested in the issue. I assume that almost all the people who were present at the screening had already had interests and perhaps some critical view regarding the issue of nuclear power plants. Therefore, to the audience, the film mainly worked to confirm their critical attitude or added new information to the pool of their knowledge. I wonder if this is usually the case when screening in Japan as well. If so, a real challenge then seems to be to find a way to reach out people (both in and out of Japan) who are indifferent to the issue for various reasons.Now that we are more informed, thanks to the film and Kamanaka san, I hope each of us can come up with creative ways to widely disseminate what we have learned so far.  

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