Tokyo (AsiaNews) - Almost two months after the earthquake and resulting tsunami on 11 March, Japan is forced to deal with the enormous consequences of the disaster. According to data from the National Police Agency, 25,000 people are dead or missing and more than 126 thousand have fled their homes and lost their jobs. All these people are still living in temporary shelters.
On 4 May the 64th anniversary of the entry into force of the post-war Japanese constitution, promulgated in 1947 was celebrated. Article 25 of the Constitution recognizes every Japanese citizen the right to "a decent standard of living." The legal phrase expressed the anguish and horror of the sight of two cities', Hiroshima and Nagasaki, reduced to ashes by the inhuman fury of nuclear fission, in August 1945.
Japan today is like the Japan after the war. A journalist from the Asahi newspaper writes: "Despite the determination of lawmakers to improve the lives of people with the Constitution including the minimum standards for the life and culture (for all citizens), it is clear that people forced to live in temporary shelters are far from enjoying this right. " Many people in the prefecture of Fukushima had to leave their homes, because 'the area which is located within 20 km from the nuclear plant hit by the tsunami was declared uninhabitable. And too many children in the prefecture are deprived of the right to have normal school education without fear of threats to their health.
The country needs to rethink its nuclear prospects. After the war, Japan has proceeded with great caution and science in the decision to produce electricity through nuclear reaction. But prudence is not 'was enough' because it did not begin by putting man first.
The problem is serious because the Japanese archipelago is home to 50 nuclear power plants.