Please Donate and Help JOF Make a Documentary Film:
“The Truth About Fukushima 311”

May 8, 2011

Japan Offspring Fund was established in 1984 and is registered as a Non-Political Organization (NPO). JOF activities include campaigning about safety issues regarding “living”, a broad concept based on the Japanese word kurashi. We publish a monthly member magazine as well as posters and books, and produce videos and documentaries about important issues including food safety and public health.

Deeply concerned about the ongoing crisis in Fukushima since March 11, 2011, JOF has a mission to change public opinion regarding nuclear energy. We have a long history as an independent NPO that is strongly opposed to nuclear power generation. To complete this mission, JOF believes we should make a film called “The Truth about Fukushima 311” (tentative title), and release this film using the Internet to viewers all over the world.

Fukushima has already changed the energy policies in several other countries. Japan, however, appears to have great difficulties to review or even discuss its heavy dependency on nuclear power generation (there are 55 nuclear power generators in Japan). We do not agree with the current lack of debate in Japan, and we must do something.

Since the massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, the severely damaged Fukushima nuclear power generators have released radioactivity into the air and the Pacific Ocean. The range of the damage is yet unknown. However, if such accidents happen somewhere in Japan, we are afraid that our children will be badly hurt by radioactivity. Such damage is irreversible.

The debate about nuclear issues is extremely difficult in Japan, for historical reasons. Already in 1960, Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF) made the following assessment: If an accident happens at small scale nuclear power plant (about 170,000 Kw), and if 2% of the radioactivity is released, 5,000 people will suffer from radiation damage, and 720 people will die. It was further estimated that 17,600,000 people will need to escape temporarily, and 220,000 people will be forced to move away from their homes for an extended period of time. In addition, JAIF also assumed that it will be impossible to continue agriculture in an area as large area as half of Honshu (the main island of Japan), and it was estimated that the cost of the damage will be 2.2 times larger than the national budget.

Considering this assumption by JAIF, the accident and crisis currently happening in Fukushima is an expected circumstance. But people who still support the pro-nuclear power point of view claim that “The Fukushima Daiichi No.1 atomic power generators were very old, and there was insufficient repair work. However, the Fukushima Daini No. 2 atomic power generators are all right. There will be no problems.”

Help JOF Make a Documentary Film

JOF has a mission to change this situation, and help create a society using no nuclear energy. Even though we are a small NPO, we have an important role to play.

As you may know, major sponsors of media including major newspapers and TV stations are the power companies, including oil and nuclear industries. Thus, the major media channels will continue to release opinions from those who are pro-nuclear. There are even cases of journalists who have changed to a pro-nuclear position, since they can receive up to 5,000,000 Yen (approx. 60,000 USD) for a single article, if they promise not to write about the negative aspects of nuclear power.

I personally know a great director who is famous for making documentary films. He has produced many documentary films about a wide range of topics, including nuclear power, genetics, and life. If you are interested in such topics, you may already have seen his films, which have been shown both in Japan and abroad. He is appreciated globally. Currently, he is a professor at a university. I contacted him soon after March 11, and asked him, “Do you want to make a documentary film about Fukushima?” He replied, “Of course, I can’t wait to start making a film about Fukushima 311!”

I recently met him and his old colleagues, who have all retired from film making companies. However, they never stop talking about what kind of film they will shoot next, although they don’t have any budget to make films. They never give up telling people the truth by using the power of documentary films.

Japan Offspring Fund would like to ask these experienced directors to make a film about Fukushima 311. We are sure they will make a wonderful documentary to tell the hidden truth about this accident, and motivate people all over the world to become actively anti-nuclear.

We need to raise funds for this film making project. Our initial target is to collect 2,000,000 Yen (approx. 25,000 USD). If we succeed to reach this amount, JOF will ask the great director to make the film. The fund-raising will continue as they have confirmed that they can start to make the film if we collect at least 5,000,000 Yen (approx. 60,000 USD). Also, to promote this film to all over the world, we may need additional funding at a later stage. We don’t think this is an impossible task!

I am convinced that if we succeed to produce this film, it would win international awards, and public opinion all over the world including Japan would change.

I sincerely appreciate your cooperation to help JOF raise funds for this important project.

Junichi Kowaka
Director of Japan Offspring Fund

Please send check to the following address if you are in the US.
Write “Japan Offspring Fund” on your check.
Japan Offspring
P.O. Box 2671
Winterville, NC
28590 USA

For other countries, kindly contact JOF directly.