An actor turned anti-nuke activist after Fukushima just won a seat in Japan’s upper house in the national government.

Japan Times, 22 July 2013 (Tokyo time is 13 hours ahead of Georgia time), Actor Yamamoto, ex-wrestler Inoki win,

Actor and anti-nuclear activist Taro Yamamoto and ex-wrestling star Antonio Inoki both won seats in Sunday’s Upper House contest, early returns showed.

Yamamoto, 38, who ran as an independent in the Tokyo constituency, appeared set to enter the upper chamber after failing to win a seat in the Lower House election in December.

He became widely known for his anti-nuclear power activities following the March 2011 Fukushima meltdowns. He has also campaigned against Japan’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade liberalization negotiations, while calling for improved social security.

Blogger In the Eyes of an Étranger reports Toro Yamamoto said about his election win:

“I will do a banzai to celebrate the occasion when I really end up helping the victims of the nuclear disaster. A thorny path lies ahead of me. Vested nuclear interests will no doubt try to sabotage my efforts. My only friend in my endeavor are the voters who entrusted their sacred votes.”

WSJ notes five seats for Tokyo were contested for the House of Councillors and Yamamoto won one of them. (The vote was by single non-transferable voting, in which “each voter casts one vote for one candidate in a multi-candidate race for multiple offices. Posts are filled by the candidates with the most votes.” Since five seats for Tokyo were up for election, and Yamamoto came in third or fourth depending on how the final count comes out, he won a seat.)

He won more than 630,000 votes, way up from his 70,000 last year. Here he is campaigning; he said he had no money and 1,000 volunteers took time off from work to put up posters and they even did it earlier than any other party. He also criticizes the currently proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as being for corporate profits at the expense of people, including exposure to radiation through continued use of nuclear power, while taxpayer money intended to help people after Fukushima has partly been siphoned away for unrelated uses:

He also promised to report back on travesty in parliament. Here is Taro Yamamoto explaining his anti-nuclear activism, why he chose to break the taboo against political activism by actors, the wide range of people he’s found in the truly grass-roots opposition to nuclear power, and what he’s been doing:

The Japanese Upper House has 247 members, more than the U.S. Senate, and the roles of the two bodies are somewhat different. But Taro Yamamoto being elected to the House of Councillors is like Martin Sheen being elected to the U.S. Senate. Indeed, why not have people who care about clean energy and the safety of the people more than corporate profits step forward and win the support of the people and seats in government?

-jsq

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