Anti-nuclear rally surrounds Japan parliament - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English

Thousands of protesters form "human chain" to demand government ditch nuclear power after last year's Fukushima crisis.

Protests against the use of nuclear power have spread all over the country since the Fukushima disaster [EPA]

Thousands of people formed "a human chain" around Japan's parliament complex to demand the government abandon nuclear power after last year's Fukushima crisis. Sunday's protest in Tokyo was the latest in a series of peaceful demonstrations, including weekly Friday evening protests outside the residence of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. "We won't allow any more reactors to restart. We want to slam this demand to the government" - Misao Redwolf, protest organiser Demonstrators, many wearing gas masks and beating on big, yellow oil-drum drums, filled the streets heading to the prime minister's office and the parliament building, chanting "No to restart! No to nuclear power!" as they held up banners with anti-nuclear slogans. "After the Fukushima disaster, I thought that the government and vested interests were telling us lies about nuclear power being safe," said Miho Igarashi, 46, an architect from Ibaraki prefecture south of Fukushima. "We have to raise our voices against" the danger of atomic power, she told the AFP news agency. Observers said the level of public discontent has grown to levels unseen in decades and crowds have grown steadily since the 'Stop the Nukes' movement began. Protesters say they are angry that the government restarted two reactors earlier this month, despite safety worries after the multiple meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. All 50 working reactors in Japan went offline in May for "routine checks". In June, Noda ordered the restart of reactors No 3 and nearby No 4, saying people's living standards could not be maintained without nuclear energy.