activists staged a solidarity protest outside the london japanese embassy this morning as tens of thousands protested outside the prime minister's residence in japan

japanese activists and the uk anti-nuclear group 'kicknuclear.org' organised a solidarity protest outside the japanese embassy in piccadilly this morning, as japanese people hold weekly demos outside the prime minister's residence on friday evenings in japan.

the government there has begun restarting reactors after a closure of around 50 facilities for safety checks following fukushima.

at fukushima itself, things are bad, with water, pumped to cool three of the reactors that would otherwise meltdown, continues to leak into the ground and out to the pacific. meanwhile steam releases particles of highly dangerous radioactive elements such as causium and even plutonium into the atmosphere.

while germany is closing down its entire nuclear programme, japan and some western countries continue to expand, producing plutonium for their weapons programmes, thought to be a large reason for the heavily-subsidised industry.

the protests in london start at 9am each week and this short film gives a flavour of the morning and includes a couple of interviews.

http://vimeo.com/46891653

japan embassy london from rikki indymedia on Vimeo.