In July, twenty European young people met to represent their nations at Faslane 365. Joining them at the blockade were twenty Japanese students from the Global University, a programme organised by the Japanese NGO Peace Boat.
Following the blockade, five of the young women from Europe joined the Global University on board Peace Boat, which makes four voyages each year. Naomi Proszynska (15) from Narberth, told her new-found Japanese friends, “The reason young people don't get involved more in these issues is not because they don't care, it's because they don't know about them.”
Georgia Coles-Riley (16), another Welsh “veteran” of arrest at Faslane said she often felt helpless and cut off, but meeting together with other active and strong young people - and actually doing something about her beliefs - was so empowering that it encouraged her to do more.
Prior to Faslane, many of the Japanese students had been reluctant to join the blockade. They felt unsure of their beliefs and only wanted to observe. By the end of the nine day voyage to New York, together with the young women from Wales, they were planning their own NVDA protest against the building of a nuclear reprocessing plant in Rokasho Village in Japan.