Despite a steady downpour and high humidity, another Friday-night demonstration in front of the prime minister's office attracted a large crowd of protestors expressing their opposition to the restart of reactor 3 at Fukui Prefecture's Oi nuclear power plant.

The protest rallies have been gradually been growing in size ever since they started being held each Friday night since late March. Police reports estimate that the number of protesters this Friday night was at least 10,000, while event organizers later put the estimate at 150,000 people.

The rally, which followed the official restarting of Oi reactor No. 3 last Sunday, had crowds of people chanting, along with drums and instruments, "No to the restart!"

Scenes from last week's protest demonstration: Protest rally against Noda, Oi reactor restarts intensifies