Ainu People to Press Demands at G8 Summit

Ainu activists announce protest plans for July in Hokkaido.

TOKYO, Apr 28 (IPS) – Japan’s hosting of the G8 summit in Hokkaido in July will afford a rare opportunity for the Ainu people who live on the island to press their long-standing demand to be recognised as an indigenous people.

Officially, for the Jul 7-9 summit of rich nations, Japan’s leaders have said they would like to see global health high on the agenda as also sustainable forest development, climate change and development.

But the Ainu have other plans to roll out in Hokkaido at the Jul 1-4 Indigenous Peoples Summit, ahead of the G8 event. “If the government recognises the Ainu as indigenous people everything would change,’’ said Saki Mina, an Ainu leader, at a press conference here last week.

Call for Participation　– towards the emergence of a new “Alternative Village” space in Hokkaido

“G8 Action Network” Convergence-center / Camp Work Group

• Our Plan
The G8 will be held in July of this year (200 8) at lake Toya (Toya-ko) in Hokkaido. We expect thousands of people from all over the world will gather in Hokkaido, as individuals and various NGO groups, to take part in a medley of actions. We (Convergence-center/Camp Work Group) look forward to the completion of an Alternative Village, both a hive for the swarm and a place for dialogue.

To all of our friends who are attending EuroMayDay 2008

This is a solidarity letter from far across the Eurasian continent, in the far east, Japan.

The globalisation of neo-liberalism has been on a rampage here in Japan as well. It promotes and applauds severe competition between people and is ripping the society into pieces. Through the deflation of the Japanese economy in the 1990’s, management gain and corporate dividends have drastically increased. On the other hand, the Japanese government, with its call for the efficiency of administrative services and maintenance of corporate global competitiveness, has been accelerating the reduction of social security benefits and the form of irregular employment.

Description Sheet for No G8 Action Presentation

Imperial Japan

Japan once expanded its territory to the areas 1 ~ 7 by aggression. It was thanks to its oceanic conditions that it was easy to reach these regions directly by short voyage. The imperialist project was called the Great East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere, with the guise of a common wealth centered in Japan.
Meanwhile, the state ideology of Japan consistently represented the country as an insular nation, stressing the natural and necessary territoriality and nationhood. As already evident, however, Japan is not an insular but an archipelago, attached to the Asian continent. As the cultural and racial facts prove, it is not pure but heterogeneous entity. In terms of the state’s ambition as well, it sought to annex the entire Asia as a military might in the past and today it seeks to push various free trade agreements as an economic might.

NO! G8 Action Japan Infotour Presentation

Hello,

No! G8 Action Japan have done info-tour all over the world and had presentation nearly 100 times in each cities. In our presentation, we introduced social movements in Japan or asian countries and preparation for G8 summit in Toyako.

Finally, we completed making presentation file for public use. You can download power point file and its description from the link below.

We love each of you to hold info-meeting of Anti-G8 movement 2008.

Even if you don’t use it for presentation, it is also useful information source. These files are helpful for people who have interest to come to Japan or who want to know about Japanese political situation.

• Download Presentation (4 MB, pdf)
• Description Sheet (html)

Information Exchange between Germany and Japan on Security Issues

The German government responded to the parliamentary query of the left-wing party ("Die Linke") about the information exchange between Germany and Japan on security issues regarding the G8 Summit.

According to the German government, there have been some visits from Germany to Japan and vice versa:

The chief of the Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt, BKA) visited Japan in August 2007. Reportedly, he did not give any specific advice to the Japanese, but promised to provide any information necessary to evaluate the security situation in Japan under the premises of the law, especially, in case there was a hint that potentially violent "disquieters" from Germany could join the protests against the G8 Summit in Japan. He also stated that there were no signs yet that the so-called "black block" and other groups would menace the summit in Japan.

the london fête against the G8

for freedom of movement, the freedom of protest and equal rights for all!

mark in your diary: july 5 2008

On the 5th of July 2008, people all around the world will protest against the G8 summit 2008 in Japan. The G8 is a co-ordination for the interests of Global Capitalism and the wealthy north who benefit from it.

Globalisation has created huge movements of people to the centres of capitalism. However whilst capital – money and commodities – has been granted ever-expanding freedom of movement, the movement of workers as migrants is subject to increasingly complex and brutal systems of control.

Rebellion Needs Music!

From July 7th to 9th, 2008, the G8 summit will be held at Lake Toya, Hokkaido, Japan. Numerous anti-summit actions will take place against this haughty meeting which is trying to monopolize and define the course of the world with the so-called 8 major (Group of 8) countries only.

We, too, are disgusted at this absurd meeting. We would like to make spaces of protests, interaction, and solidarity with sounds. This is one of the things we can do to express our disgust.

G-8 schedule released; meetings to include emerging economy heads

Leaders of major emitters of greenhouse gases will join those of the Group of Eight countries to discuss climate change on the final day of the G-8 meeting in Toyakocho, Hokkaido, sources said Monday.

Summit wicked this way comes

July’s G8 gabfest will bring out the worst in Japan — and it won’t benefit host Hokkaido

By DEBITO ARUDOU You’ve probably heard about July’s G8 Summit in Toyako, in my home prefecture of Hokkaido. In case you’re unfamiliar with the event, here’s a primer from the Foreign Affairs Ministry:

“The Group of Eight (G8) Summit is an annual meeting attended by . . . Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the President of the European Commission; . . . leaders freely and vigorously exchange opinions on a variety of issues facing the global community, centering on economic and social problems.”

While I do support people (especially those with armies behind them) talking things over peacefully, let’s consider the societal damage this event is wreaking upon its host.

International events tend to bring out the worst in Japan. Given the control-freak nature of our bureaucracy — exacerbated manifold when the world is watching — the government opportunely invokes extralegal powers in the name of “security.”

Japanese Riot police

Within their security divisions, each prefectural level police department and the Tokyo police maintain Kidotai, special riot units. These units were formed after riots at the Imperial Palace in 1952, to respond quickly and effectively to large public disturbances. They are also used in crowd control during festival periods, at times of natural disaster, and to reinforce regular police when necessary. Full-time riot police can also be augmented by regular police trained in riot duties. Currently, there are 10,000 in the whole riot force.

Citizens and former riot policemen mobilized for security in Tokyo

Less than 3 months before the beginning of the G8 Summit at Lake Toya, Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department - which will send over 1000 riot policemen to the venue of the Summit - also presses ahead with the preparation for the maintenance of security in the Tokyo area.

Facing unknown threats like international terrorism and radical antiglobalization movements, the Police Department also consults citizens and former riot policemen given that important facilities in the metropolitan area could become the target of terrorist attacs.

MPD steps up security for G-8 summit

The Metropolitan Police Department is busily preparing to dispatch more than 1,000 riot police officers to Toyakocho, Hokkaido, where this year's Group of Eight summit meeting is scheduled to be held in less than three months.

In addition to summit facilities, important locations in Tokyo also might be targeted by international terrorists, radical antiglobalization movements and other such groups--something that Japan has never before experienced.

Charter of Foundation of WATCH

Watch Human Rights on Summit
- Network of Lawyers observing Human Rights around G8 Summit -

CHARTER OF FOUNDATION

April 11, 2008

1. Situation around the G8 Summit

This year in July, the G8 Summit will be held at Lake Toya in Hokkaido.
Conferences related to the G8 will take place all over Japan in cities such as Tokyo, Niigata, Kobe, Yokohama, Aomori, Osaka and Kyoto.
Meanwhile, the police have intensified the surveillance of civil movements, e. g., by visiting offices of NGOs, who are planning actions during the summit, and by questioning the members about their activities.
Last year, a Korean citizen who was visiting Hachinohe in order to prepare the Peace and Green Boat which was co-organized by Japan and South Korea (600 participants expected) was denied to use the internet in an internet café.
We are afraid that in the months ahead, immigration control will be practiced more severely than ever and members of NGOs from abroad who are planning any actions will be refused to enter Japan. Already, some incidents have occured which affirm these concerns: On March 7 of this year, a member of a Korean NGO who intended to visit Japan to participate at a conference was refused to enter Japan at the Narita Airport and was obliged to fly back to South Korea; it was only at her second attempt that she was allowed to enter. Also, a German who tried to enter Otaru Harbour from Russia with a cargo-passenger boat was refused at the border.
Recent media reports deal with the police being on high alert as an accomplished fact; critical discussions about such media attitude is – still – nonexistent.
In the last years, police authorities of different countries have been suppressing civil movements related to the G8 Summits partly with violence. Attracting the world’s attention as the host of the Summit, Japan might limit civil activities under the pretext of securing the Summit, regardless of whether the civil activities are related to the Summit or not. Therefore, there is a high risk of police controlling and surveilling excessively even the slightest radical civil activities during the Summit or related conferences.

Bodyhammer: Tactics and Self-Defense For the Modern Protester

Technology has changed the street protest. In centuries past, a mass of people wishing to express themselves could only be silenced by live gunfire. But the advent of riot armor, lachrymatory gases and “less-lethal” projectiles have allowed ruling establish- ments to squelch the voice of protesters with great ease, and even better PR. It is the interest of this booklet to help preserve our freedoms of speech and public movement in expressing ourselves. The objective is not to ‘up the ante’ or encour- age street battles. No one sets out to engage the police or the army. We are on the streets to be seen and heard, but find it ever more difficult as arrests and injuries from policing forces aim to shut our voices out of the general equation.

Download full pdf on http://www.devo.com/sarin/shieldbook.pdf

Recent cases of entry refusals in the run-up to the G8 Summit

Case 1:

Kim Ae Hwa, a representative from the Korean organization "Committee of Asian Women" arrived at Narita Airport on March 7th to participate at an international conference which was planned on the following day by the "Network questioning the G8", a critical group against the G8 Summit at Lake Toya.

When she tried to pass the immigration gate around 4:40 pm, she was questioned by the immigration bureau and was refused to enter Japan. Ms. Ae Hwa declared that she was a "CAW member" and wanted to take part at the conference, but the immigration officer considered the purpose of her visit as "unclear" and denied her entry so that she had to fly back to South Korea in the evening of that day.
2 days later on March 9th, Ms. Ae Hwa attempted to enter Narita Airport with her invitation card for the second time. This time, she could enter Japan without any problems and was able to participate at some parts of the conference.

Letter from Antonio Negri (in French, published on the website of the organizers of the symposium)

Lettre aux amis japonais

Chers amis,

Une serie de circonstances totalement imprevues nous obligent a renoncer a notre voyage au Japon, alors que nous nous faisions une joie immense de ce sejour, des discussions passionnantes et des contacts intellectuels, des echanges et des collaborations que nous imaginions deja. Il y a presque six mois, nous nous etions renseignes avec l’aide precieuse de l’International House of Japan: les citoyens des pays membres de l’Europe ne doivent pas demander un visa d’entree au Japon s’ils n’y gagnent pas de salaire.

Japan: NPA hopes entry clause will limit any torch protest

The National Police Agency is hoping application of the hooligan provision of the immigration law will help prevent radical anti-China activists from entering the country as part of efforts to boost security for the Olympic torch relay in Nagano later this month, sources said Thursday.

Police officials decided to increase security in Nagano in light of the serious torch relay disruptions seen in Europe and the United States, according to the sources.

Top court dismisses appeals by activists in flier distribution case

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed appeals by three peace activists accused of trespassing in a Self-Defense Forces building in order to distribute antiwar fliers, upholding a lower court decision that sentenced them to fines.

4 death row inmates executed in Tokyo, Osaka

Four death row inmates were executed Thursday morning at the Tokyo and Osaka detention houses, the Justice Ministry announced Thursday.

A total of 10 condemned prisoners have been executed since Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama took office last year.