http://www.gipfelsoli.org/Hokkaido_2008 Feed from Gipfelsoli GNU FDL - http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html 240 http://www.gipfelsoli.org/Hokkaido_2008/Hokkaido_2008/6185.html Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000 Japan can be described as a decaying high-tech quasi-corporatist island state, hostile to many of its neighbouring countries. Several Japanese companies which benefited from slave labour in WW2, Mitsubishi etc, still operate. Japan is re-arming itself militarily and has never firmly broke with its fascist & imperialist past, the state attempts to enforce a high level of social control but even so, there does remain tumultuous outbreaks of anarchy that no-one can predict occurring, moments of incredible beauty, like Osaka in 13-21 June 2008, when an incident of police brutality sparked fierce rioting in Kamagasaki, a working class district. The government is very repressive against the social movements in no small part to the serious revolutionary disturbances of the 60’s & 70’s onwards, with some underground autonomous groups still existing in hiding today. Japan is not the stable, comfortable place that the media tries to portray, and there are many people living a very precarious life of poverty and exclusion. Not only in violent response to repression was there was a stark difference between the 6 day riot in Osaka and the anti-G8 events which took place almost simultaneously in Hokkaido, northern most island of the Japanese archipelago. http://www.gipfelsoli.org/Hokkaido_2008/Hokkaido_2008/6184.html Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000 Over the past week and a half, an unprecedented political crackdown has been enacted in advance of a series of economic summits around the country. Despite this, the brave workers of Kamagasaki stood up against the stiff security environment in riots against the brutal beating of a day laborer over the past five days. The twin situations of repression and revolt deserve to be examined in more detail. http://www.gipfelsoli.org/Hokkaido_2008/Ontario_2010/5897.html Sun, 28 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0000 This is a solidarity statement from comrades in Tokyo, Japan, who are facing the potential of hosting the 2016 Olympics: To No Olympic on Stolen Land, NO 2010, Anti 2010 resistance. December 17th, 2008 We have just found out that in Vancouver there are people who oppose hosting the 2010 Olympic Games. We looked through the information book (Warrior Publications) which explains the reasons of opposition to the winter Olympic events. The stories reminded us of our experiences during the 1998 Nagano winter Olympics, and again we felt strong anger. The fight in Nagano took us 10 years, starting from the Olympic invitation process, then becoming the host city and then having the actual Olympic event and after. Through out we saw the problems of natural destruction by resort developers. Japan's biggest developers used the Olympics to expand their already existing resort land. One of the developers was the leader of the Japan Olympic Committee (JOC). http://www.gipfelsoli.org/Hokkaido_2008/Hokkaido_2008/5626.html Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0000 SAPPORO (Kyodo) The Sapporo District Court gave a suspended prison term Tuesday to a man who grounded a Tokyo-bound flight with a bomb threat at an airport near the Hokkaido venue of the July Group of Eight summit. Takanari Deto, 69, a realtor from Sapporo, was given an 18-month sentence, suspended for three years. http://www.gipfelsoli.org/Hokkaido_2008/Hokkaido_2008/5478.html Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0000 *A monster from the 1960s cult panic movie THE X FROM OUTER SPACE comes back once again, now attacking the G8 Summit to finish the Earth once and for all!!* Download trailer: "www.youtube.com/watch?v=m95qjUNdsCE":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m95qjUNdsCE In the summer of 2008, the G8 Summit is being held at the International Conference Center at Lake Toya in Hokkaido, a beautiful resort near the active volcano of Mount Usu. In attendance are the leaders of the United States of America, France, England, Germany, Italy, Canada, Russia, and Japan. The main agenda of the Summit is environmental issues. However, nothing seems to be decided. http://www.gipfelsoli.org/Hokkaido_2008/Hokkaido_2008/G8_2008_Links/5309.html Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.gipfelsoli.org/Hokkaido_2008/Hokkaido_2008/5434.html Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0000 We joined the G-8 protests in Hokkaido, Japan last from July 6-9. We survived four days of gruelling marches in the countryside, continuous surveillance from the police and many other restrictions from the Japan police. There were delegates from the Philippines, United States, Korea and Taiwan. Several Korean delegates were prevented from entering Japan. Upon arrival in Chitose Airport in Hokkaido, we were already subjected to surveillance by the police. We were trailed across three cities by agents in civilian clothes. Sometimes we even had two cars following us. http://www.gipfelsoli.org/Hokkaido_2008/Hokkaido_2008/5398.html Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0000 _Perhaps some of the most important organizing will come as movements seize opportunities that arise in the wake of this mobilization._ July 16 (See below for previous dispatches.) The G8 delegates may have boarded their planes and flown home, another year's summit having come to a close. But for many, this is just the beginning. Three anti-G8 organizers spent almost two weeks in jail facing the possibility of years-long sentences, mounting legal fees, and families left to deal with the consequences. Another 23 people were detained as a part of government repression of an Osaka-based homeless and precarious workers' rights group that has been focusing on anti-G8 organizing. Solidarity actions are taking place around the world. Perhaps some of the most important organizing happens now when we, as a movement, seize opportunities that arise in the wake of this mobilization to build sustainable international movements for justice. It's not yet time to turn the spotlight away from Japan. There is work to be done, and international support is needed. http://www.gipfelsoli.org/Hokkaido_2008/Hokkaido_2008/5389.html Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.gipfelsoli.org/Hokkaido_2008/Hokkaido_2008/5374.html Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0000 *Report from this year's summit protests* _The protests that follow the annual G8 summit arrived in Northern Japan this year, as the leaders of the world’s eight wealthiest countries gathered at the Windsor Hotel, Lake Toya._ Japan spent a record breaking $280 million on maintaining security at this year’s summit, over double the $130 million spent by German authorities last year. Police were shipped in from all over the country, as a total of 21,000 law enforcers descended on Japan’s most sparsely populated island. With an estimated total of 1,000 protesters attending the demonstrations at this year’s summit, the police presence was described by one demonstrator as “overkill and a waste of public money.”