2008-02-24
- Summary of the Anti-G8 Japan Action and Logistics
- CALL TO ACTION AGAINST THE G8
- NO! G8 ACTION JAPAN 2008 INFOTOUR
- G8medianetwork: Meeting in Sapporo on March 15
- THE INFERNAL NOISE BRIGADE - DJ FILASTINE: NO G8 ACTION JAPAN BENEFIT
- Fences: the definitive illustrated guide…
- Layout materials G8 2008 Japan
- Japanese activist says about G8-protest: „Police in Japan act more subtly“
- Preliminary Interview with Anti-G8 Japanese Infotour
- Alternative Summit
- No-fly zone planned for G-8 talks
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Summary of the Anti-G8 Japan Action and Logistics
_Update February 23th 2008_
*International preparatory meetings*
March 7, 16:00: Press conference at Parliamentarian building
March 8-9: International Coordination Meeting & G8 Seminar
March 9: evening, Move to Hokkaido by plane
March 10-11: Activities in Hokkaido
March 15: Meeting G8medianetwork in Sapporo
*Action schedule*
26-27 June (Kyoto) Anti-Foreign Ministers Meetings, Rally and March
28-29 June (Tokyo) Anti-G8 Rally and March
01-04 July (Sapporo) Themed Actions (Rally and March)
05 July (Sapporo) International Action Day
07-09 July (Lake Toya) Blocking the G8
06-08 July (Sapporo) Alternative Summit
*Facilities for Foreigners*
In Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto – Convergence Centre
In Sapporo – Convergence Centre, Camp, Independent Media Centre
Near Lake Toya – Camp, Independent Media Centre
*Groups and networks against G8 2008 in Japan*
NO! G8 Action: http://a.sanpal.co.jp/no-g8 (contact for Infotour: no-g8 [at] sanpal.co.jp)
G8 Action Network japanese only: www.jca.apc.org/alt-g8 (around 40 groups)
Japan G8 Summit NGO Forum: www.g8ngoforum.org/english (around 225 groups, most of them welcome the G8 but demand fair capitalism)
*Hokkaido*
Esperanto League Hokkaido: http://lea-h.sakura.ne.jp
Hokkaido G8 Summit Citizen Forum japanese only: http://kitay-hokkaido.net
*Media*
Japan G8 Media Network: http://g8medianetwork.org/en
Indymedia Japan: http://japan.indymedia.org
*Mailinglists*
For signing up to Asian Anarchist Network: https://lists.riseup.net/www/info/a_a_n
For signing up to anti-G8 International email list: https://lists.riseup.net/www/info/g8-int
*Basic info *
Anti-G8 2008 (and others) Action english/ german: www.gipfelsoli.org/Home/Hokkaido_2008
G8 Mobilisations: www.wombles.org.uk/g8
*Newsfeeds *
english: www.gipfelsoli.org/feeds/rss2/164
german: www.gipfelsoli.org/feeds/rss2/203
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CALL TO ACTION AGAINST THE G8
Resisting Free Trade, Militarism and Fighting for Real Solutions to Climate Change
The G8 Summit will be held this year from July 7-9 in Toyako, Hokkaido, Japan. This will be a culmination of a series of ministerial preparation meeting beginning in March. The G8 Action Network, a network of various Japanese organizations and movements, is calling on all social movements, peasant organizations, women, migrants, urban and rural poor, fisherfolks and civil society from all over the world who are resisting free trade in its many forms, war and militarism, the privatization of essential services and natural resources, illegitimate debt and the domination of global finance, and fighting for and building real people based solutions to global warming, to come and join us in the week of action against the G8 here in Japan.
WHY MOBILIZE AGAINST THE G8?
The G8 nations account for just fourteen percent of the world’s population and yet decisions made at these summits dictate the course of the rest of the world. And now more than ever, the evidence is stark that decisions that these nations have made have brought nothing but worsening poverty, increasing insecurity, deepening indebtedness, militarization and wars and now they are pushing for market based solutions to climate change which threaten to endanger the future of the planet. The host of the summit, the Government of Japan, says that it will make this summit a summit on the climate. This is rank hypocrisy. The reality is that the government, under pressure from Japanese industry, is backing away from mandatory limits to greenhouse gas emissions.
We can no longer let this continue. The time is now for all of us around the world to come together and join forces to make our voices heard and stop the G8 from doing any further damage to the world.
JOIN US IN THE INTERNATIONAL PREPARATORY MEETING
We will also begin preparations to challenge the G8 Summit beginning March. We invite all of you to come to Japan and join in our international preparatory meeting from March 7-11, 2008.
This is our schedule:
March 7, 16:00: Press conference at Parliamentarian building
March 8-9: International Coordination Meeting & G8 Seminar
March 9: evening, Move to Hokkaido by plane
March 10-11: Activities in Hokkaido
If your organization is planning to attend the meeting, please email nag00562@nifty.ne.jp to register your participation. You can also contact this email for more information on the meeting.
WE NEED YOUR SOLIDARITY
As with all struggles, we can only be successful with the solidarity, support and involvement of movements and activists around the world in resisting this G8 Summit. We invite all of you who are with us in the struggle against trade liberalization, corporate globalization, war and militarism and false solutions to climate change and demanding for cancellation of all developing country debt to sign on to this call. We urge all of you to join us in Japan and to strengthen our struggle and together, build another world.
SIGNED:
G8 Action Network, Japan
ATTAC Japan
Consumers Union of Japan
Forum for Peace, Human Rights and Environment
Globalization Watch Hiroshima
Iwate Network for Protecting Article 9
Japan Asia Africa Latin America Solidarity Committee (AALA)
Japan Family Farmers Movement（NOUMINREN）
JAPAN PEACE COMMITTEE
National Coalition of Workers, Farmers and Consumers for Safe Food and
Health, Japan (SHOKKENREN)
No! G8 Action
No to WTO/FTA Coalition
No-Vox Japan
Peoples’ Plan Study Group (PPSG)
SPACE ALLIES
The New Communist Association for the Future
IN SOLIDARITY: (list of organizations outside Japan who sign on)
Alliance of Progressive Labor, Philippines
Anti-Debt Coalition Indonesia (KAU)
Fisherfolk Movement-Philippines (Kilusang Mangingisda)
Focus on the Global South
Global Network Asia
Globalization Monitor, Hong Kong
Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU)
Indonesian Peasants Union (SPI)
Institute for Global Justice, Indonesia
Jubilee South – Asia/Pacific Movement on Debt and Development (JS-APMDD)
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU)
Migrant Forum in Asia
Stop the New Round! Coalition, Philippines
Transnational Institute (TNI)
WALHI-Friends of the Earth Indonesia
Womyn’s Agenda for Change, Cambodia
To endorse this call to action, please email nag00562@nifty.ne.jp
G8 Action Network: www.jca.apc.org/alt-g8
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NO! G8 ACTION JAPAN 2008 INFOTOUR
INFOTOUR DATES/LOCATION
(subject to change, will be updating as locations become confirmed | update February 24th)
Europe tour schedule:
29 Feb. Copenhagen (Denmark), 5 pm, Cafeen i Folkets Hus, www.myspace.com/nog8dk
02 Mar. Rostock (Germany), (tbc)
03 Mar. Hamburg (Germany), 7 pm, Rote Flora, www.roteflora.de, Achidi John Platz
1 (ex-Schulterblatt 71), Hamburg
04 Mar. Kiel (Germany), hansastrasse 48, www.hansa48.de
05 Mar. Berlin (Germany), (tbc)
06 Mar. Poznan (Poland), Rozbrat Squat, ul. Pulaskiego 21a, www.rozbrat.org, fa-poznan@rozbrat.org
07 Mar. Berlin (Germany), 7:30 pm, New Yorck im Bethanien, www.yorck59.net
09 Mar. Hannover (Germany), 5 pm, UJZ Korn, Kornstra 28/30 30167
09 Mar. Dresden (Germany), (tbc)
10 Mar. Bremen (Germany), 8 pm, Paradox, bernhardstr. 12 in 28203
10 Mar. Brno (Czech), (tbc)
11 Mar. Bochum (Germany), 7 pm, Soziales Zentrum Bochum, Rottstr.31
11 Mar. Vienna (Austria), EKH haus
13 Mar. Nijmegen (Netherlands), 8 pm,
13 Mar. (Greece), (tbc)
14 Mar. Amsterdam (Netherlands), (tbc)
14 Mar. (Greece), (tbc)
15 Mar. Antwerp (Belgium), (tbc)
15.Mar. (Greece), (tbc)
16 Mar. Liege (Belgium), (tbc)
16 Mar. (Greece), (tbc)
18 Mar. Koln (Germany), (tbc)
18 Mar. Ljubljana (Slovenia), (tbc)
19 Mar. Freiburg (Germany), (tbc)
19 Mar. Vicenza (Italy), (tbc)
21 Mar. Bern (Switzerland), 8 pm, Reithalle, Neubrückstrasse 8 3011 Bern
21 Mar. Bologna (Italy), (tbc)
22 Mar. Dijon (France), (tbc)
22 Mar. Genoa (Italy), Buridda
23 Mar. Lyon (France), (tbc)
23 Mar. Milano (Italy), Centro Occupato Autogestito T28
24 Mar. Barcelona (Spain), (CMD?)
25 Mar. Barcelona (Spain), (tbc)
26 Mar. Madrid (Spain), (tbc)
28 Mar. Malmo (Sweden), Cafe Glassfabriken
29 Mar. Gothenburg (Sweden), (tbc)
31 Mar. Stockholm (Sweden), (tbc)
01 Apr. Oslo (Norway), Humla, Hausmania
US tour schedule:
06~10 Mar. Washington DC (National Conference of Organized Resistance)
11~13 Mar. Philadelphia + Baltimore?
14~16 Mar. New York (Left Forum)
17~19 Mar. Portland
20~24 Mar. San Francisco (including Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair)
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G8medianetwork: Meeting in Sapporo on March 15
We are a network of independent media groups in Japan. We have started our collaboration to gather and broadcast as many aspects of civil activities that will take place before and during the period of the G8 Toya-ko Summit scheduled July 7-9, 2008, Hokkaido, Japan.
Currently we plan to build an Independent Media Center (IMC) near the G8 Summit site, with internet-connected computers and ideally video and audio studios equipped with editing and broadcasting facilities. The center welcomes media groups from within Japan and abroad who want to use these facilities.
To work out the basic items for the IMC, we will hold a meeting in Sapporo on March 15, 2008. We welcome foreign participants to join us in the meeting for an exchange and collaborative discussion. There we would like to know the needs of foreign independent media groups, which we can incorporate when conditions are met. During and after the meeting, we will visit the Lake Toya (site of the Summit) and the IMC.
We are also scheduling another international meeting of independent media groups planning to visit Japan during the G8 Toya-ko Summit. Specifics for the meeting will be announced later. Interested in joining us at the meeting on March 15? Please contact us at:
international@medianetwork.ne.jp
http://g8medianetwork.org
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THE INFERNAL NOISE BRIGADE - DJ FILASTINE: NO G8 ACTION JAPAN BENEFIT
THE INFERNAL NOISE BRIGADE, the anarcho marching band that had performed in the midst of actions against G8 or WTO whenever they were held in a city, and gave the protesters courage and danceable impetus. Anarchist dj FILASTINE has been dropping sound bombs that smash borders and go beyond them. These two provided their music for NO G8 ACTION JAPAN, a network against this year’s G8 held by lake Toya in Hokkaido. The compilation contains 11 unreleased songs from their early music career by the I.N.B and the latest mix by Filastine. Listening to this will certainly hype you up enough to get together with others and plunge into Hokkaido in July.
http://a.sanpal.co.jp/irregular/nog8_benefit.html
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Fences: the definitive illustrated guide…
You’re down at your local military base, ready for a spot of disobedience… but there’s always a fence in your way. DFROIOW (the Democratic Front for the Removal of Obstacles In Our Way) presents this practical guide to fences in their many guises and how to overcome them.
Download pdf (100 kB): http://gipfelsoli.org/static/Media/Repression/2435_fences.pdf
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Layout materials G8 2008 Japan
http://a.sanpal.co.jp/irregular/nog8/no_g8_infotour_01.pdf
http://a.sanpal.co.jp/irregular/nog8/no_g8_biglogo.ai
http://a.sanpal.co.jp/irregular/nog8/no_g8_pirates.ai
http://a.sanpal.co.jp/irregular/nog8/nog8_poster.sitx
http://a.sanpal.co.jp/irregular/nog8/no_g8_poster_s.jpg
http://a.sanpal.co.jp/irregular/nog8/no_g8_poster.pdf
http://a.sanpal.co.jp/irregular/nog8/impede_g8.ai
http://a.sanpal.co.jp/irregular/nog8/burn_g8.ai
http://a.sanpal.co.jp/irregular/nog8/no_g8_paint.ai
http://a.sanpal.co.jp/irregular/nog8/no_g8_skull.ai
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Japanese activist says about G8-protest: „Police in Japan act more subtly“
GO HIRASAWA is lecturer of film studies at the Tokyo University and a media activist. Very recently, he has coordinated the retrospective of the Japanese director Koji Wakamatsu at the international film festival Berlinale.
Taz: Mr. Hirasawa, you were in Heiligendamm during the G8-summit last year. How did you find the protests?
Go Hirawasa: There were ten people from Japan taking part at the protest. Especially, the camps were a special experience for us. There were so many people from all over the world; that was a wonderful opportunity to exchange information and to discuss.
TAZ: Were there also things which were strange to you?
Oh yes, this never-ending search for consensus. In Germany or Europe, every part of the strategy or the tactics of the protest is discussed with everybody, and that takes so long. I found it very interesting, but it did not seem very practical at all.
TAZ: How is it in Japan?
We choose respectively one or two persons for each action or protest, who then decided on behalf of a bigger group. „Commandant” may not be the right expression, but these people bare responsibility. The age of the persons in charge does not play a role; what plays a role are the experiences and the ability to make the right decisions at the right time. Once you get arrested in Japan, you can stay in police custody for 23 days. For that reason, it is very important to prepare well for actions and to plan with the group. Spontaneous actions are less suitable.
TAZ: At previous summits in Europe or the US, activists have criticized often that the police react disproportionately, and that there were assaults. Do you expect similar situations in Japan?
We expect a very similar situation during the summit like in Heiligendamm. Thus, the police in Japan operate differently than in Europe; open violence is not so common, they act rather subtly, for example, they try to intimidate political activists by visiting them at home. On the other hand, they also try to arrest organizers of protests in the run-up to the summit. And if there are no concrete grounds for the search, or if they cannot clearly name any “leaders”, they just construct something. This is a very typical procedure of the Japanese police.
TAZ: Are Japanese people critical towards the G-8 summit?
Most of the Japanese do not have even a slight doubt about the legitimacy of the G8 or the capitalist economic system. I have the impression that people in Europe are more critical about that. We hope that we can spread such a prevailing mood also in Japan, so that people do not just take things how they are but begin to put them into question and challenge them.
Until now, Europe and America play a main role in criticizing neo-liberalistic globalisation. I hope that this will change.
TAZ: Are there differences between the leftists in Japan and Germany?
Leftist groups in Germany are networked well among themselves. I was impressed that they succeeded in building up a broad coalition against the G8 summit. In Japan, the leftists are totally at odds with each other. The groups fight against each other instead of fighting together for their aims.
TAZ: Which are the main groups?
There are lots of anti-militaristic groups, and labor unions, of course. There is also the New Left-wing, although it is no longer new, because it was founded in the 60s, and comprises, e.g., the trotzkyists. Besides, there are also younger movements since the 1980’s: Movements against poverty, against homelessness or against discrimination against people with disability, and in the meantime, the May-Day movement.
TAZ: Does the anti-globalsation movement exist in Japan?
Yes. In the meantime, it is one of the largest movements in Japan. The „Battle of Seattle“ in the late 1990’s has marked a beginning point for this subject in Japan. During the G8 in Genoa, there was a demonstration to the Italian embassy, out of which an anti-globalisation group named Anti-Capitalist Action (ACA) was founded. Another important convention for the movement in East- and South-East-Asia was the WTO-Conference in 2005 in Hong Kong
This was a very good place to get to know each other and for exchange. It also strengthened mutual solidarity. It’s the island position which often isolates the movements in Asia geographically. For this reason, we very much hope that, for the protest at Lake Toya, we will obtain large support from the international activists in Japan, but also by global solidarity actions.
TAZ: Where does your group „No G8!Action“ place itself?
We define ourselves as decentralist and anti-autoritarian. No G8! Action was founded in May 2007, in the run-up to G8 in Rostock. The fundaments of our activities are the key points of the network Peoples Global Action. (www.agp.org)
TAZ: The next G8-summit takes place on the island Hokkaido. What kind of place is this?
Hokkaido is a relatively poor region and very much characterized by agriculture. Five years ago, a city went bankrupt for the first time in the Japanese history.
TAZ: How come?
Japan is an unbelievably centralized country. Companies, industry, the administration, everything is concentrated in the large cities in the center, i.e. Tokyo and Osaka. Therefore, the regions in the north and south have little income, they live on agriculture, partly with income from the military bases. So, the situation in Hokkaido is pretty much the same as in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (rural region near German G8). The people there are angry with the government, because the G8 takes place in their region and because they have the problems with the security precautions and the protests.
TAZ: Can you connect your actions to the existing local problems?
We try. Hokkaido is not just a region with economic problems. There are also Ainu. Ainu are an indigenous people; they lived in Hokkaido until Japan colonised their island. Until today, they have to fight for their rights. The group, which prepares the protests there, has also organized a meeting with the indigenous people and tries to network with them.
TAZ: Which other political subjects are currently discussed in Japan?
Especially the growing differences between the poor and the rich. The neo-liberal reform by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has worsened the difference and has led to big problems. Contrary to Germany, there are almost no social protections in Japan. Many young people live in extreme precarious situations, are homeless and live from part-time jobs. At least these young precarious workers have began to organize themselves in recent years. They play the main role in the mobilisation against the G8-summit.
TAZ: You have written in a paper, that the neo-liberalism in Japan goes hand-in-hand with neo-nationalism.
Of course, neo-liberalism in Japan comprises the same elements like elsewhere: a discourse which requires less governmental intervention but more market, the privatisation of public tasks. But to execute such a program, you need a stabilising factor, i.e. a comparison. In Japan, this factor was the nationalism. The anger caused by the neo-liberal reform shall be directed towards the outside of Japan. At the beginning, this tactic was quite successful, but – however - no longer. Unfortunately, Japan with its extremely developed capitalism still leads the way in Asia.
TAZ: The Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has pronounced that the main subjects of the G8 will be Africa and Climate Change.
Japan very much cares about its good reputation in the international society, and this attitude can be seen in the choice of these subjects. However, the Japanese government has showed recently and over and over, how little they care about actually doing something against the climate change. The sole thing it has done is to support Japanese companies to develop more efficient technologies. But until now, this turned out to be less successful: the CO2-emmissions in Japan in the last years has not decreased, but increased by 6%. At the same time, there is a certain awareness about climate change by the people.
TAZ: Does the left-wing deal with that topic?
It barely does. In Japan, environmental protection is a subject which is very strongly dominated by the economy, they talk about technology, innovation and efficiency. For the left-wing, it is not really attractive to deal with that subject. Leftist groups try to work with another understanding of environment, which is not limited to nature and climate. Environment can be understood in a more general sense, as the entourage, the world where people are living.
Interview Juliane Schumacher.
[www.taz.de]
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Preliminary Interview with Anti-G8 Japanese Infotour
An interview done over e-mail by Indymedia Scotland gives more information about the state of the Japanese G8 mobilization. Another more in-depth audio interview will be done after at the actual presentation itself and posted on Indymedia Scotland.
Can you help describe to what group you are with and what you are doing on tour?
The Japan-based network of anti-authoritarians and anarchists, No! G8 Action was formed in May 2007, right before the G8 2007 in Rostock, where it learned from the European anti-G8 protest. Then it began to prepare its own projects. One of its focuses has been a coalition-building called G8 Action Network which connects various types of radical groups and coordinates with certain NGOs for certain projects. Now it strives for bringing Japanese and East Asian impetus into the stage of the global anti-capitalist struggle. The info-tour is part of the effort. It has previously visited South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Australia, New York, Montreal, and Toronto.
The info-tour is basically for introducing our anti-G8 project and invite as many people as possible from as many corners of the world as possible. But also the tour itself is the purpose, that is, on this occasion we would like to meet foreign activists and talk to them in person. This practice itself is part of the main point of this anti-G8 global protest organized in Japan, to build a better global anti-capitalist network in both the East and West.
Can you give us a few sentences about the status of the Japanase movement? Is this the first time a major mobilization happened at a summit in Japan?
We all are working hard at this moment toward the unknown. It is exiting and a bit scarely at the same time. We had Okinawa G8 in 2000. At that time, our focus was issues around the US bases and some anti-capitalist groups were involved. But we were not quite ready to organize a global mobilization. So one can rightfully say that it is our first major global mobilization.
What is the opinion of the Japanese movement towards violence?
We cannot speak for the entire movement here. But we can say the following. Violence is a very sensitive question for us, because of our history. The radical revolutionary movement in the 1970s lost its momentum and popular support due to a militancy without political strategies. Since then discussion concerning violence has been going on. There are two things that are certain: (1) violence is not an abstract issue, it has a lot to do with the context, especially of the conditions of the people of the particular locality; (2) An unconditional pacifism or legalism that has been widely practiced in Japan has not been very effective. It has weakened the mass movement. Therefore, certain militancy is necessary for the empowerment of the people, but it does not mean violence per se.
What is its relationship towards other parts of the movement, including reformists and academics?
Generally speaking, No! G8 Action is a network of radical movements. But we are trying to work with a wide range of groups, including certain reformists and academics, with certain conditions. In the past, our groups were excluded from the wide coalition in many occasions. So we have decided: this time it is we who call for a wide coalition. Speaking about academics and intellectuals, many of them are sympathetic to us, rather than reformists.
What have you heard about Scotland? Will this be your first time in Edinburgh?
We have not visited before. We have the impression that it is a historical region. The image is — big dark castles, gray sky, and dark ocean. But we know that they are all nonsense. We are looking forward to learning about the working class lives and culture there.
Are you aware that the G8 met in Scotland in 2005? Are you familiar with what happened?
We wish we were there. We have learned about it mainly from the wonderful book: Shut Them Down, publish from Autonomedia. But of course, our information is limited, and we are looking forward to hearing directly from the people who worked on it.
What is the media reaction in Japan to the G8 protests so far? To anarchists?
Speaking about Japanese media, their tendency is very similar to that of the British mass media today. So some are reporting about us with clear intention to exclude us from the society. But there are small amount of people in the media who share the same opinion with us. We are trying to work with them.
What things would are you hoping to learn about the G8 protests in Scotland? From Scottish activists in general?
Organization, tactics, logistics, . . . basically everything. Because learning is another main objective of out tour and the anti-G8 movement itself.
Are you serious about activists from Scotland going to Japan? If so, why?
Yes! Because we are hoping to make this anti-G8 project the first occasion that the movements of East and West meet, and on the personal level. We are trying to invite as many activists as possible from especially East Asia as well. And ideally the encounter be person to person. It is not that we need many bodies with different races at the protest, but that we have to fight against the policy of Japanese authority — and any other authorities — to confine the people in the illusion of a self-sufficient nation-state. It is the globalization of the people that we are trying to realize.
Ideally, what would you like to see happen in Japan at Lake Toya?
Kind of actions and events that empower the people, especially Japanese who have been made to believe that they are nothing and they can do nothing.
Where is Lake Toya in Japan? How far from Tokyo? How are people planning to get there? Is there communication with locals, including Ainu?
Lake Toya is very far from Tokyo. For the travel plan and logistics, we will upload the information very soon, so please check http from time to time. One thing we can say is that travel cost (airfare) is high, but we are making infrastructure for the foreign visitors so that they don’t have to spend much more than that. Also those who are considering to come, pleased write to:anti-g8-j. We are working with various local groups. Ainu people as well as farmers are part of the entire movement.
Is there any way for people in Scotland to help without going to Japan? Solidarity actions or raising money?
Yes. Solidarity action is highly appreciated. We are planning a day of international solidarity action as well as days of themed actions. Again, when the schedule is fixed we will upload the information on the above website. Please check it from time to time.
You can contact the Infotour here: no-g8 (at) sanpal.co.jp
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Alternative Summit
2008 Japan G8 Summit NGO Forum and G8 Summit Citizen Forum Hokkaido are co-organizing Alternative Summit (another summit organized by citizens) around the time of Toyako Summit. More details will be announced later.
Alternative Summit Organizers: 2008 Japan G8 Summit NGO Forum / G8 Summit Citizen Forum Hokkaido
Date: July 6 – July 8, 2008 Location: Sapporo, Hokkaido (may be at Sapporo Convention Center)
[http://www.g8ngoforum.org]
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No-fly zone planned for G-8 talks
The government plans to set up a 55-kilometer no-fly zone around the Lake Toyako resort in Hokkaido and strengthen other anti-terrorism measures during the Group of Eight summit in July, sources said.
The government will deploy Air Self-Defense Force aircraft equipped with the Airborne Warning and Control System and the Maritime SDF's P-3C anti-submarine patrol aircraft around the venue. It will also use the SDF's radar network to detect early signs of a terrorist attack.
If there is any threat of terrorism, the government will immediately evacuate summit participants from the venue, the sources said.
As a countermeasure to the threat of demonstrations and riots by anti-globalism activists, the government plans to apply anti-hooligan provisions under the immigration control law, which enables Japan to keep out any individual feared to be a lawbreaker with the potential to hurt people or damage buildings.
The venue of the G-8 summit, the Windsor Hotel Toya, is located on the top of the 620-meter Mount Poromoi, which overlooks Lake Toyako. The geographical features makes it easier to defend against a land attack.
To guard against a possible air attack, the government will prohibit flights of civilian aircraft within the no-fly zone.
However, there are no legal grounds to restrict flights of light airplanes, helicopters and radio-controlled model planes, so the government will ask for cooperation.
Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba said the ministry is considering countermeasures against every possible situation, suggesting that shooting down a plane heading toward the venue is under discussion as an option.
Sources said, however, it would be impossible to actually shoot down such a plane, and that evacuating participants from the venue is more realistic.
The government will also tighten security patrols and baggage inspections at airports across the nation during the summit. In addition, police officers will be aboard civilian flights to prevent hijack attempts.
Germany revised its aviation safety law in September 2004 to enable the shooting down of civilian aircraft in emergencies before the nation hosted the soccer World Cup in 2006 and the G-8 summit in Heiligendamm in 2007.
However, the German constitutional court ruled in February 2006 that the revision was unconstitutional because German military forces can be deployed within the nation only under certain conditions, such as natural disasters and catastrophic accidents. (IHT/Asahi: February 19,2008)