Japan: International Resistance against the 2008 G8 summit has begun

The protests against the 2008 G8 summit have begun. On Thursday a demonstration took place in Kyoto against the G8 foreign ministers meeting. There are three protests camps in Sapporo, the nearest town to Lake Toya, where the G8 summit will take place from July 7-9. Alternative media centres in Sapporo and Tokyo have been set up and a network of critical lawyers is ready to support demonstrators. Events, conferences and demonstrations are scheduled for the coming week. Many activists from around the world have travelled to Japan, amongst them anarchist and trade union groups from other Asian countries.

A network of NGOs will be lobbying the G8 to alter their political course. The "G8 Action Network" rejects the G8 as illegitimate and groups from this network have organised an "Anti-G8 Tokyo Sound Demonstration" this Sunday. The major international anti-capitalist conference, the "Counter-G8 International Forum" starts on Monday in Tokyo and Hokkaido. As has been the case in the past, many of the groups and organisations are participating in joint mobilisations despite their different positions.

Meanwhile, the police are attempting to delegitimate and divide the movement. More than 40 people were arrested two weeks ago, and squats have been searched. Following a raid on a trade union office in the working class neighbourhood Kamagasaki in Osaka, confrontations with police ensued which lasted for a number of days.

Since Tuesday the controls at the Narita International Airport in Tokyo have been stepped up. Foreigners have been questioned and searched for up to 12 hours. Some have been asked to provide detailed plans of their activities for each day of their stay. In spring this year, the Japanese Government changed the requirements for entry into the country.

Already last August, the German Federal Police (BKA) provided the Japanese investigation authorities with information on the networks and coalitions that participated in the anti- G8 protests in Heiligendamm in 2007. Japanese police travelled to Berlin to learn about measures against summit protests. The BKA's president Mr Ziercke promised to continue to provide "all relevant data".

During the 2007 G8 summit protests the German police compiled an extensive database with photos and fingerprints, which presumably includes all 1.800 people who were arrested during the protests. Although only a very small number of them were actually convicted of anything this data has not been destroyed. Normally, inclusion in such a database is sufficient to be deined entry into a country during a summit meeting.

Trade unionists of the Korean "Confederation of Trade Unions" have been issued a blanket entry denial. Also the Italian philosopher and activist Toni Negri has been denied entry. Only yesterday two media activists of the Hong Kong collective "In-Media" were arrested at the airport.

The police has issued a number of posters 'warning' the Japanese public about the protests by comparing them to the London 7/7 bombings in 2005. One of the posters depicts a demolished London bus next to a photo of a burnt out car in Rostock. The public is being asked to report suspicious persons directly to the police. Hotels across Japan have been instructed to send photocopies of all passports of foreign guests to the police.

In the coming week there will be protests against the G8 summit worldwide, including in France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Spain and the Basque Country.

*Background*
* G8 Action Network: http://www.jca.apc.org/alt-g8/en
* No G8! Japan: http://a.sanpal.co.jp/no-g8
* Entry denial and controls: http://www.debito.org/?p=1752 and
http://watch08summit.blogspot.com/2008/06/protestation-against-tightening-of.html
* Instructions for hotels: http://www.debito.org/?p=1764
* Police poster campaign:
http://www.gipfelsoli.org/rcms_repos/images/38/roppongisummitpolice001.jpeg and
http://www.gipfelsoli.org/rcms_repos/images/38/g8-poster-1-of-1.jpeg