Japan, 6/16/2005: There is a quiet park, or kouen, on the way to the Osaka ports, still in the city but not near any subway exits, far from the crowds of the Tsuruhashi mall to its east; two blocks away the highway churns past at a dizzying speed. The park’s name according to the city is Tsumori, but for the workers and unemployed who have dug themselves into its contours, it is known as Nishi-Nari.

What exists at Nishi-Nari Park is a quasi-autonomy: a refusal of capitalist housing. These aging workers, many at the lowest end of Japanese society, choose instead of monthly rent payments, a policed neighborhood, or even a "worker’s hotel" (which charge the equivalent of 20 dollars a night), to live collectively, without a landlord, in a permanent tent village. Residents are now engaged in a sustained campaign to defend the occupied park against a city-imposed "assistance menu," which in the past has taken shape as an aggressive city intervention and eviction campaign, as recently experienced by the residents of Osaka Castle Park.

Residents have requested solidarity actions, such as contacting the Osaka Prefecture office in San Francisco (tel 415-288-3920, fax 415-288-3924). The city of Osaka has reportedly refused to even look at a statement of demands presented by residents of the park. Full story | Indymedia Japan