Japan: Grand March Opposes Persecution; Support from Tokyo Metropolitan Assemblyman (Photos/Video)
By a practitioner in Japan
(Clearwisdom.net) On July 15, 2007, Falun Gong practitioners held a rally
and march in downtown Tokyo to protest the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s
eight-year-long brutal persecution of Falun Gong. Former members of the House of
Representatives and local council members sent letters of support for the event.
Tokyo metropolitan assemblyman Akihiro Hatsushika went to the rally venue to
support the practitioners. A march was held after the rally. The procession
consisted of a waist drum team, banners exposing the persecution, news of the
Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and slogans
promoting withdrawals from the CCP. The practitioners passed by many busy
business areas in Tokyo. Passers-by were shocked to learn of the CCP's illegal
organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners. Some people were
attracted by the music and waist drum team, and took photos of the procession.
Some even had their photos taken with the procession as a background. Grand anti-persecution march in Tokyo Tokyo metropolitan assemblyman Akihiro Hatsushika gave a
speech at the rally
At the rally, practitioner Tsuruzono Masaaki of the Falun Dafa Association of
Japan read a statement. The statement indicated that on July 20, 1999, Jiang
Zemin's regime initiated the persecution of Falun Gong and claimed it would
eliminate Falun Gong within three months. However, eight years later, the CCP is
facing complete disintegration due to its persecution of righteous belief. Practitioner Tsuruzono Masaaki of the Falun Dafa Association
of Japan reads a statement People accept truth-clarification literature and watch
the march in front of JR Harajuku Train Station The statement also pointed out that Falun Gong has spread worldwide and that
more people are paying attention to the killing of Falun Gong practitioners in
China.
Video: A march opposing the persecution in Tokyo As of July 14, the deaths of 3,064 practitioners in the persecution have been
documented. More than 6,000 practitioners have been illegally
sentenced to prison and more than ten thousand have been sent to forced
labor camps. Due to China's information blockade, it is hard to know the number
of practitioners who have been taken away by the police and ended up missing. It is even more shocking that CCP doctors harvest organs from living Falun
Gong practitioners for profit and cremate their remains to eliminate evidence.
The atrocity has brought forth strong condemnation from the international
community. In April 2006, the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun
Gong (CIPFG) was established to conduct an independent and unrestricted
investigation of the CCP's labor camps and concentration camps. Tokyo metropolitan assemblyman Akihiro Hatsushika spoke at the rally venue on
July 15. He said, "As a politician, I think that before the Olympic Games,
the hosting country needs to become a country that respects human rights,
especially the right to life. If your activity in Japan can help the Japanese
people and the government recognize the CCP's ignorance of human rights and make
other countries exert pressure to China, I would be pleased. From now on, let me
stand with you and help you in your mission." In addition, a former member of the House of Representatives, Hirosato
Nakatsugawa, and a Tokyo metropolitan assemblyman sent
letters of support. A city council member of Hiroshima stated in his letter,
"In a country the size of China, such persecution is still going on. It is
a sorrow for human beings. The persecution must be stopped. CCP high level
officials must resign." Makino Seisyu, a former member of the
House of Representatives who has paid attention to the persecution for years,
condemned the CCP's eight-year-long persecution in his letter and pointed out,
"The eight-year-long persecution is against the wishes of Heaven. These
eight years show it is also time to drive the CCP out of the world." He
concluded, "I take this opportunity to present my condolences to those
Falun Gong practitioners who sacrificed their lives for their belief and freedom
and did not yield to the CCP regime." After the rally, at 2:30 p.m., a procession about two to three hundred meters
long started marching, passing through a busy downtown area. The waist drum team
caught the attention of shoppers and shop owners who looked out or stepped out
to watch. In JP Harajuku Train Station, passers-by were pleased to see the procession.
Many people took photos of the waist drum team and some had photos taken with
the procession in the background. A young Japanese couple was shocked at the CCP's harvesting of organs and
openly talked about it. Many passers-by accepted truth-clarification
literature. In the two-hour-long march, the waist drum team played continuously. Some of
the members were over sixty years old. Their playing was powerful and confident,
their expressions solemn. Practitioners also held banners that read, "Falun Dafa is Good,"
"Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance," "The World Needs
Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance," "Falun Dafa Spreads Around the
World," "The CCP Kills Falun Gong Practitioners and Sells their
Organs," "The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party Expose
the CCP's Evil Nature," "Heaven Will Destroy the CCP: Quit the CCP to
Ensure a Safe Future," "Global Support for 24 Million Chinese Who Quit
the CCP," and "Immediately Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong and
Conduct an Investigation of the Persecution." Young practitioners distributed literature to shops and residents along the
procession path. On the day of the rally, the fourth largest typhoon in history attacked the
islands of Japan. As the typhoon approached Tokyo, at noon on July 15, Falun
Gong practitioners gathered at the park as planned. "March during a
typhoon? Do practitioners not have fear?" asked a police officer, worrying
about their safety. The rain suddenly became lighter as the rally started. At
2:30 p.m., when the march began, the typhoon was merely drizzle. The typhoon
left Japan in the afternoon and dissipated in the Pacific Ocean. Video: Anti-persecution march in Tokyo
Chinese version available at
http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/7/18/159118.html
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