(Clearwisdom.net) Tokyo is the capital of Japan and one of the largest economic hubs in the world. 500 years ago Tokyo was a small village called Edo. After Tokugawa Ieyasu became Shogun in 1603, people from all parts of the country moved to Edo, and the city rapidly developed into a political center. After Japan’s last Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, surrendered power, in 1868 Emperor Meiji issued an edict, renaming Edo to Tokyo. The following year he relocated to Tokyo and made Edo Castle the Imperial Palace.
Tokyo is the political, economic, and cultural center of Japan and has undergone numerous changes even as it has preserved its historic relics, sites, and traditional ceremonies and customs. Modernity and tradition coexist in harmony in this world-renowned metropolis.
Ueno Park is a spacious public park that occupies the site of the former Kan'ei-ji, a temple closely associated with the Tokugawa Shoguns. Emperor Taishō established the Tokyo site in 1873 through an imperial land grant.
This was the site where Falun Dafa was first introduced to Japan. A group of practitioners demonstrated and taught the exercises here for the first time in August 1997.
Falun Gong practitioners doing the exercises with Mt. Fuji in the background
Practitioners published a whole-page introduction to Falun Dafa in a Tokyo-based Chinese newspaper on September 30, 1997, subsequently followed by practitioners’ cultivation experience stories and contact information. The numbers of people who were destined to cultivate in Falun Dafa and the number of practitioners in Japan grew quickly. The Japanese version of Zhuan Falun was published by a Kyoto-based publisher in March 1999, and the Japanese version of Falun Gong was published in July 10, 1999.
Practitioners in Japan have demonstrated the wonders of Dafa to the Japanese people over the past decade, in hopes that more people would benefit. Since the persecution began in 1999, practitioners have held rallies, parades, torture reenactments, and photo exhibits to expose the Chinese Communist Party’s atrocities, calling for people to learn the facts and for help to end the persecution.
Falun Gong shines in the Tokyo community
Practitioners demonstrate the Falun Gong exercises.
Practitioners demonstrated the exercises and performed songs and dances at the Ullambana Festival in Shinagawa City, Tokyo, on August 18, 2007. The host and many attendees praised the practitioners' positive and peaceful demeanor
Graceful exercises
Practitioners participated in the Shinagawa Dance Festival on September 30, 2007. They performed dances choreographed by Falun Gong practitioners and demonstrated the exercises.
Fan dance
Children in the audience imitate the hand gesture “heshi.”
Young practitioners perform a ribbon dance.
The Tian Zi Dance Troupe is made up of Falun Gong practitioners and Minghui School students who were invited to perform at a celebration inside the Shibamata Taishakuten Temple on September 13, 2008.
Young practitioners' ribbon dance
Practitioners participated in an activity to celebrate the 97th anniversary of the Republic of China’s founding on October 5, 2008, inside the Tokyo Chinese School.
Falun Gong practitioners’ Divine Land Marching Band with drums and gongs demonstrate the wonders of Dafa.
Practitioners playing waist drums spread the wonders of Truth-Compassion-Forbearance.
Tokyo's Nakano-ku Prefecture held its 34th Annual Holiday Parade on October 10 and 11, 2009. More than 30 local organizations participated in the celebration. Falun Gong took part for the third straight year. About 200 practitioners headed by the Divine Land Marching Band played “Falun Dafa Is Good,” followed by the flag division and waist drum division.
The practitioners also give cultural performances and held parades during each annual World Falun Dafa Day to show their friendliness and peacefulness.
Musical performance at Community Center in Warabi City
Practitioners singing “Falun Dafa Is Good” at Community Center in Warabi City in Saitama Prefecture the evening of May 13, 2006, to celebrate the 7th World Falun Dafa Day.
Falun Gong practitioners in a parade on May 9, 2010
Parade on May 9, 2010
Passersby stop to observe and wave at the practitioners.
Practitioners celebrate World Falun Dafa Day in downtown Tokyo on May 10, 2009.
Passersby learn the facts.
Practitioners gather in Tokyo's Hibiya Park on May 9, 2009.
Exposing the persecution
The Chinese Communist Party began persecuting Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. Practitioners in Japan have held peaceful protests in front of the Chinese consulate in Tokyo for the past decade. In the winter they quietly hold banners and stand in the cold to let it be known that they want the persecution to end. They also hold rallies and parades on April 25 and July 20 each year [auspicious historic dates], as well as Truth-Compassion-Forbearance art exhibits. They have distributed pamphlets and exposed the persecution to Chinese tourists on Akihabara Electrical Street and in front of the Immigration Bureau.
Candlelight vigil on December 31, 2006, in commemoration of practitioners who died as result of persecution.
Practitioners protest the persecution in front of the Chinese consulate on December 31, 2008
Many Japanese people visit temples to pray for blessings at the beginning of the New Year. After holding a peaceful protest outside the Chinese consulate, after 1:00 a.m. Falun Gong practitioners went to Sensoji Temple and Meiji Shrine to celebrate the first day of another year and distribute flyers.
The first anti-torture exhibit in Tokyo
The first anti-torture exhibit in Tokyo
Practitioners used photos as well as re-enactments of the methods of torture used in China in Minami-suna-machi Park on June 27, 2004, to let people know the facts. Three practitioners demonstrated “force-feeding,” “inserting bamboo sticks underneath the fingernails,” and “confinement in metal cages.” Next to them was a demonstration of the graceful Falun Gong exercises. Such stark contrast attracted many passersby who asked questions.
Candlelight vigil in front of the Chinese consulate
Candlelight vigil in front of Chinese consulate
Practitioners quietly sat before the Chinese consulate in Tokyo the evening of July 23, 2004, and held a candlelight vigil to expose the persecution and commemorate practitioners who died as a result of persecution.
People in Ōta, Tokyo, look at paintings that are part of the Truth-Compassion-Forbearance Art Exhibit
The thirtieth Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance International Art Exhibition in Japan concluded successfully on September 20, 2010. The exhibition was held in Ota-ku, Tokyo, the second largest district in Tokyo, which has a population of close to 700,000. Visitors were considerably moved by the artwork. Mr. Inubushi, an Ota-ku city council member, called his friend after visiting the exhibition and said repeatedly, "China's persecution of Falun Gong is very cruel! Very cruel!" Mr. Inubushi then invited another city council member to visit the exhibition.
Tokyo City Council Member Mr. Tsuchiya speaks at an "end persecution of Falun Gong-rally."
Japan Xinhua Times editor-in-chief Mr. Su Ling said, “I don’t want the Chinese Communist Party to persecute other compatriots or myself, that is why I will stand up for Falun Gong practitioners’ rights.”
Passersby take note of the Falun Gong parade.
Falun Gong practitioners in Japan held a series of activities from July 17 to 20, 2009, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of practitioners peacefully protesting the persecution in China. The activities included clarifying the facts to the Diet, a press conference, a protest in front of the Chinese Embassy, a candlelight vigil, a rally, and a parade. Tokyo City Council Member Mr. Tsuchiya, human rights activist Mr. Ando Kan, and overseas Chinese attended the rally and parade.
Tokyo City Council Member Koga Toshiaki speaks at the rally
Parade
More than a hundred Falun Gong practitioners gathered in Tokyo's Ebisu Park the afternoon of April 25, 2010. They held a rally and marched to commemorate the 11th anniversary of the April 25th appeal and to expose the 11-year-long persecution of Falun Gong in China.
The 2010 APEC CEO Summit was held in Yokohama, Japan, between November 12 -13. Leaders from 21 countries and regions including the U.S.A, Japan, and China, attended. Falun Gong practitioners in Japan appealed in front of the Diet, raising people's awareness of the brutal persecution of Falun Gong in China, for the entire summit.
Exhibition boards draw attention.
A display about 30 meters long was placed in front of the Diet building, detailing Falun Gong's popularity around the world, why Falun Gong is persecuted, the Chinese Communist Party's atrocities of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners, and the SOS international rescue efforts and chronicling lawsuits pending in international courts against Jiang Zemin, the chief culprit in the persecution of Falun Gong.
