Our urgent demands to the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Company regarding the Fukushima Daiichi power plant nuclear accidents
31 March, 2011
People's Plan Study Group

On 11 March, a massive earthquake and tsunami hit the eastern part of Japan. It is estimated that the number people who have died or are missing exceeds 30,000. We would like to express deep sympathy for the victims and to offer what support we can...

Towards the Autonomy of the People of the World: Need for a New Movement of Movements to Animate People’s Alliance Processes
by Muto Ichiyo
November 2009

My point of departure in imagining ‘another world’ is that we are in the second historical wave of people’s movement against capitalism, the first wave being the 19th to 20th century communist-socialist movement concentrating on the seizure of state as the decisive instrument of social change.

Is Japan changing after the fall of LDP? :Hatoyama and the DPJ’s new “politics in command”
by Muto Ichiyo
September 2009

Dear Vinod, I thank you for prompting me to write on it. The August 30 general election here has brought on the decisive downfall of the Liberal Democratic Party, ushering in a new dynamics in Japanese politics. I felt that this change of situation would require a full analysis to be shared by friends overseas......

The 2008 G8 Summit held in July in Hokkaido Prefecture was met by a "counter movement" comprising demonstrations, symposia, workshops and other activities. The Hokkaido capital, Sapporo, became a hub for Japanese and international groups and individuals, and actions also took place in and around Toyako Lake, the venue for the July 4-6 summit. Although I saw various approaches to the G8 summit from the different people involved, I believe that on the whole the events marked the emergence of a new "counter movement" against the G8 summit in particular and neoliberal globalization in general.

Our Response to the G8 Summit &mdash from Local to Global, from Global to Local
by Koshida Kiyokazu
December 2007

The Group of Eight (G8) Summit Conference 2008 is to be held at Toyako lakeside in Hokkaido. I live in Hokkaido, which is located at the northernmost tip of the Japanese archipelago and has a population of some 5.6 million. Among the administrative divisions of Japan, this is the second largest island and occupies 22 percent of the total area of Japan.

Make the Toyako Summit 2008 the Last G8 Summit!
interview with Walden Bello
March 2008

&mdash A different initiative to mobilize Japanese people against the G8 summit which is taking place in 2008, in Toyako town, Hokkaido Prefecture, is emerging. How do you see the present G8 strategy and what kind of struggle is important and necessary for movements against the G8, especially against the Japanese government that plays a key role in controlling other Asian countries through the G8 and Asian monetary system? What do you think about the present G8 situation and its role in the global capitalist regime?

G8 Summit &mdash Capitalist Crisis and Poer Usurpation
interview with Ogura Toshimaru
November 2007

&mdash Mr. Ogura, you are organizing activities to counter the forthcoming Group of Eight summit in Japan, right? It will be held in July 2008, at an isolated gaudy resort hotel looking down on the Toyako Lake in Hokkaido. The Japanese government announced that it will mobilize a police force of 20,000 to Hokkaido to contain any action against the summit.

An issue scarcely discussed or debated during the July 2007 Upper House election was nonetheless to have a tremendous impact on their outcome. It was the issue of agriculture, rural communities, small towns, and villages.

Abandon the “relocation” formula and begin negotiation with the United States for unconditional closure of the Futenma base!
December 8 2009

It is hard to believe that it happened but it did. In an 18-month working process begun in February 2005 and completed in June 2006, Japan willingly surrendered command over its military forces to the United States, committing itself unconditionally to the American empire's global strategic imperatives. It is surprising that the Japanese government made this commitment at a time when the U.S. war chariot was sinking into the bog of a "long war" it had unleashed.

Women's Trade Union Movement in Japan &mdash from Margin to the Making of the Action Center
interview with Ito Midori

Women's Active Museum on War and Peace &mdash Creating a Hub of Activism for Peace and Gender Justice
interview with Nishino Rumiko

Why We are against the Emperor System in Japan
interview with Sakurai Daiko