Globalise Not!

G8 Hokkaido 2008

Labels: 2008, G8, Hokkaido

posted by they lied @ 7:55 PM

Call for Participation - NO! G8 in Hokkaido

Stop by Hokkaido in July? Given the current state of economy and inflation, there has never been a better time to make a difference. Email japang8camp(at)riseup.net for more details.

5th July is International Action Day. To be part of the action, click here if you are in London.


Call for Participation: Towards the Emergence of a New “Alternative Village” space in Hokkaido

“G8 Action Network” Convergence-center / Camp Work Group

• Our Plan
　The G8 will be held in July of this year (200 8) at lake Toya (Toya-ko) in Hokkaido. We expect thousands of people from all over the world will gather in Hokkaido, as individuals and various NGO groups, to take part in a medley of actions. We (Convergence-center/Camp Work Group) look forward to the completion of an Alternative Village, both a hive for the swarm and a place for dialogue.

Action schedule

* 13-14 June (Osaka) Meeting Ministers of Financial Affairs
* 26-27 June (Kyoto) Anti-Foreign Ministers Meetings, Rally and March
* 28-29 June (Tokyo) Anti-G8 Rally and March
* 01-04 July (Sapporo) Themed Actions (Rally and March)
o 01 July (Sapporo) Anti-military base/ anti-war
o 02 July (Sapporo) Anti-WTO, privatization
o 03 July (Sapporo) Anti-neo-liberalism
o 04 July (Sapporo) Farmers’ day, day of AINU

* 05 July (Sapporo) International Action Day
* 05 July (Chitose) Airport Protest
* 07-09 July (Lake Toya) Blocking the G8
* 06-08 July (Sapporo) Alternative Summit

• Convergence-center
The convergence-center will act as your window to a host of knowledge & information concerning the G8; as a studio for printing data & documents; as a studio for creative work & operations; as a meeting place, and as a resting place; as a point of internet access; and as a forum for international exchange. The center will function as an important node, gathering those of us unaccustomed with the land together in order to stimulate collaborative operations, and, at the same time, we will work to ensure that local voices are active in education and discussion.

Facilities for Foreigners

* In Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto – Convergence Centre
* In Sapporo – Convergence Centre, Camp, Independent Media Centre
* Near Lake Toya – Camp, Independent Media Centre

• Camp
The Camp is provided as an area for those of us coming with (I)NGOs and citizens’ groups to pitch our tents.

We are working with you to plan an international kitchen, concerts, film screenings, a world football tournament, workshops on environmental issues and nature conservation, as well as other events to be held in and around the camp grounds. This is ‘another possibility’, “Alternative Village”. “Alternative Village” will be an experimental environment in which every participant builds the space for participation with their own hands. This is the type of space that has been actualized through the participation of many people against the G8 at Évian-les-Bains in France, again at Gleneagles in Scotland, and again at Heiligendamm in Germany. Moreover, the camp and its surrounding activities provide a chance for those from around the world to interchange and build networks with the local residents.

• Our Goals
The aims of the Convergence-center and Camp are not simply to provide an infrastructure for information-exchange and lodging; more broadly, we hope to help architect a shared space in which we can mutually help out and cooperate. This is a space for the creation of ideas & expressions by all its participants; a solid foundation onto which we may build something anew. The establishment of this free, open space takes a large place among our goals.

• We Need Your Participation & Collaboration!
Currently, we are looking for volunteers to help in creating and running the Convergence Center and to participate in the Camp Work Group. Everyone with interest is sincerely invited to contact us at the e-mail address below.

Labels: Alternative Camp, G8, Hokkaido

posted by they lied @ 10:18 PM Comments: 0

Overseas Citizens' Groups Prepare G8 Strategy

Another meeting which bars members from entering the country. Increased negative vibes on the meeting and no real news from the G8 leaders. Join us in our protest


As the Group of Eight summit approaches in July, leaders of overseas citizens' groups got together Friday in Tokyo to prepare countermeasures for the upcoming annual meeting of the major developed countries near Lake Toya, Hokkaido.

The G8 Action Network, holding a press conference in Tokyo, argued that the G8 summit members have only worsened the poverty and debt of developing countries by pushing for global free trade and deregulation.

The network will organize forums and demonstrations during the period of the summit in Hokkaido, the group said at the news conference.

The G8 Action Network currently consists of 32 nongovernmental organizations as well as 141 individuals in Japan, plus overseas groups such as, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions from South Korea, and Migrant Forum in Asia and Focus on the Global South, both from the Philippines.

"We have come here all of us from different movements and organizations from around the world . . . to call for solidarity from the Japanese organizations," said Mary Lou Malig of Focus on the Global South.

"The G8 nations account for just 14 percent of the world's population," Malig said, claiming that its decisions could largely dictate the course of the rest of the world and have worsened poverty and increased insecurity during the past few years.

During the conference, the group also announced that a representative from the Committee for Asian Women was rejected by immigration officials trying to enter Japan on Thursday at Narita airport.

The reason for the refusal was not immediately known as of Friday night.

Technorati Tags: G8 and Hokkaido.

Labels: G8, Hokkaido

posted by they lied @ 9:20 AM Comments: 0

Japan May Protect G8 Site with Missiles

Weapons of Mass Destruction. All in the name of security.

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Japan may position missile interceptors around the site of the Group of Eight summit of industrialized nations, to be held on the northern island of Hokkaido in July, a newspaper said on Wednesday.

Japan introduced its first Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) ground-to-air missile interceptors at the Iruma air base north of Tokyo last March, as part of a shield aimed at protecting the country from ballistic missile attack.

But the interceptors have a range of about 20 km, so they would need to be positioned closer to the summit venue at Lake Toyako in order to provide protection during the conference. The G8 summit brings together the leaders of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Russia as well as Japan.

The Sankei Shimbun quoted a Defense Ministry official as saying that although the chances of a ballistic missile attack on the venue are extremely low, Japan wants to take all possible precautions against air attack.

"We must consider measures to deal appropriately with whatever situations may arise," said a Defense Ministry spokesman, who declined to comment directly on the report.

A "Summit Unit" made up of air, ground and sea troops is also to be set up to respond immediately to any eventuality, the Sankei Shimbun said.

An outer layer of Defense against ballistic missiles is provided by ship-based SM-3 missiles. Japan became the United States' closest missile Defense ally after North Korea fired a ballistic missile across the country in 1998, which landed in the Pacific Ocean.

Technorati Tags: G8, Japan, Hokkaido and Missiles.

Labels: G8, Hokkaido, Japan, Missiles

posted by they lied @ 11:39 PM Comments: 0