Japan: Parade and Rally Held in Hokkaido to Promote Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and Expose the Persecution

June 2nd, 2007 was a sunny day in the City of Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. Falun Gong practitioners held a rally and parade to disseminate the good messages of Falun Dafa's Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and expose the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) nearly eight years of brutal persecution of Falun Gong. This was the first time that the practitioners held such a large-scale activity introducing Falun Dafa and clarifying the facts in the City of Sapporo.

Falun Gong practitioners practise the exercises early in a park in Sapporo, Hokkaido

Waist drummers

Graceful and elegant "celestial maidens"

Parade attracts attention from passersby

In the early morning, practitioners gathered in Datong Park for group practice and Falun Gong introduction activities. At 1:15 pm the rally began.

During the rally, many practitioners gave speeches. One Falun Gong practitioner, who is also an associate professor of a university pointed out in his speech that two practitioners passed the eleven-plus examination, but because they practise Falun Gong, the Chinese Consulate in Sapporo exerted pressure on the school authorities, who cancelled their matriculation, depriving them of their right to study in Sapporo. This is another piece of evidence proving that the CCP has extended its persecution outside of China.

The coordinator of the Japan Falun Dafa Association pointed out that there was an incident in Kyushu where Falun Gong practitioners were denied participation in a festival celebration due to pressure exerted by the local Chinese Consulate. He called upon people from all walks life in Japan to be take note of this matter and not allow the CCP to continue its persecution of Falun Gong. Two more Falun Gong practitioners, Yang Guiyuan and Zhang Yanhui, also recounted the persecution that they and their family members had suffered for practising Falun Gong. They called upon people to see clearly the CCP's evil nature, and quickly quit the CCP and its affiliated organisations, breaking away from the CCP to embrace a beautiful future.

After the rally, a parade set off from the park in the downtown area and marched on busy streets. The parade procession was led by a float bearing the words "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." Behind the float were noble waist drummers, and the rounds of drum beats struck passersby deeply. Next were a group of practitioners holding banners reading "Falun Dafa Is Good," "The World Needs Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance," "CCP: Stop Killing Falun Gong Practitioners," "The CCP Evil Spectre Has Been Uprooted" and other banners. Many passersby carefully read the contents of the banners, and looked surprised. People read truth-clarifying materials from practitioners while looking at the banners, and showed great concern. Elegant celestial maidens were at the end of the parade procession, and many people took pictures of them to capture the beautiful moments.

This reporter noticed that two young Japanese ladies had been attentively listening to the speeches at the rally, and followed the parade procession for its entire route. They told the reporter that they are university students who have a great interest in traditional Chinese culture, and have also learned something about the persecution of Falun Gong by the CCP, so they especially came to take part in the activity.

A journalist from a magazine agency Finance Circle in Sapporo said that he had learned about the persecution of Falun Gong and understood that only the CCP can do such things.

When an older woman, who lived in Shenyang China for ten years when she was young, saw the parade procession, she kept praising it; "Wonderful, Marvelous." She also excitedly greeted practitioners in Chinese and felt quite sad after listening to practitioners talk about the persecution of Falun Gong.

The parade lasted for two hours. Afterwards, Falun Gong practitioners went to the front of the Chinese Consulate in Sapporo to start a round-the-clock relay of sending forth righteous thoughts and protesting the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong.