Japan: Falun Gong Practitioners Hold March and Rally Ahead of G8 Summit in Hokkaido

The G8 Summit, comprised of leaders from over 30 countries, took place on July 7-9, 2008 at the Toyako resort area at Lake Toya, Hokkaido, Japan. One day ahead of the summit, Japanese Falun Gong practitioners gathered in Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido, where they became the focus of the international community. The practitioners held a rally and parade expressing their support for persecuted Falun Gong practitioners in China. Local and overseas major media paid attention to their activity.

On the morning of July 6, Falun Gong practitioners from across Japan held a march in Sapporo, appealing to the international community to stop the Chinese Communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong. The parade began in Odori Park in downtown. Participants held banners reading, "Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong," "Sternly Punish Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan," "Heaven Eliminates the CCP and Heaven Blesses China," and other messages. The march continued along busy downtown streets for an hour, attracting nearly 20 media outlets, including AFP, Yomiuri Shimbun, news agencies and television stations in Hokkaido.

The parade coordinator, Associate Professor Hoshino, from Rakuno Gakuen University in Hokkaido, said in an interview that recently the Chinese Communist regime has intensified its persecution of dissidents and Falun Gong practitioners using the ruse of a "Safe Olympics". The Chinese Communist regime has used horrible and inhuman means in its persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, including harvesting the practitioners' organs when they are still alive and selling the organs for profit. Falun Gong practitioners held the march as the G8 Summit was taking place in Hokkaido, aiming to appeal to the international community to help stop the Chinese Communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong.

The Divine Land Marching Band led the parade. The band performed "Falun Dafa Is Good" along the entire parade route, attracting many passersby, who stopped and watched. Children of Falun Gong practitioners who came with their parents helped pass out flyers introducing Falun Gong to passersby. They also gave out beautiful paper lotus flowers they made by hand to passersby and tourists.

The Japan Quitting the Chinese Communist Party Service Center also took part in the parade in support of more than 39 million Chinese people who have withdrawn from the CCP and its affiliated organisations.