Non-Partisan Alliance of Twenty-One Japanese Members of Parliament Forms to Rescue Yoko Kaneko (Photos)

On July 29, 2002, twenty-one members from four major political parties in Japan, including the Liberal Democratic Party, the Democratic Party, the Liberal Party, and the Conservative Party, formed an alliance to rescue Falun Gong practitioner Yoko Kaneko.

On the afternoon of July 29, the inaugural meeting of the alliance was held at the conference hall for members of the House of Representatives of Japan. Mr. Makino Seishuu, chairman and member of the House of Representatives and Mr. Maita Kensou, vice-chairman and member of the House of Representatives and several other congressmen gave speeches. They expressed that they would try their best to seek the release of Yoko Kaneko and secure her safe return to Japan and reuniting with her family. After that, Mr. Makino and several other congressmen together with Mr. Kaneko Atsushi, Kaneko Yoko's husband, went to the Foreign Affairs Ministry to meet with Mr. Seiken Sugiura, Senior Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, and handed him nearly 30 thousand signatures of support from Japanese citizens urging the Japanese government to take action to rescue Ms. Yoko Kaneko. Mr. Seiken Sugiura expressed that they would do their best to rescue her.

That same afternoon, Mr. Makino and the Association for Rescuing Yoko Kaneko held a press conference in the hall on the first floor of the Foreign Affairs Ministry. The major news media and TV networks came and covered the conference.