The crowd doesn't look as big as some of the past Friday protests at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. Calling it "200,000" like the organizers did is probably a stretch, but so is the call by AP of "thousands". Reuters' "tens of thousands" may be just about right. But who knows. I wasn't there to feel the size, so what am I to say?
These aerial photographs were taken by "正しい報道ヘリの会" (proper reporting helicopter's group).
Photos by Masaya Noda (（cc）Masaya NODA / JVJA). Click to enlarge:
Photos by Ryuichi Hirokawa (（cc）Ryuichi HIROKAWA):
By the way, the organizers of this protest and Friday protests at PM Official Residence (except on July 27) are meeting with politicians including former Prime Minister Naoto Kan on July 31. Just as some older and more cynical observers of the whole protests have long predicted. The organizers are proudly declaring they are so different from the stupid old-timers who only knew how to throw rocks at the police. (Uh huh.)
DPJ's leadership election is scheduled on September 21, and Yoshihiko Noda is expected to win.
This friendly discussion meeting between the organizers and politicians is closed to the public, but Iwakami's IWJ and Nico Nico will do the live netcast for the rest of us from 5PM on July 31, according the organizers.
Whenever I look at the photos and videos of the Friday protests or any other local protests, what I see is the old timers - people in their 50s, 60s, 70s who do not want to leave the country like it is now to their children and grandchildren.
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7 comments:
People above 50 are maybe more accustomed to the idea of "direct democracy" from their youth (as opposed to representative democracy).
In fact, there might not be any real democracy other than "direct" and a closed doors meeting seem to go the other direction.
By the way, on the stock exchange, another direct mechanism, TEPCO and KEPCO keep sinking.
Beppe
The city is beautiful, we can see so many people on the street
http://www.asahi.com/politics/update/0731/TKY201207310786.html
Am I reading the above correctly? Was Noda a no-show at the meeting with the Friday demonstration organizers?
Noda was never expected to be there anyway. It was a publicity stunt by a group of politicians led by Naoto Kan. Kan said during the press conference that Noda was for gradual withdrawal from nuclear power and that he endorsed Noda's stance.
... a publicity stunt ...
ok. I guess that's better than doing nothing at all. progress?
Well, progress in a sense that after seeing the video or reading Iwakami's tweets, more people now realize Kan is just another scheming pol after all.
@banh trung thu, yes, it is beautiful, isn't it?
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