This page will focus on the power dynamics within protesters, relationships between different factions of protesting groups, and how these dynamics affect protesting spaces of Kasumigaseki. The page will also focus on how the physical presence of authority (in these cases police officers and politicians) changes these dynamics, and the effect of such relationships to the spacial characteristics of protesting in Kasumigaseki.
Peaceful Protest
On November 7th, 2018, our research group visited a protest event in front of the National Diet Building in Kasumigaseki, where major protests in Japan usually take place. Every Friday, protesters gather around the Diet Building and the Prime Minister’s Residence to coordinate the protest, which we took as a chance to investigate the hierarchical dynamics of the protests. The event that was held this particular weekend was a gathering of anti-nuclear groups protesting against the government’s policies on restarting and utilizing nuclear power plants. Upon encountering and passively participating in this event, the research group has found some unique and peculiar aspects about protests in Kasumigaseki as well as distinct impression and atmosphere that surround the area during the 2-hour period of the event. The event was announced to start from 18:00 through SNS and other analog mediums, which proved to be precise. The event began as soon as the clock struck 18:00, and wrapped up as soon as the two-hour period had concluded. When we arrived in the protesting area, the first thing grabbing our attention was how people seamlessly cooperated with police officers to separate pedestrian space and protest space on the street to avoid any conflict with traffic. Protesters would bring traffic cones and barrier poles to create their own territory and police officers would warn protesters to get back inside that barrier if anyone stands still outside of that territory. The way in which both the protesters and police forces found administrative compromise with each other to make the event organized gave us an almost odd impression about the scenery: acts of protest generally carry much less official organizational collaboration between such parties. Moreover, the event had rules that were announced by a large female voice through a speaker system loud enough to send a message across the entire area. Rules generally regulate and prohibit unrelated activities such as external advertising or the distribution of pamphlets during the event. In the protest areas, there are usually a few different organizations gathering inside the protesting area, and each organization has their dedicated space they protest. Another communal rule that seemed to exist–which we later confirmed through interview–was that people are only allowed to protest one topic or issue per event. For example, if someone was to speak on female rights during an anti-nuke event, that individual or group would be forced to stop and leave the space. This again shows the coordinated nature of the protests in Kasumigaseki. Some questions that arose during observation of protests were: who organizes protesters and how did protests become organized? When and how did police force and protesters start to cooperate?
Before the Peace
To find out the source of the organized and peaceful nature of protests in Kasumigaseki, our research group interviewed several people attending the protest. As explained in HISTORY OF POST-WAR PROTEST IN JAPAN section of BACKGROUND page, Kasumigaseki protests were not always peaceful in nature. The environments of protests in the Post-war era were incomparably aggressive when put up against the current protest culture. During the interview in front of the Diet Building during a Friday Protest (please refer to PROTEST PARTICIPANTS in Interview page), one man (man who is referred to as “A” in interview section) who had participated in the 70s Anpo protests shared his opinion and impression regarding the difference in current protest culture and that of the 70’s. The 70’s movements consisted of much stronger anarchistic, radical ideologies, he explained.
People would run around holding rods to beat people with and organizations had a much more violent mentality in general, only being stoked by a strong sense of community and group identity. Although he was someone who preferred a peaceful approach to the protest, he saw cases in which conflict between government and protesters became brutal. Student activists would carry rods and Molotov cocktails to fight with authority figures or groups with opposing ideologies. These radical students that were common back in the 70’s were often referred to as Geba Bo (Gewalt Rods) and came up several times during the conversation and interview with protesters that had lived through the era.
Although Mr. A claimed that general protesters were not as aggressive as some of these students activists and “revolutionaries” that had the most exposure in the media, protesters were younger and more curious about the politics in general compared to the current population. The demographic of protesters today is relatively old as the majority of people attending the events are middle age to senior citizens and we rarely saw students or younger participants. Borrowing Mr. A’s words, the current protesting environment has “no energy”. Aggression is completely absent and there is almost no tension between authority (police officers) and protesters. We saw a few cases in which politicians from the Communist Party and Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan visited the booth of protesters and shook hands with representatives of the organization. This would be an unimaginable phenomenon if the anarchistic culture of 70’s protest was still present.
The research group wondered if there were any cultural or social shifts in Kasumigaseki or Tokyo in general, but participants of protests that we have interviewed were generally incapable of explaining the cause of the difference in protest culture from the past. Julia Obinger and David Chiavacc from Zurich University suggest the following five points to be the key factors that led to the end of 70’s (60’s) protest cycle: (1) Changes in national socio-economic and geopolitical structures; (2) Delegitimisation and stigmatisation of confrontational social movements; (3) Growing strength and flexibility of the conservative establishment; (4) Japan’s new success model as a general middle class society; (5) Limited organisational legacy of the previous protest cycle (Obinger & Chiavacc, 2018). From the above five factors, points two and four were palpably identifiable from the observations and interviews we conducted.
Protesters and Activists
To test the cultural association towards the act of protest, we asked a question to see what protesters identify themselves as. The answer to this question would give of a hint to the sense of legitimacy people hold toward the action of protest. We asked multiple people participating in the protest whether they would consider themselves an activist (活動家) or not and the answers varied. The term ‘activist’ carries a vague implication that differs depending on social and cultural context, and this was the exact reason why we asked the question: to expose such vagueness and uncover the slight social connotation associated with the term.
Ironic for the space that is actively utilized for participation, not many people attending the protest actually considered themselves an “activist” in Kasumigaseki. While the older population–especially those who attended the 70’s protests–tended to consider themselves activists, the vast majority of people attending the protests would refuse to call themselves that, which was particularly true with salarymen (a Japanese term to describe white collar workers) and female housekeepers. After the negative depiction of violent protest cycle of the 60’s and 70’s by the media of that time, the act of protest had been stigmatized, leaving a mark that continues to subsist in modern Kasumigaseki (Obinger & Chiavacc, 2018). One woman that we interviewed (see the interview [4] from the “Misc.” page) from Adachi-ku Labor Peace Committee Preparation, passionately advanced the social and political issues she was concerned about for about 30 minutes and distributed numerous flyers and pamphlets as well as newspaper article she was featured. After the long claims about social issues and descriptions of her involvements in the protests, we finally asked her if she considers herself an ‘activist’. Surprisingly, the answer was no. She immediately shook her head to the question and stated that she is “just a regular citizen doing the right thing”. This type of answer was very common, especially among those who seemed to care about social views. We asked a question regarding the stigma surrounding the protest or the word ‘activist’, but people generally responded with answers along the lines of “I do not know” or “I recognize such views (people stigmatizing protests), but there are more considerate people too”. Participants seemed to know that they were involved in something that is not socially appealing.
It is also important to note that Kasumigaseki, especially around the Diet building, is not a densely populated area. First of all, there are not many people walking in Kasumigaseki as most of the salarymen and public workers would rather use the trains or cars to commute and streets around the Diet Building are not the most efficient commuting routes for workers to walk. In a way, this is a location that protesters can maintain low exposure from the general public, while highly exposing themselves to political figures and occasionally news media. As we will describe later on, this makes their protesting style somewhat counter-intuitive. While this might be far-fetched, it does seem to reflect the mentality of protesters attending the events in Kasumigaseki.
The Aim of Misao Redwolf and the Goal of Protests
During our first visit to the Friday event, we luckily encountered the leader of the group organizing the entire event. Knowing almost nothing about the events or significance of this group managing protests in Kasumigaseki, we were fortunate enough to set up an interview with Misao Redwolf, the leader of Metropolitan Coalition Against Nukes, a month later. For her profile and the summary/notes on the interview, please go to Misao Redwolf under interview tab at the top menu. The interview also captures important contributions of her group in creating Kasumigaseki protests. Essentially, this group, at least according to Redwolf, was the key figure in creating organized protests culture in Kasumigaseki.
Despite the criticism of many other leftist groups including KakuMaru and Chūkaku, Redwolf has been creating a long trust relationship with police officers. When the new protest cycle emerged during 2012 and 2013, in order for the protests and demos to take place, she often consulted with Kojimachi Police station (the police station in charge of jurisdiction that includes Kasumigaseki) to notify and propose the movement of Demos and protest. This way she was able to acquire acknowledgment and permission from the police. For the Friday events as well, she would usually inform or announce the time and location protests would take place to the police station. The scene we saw of protesters and police officers collaborating to make protests happen, is essentially the outcome of such involvements by Redwolf. Police officers and protesters are amicable to the point that we were able to capture moments in which they would exchange greetings and short conversation like “Otsukare-sama”, or お疲れ様(Greeting in Japanese to praise people for working hard) with each other.
Redwolf states that her aim is to create space where people can freely protest without becoming involved in any conflicts or trouble that might lead to a shut down by the authority. She feels that contentious protests are much more effective and meaningful in Japanese culture where order and peace are valued, primarily due to the relatively high living standards and a lack of desperation for change, which is in sharp contrast to the violent and instantaneous movements of the past. She stands against any conflicts and violence within the area and this motto of her’s is exactly why this space is controlled by regulations and rules created locally by group organizing protests in Kasumigaseki.
Her decisions not only reflect Japanese social tendencies of seeking harmony but a continuous and manipulative effort from authorities from both parties: police and protesters. While lack of vigor and passion in Kasumigaseki could be a result of demographics consisting of older population and the absence of current and lethal sociopolitical issues, what we saw in our visits to the Friday events was a product of interminable establishment of the relationship between authorities that slowly became communal rules. In the center of the authoritarian city, Kasumigaseki protests endure as a surprisingly self-governed community that has successfully fused the space as a lightly surveyed space of protest.
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Demonstrating Space: Kasumigaseki 