Interview Summary of one retired man (A) brought his two friends (B&C) from college to the Friday Night Protest. We interviewed all three of them, but mainly A, who participates in the Friday Night Protest every week. All of them participated in Anpo 70s.
(00:30~) A’s Background
A was a part of Jis Emergency Action For Peace & Liberal Democracy-s. It is a group of people who give a speech at the front of Sophia University (Professor Koichi Nakano is a part of it).
(3:00~) Did the Friday Night Protest Changed over time?
A said the number of participants declined and not many media talks about them anymore. Only Tokyo Shinbun and Akahata Shinbun writes about them every week. He said one of the reasons why people stopped attending the protest is it is difficult to come to Kasumigaseki every week. For example, A takes more than an hour to get to Kasumigaseki and the transportation costs a lot.
(5:00~) Then Why Kasumigaseki?
A said people who decides everything is all working here (Kasumigaseki); therefore, there is a special meaning to it. He thinks Kasumigaskei has a symbolic meaning. He also said he believes their Friday Night Protest created a base for other protest groups such as SEALDs to protest in Kasumigaseki.
(6:30~) What Do You Think About SEALDs? Comparison between Anpo 70s Protestors and Current Protestors
A said “Well, first of all, we are Zenkyoto (“All-Campus Joint Struggle Councils”) generation, but were not violent like who were wearing plastic construction helmets and a gewalt stick.” He said media only showed the violent people, but there were a lot of non violent people like them. All the college students back then had some kind of opinions. If not, then they considered themselves as a group call “non policy.” Not having an opinion was also considered as an opinion. Therefore, every college students was a part of the social movement. And those people are now influenced by SEALDs and felt they need to be involved again in a social movement, so a lot of them came back to involve in a social movement. They think SEALDs are doing a great job, because they are not like “we are going to lead a revolution!” like back in the 70s, but instead, they are trying to change the Diet in a legal way. They are speaking up their opinions directly toward the Diet.
(15:50~) Focus on One Issue – Anti-Nukes
People are not allowed to talk about other issues during the Friday Night Protest. They have to focus on one issue – Anti-Nukes. Therefore, anyone from any political parties including LDP, organizations, ideologies, and more can join as long as they have same view on a nuclear energy and focus on this issue.
(18:40~) Relationship with Police
They said like Anpo 70s, if they use violences police will react to it with violences. So to continue with this movement, they need to stay away from using a violence. They believe that we learned from Anpo 70s that violence cannot change anything.
(27:00~) Do You Consider Yourself as an Activist?
A consider himself as an active citizen. He thinks there is no more distinctions between activists and regular citizens like in Anpo 70s, but he thinks there is an active citizens and a citizen.
MU
Demonstrating Space: Kasumigaseki 