YAKIMO
29-03-2007, 11:37 AM
You gotta party for your right to fight
Katsuhiro Furusawa wears a black helmet with a slogan written in large white characters on it. Sunglasses and a towel wrapped around his mouth conceal his face. He cheers out slogans. He's identical to the typical radicals that conga-danced their way through numerous protest marches Japan's streets in the '60s.
But this is 2007, AERA (4/2) notes, and the demonstrator is protesting White Day, the commercially generated "holiday" where men present women with gifts, often in return for chocolates they received on Valentine's Day exactly one month earlier.
Furusawa, 25, leads his fellow anti-White Day demonstrators through the streets of the Tokyo district of Ikebukuro as they chant out slogans like "Let's join hands with the women otaku" and "Pulverize Love Capitalism!" He says he's not opposed to love as such, just that society that has turned it into a commodity.
"All the mass media does is dehumanize those who aren't in love. It makes them worthless," the activist tells AERA. "But the love the mass media is talking about is actually commercial love. They're using love to turn people into consumers."
Youth activism was supposed to be dead in Japan. The country's youth are written off as apathetic. The mainstream media regards the young as beyond politics. But the reality may be a little different. Some pundits say the normally swinging youth vote got behind former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and was the driving force behind a landslide election win in 2005.
There is twist, though.
"You've got to make your message fun, or it won't get across," anti-White Day campaigner Furusawa says.
Other young political activists are getting the message. Take the Koenji NEET Union -- a gathering of young demonstrators who agitate against having their bicycles stolen from outside railway stations and march behind a truck with a DJ onboard who plays anything from rock and roll to enka, Japan's maudlin version of country music.
The union's demonstrations against such things as stolen bicycles and paying rent attract hundreds. Its first demo attracted over 100 marchers, even though the police derided its three members when they applied for a permit to protest, saying they would be the only three to turn up.
The union responded to the success by holding the Three Man March, where only three placard-carrying people took part, but footage of the march uploaded onto YouTube attracted 50,000 viewings.
Vegan Girl, 27, is also going about her own form of protests in the ancient capital of Kyoto. She writes messages she calls "Culture Jamming," including "read between the lines" on the white lines running along roads. On a hotel's marriage service ad reading: "fair city wedding," she scribbled "unfair pity wedding." It's barely noticeable, but Vegan Girl hopes somebody will gain something from her message.
"It's just something small that I do, but I want to oppose accepted values," Vegan Girl tells AERA.
Philosopher Toshihito Kayano says these tiny, trifling demonstrations have meaning.
"They are a protest against a society that makes excessive demands for communication," the philosopher tells AERA. "These young protesters take up two issues -- money and love. They are two main pillars that modern society uses to judge a success. But to achieve success in these fields requires an excessive degree of communication. For the protesters, that excess is a very serious problem."
Katsuhiro Furusawa wears a black helmet with a slogan written in large white characters on it. Sunglasses and a towel wrapped around his mouth conceal his face. He cheers out slogans. He's identical to the typical radicals that conga-danced their way through numerous protest marches Japan's streets in the '60s.
But this is 2007, AERA (4/2) notes, and the demonstrator is protesting White Day, the commercially generated "holiday" where men present women with gifts, often in return for chocolates they received on Valentine's Day exactly one month earlier.
Furusawa, 25, leads his fellow anti-White Day demonstrators through the streets of the Tokyo district of Ikebukuro as they chant out slogans like "Let's join hands with the women otaku" and "Pulverize Love Capitalism!" He says he's not opposed to love as such, just that society that has turned it into a commodity.
"All the mass media does is dehumanize those who aren't in love. It makes them worthless," the activist tells AERA. "But the love the mass media is talking about is actually commercial love. They're using love to turn people into consumers."
Youth activism was supposed to be dead in Japan. The country's youth are written off as apathetic. The mainstream media regards the young as beyond politics. But the reality may be a little different. Some pundits say the normally swinging youth vote got behind former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and was the driving force behind a landslide election win in 2005.
There is twist, though.
"You've got to make your message fun, or it won't get across," anti-White Day campaigner Furusawa says.
Other young political activists are getting the message. Take the Koenji NEET Union -- a gathering of young demonstrators who agitate against having their bicycles stolen from outside railway stations and march behind a truck with a DJ onboard who plays anything from rock and roll to enka, Japan's maudlin version of country music.
The union's demonstrations against such things as stolen bicycles and paying rent attract hundreds. Its first demo attracted over 100 marchers, even though the police derided its three members when they applied for a permit to protest, saying they would be the only three to turn up.
The union responded to the success by holding the Three Man March, where only three placard-carrying people took part, but footage of the march uploaded onto YouTube attracted 50,000 viewings.
Vegan Girl, 27, is also going about her own form of protests in the ancient capital of Kyoto. She writes messages she calls "Culture Jamming," including "read between the lines" on the white lines running along roads. On a hotel's marriage service ad reading: "fair city wedding," she scribbled "unfair pity wedding." It's barely noticeable, but Vegan Girl hopes somebody will gain something from her message.
"It's just something small that I do, but I want to oppose accepted values," Vegan Girl tells AERA.
Philosopher Toshihito Kayano says these tiny, trifling demonstrations have meaning.
"They are a protest against a society that makes excessive demands for communication," the philosopher tells AERA. "These young protesters take up two issues -- money and love. They are two main pillars that modern society uses to judge a success. But to achieve success in these fields requires an excessive degree of communication. For the protesters, that excess is a very serious problem."