‘Why is there so much security for such a small demonstration?’

HEAVY security and the Japanese public’s relative political apathy gave anti-globalisation protests a much smaller profile in Japan than in many previous G8 summit meetings.

Two hours north of the summit meeting, in Sapporo, the largest city on Hokkaido, opponents of the G8 meeting held a third day of protests, including a march and an alternative summit meeting.

About 150 people, some made up as clowns or dressed in black-spotted cow suits, marched through downtown Sapporo to protest the globalisation of agriculture. While Japan has not been as hard hit as many poor countries by rising food prices, organisers said the food crisis was a chance to rethink agricultural trade and rely more on locally grown products.

The marchers, who chanted “No More G8” in English and Japanese, included Japanese farmers and a handful of activists from Europe, the US and Latin America. In the heavy-handed style of Japan’s security during the summit meeting so far, about the same number of police officers as protesters were on hand, forming a cordon around the march and following in four blue and white buses.

“We face a food crisis, but the G8 has no answers,” said one of the march’s organisers, Yoshitaka Mashima, vice-chairman of the Japan Family Farmers Movement. “This is an opening for us to appeal to the public with new ideas.

“Why is there so much security for such a small demonstration?” he asked.

In the days leading up to the summit and during the meeting, security has been heavy, as Japan has tried to ensure that the meeting goes off without a hitch.

Foreigners have been interrogated at Japanese airports, and last week 24 South Korean trade and farm union activists were denied entry, according to Korean and Japanese activists.

The biggest demonstration so far came Saturday, when an estimated 3,000 marchers gathered in Sapporo. Four people were arrested after minor scuffles with the police. Roadblocks and tight security made it difficult to hold a protest closer to the summit meeting, organisers said.

At the alternative summit meeting, a few hundred people attended as some 50 Japanese and international groups held seminars on issues like climate change and the rights of Hokkaido’s indigenous people, the Ainu.

Masaaki Ohashi, vice chairman of the alternative summit meeting said for Japan, “just having 3,000 people protest was a big deal”.