Thousands of activists from Japan and overseas Sunday marched in Tokyo to protest the Group of Eight summit, with two demonstrators arrested during a rally. Japan has tightened security nation-wide, particularly in the capital Tokyo and the northern lakeside resort of Toyako, where G8 national leaders will meet from July 7-9.
"Stop the G8 summit! They only create poverty!", demonstrators from anti-globalisation groups to the homeless shouted under pouring rain as they hit the street in Tokyo's Shinjuku entertainment district.
Some demonstrators started minor scuffles with riot police, complaining the security was too tight. "We are only speaking out on our views. It's nonsense that police officers try to control our actions like this," said Masamichi Kato, 39.
"There are many countries out there. It doesn't make any sense that leaders from only eight nations make important policies," said Toshiko Higa, 63, who joined the protest in a wheelchair. Tokyo police has raised the security level to the highest possible in the capital, mobilising up to 21,000 officers until the summit is over, police said.
More than a dozen activists who had planned to attend anti-globalisation events from overseas have been stopped by Japan's immigration authorities, according to the Lawyers Network for Human Rights on Summit.
"Most panelists who had been scheduled to speak at a symposium on Monday were detained hours at airports," said Chigaya Kinoshita from the network. "Two others were deported and couldn't enter at all."
In another rally in Tokyo, police arrested two people as some 1,500 leftist protesters demonstrated in Shibuya, one of Tokyo's major shopping districts, TV Asahi reported. Police could not confirm the arrests immediately. As part of the security measures for the G8, Japan will impose a no-fly zone over the venue for the summit, aiming at preventing a September 11-style terrorist attack.