DPI-Japan, People First Japan, Japan Council of Independent Living Centers, and other organizations held their second major protest regarding the planned changes to the national welfare system for people with disabilities (the so-called "Grand Design") by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW). The protests were held December 13-15th in front of the MHLW building in central Tokyo.
Note: I covered the first protest (held October 20th) in my main web gallery: http://photoethnography.com/gallery/dpij-protest2004/index.html
Day 1: December 13th
The first day was spent demonstrating in front of the MHLW building and handing out pamphlets. I was not able to attend this day.
Day 2: December 14th
The second day was spent demonstrating, but key leaders within the disability organizations also met with members of the various political parties of Japan. I attended the meeting with the members of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), who were very sympathetic to the concerns of the disability groups. Formed in 1998, DPJ is currently the main opposition party in Japan.
Day 3: December 15th
This last day was the main day of protests but it was also an opportunity for the leadership to meet with the staff of the MHLW. I attended this as an observer. As has traditionally been the case, the MHLW was not open to discussion and only sent very low-level staff to the meeting (section assistants 課長補佐). The staff were also very hostile to the group as well, at one point shouting at them and telling them to shut up. It was not a productive meeting for the protesters. The photo below is of the ministry staff listening to the concerns of the protesters.
Update: I should add that the Japanese media again did not cover this major event despite over 3000 protesters in front of the MHLW building. According to the demonstrators, the MHLW is putting pressure on the major newspapers and television networks to not cover this. At least some international media blogs have picked this up.
Further coverage of this event will be posted on the gallery page of the main website (photoethnography.com).
