Mike's Meditations

« Golden Week Day 2 | Main | The George and Keiko Show »

May 11, 2003

Hiroshima Pics

I just got sent some more pictures from the parade in Hiroshima so I thought I'd share them here.

Parade Pictures

Demonstrating the five Falun Gong exercises in the parade.

The main body of the parade.

I was doing exercise two which is like a standing meditation. It is very simple consisting of four postures. Each is held for a long time but how long is up to the person practising.

The two boys were doing the sitting meditation and each of the adults did one of the four standing exercises. The boys were very popular with the crowd.

Group photo. The dancers costumes were really beautiful. In the background (big picture) you can see the Chinese characters Zhen-Shan-Ren (Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance) which are the core principles of Falun Gong. (Japanese pronunciation is Shin-Zen-Nin)

I was only in Hiroshima for the one day but many other Falun Gong practitioners stayed the whole weekend. Those who stayed on collected signatures to raise awareness of the case of Yoko Kaneko (Chinese name Luo Rong).

Yoko had gone back to China to appeal against the unjust persecution of Falun Gong. She was arrested on 24th May 2002 for handing out flyers defending Falun Gong on a Beijing street. Amnesty International have issued "Urgent Action" to appeal. It says:

Luo Rong, a Chinese Falun Gong member with permanent residency in Japan, is currently serving one-and-half years’ “re-education through labour” in a Beijing labour camp. She was detained in the capital while handing out Falun Gong leaflets on 24 May 2002 during a visit to China She is reportedly seriously ill and has been hospitalized for high blood pressure. However there are serious concerns that she may not receive adequate hospital care. According to reports , Luo Rong has bruising around her wrists and has lost a lot of weight indicating that she may have been tortured or ill-treated whilst in the labour camp.

It also mentions Yoko's sister:

Luo Rong’s elder sister, Luo Zhen, a resident in China, was reportedly detained on 5 November by the Public Security Bureau in Mudanjiang City, Heilongjiang province, northeastern China, following her involvement in publicizing her sister’s case. She is reportedly held in incommunicado detention, and the family has not yet been informed of her whereabouts. According to unofficial sources, she may have been assigned to two years’ re-education through labour.

For more details about her case please visit the Yoko Kaneko Rescue Commitee

Falun Gong has been banned in China since 20th July 1999. Find out why here

To find out more about what Falun Gong is go here

Appeal Pictures

Passers-by signing a banner and writing a message.

A boy signing the banner

Some fellow gaijin (foreigners) finding out about Yoko's case. I hope there were plenty of practitioners who spoke English there. On a side note, if anyone in Japan needs help finding out about Falun Gong I can try to put you in touch with someone local who speaks English or you can email me questions if you've got any.

Posted by JapanMike at May 11, 2003 06:50 PM

Comments

Post a comment