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The 6th Kyoto Zenta Sitting
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We (15 people from at least 4 countries, 4 under 15 years old, some even from Tokyo, Gifu and Mie) sat silently & handed out flyers and stickers for 4 hours. Some people recognized us from the newspaper. Our Zenta Kids are growing up with BND as one of the most important holidays of the year!
Peace&Quiet
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We did a really 'soft sell' this year, not handing out too many flyers, but taking more time to talk with people, giving off a really calm and relaxed vibe that set us off from the clamor of charities and commerical promoters. The Hankyu department store's glitzy windows were a good contrast too!
Reckless commercial PR gives police crack-down powers
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Loudspeakers in the shopping walkway blared an endless loop of announcements (produced by the police and the department store together!) advising shoppers to ignore for sales promotions or requests for donations. A person claiming to be an off-duty policeman warned us not to tape anything down, something that has never happened. Sales promotion people of KDDI, a phone company aggressively accosted passers-by, no doubt their fault that this public space is now policed more heavily. Another case of commercial speech infringing on citizen's freedom of expression.
I'm happy to hear that not all municipalities are as fascistically inclined as Kyoto (where they require a copy of your flyer before they issue a permit, and charge you 1400 yen for it)- in Chatan-cho in Okinawa, non-profits don't need to register at all.
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After the sitting, we headed to the Zenta Party! ?
"Celebrate the BND Feast" - Casseurs de Pub (Adbusters France) called this year on people to "Bring what you have in your cupboards, invite people from the community, bring your own plates and cups, and enjoy music and a good conversation!" That's exactly what we did. We brought plenty of drink and rice (and divine oden and traditional Full Moon Sweet Potatoes) and we went crazy with the spicy curries, salsa and dried fruit provided by Tengu Natural Foods. Later, kids and adults joined in the jam sessions, there was no lack of exotic instruments (which cafe boss Ginji usually does not want people to touch)- ukelele, jamisen, guitars of various sizes and colors, drums, etc. etc. Only Giri, the cafe cat slept through it all. Some elves from out of town ended up staying the night, ... too bad not all could stay for this bash!
Party Photos http://homepage.mac.com/ellenycx/PhotoAlbum7.html
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