The #OccupyWallStreet demonstrations have certainly been in the news a lot, and now they’ve come to Tokyo, with several different #OccupyTokyo events held, attracting between 100 and 300 participants each. When I heard about the planned demonstrations for Tokyo I knew they’d be a lot smaller than those in the U.S. for several reasons, first and foremost because Japanese people have different things to be angry about than demonstrators in other countries. While CEO pay in the U.S. is many times higher than their lowest-paid employees, in Japan the average pay difference is just 16 times from bottom to top, and there’s less perception that this is a major social problem here in Japan. The demonstrators over the weekend were more likely to vent their frustration at Tokyo power company TEPCO, or the new Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade agreement that’s being debated. Japan’s ruling Democratic Party of Japan, which has done very little other than changing Prime Ministers every 8 months, was also criticized.(Note, everyone may have an opinion on the validity of lack thereof of the demonstrations. Please keep things civil and polite should you decide to leave any comments below.)
A wave of demonstrations in Tokyo.
