Hundreds gather in Japan, New Zealand to protest George Floyd killing
Holding handmade signs that read “Black Lives Matter,” hundreds of people marched peacefully in Tokyo on Sunday, highlighting the outrage over the death of George Floyd even in a country often perceived as homogeneous and untouched by racial issues. Mitsuaki Shidara, standing in the crowd at Yoyogi Park, where the march began, said Japan has plenty of discrimination problems, but they’re overlooked. “We are all human first, but we are divided by nationality, gender, religion, skin color,” he said, wearing a pendant with the Japanese character for “love,” which he said was his favorite word.
“What’s happening in the U.S. shows racism is going on, even after 400 years,” said Shidara, who works for a food maker. Mio Kosaka, another participant, said she had been a victim of discrimination at times while growing up in Beijing and Tokyo, because her parents were Japanese and Chinese. “I think it is so wrong to discriminate based on appearance, and I wanted to relay the message that the American people have allies in Japan,” said Kosaka, who is studying design at a U.S. college.
“Some people don’t even know there is discrimination. Awareness needs to be raised,” she added. Protests have continued across the US but also in Europe, including Belgium, Germany and Britain, as well as Australia, where people have been confronting racism and demanding change. The demonstrators were pushed into action by the May 25 death of Floyd, a black man who said he could not breathe as a white Minneapolis police officer pushed his knee against his neck for nearly 9 minutes.
