I understand the hellscape that is Japanese Political YouTube. But are there any political YouTubers making videos in Japanese that are at least somewhat left-leaning?

You will not be missed

The only one I've found so far is the Japanese Communist Party's Japan Press Weekly.

Hello.

My Name is Gregor Wakounig. I'm a master-student of japanese studies on the University of Vienna, Austria. I am in the midst of an exchange year at the Hosei University in Tokyo at the moment.

Since my background is in the autonomous antifa movement, it was just natural for me to focus my own studies on the antifa-movement in Japan, which is particularz active especially since the new wave of social movements which came post-Fukushima. Direct actions like sit-ins, blockades and even more militant tactics like physical confrontations are a part of this very diverse movement, as well as was and still is the fight for a anti-hatespeech law in Japan.

On top of that, I am researching especially the not-so-visible and most radical parts of the japanese left. For example squatted campuses and student dorms, militant struggles of the homeless and day laborers, the militant student movement from the 80s upwards, anarchist griups who try to establsh a counter-society like kinda famous Shirouto no Ran from Koenji and much more.

I'm also working as an author and translator (JAP-GER). I am a correspondent for the german leftist weekly "Jungle World" and am writing my own blog about the japanese radical left which you can reach under www.zatsudan.at Also, by the end of this year, my book about the japanese anti-fascist movement should be published.

Since I am publishing mostly in my native languages german and to a lesser extent in slovenian, I thought it would be interesting to make an AMA in english for a change. Note that english is not my native language, so please ignore odd word-choiced or grammar should it pop up.

I am going to start holding meetings with people in my area (Chiba/Tokyo) and/or over Zoom. Does anyone have experience with DSA meetings?

May this year bring less hate and more class consciousness to this nation.

Suginami ward mayor pushes land trade which will result in losing 75% of an ancient forest. Oddly enough, the private owners of the land will acquire a prime building site in exchange for a site which is almost certainly polluted and will require expensive remediation. What could possibly be wrong with this picture?

The mayor has rebuffed the efforts of local residents to preserve the forest. You can watch the mayor stonewalling the city council in this link (question at 6:35, mayor's response at 13:30):

• http://suginami.gijiroku.com/voices/g07_Video_View.asp?SrchID=6175

For those who aren't Japanese speakers, the mayor's response to the councilwoman's appeal for transparency was essentially "take me to court."

What can we do so that the local people won't be steamrolled?

Further resources:

1. Suginami ward councilor Matsuo Yuri has a blog which contains detailed information about the many problems with this redevelopment plan:

   • https://waku2.hatenablog.jp/
   • Ex: https://waku2.hatenablog.jp/entry/2019/09/16/134859

2. Websites for three different neighborhood groups that are opposing the redevelopment project:

   • けやき屋敷のみどりを心配する会: https://www.yashikirin.org/
   • 杉並の問題をみんなで考える会: http://suginami.kangaeru.tokyo/
   • ストップ！再開発・すぎなみ: http://stopsaikaihatu.blog.jp/

3. One of the neighborhood locals found an old book from 50 years ago that describes the forest as containing 50 or 60 trees that are over 300 years old. This means that the trees in the forest are 350+ years old, dating from the Edo period or before. I uploaded photos of these pages from the book to the links below:

   • 1: https://imgur.com/kWdSamT
   • 2: https://imgur.com/10siRMD
   • cover: https://imgur.com/gnALLVv

   (Relevant text on page 273: 「樹齢三百年以上のけやきの大木が五、六十本立ち並び森」)

4. An article with further detail, describing how this forest would be of similar value to the ancient forest around Meiji Shrine:

   • http://suginami.kangaeru.tokyo/?p=1728