Submitted by manager on 2008, July 9 - 02:40.
Scallops Trump the G8
by Inoue Shunsuke
July 8, 2008, 02:45
Rebun station on the Muroran line. The Rebun harbor near the station is known as the birthplace of volcanic bay scallop farming, but there are only eight trains a day that run there and the station is calm and quiet. The Toyoura campsite is 3.5 kilometers from here.
But the area around the station seems to be missing some of the excitement that should go along with a place where activists from around the world have come to raise their voices in protest. "I know there are a lot of foreign folks around," said one of the old fishermen, "But I don't know what's going on. I'm not interested. I mean it's the scallop season right now." This
sums up the frank feelings of the local people. Though there's a large number of people staying at the campsite, most of them are using cars and buses to get back and forth, so they pass by the station without stopping. If there's nothing good that comes out of, there's also nothing bad. The station and its environs are incredibly peaceful.
On July 8, a group of activists from the campsite decided to conduct a march to Rebun station, and they were confronted by the police. Judging from the appearance of the Rebun fishermen, it seems to be nothing more than a hubbub caused by some outsiders.
But that is probably to be expected. Their life is in the work of raising their scallops, not in the decisions handed down by the G8 leaders.
