Voices of the Precariat: MayDay for Freedom and Lives

On April 30th, the group of people referred to as the "precariat" ― freeters, part-timers, day workers, homeless, people forced into lives with neither security nor stability ― participated in "MayDay for Freedom and Lives" held in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Organized by the Freeter's General Union, the May Day march has been held for the past four years. In the area of Yasukuni street and Kabukicho, crowded with customers doing their holiday shopping, 420 people participated in what is the main feature of this event, the "Sound Demo", marching to the music while yelling and voicing their discontent.

A flag with the appeal: "Hikikomori [shut-ins] also have a right to life"

The march wound its way from the Shinjuku Kumin Centre, via Okubo Street, over the Shinjuku Dai Gaado Bridge and along Yasukuni Street, passing in front of Kabukicho before finally returning to the departure point. This time around, the planning committee insisted that the march be allowed to pass through the entertainment district, an area for which permission had been denied for many decades by the metropolitain police department. Refusing intervention by the police force, who demanded a change of course for reasons of "public security", organizers finally got their hands on the required permit. At last year's demo, although organizers had received an agreement about the sound truck from the authorities before the event, the DJ riding on the truck had been arrested (but never actually charged of any crime) by the Public Safety Bureau of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. For this reason, in the early stages of the march, there was visible tension between the organizers and the security personnel. At this demo, in addition to people at the head and end of the march being packed together by police using so-called "sandwich control", police forced demonstrators on the sidewalk and on the street to form one single line, constantly constricting their movement and squeezing them together. On the sidewalk, one could pick out the figures of people working for the Public Safety Commission, who snapped pictures of participants for their records.

Just before the start of the march there was a commotion between organizers and police forces, but finally the march made its departure onto Okubo Street with the sound car, DJ riding on board, at the very front. Participants in the march held flags and placards with messages written on them: "Let's stop the employment agency from taking all our money!", "Freeters are pissed off!", "Let us live!", etc. In the middle of the march, while passing in front of chain restaurants such as McDonald's and Sukiya, demonstrators yelled out the names of these stores and demanded changes to improve work conditions. As the march passed in front of Kabukicho, in a symbol of solidarity with people forced to live a life of instability, a large blue tarp several hundred metres long was draped over the demonstrators. This attracted the attention of people walking along the street. The march then turned onto Meiji Street and finally returned to the departure point in Okubo.

The leader of the Social Democratic Party Fukushima Mizuho, who participated in the march, said in an interview with gyaku: "I'm glad that I was able to parciptate in this sound demonstration. The precariat demonstration was particularly interesting. I was hoping to interact with young people as with workers on the sidewalk and to transmit our appeals, however unfortunately the security personnel were being very difficult so we couldn't do it. Among May Day gatherings, this one in particular addresses the very compelling issue of how the lives and freedoms of young people are being threatened. I think the most important thing is that these people make their voices heard. I believe it is the job of us, the politicians, to listen to and take note of these voices, and to take action."

The DJ who rode on the sound car at the head of the parade also commented: "A lot of things happened last year, but this year I'm glad I was able to do participate. Everybody danced, it was lots of fun. I think it's great to have one of these events every year."

After the march, a "Precariat talk session and interchange" took place where many different experiences and views were exchanged.