Umbrella parade
March 26, 2009
I heard some chanting and shouting coming from outside about a week ago. It was led by someone on a loudspeaker and it sounded like quite a big group. I looked down from my balcony and saw a parade of umbrella carriers walking down the street in front of my apartment building. There were over a hundred people in this procession.
I count 97 umbrellas in the line.
While I couldn’t make out the mumbly Japanese, I did see a similar group a little later on my bike. They represented various labour unions and companies and were demonstrating against their treatment at work. I can only assume they have been laid off or have had their hours cut. Japanese people are a lot less active in demonstrations than Canadians and seeing so many people come out for this came as quite a shock for me. Everyone’s getting screwed.
