AKAHATA FESTIVAL

37th Akahata Festival -- Main Events

A variety of cultural and political events as well as exhibitions will be
held at the 37th Akahata Festival from November 2 to 4 at Yumenoshima Park
in Tokyo. Following are some of the main events at the main stage:

November 2 (Fri)
12:00 Music
Meister Brass Quartet plays "Sound of Music" and many popular numbers

12:30 Opening
Speech by Sekiguchi Takao, Akahata Festival Organizing Committee chair.

13:10 Discussion: "Former leprosy patients' struggle to restore human
dignity"
Kodama Yuji, Leprosy Lawsuit Plaintiffs Groups Council acting chair; Kami
Michihiro, Leprosy Sanatorium Residents Council secretary, and Seko Yukiko,
Japanese Communist Party House of Representatives member.

13:40 Japanese folk songs by Eshima Chiaki

14:20 Panel discussion "Let's put up a major struggle to stop corporate
restructuring"
Ikuma Shigemi, All-Japan Metal and Information Machinery Workers' Union
(JMIU) secretary general; Sakamoto Osamu, lawyer; Fujiwara Takashi, Shinami
Town mayor in Iwate Prefecture; Ichida Tadayoshi, JCP Secretariat head; and
Yamashita Yoshiki, JCP Task Force of Struggles against Restructuring and for
Job Security secretary.
15:20 Classical songs
Japanese soprano singer Nakazawa Katsura and Chinese tenor Zhan Yongkai.

November 3 (Sat)
10:30 Panel discussion by JCP member mayors on a new current of local
government
Yano Yutaka, Komae City mayor in Tokyo; Yamada Kenzo, Nanko Town mayor in
Hyogo Prefecture; Tanaka Katsumi, Kisofukushima Town mayor in Nagano
Prefecture; Shimada Tadayoshi, Fukusaki Town mayor in Hyogo Prefecture; and
Arabori Hiroshi, JCP Local Government Bureau director

14:00 Speech by Shii Kazuo, JCP Executive Committee chair

15:00 Rock Folk Songs
Ito Takio

November 4 (Sun)
11:00 Q&A session
Ichida Tadayoshi, JCP Secretariat head, answers questions

13:30 Panel discussion "Efforts to eradicate terrorism "
Ebina Kayoko, essayist; Otani Akihiro, journalist; Fudesaka Hideyo, JCP
Policy Commission chair; and Akahata reporters

13:00 "21st century and scientific eyes"
Fuwa Tetsuzo, JCP Central Committee chair, answers questions