http://www.japanfocus.org/articles/print_article/3113
In Japan, the week or so from the end of December through the first days of the New Year constitute the longest and most solemn holiday of the year. Mainstream newspapers and TV news programs during this week are typically filled with mundane reports of the events of the season. But the week bridging 2008 to 2009 was distinctively different. Each day, the newspapers, TV news programs, and even websites such as Yahoo carried reports—often as the top story with frequent updates—of a unique camp supplying food, beds, health checks, and even spiritual support to jobless and homeless people gathered in the center of downtown Tokyo. This news drew an unexpectedly wide range of attention and generated unprecedented reactions, and its drama symbolized the recent suffering of Japanese workers and their families, especially “the working poor.” The entire episode suggests there has been a turning of the tide in Japanese labor politics.
Reminds me of a person described in Philip Foner's "History of the Labor Movement in the U.S." (vol 9, I think) recounting the exploits of a "Mr Zero" in the deep recession of 1921-1923. He would hold "unemployed auctions" in the major cities, gathering up those ready and willing to work and auctioning them off, in the style of slave auctions, to potential employers. He was arrested numerous times, only adding to his fame and notoriety.
Very effective symbol, eh?
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