Last Tuesday brought an extra zesty does of surrealism to the daily trip of living in Japan when a reporter found the Panawave Research Group camped out on a secluded public road in the mountains in the middle of Japan. Apparently one of the members of this wacky group fell ill and they've been forced to set stakes and recuperate for a bit.
But they are a freaky bunch; they believe we are under Communist micro- and radio-wave attack that is destroying the earth and causing global warming. They wear all-white outfits and face masks becuase it protects them. They also wrap trees, bushes, guardrails and streetsigns in white cloths, to protect them too, I guess. The mountainside around their current encampment is shrouded in a white and looks like a freaky BlairWitch toiletpapering party. They have all-white painted cars, trucks, and vans, even a front-end loader that they chased away a group of journalists with. Not quite as good as a killdozer, but it scared the hell out of those reporters.
They effectively control the road, stopping motorists from passing through and shutting out the media. They believe the cameras emit deadly radiation and are thus to be feared. The day after they chased them off with the fron-end loader, the reporters came back enmasse. They were greated by a bunch of guys holding huge uncut plywood sized mirrors who walled off the road with reflective protection. It was push and shove for a bit. The cops showed up and in classic Japanese police fashion urged everyone to "just calm down." No arrests were made.
A local mayor "invited" them to leave but they turned it down for the sake of the ill member, who has cancer I think. I'm rather surprised that the local government doesn't have the will or power to forcibly remove them. If they were acting the way they are on private property, fine, but to take control of a road, bundle up the local flora, and assault the press would bring the pain on my side of the mountain ocean. Try that shit up Pine Crick and see how gets microwaved.
To top it all off, this group was behind an abortive attempt to capture Tama-chan the seal for an unknown reason. Fortunately the attempt to net the community pet seal failed and she will be allowed to stay in the polluted waters until she dies of chemical and heavy metal poisoning. At least she has honorary citizenship in Japan, which is better than 3rd and 4th generation Korean and Chinese folks born, raised, and living in Japan get.
I couldn't find any good pictures of the Panawave group in the mountains. I'll see if I can get some video footage though.
Posted by Nutrimentia at May 1, 2003 11:25 PM | TrackBack