Man apparently burns himself to death to protest Shizuoka airport project

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/398315

Wednesday, February 7, 2007 at 07:36 EST

SHIZUOKA — A 58-year-old man died apparently by setting himself ablaze in front of the Shizuoka prefectural government building early Tuesday morning in protest against the construction of Mt Fuji Shizuoka Airport, the police said.

Two letters of protest bearing the name of the man, identified as a former landowner, were found in the basket of a mini-bike left at the scene. One letter addressed to the Shizuoka governor protested the airport construction while the other addressed to the Shizuoka mayor protested how the city treats industrial waste. The man was found by a 54-year-old man driving by, who noticed a column of flame on the sidewalk near the building around 3:50 a.m.


This response to the story is telling....


Man immolates self in protest over planned airport

USAkuma (Feb 7 2007 - 08:59)

I'm in Shizuoka, my wife has to go by that place for her job. But the stupid thing is that since he did it around 3:50am. ABSOLUTELY NO ONE noticed or cared.

It was considered minor news here.

The whole situation about the airport and its protesters is the same way. Everyone in Shizuoka voted to have an airport to increase business to the area. But when construction started in their backyards, they realized it was a bad idea.

The only people who protest are the farmers who sold/lost their farms or who will live next to the site. No one else cares.

We already have a JASDF military base nearby and have to put up with prop planes, and military helicopters doing maneuvers overhead all the time. having a commercial airport will be a step up, since there will be jets flying in, but I can already guess that a minor place like Shizuoka will not see more than one or two flights a day on a regular basis.

If this guy wanted to do the samurai protest thing so badly, he should have at least done it when someone would have noticed or cared.

He should get the Darwin Award for that and based on these few facts ...

1. Wrong time to do it .
2. Wrong time since there's no one around to make sure THEY get the message .
3. He burned himself , not the government building which may have a greater dissonance effect