(Clearwisdom.net) The Human Rights Torch Relay initiated by the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG) arrived in Tokyo, Japan on June 18, 2008, after a two-week relay in Taiwan. Participants expressed deep concern about human rights issues and condemned the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong.

The torch relay consisted of two main events. The first event was the torch relay ceremony, which consisted the relay and the ceremony for handing over the torch from Tokyo to Nagano. The second event consisted of an outdoor concert and a candlelight vigil.

The torch relay ceremony was held at 12:30 p.m. in Yoyogi Park. Before the torch was lit, various guests spoke.

Former parliament member Nakatsugawa, a long time supporter of Falun Gong, strongly condemned the CCP's trampling of human rights. He said, "Everyone knows about the CCP's persecution of Tibetans, Christians and other groups. But the most horrible among all the suppressions is the persecution of Falun Gong. In modern society, CCP doctors are conducting live organ removals!" He said, "The CCP is not qualified to host the Olympics while continuing the persecution of Falun Gong."

Tokyto, a council member from Ota-Ku, said when he heard of the persecution of Falun Gong, it had not yet been widely reported in Japan. He researched on the Internet and learned about the CCP's brutal persecution of Falun Gong, and he felt obligated to speak out. He specifically emphasized that Chinese people were not bad, but were deceived by the CCP. He said that China's hosting of the Olympics would not change the CCP, and that change would be possible only by exposing and condemning the CCP's trampling of human rights, and by righteous people speaking out. The Human Rights Torch Relay is therefore a very meaningful event.

The director of Japan's Taiwan Research Association said he felt fortunate to participate in the event. He called on everyone to be courageous and take action by speaking out and relaying the human rights torch. He also called on those who could not participate in the event to go to Nagano to support the torch relay there. He said that he saw the behavior of Chinese students when the Olympic torch relay was held in Nagano, but the students weren't aware of the biggest human rights persecution of their time, the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong. He called on everyone to spread the facts to those who didn't know the truth.

After the rally, the relay was held. More than three hundred people, including the rally participants and members of several human rights groups from Tibet, Xinjiang, Mongolia, Falun Gong, and Darfur participated in the run. They displayed the motto, "The Olympics and crimes against humanity cannot co-exist in China."

The torch relay proceeded along the busy streets of Tokyo and caught the attention of many people. After returning to the rally venue, a rally was held before the handover ceremony. Many Chinese from Japan gave speeches.

Engineer Xia Yifan, who has followed the Chinese democracy movement for a long time, said, "In China, infringement of human rights due to political purposes is widespread. The human rights persecution of any one of us can threaten all of us. Thus, I call on all Chinese people to take action, rather than only watching this personal human rights issue. Take action by realizing that the CCP won't improve, don't support the CCP's violence, don't yield to power and threats, or to money, and protest using various means. We must be clear that without human rights we don't have freedom."

The second torch relay event was a concert, which attracted many young people and allowed them to understand China's human rights situation. During the candlelight vigil that followed, the participants first paid silent tribute to the victims of the Sichuan earthquake and the eighty million Chinese people tortured to death by the CCP since it took power.

From Tokyo, the Human Rights Torch Relay will travel to Nagano, Osaka, Nagoya, Hiroshima and Fukuoka.