Info Item

Dec 10, 2009  
Progress Report for the AE911Truth Japan Tour
— Dan Abercrombie
 
Note: Published originally in 9/11 Truth Australia.

This is the first time for group founder Richard Gage, AIA, to speak in Asia, and the tour will allow us to reach several milestones in the continued pursuit of a new and proper investigation.

We will make a detailed report at the end of the tour, but I am sure many of our colleagues and friends in the global 9/11 Truth Movement are eager for the breaking news from Japan, so here is the quick summary of events to date.

Most important, we acknowledge all of the enormous support that has come from the whole team in Japan who have made all our events so successful. There are too many people (including dozens of local volunteers at each event) to mention individually, but two heroes deserve very special thanks.

Yumi Kikuchi, leading Japan environmental and peace activist, used her vast political connections and network of supporters to set up the entire tour, and did so with an amazing degree of professionalism and an ENORMOUS amount of work. Thanks to the efforts of her team, each event has come off flawlessly and all events have been very well attended.

Councilor Yukihisa Fujita of Japan's ruling Democratic Party (DPJ) continues to be one of the most important world figures bringing 9/11 Truth to light. Mr. Fujita spoke at the December 5 Annual Tokyo Conference and has arranged meetings with two prominent Japanese structural engineers from major universities, as well as a meeting at the Japanese House of Councilors that was attended by eight members of Parliament (MP's) from the Japanese legislature. See the separate article on this auspicious meeting (on the 58th anniversary of Pearl Harbor) from Richard Gage. Words cannot express our appreciation for Mr. Fujita's continuing courage and willingness to use his stature and credibility to support this cause, which has huge international implications.

We also thank everyone who took time out of their busy schedules, bought tickets to attend and made generous contributions to the 9/11 Truth movement in many forms. People are the lifeblood of this movement and the enthusiastic support from our Japanese friends has been spectacular!

Below we provide a quick report on each of the events to date.

December 4, Yokohama: Mr. Gage Pitches a Shut-Out!

The Yokohama event was expected to be smaller, but thanks to excellent promotion by Ms. Kikuchi and others, over eighty people (including three architects/engineers) purchased tickets and attended the event held at the Kanagawa Museum of Modern Literature near Yokohama's famed China Town. Mr. Gage delivered a two-hour version of his well-known 9/11: Blueprint for 9/11 Truth presentation. As Richard does at all speaking events, he polled the audience before and after regarding how many believe the US government's "official story" for the destruction of the three high-rises in New York, how many are unsure what happened, and how many believe in controlled demolition. Initially, about 11 indicated that they believe the official story and about 30 indicated "unsure," with the remainders already believing that there must have been controlled demolitions of the three skyscrapers. Toward the end of the talk, Mr. Gage repeated the poll, and there were none who indicated that they still believed the official story, and less than ten who were still unsure.

December 5, Tokyo: Main Event a Great Success!

The Tokyo Conference, held at a large hall in the heart of Tokyo, was attended by over 300. The event was emceed by the famous and colorful 80s rocker Sunplaza Nakano-Kun. He added a great deal of excitement to the event and drew many people to the event by lending his famous name to the cause. Councilor Fujita delivered a poignant message regarding the need for all people, be they government officials, architects/engineers or just citizens of the world – to work together to publicize the truth of what happened on 9/11 for the sake of world peace.

Yumi Kikuchi's talk reviewed several 9/11 videos and books which reinforce the need to expose truth for sake of peace, while at the same time making a gripping point regarding the ironic "backfiring" of the "War on Terror." Other speakers from the broader 9/11 truth movement added to the event by discussing facts and issues outside the scope of the AE911Truth's work.

Mr. Gage's talk was very well received. Even at this larger event, another shutout was pitched. Early in the lecture, about six hands went up indicating belief in the official story, followed by a large number in the "unsure" category At the end, no one still believed the official story. Almost the entire audience were convinced by the compelling evidence of controlled demolition. Attendees included six architects and eight engineers, as well as about ten journalists, including reporters from one of Japan's largest newspapers. Hopefully some reasonably objective articles will appear there. This would be the first time for 9/11 Truth in a Japanese mainstream publication. The event was followed by a reception where everyone had a chance to pick up the microphone and express their personal feelings, all very moving, about the 9/11 tragedy and their personal activism and appreciation for our role at AE911Truth.

December 6 in Nagoya: The Winning Streak Continues

Nagoya is Japan's third largest city and, as home to Toyota, a hub of engineering excellence in Japan. Over 150 packed the conference hall and the audience included five architects/engineers. The final vote indicated about ninety previously unconvinced people now felt the evidence for controlled demolition of WTC high-rises is undeniable, and none of the four who originally believed the "official story" left the meeting with the same opinion. One couple traveled all the way from Fukuoka – a seven-hour train ride! – to hear Mr. Gage speak. This is only one example of the passion and support shown by the attendees.

December 7, Ritsumeikan University: A Different Type of Audience in an Academic Setting

Ritsumeikan University is one of Japan's top private universities, and home to top academics from many disciplines. Special thanks go out to Professor Fujioka of the school's Economics department, who helped ensure a large turnout by making Mr. Gage's lecture a class assignment (with a 9/11 quiz for class credit). Over 200 students, faculty members, and local residents were in attendance. This event was different from the others, not only because of the academic environment, but also because it was attended primarily by people with no predetermined position regarding the events of 9/11. Other events tend to attract interested parties who already suspect that the WTC collapses must have been due to controlled demolition, but the Ritsumeikan event included a large number of "official story" believers and an even larger number of "unsure" attendees. Still, only two people remained believers in the official story, and those who came away newly convinced that there must have been controlled demolition were in the vast majority. So, while not a "shut-out," this may have been the most meaningful event in delivering knowledge regarding the truth about 9/11 and giving young people and their faculty the tools to help spread the word via "continuing education."

Speaking events in Osaka (December 11), Kobe (December 12) and Okinawa (December 13) will round out the tour, and we will provide further updates in coming days.