Rainbow and Greens was a Green political organization in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 from 1998–2008. It was a nationwide network of prefectural assembly members, usually running on local platforms variously named as "living citizen network", "living club", "living cooperative" or the Rainbow and Greens 500-Member List Movement . It is a member of the Asia-Pacific Green Network

Asia-Pacific Green Network

The Asia Pacific Greens Network is a federation of national Green parties, social and environmental organizations in countries in the Pacific Ocean and Asia, and is one of the four federations that constitute the Global Greens. 32 Parties from 30 nations got together in February 2005 in Kyoto,...

. The national spokespersons for the party were Kiyoshi Matsuya http://www.e-matsuya.com/, former Shizuoka Prefecture

Shizuoka Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshu island. The capital is the city of Shizuoka.- History :Shizuoka prefecture was formed from the former Tōtōmi, Suruga and Izu provinces.The area was the home of the first Tokugawa Shogun...

 assembly member and the city councillor Mutsuko Katsura http://www4.osk.3web.ne.jp/~muzko/ in Ibaraki, Osaka

Ibaraki, Osaka

is a city located in Osaka, Japan. It is a suburban city of Osaka city and a part of Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe metropolitan area. Literally Ibaraki in English means Wild Trees or Thorny trees....

.

The symbol of the "rainbow" represents diversity

Multiculturalism

Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...

, solidarity and the cooperation

Cooperation

Cooperation or co-operation is the process of working or acting together. In its simplest form it involves things working in harmony, side by side, while in its more complicated forms, it can involve something as complex as the inner workings of a human being or even the social patterns of a...

 which respect personal differences; the colour "green" signifies conversion to an economy which coexists with natural environment.

Electoral record

In the 2004 parliamentary election, this network of local groups supported the Democratic Party of Japan

Democratic Party of Japan

The is a political party in Japan founded in 1998 by the merger of several opposition parties. Its socially liberal platform is generally considered center-left in the Japanese political spectrum...

 and the conservative-leaning national Green party Environmental Green Political Assembly

Environmental Green Political Assembly

The was a right-wing political party in Japan which had a mix of platforms. It advocated Green conservatism but was also reformist. On June 22, 2004, because of the poor performance the party showed in the 2004 Upper House elections , it dissolved itself, not merging into any other party, spelling...

 (Midori no Kaigi).

In the 2007 election

Japanese House of Councillors election, 2007

The for the upper house of the legislature of Japan were held on July 29, 2007. This was the only time Prime Minister Shinzō Abe had faced an election...

, the party supported Ryuhei Kawada

Ryuhei Kawada

is a Japanese activist, haemophiliac, and member of the House of Councillors.-HIV-tainted blood scandal in Japan:In the late 1980s, between one and two thousand Japanese patients with haemophilia contracted HIV via tainted blood products...

, who was elected to the House of Councillors

House of Councillors

The is the upper house of the Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or designation of the prime minister, the House of Representatives...

. Kawada announced that he will organize a Green party group in the House, helping the Rainbow and Greens to become a national political party. Reportedly, the Rainbow and Greens have decided to dissolve itself in December 2007 and merge with the Japan Greens

Japan Greens

The is a political organization which aims to form a Green Party in Japan. It has 592 members as of 25 August 2007, when it was called . After the electoral success of Green activist Ryuhei Kawada in the 2007 House of Councillors election, the local green political network Rainbow and Greens has...

.

External links

• Rainbow and Greens official website