Japan Travel's topics - tribe.net

3 Questions from a visitor this summer

2008-04-22T22:08:42Z

Hello everyone my wife & I are planning to visit Tokyo this summer.
I have 3 questions I am hoping you can answer.

1) From June onwards what weeks are the best for sunny weather in Tokyo?
Or what weeks should I avoid for rain?

2) What's the best priced airline to Tokyo from USA- Los Angeles to be exact?

3) What's the best priced Hostel in Shibuya or Shinjuku for people in their 40's?

THANKS!

posted in Japan Travel - 0 replies

I Can't believe...

2008-03-07T08:21:21Z

I can't believe my picture i took of Osaka Castle back in 2002 is still a main picture for this site...

posted in Japan Travel - 1 reply

Fraud Alert regarding North Coast Earth First! Aka NCEF! Media. Completely independent from any activist group!

2008-02-18T21:23:39Z

16 views since posting on Sunday, December 2, 2007
Location California

enlarge photo
NCEF! Media in Humboldt County Ca.(AKA NORTH COAST EARTH FIRST!), is accused of fraud and donation embezzlement. Caution! Do not support this lone wingnut's scam! Active and legitamate groups exist in the area. Caution! Do not be fooled by NCEF! Media and his fraudulent outreach. Shunka Wakan exists completely seperate from any active affinity group.

Read about how he perpetuated a lawsuit under the guise of EF! against a legitimate environmental nonprofit:

From: northcoastjournal.com/100407/...004.html

October 4, 2007

"Money On Trees"

Big cash nearly fell into Shunka Wakan's lap. Other Earth First!ers are kinda happy it didn't.

by Heidi Walters

As the jury trial for the civil suit Kathryn Miller v. the Trees Foundation puttered to a start last week inside Courtroom 3 at the Humboldt County Courthouse, Shunka Wakan — a key witness for the plaintiff — spent mornings sitting on the hard wooden benches in the long hallway outside the courtroom. During breaks, Miller's attorney Linda Mitlyng, would come out of the courtroom to join him. But otherwise, as other people and their legal affairs swirled around him in a warm, odiferous bath of humanity, Shunka sat alone. Or, sometimes, he stood alone, straight-spined, his small, stocky body swallowed by the huge, stiff blue suit out of which his newly shorn, razor-scraped bald head poked vulnerably — as if, at any moment, the suit could gulp once more and he'd disappear completely. Always, he clutched a paper folder with a wolf's face on its cover.

The North Coast Earth First! Media guru had shaved off his woolly rust-tinged brown hair and beard the night before jury selection started, after discussing it with attorney Mitlyng. Now, it took an uncertain moment to recognize him. Then, of course: Shunka's light blue eyes in the pink-pale face, Shunka's closed-lip smile, Shunka's trademark husky murmur, "Mm-hmm, for sure," in response to a comment.

In Courtroom 3, the amiable but no-nonsense Judge Christopher Wilson's domain, the fate of a $185,000 donation dangled. Would the plaintiff, donor Kathryn Miller, prevail in her claim that the defendant, the Trees Foundation, was not in fact the intended recipient of her generous gift? That Shunka Wakan's NCEF! Media Center and the treesitters were? Or would the Trees Foundation convince the jury that, in fact, the money was intended all along for Trees, with no instructions attached for funneling it elsewhere?

Richard Idell, left, who is defending the Trees Foundation against a lawsuit filed by Kathryn Miller, confers with Doug Wallace, community support coordinator for Trees. Photo by David Lawlor.

In her opening arguments, Miller's attorney, Mitlyng, said the case came down to "fraud and broken promises." "She believed [Trees] would hold [the money] in trust, for the benefit of North Coast Earth First!" said Mitlyng. The defense's attorney, Richard Idell, countered in his opening argument that the donation was an unconditional gift and Miller never wrote letters of instruction — as Miller claims she did. "Ms. Miller ... didn't do anything. She took the check [from her mother's estate] and flipped it over and wrote on the back, 'Payable to the Trees Foundation,'" said Idell.

Miller's claim sought the return of her $185,000, plus interest.

Out in the hallway, Shunka waited to tell his side of the story. Maybe he thought about the magical donation that never materialized, and now probably never would. Maybe he thought about the other times he'd been in this courthouse — dozens of times, along with other activists, often before Judge Wilson, answering to charges of trespassing and other forms of civil disobedience in the woods. Likely, he wondered when they were finally going to call him in to testify — it was taking forever in there. He'd even sent out an e-mail prematurely to the several hundred subscribers to his NCEF! online group erroneously announcing he would be first up to testify.

By the end of Friday's court session, Miller was still on the stand. Perhaps Monday it would be Shunka's turn. Whenever it was, he would be testifying on Miller's behalf; but he wasn't a party to the lawsuit. And in the end, after hearing all of the evidence, the jury would be determining who was telling the truth about intentions and letters of instructions. Shunka was just there to provide context and evidence in a contract dispute.

But to a number of forest activists, including a half dozen or so who appeared in the audience last Friday to watch the trial unfold, that context matters more to them than the legal questions. They say this lawsuit has placed a strain on the environmental community that could do as much damage as an ill-felled redwood that takes down other giants in its descent. They disapprove of the lawsuit, and they blame Shunka for it. And, they say, it's just another example of how Shunka has commandeered the North Coast Earth First! identity and used it for purposes that nobody else in the amorphous but consensus-driven local Earth First! movement has agreed to.

"For a lot of us, when we read about the lawsuit, this is kind of like Shunka on trial," said long-time forest activist Deane Rimerman last Friday, calling from Olympia, Wash. "And, to what extent is he worthy of that money?"

Kathryn Miller wanted her money to go toward saving trees, she said on the witness stand last Thursday. The slender 59-year-old was dressed in a pink print skirt and white sweater, with her gray-streaked dark hair pulled back into a neat, thin braid tinted slightly green. (Little did the jury know that Miller had spent the night in jail, in blue jail duds, and then had been "dressed out," in court lingo, in her street clothes before being escorted into the court by the bailiff. Miller had been arrested the week before, on Sept. 17, when she arrived in civil court for the pre-trial readiness hearing; according to the misdemeanor criminal charges filed against her, Miller allegedly had made annoying phonecalls to Barbara Ristow of the Trees Foundation all hours of the day and night.)

On the stand, Miller described how she became an activist. She remembered how, when she was a child in Orinda, her mother decided to stop spraying the beautiful oak trees on their property after reading Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. "And then, when my son was 9, we were watching the news on TV about the Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown. And my son said to me, 'I wish I'd never been born. I don't think I'll get to live a full life.'"

She protested the building of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. She started a peace action group in the late 1980s in San Jose. She did nonviolent protests at the Nevada Test Site. And in 1990, she came up with some of her fellow protestors to help set up the camp for Redwood Summer, and to take part in demonstrations. She's been on and off involved in Earth First! actions in Humboldt ever since, she said, including huffing in supplies for treesitters and huffing out their garbage. She'd also, at one point, bought a condo in Arcata.

In 2004, Miller sold her condo and bought an acre of farmland, already planted with coffee, in Guatemala. She put in fruit trees to shade the coffee. That same year, her mother, who lived in Sonoma, died. "The last time I saw her was in 2003," said Miller. "She told me when she died, she was going to leave me some money. I told her I'd use it to further my work for the forest. And she was pleased, because she loved the treesitters and the forest."

Shortly after learning of her mother's death, Kathryn Miller sought out Shunka Wakan in front of the food co-op in Arcata, where he "tabled" to raise funds for the North Coast Earth First! Media office — selling T-shirts, and stickers, offering pamphlets, accepting donations. She'd known Shunka for about five years, she said.

"I said to him, I was going to inherit some money: What was the best way to get that to the North Coast Earth First!?"

In the spring of 2005, Shunka Wakan was floating above the treetops. "I was so excited," the 32-year-old said in an interview a few weeks ago, sitting inside his tiny but colorful North Coast Earth First! Media office in Arcata, walls covered in art and topo maps — including one of Buckeye Mountain, where in 2000-2001, during the "Mattole Free State" action, Shunka and others hiked 14 miles through waist-high snowdrifts to save trees.

Kathryn Miller, he recalled, had come up to him excitedly as he walked along the sidewalk outside the Arcata Co-op and said, "I just donated $185,000 to North Coast Earth First!'"

She'd talked to him the year before about making the donation — she'd said she was anticipating an inheritance from her mother's estate, and she wanted to make a big donation to his group. He'd told her to make it through the Trees Foundation, which handled the NCEF! Media office's finances through an arrangement that had been established years ago. (The Trees Foundation is an umbrella organization formed in 1991 to assist smaller environmental groups. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, it can accept large, tax-deductible donations on behalf of affiliates, and provide professional resources. And it can lead large campaigns, like the one to save the Headwaters Forest back in the '90s.)

Well, now she'd finally done it.

Miller and Shunka agreed to meet at Fiesta Café in Sunny Brae, so she could tell him how she wanted the money spent: She wanted, straight away, for someone to organize a mediated workshop for the local Earth First! activists on ageism and sexism, issues she thought were fracturing the movement. And, she wanted the bulk of the donation to help support the forest activists who blockade logging roads and hunker up in ancient redwoods to fend off loggers' saws.

Not long after, Shunka was on his way to have lunch with some folks from the Trees Foundation, where they'd talk about Miller's wishes.

"Our media outreach was going to get a big boost," Shunka said. "The donation would keep the EF! office going for many years. So I walked into the Wildflower Café feeling elated, thinking we got all this money."

Barbara Ristow and Doug Wallace of the Trees Foundation were there. "I was super excited," Shunka said, "and I said, 'This is great, this big donation. Isn't it wonderful?' We ordered food, and still I'm all excited, talking about the money, but I notice they're looking nervously at each other. [Finally], they said, 'Well, we're just shocked that you think this money was for you.' And I was like, 'I just met with the donor, and that's what she said.' And they're like, 'Well, let's go ahead and plan the workshop and deal with that later.' I remember that, because it put me at ease."

After that, Shunka said he gave Trees a list of people he thought might benefit from the mediator-run workshop. "Some were people I knew had beefs with me, but I was willing to bring 'em into the circle and talk about it."

According to some vague accounts, the workshop was a disaster. One person who was there claims that Shunka, at one point, pounded his fists on the floor, blustered, then got up and stormed out, yelling as he walked away. Shunka says that's overblown.

"The letter from Kathryn Miller to Barbara Bristow said she wanted the mediation to be a safe place, safe to be emotional," he said. "And I think people are saying 'I freaked out.' The freak-out reports are exaggerated. It's just part of this ongoing character assassination. People say I was 'red-faced.' But my face is naturally red."

In late 2005, while Shunka was in Seattle, a friend called him from Arcata to say a woman had come by asking for the office key. She had a list of equipment she wanted to take away. The friend didn't give her the key.

When Shunka got back from Seattle, he discovered his reimbursement funds from Trees had been "frozen." He also learned about a letter someone in the NCEF! movement had circulated for signatures and then sent to Mark Knipper, who handled the Trees Foundation transactions for the NCEF! Media office. It said, in essence, "We don't want Shunka running EF!"

"I called the Trees Foundation," Shunka recalled. "I was sick, it was the middle of the winter, I'm trying to table, it's raining, it's cold. And Barbara Ristow told me, 'You just need to have a meeting [with the other Earth First!ers] and come to a group consensus on what the Trees Foundation funding should be used for."

The meeting never happened — nobody could agree to meet, said Mark Knipper, also in an interview last week. Knipper is a social worker and a long-time activist who had been the contact person between Trees and NCEF! Media. "So it ate itself," Knipper said. "And although I'm former Navy, a mariner, I said I'm not going down with this ship. So I divorced myself from it ... and signed it all back to Trees."

The NCEF! Media office was dropped from the Trees Foundation altogether.

Shunka and the NCEF! Media office never did see any of the big donation. Miller didn't even know that, he said, until she phoned him up in the summer of 2006, more than a year after she made the donation, to ask about a guy named "Jungle," who had been reported as missing on the NCEF! hotline. Miller was spending much of her time in Guatemala now, where she was raising fruit trees; after she'd made her big donation, Hurricane Stan had struck — she spent the ensuing year mopping up the mess.

First, Shunka told her Jungle was still missing. Then he told her about the money.

"I said, 'Yeah, they told me it wasn't for us,'" said Shunka. "And she said, 'I meant for all of it to go to you guys.' She sounded real upset. And I was like, 'I knew it! I knew it!'"

Shunka tried to sue Trees in small claims court, but it went nowhere.

Miller filed a claim against the Trees Foundation on Oct. 5, 2006, in Humboldt County Superior Court, seeking the return of the $185,000 plus interest so she could distribute the money herself.

And if she wins? "She may just spread it out more," said Shunka. "She's got tree planting ideas. Maybe she could buy a grove. She'd maybe not give it all to Earth First! this time. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that Trees blew for us."

On an uncomfortably hot afternoon last week, four forest activists who'd agreed to an interview for this story — Jeff, Shaggy, Sparrow and Farmer — sat on the ground at the Arcata Marsh next to a log bench on which a teeming crew of red ants worked a splintered notch. Someone had come along here in 1999 and carved a grouping of faces — bearded, grimacing, possibly mourning faces — onto the log and signed it Daniel. The carving had been drenched in red paint, and burnished by years of sitters.

"It kind of reminds me of the memorial for Gypsy," said one of them. "With the red paint."

Gypsy was the forest name of David Nathan Chain, who in September 1998, during an Earth First! action at Grizzly Creek, was crushed to death by a tree felled by an enraged logger. Farmer, actually, was there — he was just 16, but had a year of activism already under his belt. And Shunka was there — it was Shunka's first forest action.

Farmer, Shag, Sparrow and Jeff first made it clear that they spoke for themselves alone, although they participate in various forest defense affinity groups: Farmer works for the Mattole Wildlands Defense Group now, watchdogging the California Department of Forestry for new timber harvest plans, and keeping an eye on a Pacific Lumber Co. watershed analysis. Shag, who saw his first redwood about five years ago, helps keep the Fern Gully treesit village in Freshwater functioning. Jeff, who grew up in the high desert, and fell in love with the woods, works with the Nanning Creek treesit just outside of Scotia, as well as other groups. Sparrow, who was drawn to forest action because the cultural landscape was "like a folktale" he couldn't resist, is with the Fern Gully affinity group. These groups are all part of the Humboldt Forest Defense Association, a collective with a website but no formal structure.

The HFDA sprang into being six years ago — about the time the entity called North Coast Earth First! had essentially dissolved. It would take a book to describe that drawn-out dissolution — a book of lost causes, won causes, waning media interest, Judi Bari's death, Gypsy's death, ego-spurred squabbles, interpersonal catastrophes, a war overseas, hurricanes. And while the HFDA activists might still cherish the Earth First! name — the movement — in their hearts, it's now been further complicated by what you might call the Shunka effect.

"I still feel in many ways solidarity with the greater Earth First! movement abroad," said Farmer. "But in this county, in this climate, if you say you're with the North Coast Earth First!, many people associate you with North Coast Earth First! Media."

Shunka revived the North Coast Earth First! office around 2002. And he did what previous office managers had done — tabled, put out news releases, wrote articles for other publications. But it wasn't like the old days, in the '90s, when hundreds of people were getting arrested in forest actions and the jail support phone and legal resources were in constant use.

Shunka first worked in an office in Eureka, then later moved to Arcata. He called his outfit the NCEF! Media Center. For a time, he and other "affinity groups" tried to work together. But he alienated some people. He took over the North Coast Earth First! website. He controlled the North Coast Earth First! email list of 300 or more subscribers to the news alerts. He sent out press releases on his own.

"I felt the North Coast Earth First! Media Center was a unilateral effort on Shunka's part," said Farmer. Whereas, in the old days, "spokespeople were decided on by the group. And if you wrote an article it was passed by everyone. I feel Shunka appointed himself spokesperson at some point."

Many also claim they've been subject to a lashing anger from Shunka.

"I won't work with him because I pledge nonviolence in my actions," said Shag. "I don't believe he pledges the same thing. He has exhibited violent behavior towards me and towards other activists in my presence."

"He's a bear," said Jeff, making claw-fists with his hands.

But the sad thing is, all of this infighting probably has done nothing to help the actual trees. And the mediation workshop Kathryn Miller wanted didn't fix matters. Now, there was her lawsuit.

"When I heard about this lawsuit, I thought, the Trees Foundation does not deserve to be attacked in that way," said Farmer. "There's much bigger issues that need to be dealt with — with Maxxam and old-growth logging. ...If you look at Fern Gully and Nanning Creek (the Bonanza timber harvest plan), there's hundreds of old growth acres still standing whose fate is unclear."

Shag put it more bluntly: "If [Miller] knew Shunka and wanted to get the money to North Coast Earth First! Media, she should've given it to Shunka. But if she was trying to get it to treesits and forest defense, then the money went to the right place.

"My problem is this whole representation thing. There's people in the trees — how do you know who to get the money to, to help them?"

Shunka knows that a lot of fellow activists aren't happy with his role in the donation dispute. He also knows how some people talk about him and say he's hard to get along with. "I'm just standing up for the truth," he said. "And people don't like it. To me, it feels like a small clique of people who don't like me. I feel a lot of love and support in this community."

He certainly doesn't come off right away as someone who's angry, or who lashes out, or who locks the office and doesn't let people in. Why, recently, he helped a young woman hook up with the treesitters so she could learn the ropes. (Shaggy said that's proof Shunka doesn't have direct connections with the people doing direct action; but you can't deny it's a connection.)

It's probably a bad idea to ask Darryl Cherney, one of the founders of the local Earth First! movement, what he thinks of Shunka Wakan, whose real name is Jason Wilson. (Shunka tells a story of how he was named by a Lakota medicine man on the banks of the Cheyenne River in South Dakota in 1995. "Shunka Wakan," meaning "great dog," is only part of it. There's a secret part after that — altogether, his name means "the humble man called horse.")

"Shunka's a wingnut," Cherney said over the phone last Friday, sounding cheerfully vitriolic. "I have a 10-verse song about Shunka."

Here are the last few verses:

Who's at the co-op spanging a donation
Shunka, Shunka
Who's got a lawsuit 'gainst the Trees Foundation
Shunka, Shunka
Shunka, Shunka
Who's gonna keep on fighting the fight
Shunka, Shunka
With four of his friends at swimmers delight
Shunka, Shunka
Shunka, Shunka (Shunka voice: It's the last of the revolution)

There's no other word for it but "mean." But Cherney and Shunka have history — not all of it sour. Cherney said Shunka laughed when he heard the song, at least the first time.

"I met Shunka in 1998," Cherney said. "And I know he knew Julia ["Butterfly" Hill, whom Shunka had come west to find]. That was a good thing, helping Julia. That was good Shunka."

Cherney had even pushed for Shunka to go to Houston to talk with Charles Hurwitz, whose Maxxam Corp. bought out the old Pacific Lumber company back in 1985 and quickly became the forest activists' number one villain. Shunka went.

But now? "The current status of Shunka and me," Cherney said, "is that Shunka has sent me five or eight or nine e-mails threatening to sue me. Shunka is a joke."

Cherney can talk for hours about the problems he's had with Shunka over the years. His main point, though, is what has Shunka done for the trees lately?

"My question is, where's your topo maps?" he asked. "Where's your wilderness preservation proposal? Where's your lobbyist team in Sacramento?"

It has to be that, on some level, even the people in the movement who don't like Shunka understand somewhat where he's coming from. So he's emotional. Passionate. Perhaps he's caught up so completely in the cause he can't let go. Or, who knows — maybe he's a phony, like he accused Knipper of being back in 2005.

But being a forest activist comes with perils beyond the obvious physical ones.

"I'm really trying to have compassion for Shunka, even though he's kind of attacked us," said Susy Barsotti by phone from Laytonville a couple of weeks ago. Barsotti is president of the Trees Foundation board, and she says the lawsuit has held Trees hostage, unable to function fully. "I've been mystified and dismayed that he's participated like this in the suit. But Shunka witnessed Gypsy's death. And I think he may have post-traumatic stress syndrome. I don't think he's recovered from it. And that can affect your behavior."

A number of people mentioned this, actually, about Shunka. And he often refers to Gypsy's death himself. In an article titled "What Luna has taught me," posted on the website of Julia "Butterfly" Hill's organization, Circle of Life, Shunka writes: "I decided to commit to doing ground support after witnessing the death of David Nathan "Gypsy" Chain on September 17, 1998 ... I remember looking across the valley as we hiked up that day, seeing the rolling hills of forests and clear-cuts, and thinking out loud, "That's why we're here!" Seeing Gypsy's life taken from him, and then seeing the corruption and lies of the Humboldt County Sheriffs ... really opened my eyes to the situation our old-growth forests face."

Later, he did ground support for Hill in her second year in Luna. And in the same article on her website, something else Shunka writes indicates how ready he was to devote himself to a cause: "Being on the support team was the top priority in my life, and I was happy knowing that everything else revolved around when I'd be needed for the next supply run. I never felt lost because I knew what I was doing. That was a feeling I had not felt in years, between feeling dissatisfaction with life in college, and then more dissatisfaction with life as a minimum-wage worker after college. Before joining Julia's ground support team I was unhappy, even to the point of tears, wondering if my entire life was going to be a minimum-wage nightmare ...."

Pure devotion, without benefit of a little hypocrisy, could drive anyone batty. Deane Rimerman, the activist from Olympia who said it is Shunka who is on trial, said it's not uncommon for intense, stressful movements like Earth First! to produce an army of walking wounded. And he's been around, in forest actions up and down the coast, for long enough to know; he was the one, in fact, who "got the maps and led the first hikers up to the hill" to the Gypsy Mountain campaign and Luna treesit.

"In the forest activist movement, there's very little that's rewarding," Rimerman said. "There's a lot of post traumatic stress syndrome. All of us get it. Once you've been through the court process, and the jail process, and seen 1,000-year-old trees get cut down that you really cared about and thought you could save — it's devastating."

That alone, setting aside the troubles with Shunka, could explain the many rifts that have occurred within the local EF! ranks over the years. Josh Brown, who moved to Humboldt in 1995 right before the peak of the Headwaters campaign, said one of the unique qualities of Earth First! is that it "is primarily a youth movement."

"A lot of people that come through are young, are passionate — and it's a wonderful thing," he said. They get thrown into leadership positions quickly — and then they get burned out. Many move quickly on to other things. Brown stayed in longer than most. "When I left [in 2001], I was 30 years old. And I'd been a full-time activist since I was 18."

Paradoxically, said Brown, the youthful draw and the departure of seasoned activists leaves the movement with "no elders to kind of sit around and coach the [new kids]."

The movement also draws strong personalities, he said. Tenacious ones, too, like Shunka's.

"Shunka, I think he really does have a big heart," said Brown. "And I think he does care for the forest."

Last Friday, following the morning session of Miller v. Trees, a group of the Humboldt Forest Defense Association activists stood on the courthouse steps talking. The door opened, and Shunka walked out and down the steps toward the group. They didn't greet him. After a time, he tried to talk to one of them, Jeff. Jeff walked away. Shunka followed him, then stopped and talked to another guy. Then he stood alone again.

From: northcoastjournal.com/101107/...011.html

"Trees Foundation Wins"

October 11th, 2007

The jury in the civil case Kathryn Miller v. the Trees Foundation decided in favor of Trees, after deliberating all day Tuesday. (See "Money on Trees," Oct. 4).

Miller is the long-time forest activist who inherited a bundle from her mother and then signed $185,000 over to the Trees Foundation. In her lawsuit, she claimed she had intended the money to be passed through Trees to one of its affiliates, North Coast Earth First! Media, run by Shunka Wakan. She claimed she had made her intentions clear, verbally and in writing, and that Trees had agreed to the conditions, then broken its promise and kept the money. Trees denied making such promises, and said it had never seen any letters or heard of instructions to give the money to NCEF! Media. (Also, somewhat relatedly, in criminal court on Tuesday Miller pleaded no contest to charges that she had made annoying phonecalls to Barbara Ristow of the Trees Foundation.)

So, that's that. Now, there are only the pieces to pick up.

For Shunka Wakan — featured in last week's Journal as a central figure in a messy nest of infighting that has fractured the current ranks of local Earth First!ians — it could be a long, lonely patching together of lost friends and broken alliances. Not only did he and Miller lose their attempt to retrieve her donation, but now he's been banned from the North Coast Co-op.

Yes, that happened last week. It was Thursday, around 4:15 in the evening, and two activists with the Humboldt Forest Defense Association were tabling — hawking brochures and such — outside the Co-op. It's an activity Shunka himself has spent many a day doing in that very same spot, raising cash to pay for his NCEF!Media outreach work and other causes. And, well, these two fellows, Jeff and Farmer, were on Shunka's shit list, now. They'd spoken gently, but unfavorably, about Shunka's doings in the North Coast Earth First! arena — said he lashed out at people, said he commandeered NCEF! resources, and so forth. Here's a snippet of Jeff's account of what happened, which he sent to the NCJ in an e-mail on Friday:

"Shunka was removed from the Arcata Co-op yesterday after a scuffle with myself and another activist around 5 p.m. Well, he wasn't exactly removed, but APD was called. He was asked to leave after threatening to flip over the HFD donation table while stating he was 'like Jesus in the marketplace ...'"

Sue Coulter, manager of the Arcata Co-op, recounted on Friday how an employee walking by heard the argument and went inside to get her. "So I went out to talk to [Shunka], because it's not the first time we've had problems," she said. "Most of the time, he's fine. Most of the time, I stick up for him." One time, she said, she even called the police to protect Shunka after someone had threatened him. "But he gets into arguments. I tried to talk to him. I told him to leave. ... He was causing a scene, right by the door, and I can't have it. He refused to leave. ... I said, fine. I went into the store. He followed me into the store, and he was still yelling at me, 'Oh, now you're going to call the police on me.'" Coulter called the police, but Shunka left before they arrived.

Shunka, waiting in the courthouse for the jury verdict Tuesday, said Coulter did indeed ask him to leave and he did, indeed, refuse to. As for the HFD tablers, he said he merely asked them why they had Trees Foundation literature on their table. "I said, 'Why do you want to represent these people?'" And then, he said, "Jeff accused me of embezzling — he said this in public. He said, 'You've embezzled thousands of dollars from the Earth First! movement through the years.' And I complained to one of the employees who was walking by. Because that's serious, accusing someone of embezzling."

But Shunka said the whole thing's yet another attack on him. "I don't consider I was yelling. We were talking. I'm an emotional person, I concede to that. I speak from my heart. I don't scream at people. I would love to — but I don't."

In his email, Jeff with HFD predicted Shunka would leave town within weeks, if not sooner. But at the courthouse, even before the verdict, Shunka said he wasn't going anywhere.

"I'm just going to continue to run the Earth First! office and continue to call Humboldt County home," he said. He's also going to write a letter to the Co-op, complaining about how he gets scapegoated and booted out of there even when other people, he says, are the culprits. And, as for the Miller v. Trees case, he said, he and Miller may now take their complaint to another venue.

-- Heidi Walters

Posted by Anonymous
respond to this listing title message
Send Response
more listings like this kinderfrau
MANHATTAN BEACH - 10 views since 11/22 by Iris (no connection)
kinderfrau
MANHATTAN BEACH - 5 views since 11/22 by Anonymous (no connection)
Fashion Consultant
- 7 views since 11/20 by Alwyn (no connection)
EN-670 Software Sr. Product Developer – Staff – Anaheim, CA
- 12 views since 11/06 by Tim (no connection)
EN-678 Sr. Software Dev / Lead Staff - San Francisco or...
- 12 views since 11/06 by Tim (no connection)
Posted by Anonymous

posted in Japan Travel - 0 replies

Business networking and Events

2008-02-17T13:09:42Z

i would like to invite my Tribe network to join me on www.connectture.com - its a social business network based in Europe with a growing base of users from all over the world. Easy way of keeping track of your Business Network.

Cheers

Sarah

posted in Japan Travel - 0 replies

Cellphones in Japan - simcards? US phones? Oh my!

2008-01-10T20:12:36Z

Hello all! First off, I want to thank everyone for all the fabulous info I've gleaned so far from this tribe. Most helpful!

I'll be headed to Japan for the month of February. I've heard that with ubiquitous mobile phones, it can be difficult to find both internet access and public phones. I would like, if at all possible, to get a Japanese cellphone number or use a US phone while in the country. The folks at AT&T tell me that my phone (an old-skool simple Nokia) won't work on Japan's high tech 3G network. In fact, they say very few US phones will.

Can anyone speak to this? Can you bring a US phone and swap to a Japanese simcard for a month? Or buy a phone in Japan for any sort of reasonable price? How about taking an unlocked iPhone, which my traveling companion has?

Thanks in advance!

posted in Japan Travel - 5 replies

Money?

2007-12-28T03:50:48Z

Hey,

I'm traveling to Japan in a couple weeks. How much Yen should I bring? Should I bring any dollars? Do I do the conversion here or there?

Cheers!

TTINLA

posted in Japan Travel - 4 replies

Where to go?

2007-07-02T02:15:05Z

I'm planning to go to Japan in the next couple of years (I'm hoping next year), and I was wondering where I should go. I'm interested in cultural events, hiking, and the quieter side of things (I'm not big in to clubbing or anything like that)...any suggestions?

posted in Japan Travel - 8 replies

where to stay and where to rock

2007-06-25T01:07:10Z

Hello!
I am planning a trip to Japan this summer (July) and I'm looking for places to stay. I'm planning on perusing Tokyo first, and then moving my way around if I have the means to do so.
I'm excited to experience art, anime, egl awesomeness, rad parties (with some dubstep, jungle, dancehall/reggae, dub, psychedelic, booty bass, breaks, etc.), engrish, food, and much, much more.

If any of you have been to Japan, or are in Japan, or whatnot, and can provide some suggestions, that would be awesome
I would prefer places to stay that are safe, friendly, quiet, clean, non-smoking, and affordable, as I am working on a budget.

Thanks so much for your help!

^_^

-Meghan

posted in Japan Travel - 5 replies

Japan Rail Pass

2007-06-18T11:04:07Z

I'm currently living in Japan on a working visa, but in August that visa will end. I'm planning on getting a temporary travel visa so I can do some sightseeing with my uncle and aunt who will be visiting, before I go back home. My question is this: Can I still get the Japan Rail Pass? Actually my uncle offered to get it for me if I'm eligible for it. I looked at the website, but it didn't answer my question and I couldn't find a means of contact, like a phone number or email address. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

posted in Japan Travel - 0 replies

Arriving Today!

2007-05-28T01:43:00Z

... er, tomorrow, I guess.

Anyway, I'm flying from SF to Tokyo at 1:45pm today... landing sometime on Thursday, Nihon-time. I'll be traveling by myself, so if anyone has any recommendations, please let me know. First time in Japan!

I booked a room at the Sakura Hotel north of the Imperial Palace... basically, because I didn't know where else to stay, but I heard decent enough things about it.

Excited!!!

~tommy

posted in Japan Travel - 1 reply

power converters

2006-11-14T01:24:25Z

where can i get some info about power convertors for things like computers, cameras, and small appliances?

I am moving to japan and wondering what i can take and what i need to get rid of since i have so many electronics.

thank you

><{{{"> <"}}}><

posted in Japan Travel - 2 replies

japanese hotsprings for gals with tattoos

2006-10-18T02:10:09Z

-i have tattoos...and i will be traveling to japan...tokyo proper. i want to spend some time in onsens but i'm worried that i will be denied entry because of the stigma of yakuza/tattooes...does that really exist...does anyone know if that will be a problem.....any insight on this would be helpful.

thanks

posted in Japan Travel - 20 replies

Fashion Evolution in Japan

2006-07-12T08:45:03Z

hi! i'm a Japanese fan. i love their fashion sense. I've read articles about their fashion and here's one... http://www.exploring-japan.com/2006/07/10/fashion-evolution-in-japan/

posted in Japan Travel - 0 replies

Research Opportunity for Men

2006-06-12T15:10:50Z

ARE YOU A MAN WHO’S OVER 18 WHO HAS EVER BEEN IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH A WOMAN THAT LASTED FOR A YEAR OR MORE, WHERE FOR SOME OR ALL OF THAT TIME THE RELATIONSHIP WAS SEXUAL?
IF SO, TAKE PART IN AN ANONYMOUS RESEARCH STUDY ONLINE.
THE STUDY IS EXAMINING MALE PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS AND BEHAVIOR WITHIN RELATIONSHIPS.

TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS DOCTORAL DISSERTATION RESEARCH,
CLICK THE LINK TO THE WEBSITE WHICH CONTAINS MY
QUESTIONNAIRES:

www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp

PARTICIPATION IS ANONYMOUS AND FREE OF CHARGE.

If you begin to tire at any point during the survey, you can close the browser and your place in the survey will be automatically saved. You can click on this same link again at a later time and you will be able to come back to the survey exactly where you left off.

posted in Japan Travel - 0 replies

Kyoto Ryokans/Temples

2006-05-16T22:31:39Z

I'm going to Japan the summer of 2007 - may bring along a group to do Pilates/Yoga. Any recommendations of Ryokan or an alternative historic Japanese place to stay with such a group. I'd want to be able to teach a daily class and have an authentic Japanese experience. Willing to spend a decent amount, but not astromincal costs for lodgings. Thanks - Tannis

posted in Japan Travel - 0 replies

Japanese Dolphin Protection Crew Recruiting Drive

2005-08-23T06:07:01Z

There is need to create a crew to fight a battle for the defense of our dolphin kin. A nasty situation is about to occur in Japan and we needs to create a pi-rate team to mastermind a global strategy. This needs to happen asap.

tribes.tribe.net/dolphinprotection

posted in Japan Travel - 0 replies

Traveling solo

2005-07-18T22:59:48Z

Hi. I just joined the tribe.

I'll be in Japan next month for 10 days. My basecamp will be in Tokyo at my friend's apartment and I will be in Kyoto for a few days for Gozan Fire Festival. Any travel tips? Also, I was wondering if I should reserve my train ticket ahead of time since there's a festival. This is my first visit to Japan (technically my second, but the last one was a layover).

posted in Japan Travel - 1 reply

Europe- Pacific Asia

2005-06-13T13:06:25Z

European Union and Pacific Asian countries network.

http://aseaneu.tribe.net

posted in Japan Travel - 0 replies

Cooking Schools

2005-06-08T09:38:08Z

Aloha all!

My partner and I will be heading to Japan for one to two weeks in October, and were interested in finding some affordable cooking schools for English speakers. He's a sushi chef by profession [though not Japanese], and I've worked in plenty of kitchens, so we're looking for something a bit more involved than just learning the basics.

Affordable, of course, being the key word here. I've seen a couple online that run from 2.5 grand on up to 12,000 USD. That's a bit of a stretch for us!

We're hoping to spend a lot of time in Kyoto, but would head anywhere [big city, small town, monastery] for a cool course!

posted in Japan Travel - 0 replies

help wanted

2005-06-01T05:20:12Z

hi peeps, i'm looking for some advice about a trip to japan this summer. i read the airfare thread and tried to get to the jace link but it's dead apparently; also checked jupiterair but that's courier-centered; and am most intrigued by pool b's comment about direct flights to nagoya airport - all i can find on expedia, cheap tickets etc are flights through narita. i'm travelling from seattle, early july, with my 10year old, and we're heading to nagoya to visit the pokemon park (true! my kid's a pokemon trading card game champion!!) and what luck: it's the world expo too! i'm interested in staying at a ryokan, but looking on the web is senseless - how do you tell a good place from a bad? where do you find an actually useful map of japan? how hard *is* it to travel around, from, say, nagoya to kyoto? how many days would you reckon are the minimum for a rather-focused-trip there (my son will travel on to korea from there; i'll head home)?
thanks, i so appreciate any help ya'll can offer.
peace,
thelmasue

posted in Japan Travel - 4 replies

Air Fares

2005-04-13T12:17:29Z

I'm trying to plan a trip, and I'd love to know anyone's advice on finding the best airfares from the US.
Advice on what time of year to find the best fares, preferred airlines and anything else is appreciated.

posted in Japan Travel - 9 replies

Haikugraphs

2005-04-04T07:35:08Z

As spring begins, it starts to become more interesting to travel around Japan. Back in the 70s I spent several years doing mainly that, travelling the country on a motorcycle, armed with camera and a desire to find the Japan that had developed in my imagination from literature and old Japanese art. One series I did was an attempt to create photographs with something of the character of haiku. Here's a gallery of a few of them:

http://floatingworldweb.com/EARTHLI...GALLERIES/CHRISCASEphotos/HAIKUGRAPHS/index.htm

posted in Japan Travel - 1 reply

Sharing photos

2005-03-04T20:22:44Z

Here are some photos w/commentary of my recent trip to Japan:

http://marinaomi.com/photog/2004/11_japan/01_tokyo.html

Follow the links on the bottom to go from city to city.

Good times.

M

posted in Japan Travel - 11 replies

Japanese Hotsprings

2005-03-03T01:31:33Z

what are the "de facto" books written in English that introduce non-Japanese travellers to Japanese hotspings?

i searched for such books on Google and Amazon. there seem to be two fairly popular books:

Japan's Hidden Hot Springs
by Robert C. Neff

Classic Japanese Inns and Country Getaways
by Margaret Price

does anyone know other books? like, "cult favorites"?

posted in Japan Travel - 2 replies

Tukiji Fish Market

2005-03-01T05:39:43Z

I've just posted a clip from my visit to the Tukiji Fish Market in Tokyo which can be found here:

http://www.employees.org/~cjw/music/mp3/cjw%20-%20fish%20market%20entrance.mp3

posted in Japan Travel - 1 reply

Japanese travel for

2005-01-17T06:34:02Z

Alcoholics..........

Just Kidding.....

But I could use a liter of Kirin right about now.....

posted in Japan Travel - 1 reply

DJ Gigs in Japan???

2005-01-13T07:57:23Z

Hey there... I am considering a trip to Japan and if I go I would love to bring a stack of vinyl and have a few gigs lined up. Anyone here have any suggestions on where I should look to find other DJ's and promoters in Japan? Or do you know of any festivals over there I should look into? I play mostly breaks but have a wide range of sound possibilities.
Any help will be appreciated! Thanks

posted in Japan Travel - 2 replies

visiting japan for turkey day!

2004-11-03T21:00:39Z

will be in tokyo/yokosuka nov. 21-28. anybody want to hook up for drinks? also looking for some couches to surf on...

posted in Japan Travel - 1 reply

Shukubo

2004-10-26T19:34:27Z

Does anyone have any experience with this?
It's staying at a Buddhist temple over night. Apparently you can do this at Mt. Koya where there are alot of temples. For about 9500 yen, you get to stay over night and dinner and breakfast are included (shojin ryori -- monk's vegetarian style cuisine).
I'm really interested in doing this when I go visit.

I haven't been to Japan since I was 9yrs old.

posted in Japan Travel - 2 replies

Ekibento tours

2004-10-26T19:02:04Z

Does anyone know of any ekibento tours? I would be very happy to just sit on a train and eat a bento from every station.

posted in Japan Travel - 1 reply

help me find cool places

2004-10-14T20:20:04Z

My bf and I will be in Tokyo in a couple weeks (for just a few days). I haven't been since 1997, and back then I had a tour guide. I loved Harajuku and Shibuya at the time (was it Shibuya?) and remember going to the coolest little goth bars and punk spots. Of course, now I have no idea where to go. I want to find cool, arty places, where I won't find military people or house music. Got any suggestions? Keep in mind I'm a bit of a starving (okay, not starving, but definitely peckish) artist, so I can't go crazy with the yen. I'm also not-so-good with the Japanese language, but I don't particularly want to hang out with a bunch of tourists, either.

Thanks!
MariNaomi
http://marinaomi.com

posted in Japan Travel - 3 replies

visitingJAPAN

2004-10-12T17:34:13Z

aloha all-
hajimemashite, dozo yorushiku. watashi no namae wa meleana judd.
i will be visiting japan end of oct/beg of november. i am looking for friends, eco/spiritual destinations, oru naitas (preferrably all night out-door trance parties), any must sees or dos. i speak a bit of japanese and would love to visit some place rural after leaving a couple of days for partying in tokyo. i am most interested in sustainable living but would appreciate any feedback!
many mahalos and have a lovely day.

posted in Japan Travel - 0 replies

Green JRP versus Ordinary JRP

2004-09-20T04:46:56Z

Hi there!

Does anybody know what the difference is between a Green JR Pass and an Ordinary JR Pass, other than the pricing? The Japan Rail web site (http://www.japanrailpass.net) merely states that the Green Pass is "superior" but offers no further explanation.

Thanks!
MariNaomi
http://marinaomi.com

posted in Japan Travel - 1 reply

Tokyo suggestions

2004-09-20T03:53:39Z

I'm trying to put together a scavenger hunt for some friends that will be in Tokyo in a few weeks....does anyone have any suggestions for fun,cool, ridiculous places, people, activities that are special to tokyo?

posted in Japan Travel - 1 reply

What do you wanna do the most while you are traveling?

2004-07-09T09:55:01Z

While you are traveling, what do you wanna do the most? Well,if you are backpacking in Japan, what do you wanna do the most and what kind of servise should make you confortable?

Cheers,
Taka

posted in Japan Travel - 3 replies

RyuKyu Island (Okinawa

2004-03-25T02:57:17Z

I was in Okinawa for three years. Anyone out there that has been or lived in Okinawa? What about Japan?

posted in Japan Travel - 0 replies

Cultural Exchange

2003-10-29T20:41:39Z

Hi,

My name is Ron, I live in San Clemente, California (about half way between LA and San Diego). I'm looking to host someone (maybe a couple) from Japan in exchange for them hosting me. I am a life long Southern California resident and excellent guide. I have a car and can drive you anywhere you would like from Hollywood night life to Sea World, to Death Valley or even Las Vegas. My house is near the beach (walking distance), and I'm also close to the Amtrak and Metro Link Stations, which service LA, San Diego and the entire costal region all the way to San Francisco.
Please email me if you're intrested. Thanks- Ron
digitaladobe@hotmail.com

posted in Japan Travel - 0 replies