(Clearwisdom.net) The Chunichi Shimbun (Japan) reported on June 8, 2003:

Last May, 38-year-old Ms. Yoko Kaneko was detained in Beijing for distributing flyers protesting the suppression of Falun Gong. People from all walks of society trying to rescue her held a signature collection drive on June 7 in front of Kinki Nippon Yokkaichi Station in Yokkaichi (city).

Ms. Yoko was born in China, and married a Japanese man in 1999. They moved to live in Harmachi, Sado, Niigata County, Japan. Her arrest occurred during a visit back to China last year. Her husband once met with her last August, and he said Ms. Yoko looked very pale and weak.

Ms. Yoko's friends and Falun Gong practitioners in Japan formed a "Rescue Committee" and held a signature collection drives around Japan to secure her release.

Today, more than a dozen practitioners in Kinki area including Kyoto and Nara collected signatures on the streets.