PARC
Pacific Asia Resource Center (PARC) is a non-profit organization committed to global social and economic justice. Since 1973, we have been working with a multitude of people’s movements in Japan to facilitate development of solidarity links with people in struggle in countries mainly in the Asia Pacific region.
PARC has its origins as the publishers of an English publication called “AMPO”, the Japanese shortened word for the US-Japan Security Treaty. In 1969, volunteer members from “Japan Peace for Vietnam Committee (Beheiren)” began this publication as “A Report from the Japanese People’s Movement” to communicate with the world that in fact a vibrant people’s movement exists in Japan and in the Asia Pacific, and that we are willing to build solidarity across borders. At the time, “AMPO” was one of the very few if not the only publication that offered the people’s perspective on Minamata, Okinawa, and Sanrizuka (Narita) to name some of the most highlighted struggles. As the publishers distributed copies of “AMPO” to our international colleagues, the office began to receive various forms of publications and resources from across the region. These were newsletters, periodicals, annual reports, booklets, and sometimes just photos with hand written letters. They were all invaluable resources that demonstrated the vibrance of peoples movements all hoping to achieve an alternative world.
Our name Pacific Asia Resource Center derives from our role in collecting, preserving and disclosing these resources. And through it we aim to become the medium by which movements and individuals can connect overcoming borders, targets and strategies. With the proliferation of online connectivity, our role as somewhat of an information clearing house of people’s movement has shifted, but we remain committed to building international solidarity.
