Several thousand anti-G8 protesters rally in Japan

Sapporo: Several thousand people rallied on Saturday on the streets of Sapporo, Japan, to protest against a Group of Eight summit due to start next week.

Four Japanese men were arrested, said a police official on the northern island of Hokkaido, of which Sapporo is the capital.

Two were arrested for violating the public safety ordinances and two others for interfering with police activities.

At least 2,000 protesters gathered to protest the G8 summit they called "a summit of rich nations". Some marched dressed in traditional Japanese summer kimonos and costumes of the local ethnic minority, the Ainu.

Summits of the G8, which bring together the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States each year, have become a magnet for protesters angry about everything from what world leaders are doing about climate change to the effects of globalisation.