Carrying placards and handing out leaflets, more than 20 protesters gathered Thursday outside the Foreign Ministry, demanding that the government oppose the next round of World Trade Organization negotiations slated to begin in November.

The event is part of the International Day of Action against the WTO, a worldwide event involving more than 1,100 citizens' groups from 87 countries that are opposed to greater trade liberalization.

Tokyo-based Global Village, a nongovernmental organization promoting "fair trade" from environmental and human rights points of view, organized the event in Japan.