Evening protest at Sapporo school gate with signs

Rain-slicked asphalt reflects the cool blue twilight as a gathering forms near the wooden gate of a Sapporo school. Handwritten paper signs in Japanese stand upright on the wet pavement, their ink slightly blurred by the drizzle. Foam cups sit scattered on the ground beside the placards, their white surfaces dull against the darkening street. Street lamps cast pools of warm, yellow light that cut through the gray monsoon haze, illuminating the texture of the wet concrete and the fraying edges of the paper. The scene shows a moment of collective stillness under the glow of the lamps, where the rain drips steadily from the awning onto the cup rims. One droplet hangs from the corner of a sign before falling.