Japan Steps Up Security Measures Nationwide

Japanese police Tuesday announced a sharp increase in anti-terrorism measures affecting 580 strategic sites nationwide, including embassies, central railway stations, nuclear power plants, airports and skyscrapers.

The measures include a beefed-up police presence, manual and X-ray searches, ID and license checks and added questioning. Fishermen have even reported having their ice coolers examined at ports near potential terrorist targets.

Security at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo has been particularly tight. But vigilance also has been stepped up around the embassies of 12 high-profile U.S. allies, including Britain, Australia, France, Germany and Canada. At the Canadian Embassy, a large police bus was parked prominently in front of the compound Tuesday as several officers periodically walked the perimeter.

Elsewhere around the Japanese capital, authorities sought to create deterrents to terrorism. At one of dozens of barriers around the city Tuesday afternoon, three officers stood beside a portable roadblock and conducted random checks on passing cars on Aoyama Boulevard, one of Tokyo’s busiest thoroughfares.

Office buildings with U.S. tenants in particular received security measures. Mori Building Co., which has 94 office buildings popular with foreign companies, reports adding security guards, increasing foot patrols, checking the IDs of workers and visitors on every floor and inspecting trucks parked in its lots.

Kimihiko Nakano, 44, a bike messenger, said the changes are making it difficult for him to do his job. “Most of my clients are U.S. companies like Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, and the buildings they’re in are really affected,” he said. “A delivery that used to take five minutes now takes two or three times as long. The only ones benefiting from all this inconvenience are the security guard companies.”

But others expressed grudging appreciation. “At first, I thought it was a bit of a drag,” said Kimiko Izawa, a 33-year-old office worker in Tokyo’s Otemachi financial district. “But now it makes me feel safer, even if it takes more time.”

Norihiko Shirakawa, who works in the shadow of the Kashiwazaki nuclear power plant in Niigata prefecture, said that the media have trumpeted all the stepped-up security around nuclear facilities but that most locals don’t seem all that concerned.

“To tell you the truth, that makes me feel a little uncomfortable,” he said. “Most people around here aren’t even worried about the issue.”