Photo/Illutration Police officers stand watch at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. (Jun Ueda)

HIROSHIMA--Caught with their pants down twice in the past year, police are mounting the largest security force ever for the Group of Seven summit that kicks off a week from today in this western Japan city.

Security lapses that resulted in the death of a former prime minister last July and a bomb attack in April directed at Prime Minister Fumio Kishida brought home the urgency of providing a tight security cordon for the G-7 leaders when the summit starts May 19.

The last three G-7 summits held in Japan were away from major cities, namely in the Ise-Shima area of Mie Prefecture, the Toyako area in Hokkaido, and Okinawa Prefecture.

The last time one was held in a major city, Tokyo, was 1993.

Yasuhiro Tsuyuki, commissioner-general of the National Police Agency, acknowledged during a May 11 news conference he made a second trip to Hiroshima to oversee security preparations for the summit meeting.

“We will take every possible measure using the capabilities of all police around the nation,” Tsuyuki said.

The largest police security force ever will be in place as riot and other prefectural police departments from around Japan, including Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department, gather in Hiroshima.

The police are not taking any chances. On May 10, a police officer noticed four boxes placed on a bench in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, which the G-7 leaders are expected to visit. The park was temporarily closed to visitors so police could check the suspicious boxes. It turned out they contained candy.

Police are ever mindful that a bomb attack was directed at Kishida during a visit to Wakayama city last month as he prepared to deliver a campaign speech. Not only will this year’s summit be held in a major city for the first time in 30 years, but police were shaken by the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe while he was campaigning in the city of Nara in July 2022.

In addition to the G-7 members, the leaders of eight other nations have been invited to attend the summit along with the heads of international organizations.

Police will pay particular attention as leaders arrive at the Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima from Hiroshima Airport, which is about 55 kilometers away.

The hotel is situated on an island, so the Japan Coast Guard will deploy cutters to patrol waters within 300 meters of the site. The waters will be off-limits to boats between May 15 and 22, and Coast Guard officers will board any boat that breaches that line.

Leaders who stay at hotels in central Hiroshima will also be provided with top-notch security as they are driven to and from the summit venue. 

Measures have also been put in place to prevent drone attacks.

The Hiroshima prefectural assembly passed an ordinance banning drone flights within 2.5 km of the hotel site as well as within 1 km of Hiroshima airport. Police also have jamming capability to thwart any attempt to use drones for an attack.

Because Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will take part online in the G-7 summit, police are also taking measures against a cyberattack from Russia and its allies.

“We are expecting a cyberattack during the summit,” one high-ranking NPA official said.

Police will also bolster security in so-called soft target crowded areas well away from Hiroshima, such as airports, train stations and major commercial outlets in Tokyo, Osaka and elsewhere.

(This article was written by Shimpachi Yoshida, a senior staff writer, and Kai Nemoto.)

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