Japan Press Weekly

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2016 March 16 - 22 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Aichi police considers people having private talk to be possible terrorists

Aichi Prefectural Police in its social awareness poster has been calling on citizens to report to the police if they spot anyone talking secretively together or persons with bulges in their coats. This poster provoked criticism for their similarity to posters used by the notorious wartime Special Higher Police.

The Aichi police poster aims to raise awareness of public security as this year’s G7 Summit is scheduled to be held in late-May in the neighboring prefecture of Mie. On the poster is written, “Your cooperation will contribute to preventing terrorism” in large fonts and it calls on citizens to “call the police if you spot anything suspicious”. A large number of copies of the poster are prominently displayed on walls, bulletin boards, and pillars at railway stations.

The prefectural police wants citizens to notify law enforcement officers of “suspicious persons talking secretively together”, “persons with bulges in their coats”, “strangers wandering back and forth”, and “persons carrying suspicious baggage”.

Hayakawa Tadanori, the author of a book on the government’s propaganda leaflets used in wartime, criticized the poster as an outrageous encouragement for people to become police informants. The police has been collecting information about suspicious persons from the general public under the pretext of anti-terrorist measures, but urging citizens to report those who are merely having a private talk is a great departure from current measures.