Japan dramatically ramped up security as US President Donald Trump arrived in Tokyo on Monday, with 18,000 police officers on duty and a specialist emergency response team on constant alert for the American leader’s three-day visit.
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An incident on Friday suggested that elevated levels of security for the occasion are warranted, with a police officer stationed outside the US embassy in central Tokyo attacked by a man with a knife.
The man, who has been arrested, was stopped after police believed he was acting suspiciously, with the officer sustaining minor injuries.
Analysts suggest the high-profile security cordon is appropriate given Trump has been the target of at least two recent assassination attempts back home, while Japan is still haunted by the death of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, killed by a “lone wolf” gunman in July 2022.
“It is absolutely right that the authorities here are taking this very seriously,” said James Brown, a professor of international relations at the Tokyo campus of Temple University.
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“This would be the case in any circumstances, but this is the US president, who has already been targeted twice. And even though Japan is a very safe country, they have to take that into account.”