The Ineffectiveness of Anti-Terrorism Posters in Japan
In recent years, major train stations in Tokyo have been increasingly home to a new type of poster. Amidst ubiquitous ads for commercial products and services are government-issued notices encouraging citizens to look out for terrorist activities. Frequently highlighting scared citizens at the front and center, these posters call upon citizens to report to the local police on any sort of suspicious persons and activities, under various slogans that state that "preventing terrorism is the responsibility of all citizens." Highly trafficked train stations, as the posters imply, ought to be the focus of vigilant citizens.
As much as the need to prevent terrorism is undoubtedly important even in a Japan that has not seen any since the notorious 1995 subway sarin gas attack by doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, such anti-terror posters can be rather perplexing. Simply said, it is completely unclear what the posters are asking people to look out for. Without clear descriptions, it is entirely up to each individual to define who and what exactly are so suspicious that they are worthy of being reported directly to the authorities just for being present among crowds of people.
What is worse, leaving normal people to define what is suspicious can lead to racial profiling when it comes to the issue of potential terrorism. US-based media has often been home to news about Muslims and Middle Easterners facing additional checks in airports and facing difficulties interacting with other members of society due to unsubstantiated ties to terrorism. It is conceivable that as anti-terrorism becomes something that concerns more and more Japanese citizens, Muslims and Middle Easterners visiting and living in Japan may come to face similar racial profiling as their counterparts do in the US.
And if anything, when racial profiling takes place in a monoethnic state like Japan, the consequences are graver for the foreigners facing terrorist allegations. The US, with a large number of prominent Muslim citizens and politicians, has the popular mechanism to criticize and restrict outright racism as a result of witchhunt for foreign terrorists. But Japan, with a negligible number of Muslims and minuscule popular knowledge of the Middle East, will see unrestrained social ostracism of suspected terrorists with little recourse to prevent difficulties for profiled victims in their daily lives.
Such fears of unnecessarily subjecting foreigners to popular suspicion illustrate not only how ineffective but also how harmful any campaign by the Japanese authorities to direct the general public to anti-terror vigilantism can be. The issue is not only that the public, without any sort of training, has no idea how to even lookout for terrorists. It is much more serious when people of certain races and ethnic backgrounds are subjected to ill-treatments just because of where they come from and what religion they adhere to. In that sense, anti-terror posters in train stations are completely useless.
So, given the need to prevent terrorism, what is the best course of action in Japan? One is the increase of visible, physical security measures. Japanese public places, not the least train stations, is marked by a lack of security barriers and personnel. The lack of any visible security presence creates a false sense of safety and security in a way that cannot be sufficiently countered by a few posters asking people to look out for terrorists. Much more effective would be installing X-ray machines in entrances and putting policemen in patrols that force people to slow down and think about potential dangers.
But much more important is comprehensive education programs, through schools and media outlets, that make people more aware of potential dangers. Unfortunately, current narratives portray Japan as an oasis of safety in a chaotic world, with a violent crime like terrorist attacks largely a foreign problem that Japan cannot be any further from. The widespread mentality of domestic safety and foreign dangers only encourages Japanese people, at least while in Japan, to put their guard down and not be vigilant enough about potential dangers in their immediate surroundings.
Reminders that danger is present in Japan, just as it is anywhere else, should be provided to both children and adults as they go about their daily lives. The training the Japanese government conducts to help people be prepared for natural disasters for earthquakes and tsunamis should be extended to manmade dangers like terrorist attacks and other forms of violent crime. Only by constantly instilling a sense among normal people that terrorist attacks can be possible anytime, just like earthquakes, can people feel responsible for rationally look at preventive measures, much more so than any posters can.
As much as the need to prevent terrorism is undoubtedly important even in a Japan that has not seen any since the notorious 1995 subway sarin gas attack by doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, such anti-terror posters can be rather perplexing. Simply said, it is completely unclear what the posters are asking people to look out for. Without clear descriptions, it is entirely up to each individual to define who and what exactly are so suspicious that they are worthy of being reported directly to the authorities just for being present among crowds of people.
What is worse, leaving normal people to define what is suspicious can lead to racial profiling when it comes to the issue of potential terrorism. US-based media has often been home to news about Muslims and Middle Easterners facing additional checks in airports and facing difficulties interacting with other members of society due to unsubstantiated ties to terrorism. It is conceivable that as anti-terrorism becomes something that concerns more and more Japanese citizens, Muslims and Middle Easterners visiting and living in Japan may come to face similar racial profiling as their counterparts do in the US.
And if anything, when racial profiling takes place in a monoethnic state like Japan, the consequences are graver for the foreigners facing terrorist allegations. The US, with a large number of prominent Muslim citizens and politicians, has the popular mechanism to criticize and restrict outright racism as a result of witchhunt for foreign terrorists. But Japan, with a negligible number of Muslims and minuscule popular knowledge of the Middle East, will see unrestrained social ostracism of suspected terrorists with little recourse to prevent difficulties for profiled victims in their daily lives.
Such fears of unnecessarily subjecting foreigners to popular suspicion illustrate not only how ineffective but also how harmful any campaign by the Japanese authorities to direct the general public to anti-terror vigilantism can be. The issue is not only that the public, without any sort of training, has no idea how to even lookout for terrorists. It is much more serious when people of certain races and ethnic backgrounds are subjected to ill-treatments just because of where they come from and what religion they adhere to. In that sense, anti-terror posters in train stations are completely useless.
So, given the need to prevent terrorism, what is the best course of action in Japan? One is the increase of visible, physical security measures. Japanese public places, not the least train stations, is marked by a lack of security barriers and personnel. The lack of any visible security presence creates a false sense of safety and security in a way that cannot be sufficiently countered by a few posters asking people to look out for terrorists. Much more effective would be installing X-ray machines in entrances and putting policemen in patrols that force people to slow down and think about potential dangers.
But much more important is comprehensive education programs, through schools and media outlets, that make people more aware of potential dangers. Unfortunately, current narratives portray Japan as an oasis of safety in a chaotic world, with a violent crime like terrorist attacks largely a foreign problem that Japan cannot be any further from. The widespread mentality of domestic safety and foreign dangers only encourages Japanese people, at least while in Japan, to put their guard down and not be vigilant enough about potential dangers in their immediate surroundings.
Reminders that danger is present in Japan, just as it is anywhere else, should be provided to both children and adults as they go about their daily lives. The training the Japanese government conducts to help people be prepared for natural disasters for earthquakes and tsunamis should be extended to manmade dangers like terrorist attacks and other forms of violent crime. Only by constantly instilling a sense among normal people that terrorist attacks can be possible anytime, just like earthquakes, can people feel responsible for rationally look at preventive measures, much more so than any posters can.
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