Terrorism in Japan

Introduction

Terrorism is a threat to national security and involves the unlawful use of violence or intimidating civilians to promote specific ideas, which may be religious or political, among other reasons. Japan as a nation has dealt with little terrorist activity because of the effective measures that have been put in place to contain such activities both inside and beyond its borders. Through the Association of Southern Asian Nations, the state has been instrumental in assisting with humanitarian and infrastructural assistance to countries that face terrorist threats to counter extremist violence. In the past, the country faced attacks, including the Tokyo Subway bombing in 1995.[1]

History of Terrorism in Japan

Recent years have witnessed a surge in terrorism, including homegrown extremists that attack their fellow citizens. The international community has, over time, mapped different ranges of threats, such as illicit proceeds that emanate from the trafficking of weapons, kidnappings, and drugs, among other vices, for which funds are then challenged to the commission of terrorism activities. The pillars consist of assisting the society’s resilient liner to the radicalization efforts, strengthening the counter-terrorism measures, and increasing diplomacy efforts to stabilize and promote prosperity in the middle east.[2]

In this effort, Japan has partnered with international bodies such as the United Nations, where Japan actively participates and shares best practices that could be implemented to coordinate capacity building and workshops to exchange ideas and train nations to prepare themselves adequately. Secondly, The state participates in consultations on trilateral and bilateral talks with different nations to counter terrorism.[3]The fact that some countries are not adequately prepared to address terrorism and have not implemented adequate measures leaves innocent people in danger.to counter such limitations, Japan offers different forms of assistance to such nations through the donation of equipment, consultations, and workshops, among other measures, to ensure that assistance is given to improve the capacity of the individual nations to counter terrorism.[4] The different ministries and agencies all come together to implement different counter-terrorism measures. There is no justification for terrorism because they prey on innocent people to advance their ideals by creating a sense of fear.[5]In its three pillar policies, Japan has implemented different measures to respond to incidents of terrorism that touch on the murder of Japan citizens.

Until the Tokyo Subway attack, emergency management measures focused on ensuring the state was prepared and implementing planning to curb natural disasters. However, after the attack, there was a shift in policies with measures being implemented to ensure that they are prepared to counter-terrorism attacks, including training programs to counter chemical, biological, and nuclear attacks, among other emerging techniques, by proactively addressing the problem.[6] Until 1995, the management of emergencies in the country was more focused on ensuring preparedness at the local level because most of the disasters were naturally made.[7]The Antitrain the year 2022, a gunman assassinated the Prime Minister of Japan as he was then when he was in the process of delivering a speech. The suspect was quickly apprehended, after which he confessed that he had intended to kill the then-prime minister.

Legislations and Policies enacted to aid Emergency measures.

The Government of Japan enacted a policy after the 9/11 attacks to ensure that it supported the United States as one of its allies, putting in place national securing measures to fight terrorism. Later, it enacted the Anti-Terrorism Special Law that was meant to put in place logistical support, including fuel supply to ships, to ensure they eliminate threats and avoid such attacks. The response of Japan by sending the JSDF to Iraq and the Indian Ocean has evidenced its commitment to become more active and enforce military operations to curb terrorism.

The country has also experienced different incidents of chemical disasters. In 2004, the Civil Protection Law came into place to ensure that the nation is fully prepared in case of chemical terrorist attacks. The law stipulates that the Japanese’s government has the role of putting in place civilian protection exercises to gauge the country’s preparedness in the fight against terrorism. Japan has, over the decades, invested in countermeasures to curb terrorism.

Financing Terrorism

Organized crime and its nexus to terrorism is a massive international crisis necessitating the intervention by the international communityThere is needs to double efforts to counter terrorism and ensure there is a collaboration among nations to ensure that the terrorist is not in a position to benefit from funds that are obtained through organized crime. Some of the policies implemented include the Financial Action Task Force, which was set up in 1989 with the task of promoting anti-money laundering practices.[8]Another measure implemented includes the creation of the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering, which was set up in 1997. The same was done to encourage the reform of law and legal systems to ensure that all loopholes used to launder money are blocked to counter-terrorism.[9]

The government’s paramount role is to safeguard its territory’s security and ensure that its citizens are protected against different forms of terrorist attacks. On the one hand, the country has provided logistical support to its allies in the face of attacks but simultaneously built the regional networks meant to combat terrorism by ensuring all their avenues for pursuing their goals are blocked.

At a practical level, Japan enacted different domestic legislation and criminalized the financing of terrorism activities. Further, Japan has so far amended the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade law in the year 2002 to ensure there is information exchange and collaboration concerning the financing of terrorism.[10]International intelligence sharing at the international level has improved since the 9/11 attacks, which increased cooperation among nations to prevent such an occurrence. The panic caused by the spread of SARS was evidence of what could happen if society was to be unprepared because terrorists could take the cue and develop viruses and technologies that could harm many people within a short time.[11]Despite the different legislation enacted by KJ[pan to counter-terrorism, some of them have been met with the freedom of association claim among other civil liberties, which means that they are unable to implement some of the preventive measures because of the rights of individuals.aIt is essential to work on a new mechanism that could be used to fight the vice and at the same time ensure there is a collaboration with the international community to assist in information sharing.

In the wake of 911, Japan played an instrumental role in supporting the United States in consolidating its arrangement, which has gradually taken shape since the 199-0s. It acted more decisively and started developing policies that are aimed at protecting the its homeland and, at the same time collaborating with the international community. The Diet session paved the way for the deploymenet of self-defense forces overseas to help in counter-terrorism efforts. The bill to counter-terrorism saw the state take on an active role in helping the united states by dispatching the SDF to the Indian Ocean to conduct surveillance and collect intelligence, among other roles.

Conclusion

At the national level, its police and airline increased their procedures to maintain security and ensure it was better equipped. However, the nation is still not adequately papered to address the challenge, as some of the laws implemented are inadequate in the face of new threats. The counter-terrorism policies are more on paper as opposed to actively being implemented.[12]Also, in the face of freedom of association and speech challenges, implementation of such laws faces many hurdles evidencing the need to address the challenges proactively.

Bibliography

Box, Meredith, and Gavin McCormack. “Terror in Japan: The red army (1969-2001) and aum supreme truth (1987-2000).” Critical Asian Studies 36, no. 1 (2004): 91-112.

Bradford, John F. “Japanese anti-piracy initiatives in Southeast Asia: policy formulation and the coastal state responses.” Contemporary Southeast Asia (2004): 480-505.

Heine, Steven J., Motoko Harihara, and Yu Niiya. “Terror management in Japan.” Asian Journal of Social Psychology 5, no. 3 (2002): 187-196.

Katzenstein, Peter J. “Same war, different views: Germany, Japan, and the war on terrorism.” CURRENT HISTORY-NEW YORK THEN PHILADELPHIA- 101 (2002): 427-435.

Michael H. Armacost and Kenneth B. Pyle, “Japan and the Engagement of China: Challenges for U.S. Policy Coordination,” NBR Analysis, December 2001.

Muttaqien, M. “Japan in the Global” War on Terrorism.” Global & Strategis 2 (2007).

Okumura, Tetsu, Yasuo Seto, and Akira Fuse. “Countermeasures against chemical terrorism in Japan.” Forensic science international 227, no. 1-3 (2013): 2-6.

Saiya, Nilay. “Confronting apocalyptic terrorism: Lessons from France and Japan.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 43, no. 9 (2020): 775-795.

Saiya, Nilay. “Confronting apocalyptic terrorism: Lessons from France and Japan.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 43, no. 9 (2020): 775-795.

The 1st Japan-Indonesia Counter-Terrorism Dialogue available at: https://www.mofa.go.jp/fp/is_sc/page24e_000300.html

Tu, Anthony T. “Toxicological and chemical aspects of sarin terrorism in Japan in 1994 and 1995.” Toxin Reviews 26, no. 3 (2007): 231-274.

[1] Muttaqien, M. “Japan in the Global” War on Terrorism.” Global & Strategis 2 (2007).

[2] Saiya, Nilay. “Confronting apocalyptic terrorism: Lessons from France and Japan.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 43, no. 9 (2020): 775-795.

[3] Bradford, John F. “Japanese anti-piracy initiatives in Southeast Asia: policy formulation and the coastal state responses.” Contemporary Southeast Asia (2004): 480-505.

[4] ibid

[5] Heine, Steven J., Motoko Harihara, and Yu Niiya. “Terror management in Japan.” Asian Journal of Social Psychology 5, no. 3 (2002): 187-196.

[6] Tu, Anthony T. “Toxicological and chemical aspects of sarin terrorism in Japan in 1994 and 1995.” Toxin Reviews 26, no. 3 (2007): 231-274.

[7] Box, Meredith, and Gavin McCormack. “Terror in Japan: The red army (1969-2001) and aum supreme truth (1987-2000).” Critical Asian Studies 36, no. 1 (2004): 91-112.

[8] Saiya, Nilay. “Confronting apocalyptic terrorism: Lessons from France and Japan.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 43, no. 9 (2020): 775-795.

[9]The 1st Japan-Indonesia Counter-Terrorism Dialogue available at: https://www.mofa.go.jp/fp/is_sc/page24e_000300.html

[10] Katzenstein, Peter J. “Same war, different views: Germany, Japan, and the war on terrorism.” CURRENT HISTORY-NEW YORK THEN PHILADELPHIA- 101 (2002): 427-435.

[11] Okumura, Tetsu, Yasuo Seto, and Akira Fuse. “Countermeasures against chemical terrorism in Japan.” Forensic science international 227, no. 1-3 (2013): 2-6.

[12] Michael H. Armacost and Kenneth B. Pyle, “Japan and the Engagement of China: Challenges for U.S. Policy Coordination,” NBR Analysis, December 2001.