Terrorists v Hooligans

The Japanese police force's Anti-Hooligan Unit has been practicing a somewhat indelicate diplomacy: they manhandle their colleagues, who get into the spirit of things by waving England flags.

While this important work has been going on, it seems the lessons of the 1972 Olympic Games (when two participants were killed by Arab gunmen followed by nine others after being taken hostage) may have been overlooked.

Japan is not immune from terrorist attacks as the 1995 AUM Shinrikyo poison gas attack in the Tokyo and Yokohama subway systems tragically demonstrated.
In 1999, an All Nippon Airways pilot was stabbed to death during a domestic flight. In 1994 a small bomb exploded over Okinawa on a Philippines Airlines flight bound for Tokyo killing a Japanese passenger.

During the Gulf War, a passenger on an outward flight from Japan shouted 'Bomb!' and he attempted to convince the foreign air crew that he was jesting by saying the word 'joke' in Japanese: 'johdan' which sounds very similar to the name of the Saddam-supporting Middle East country 'Jordan'. Result: the plane turned back and the miscreant had to pay thousands of dollars in fines.

It is one of the paradoxes of the world that Japan, the only country in the world to have had the horror of atomic weapons used against it, has many nuclear power stations. Japanese authorities have yet to make a statement concerning the security measures to be taken to prevent attack on these by commandos or missiles. North Korea has the missile capability of reaching the Japanese islands, as it demonstrated when it launched a rocket, which overflew Japan and 'landed' in the sea. JAWOC general secretary Yasuhiko Endo promised a thorough review of security preparations for the World Cup: "One of our fundamental goals is to hold a safe tournament," he said. JAWOC plans to grade matches on their vulnerability to potential attack and has hired private security firms to work alongside national police.