Shinkansen security boost hindered by time, cost concerns

Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) strengthened its security systems after a man committed suicide by self-immolation in 2015, but the latest incident has brought to light a number of blind spots, including its rules on bringing weapons aboard and how evacuation instructions are given.

Security on Shinkansen trains, which have been running for more than half a century now, is entering a new phase.

Unable to rescue passenger

“Someone has a knife,” a passenger told a chief conductor in car No. 10, about three minutes after suspect Ichiro Kojima of Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, reportedly attacked a woman in car No. 12 of the Nozomi No. 265 train.

The conductor rushed to the scene, where Kojima was straddling and attacking Kotaro Umeda, 38, of Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture.

Using seats and suitcases as a shield, the conductor approached to within several meters of the attacker. The conductor repeatedly told Kojima to stop and “I’ll listen to what you have to say.”

The conductor pleaded with Kojima to stop the attack, which he reportedly did, but kept ahold of the weapon and remained straddling Umeda. Shinkansen cars have no tools for dealing with suspicious people, such as sprays or sasumata — a forked weapon used by police.

The train stopped at Odawara Station about 15 minutes later, but Umeda could not be helped until then. Two female victims who were evacuated to around car No. 16 received aid from a medical professional who happened to be on the train, but the emergency medical equipment in car No. 8 could not be accessed.

No notification The only announcement issued inside the train came 18 minutes after the attack to say that the suspect had been arrested.

Most of the passengers had no idea exactly what was happening or where. The narrow aisles were packed with panicked passengers trying to escape. One passenger reportedly said, “Some people were injured in a stampede.”

In a press conference Wednesday, JR Tokai President Shin Kaneko said that staff “had no time to make announcements. Some passengers have told us they were ‘extremely anxious.’”

Using a smartphone, the conductor was able to stream video of the scene to an integrated command center in Tokyo, which the police used in their initial response. However, this was not shared with six other people, including crew members, in the car, who had to give evacuation instructions based on fragmentary information from passengers and others.

In light of this, JR Tokai has decided to introduce by the end of August a system that will allow all crew members to talk with the command center simultaneously over smartphones.

Costly measures

How can people be prevented from bringing weapons onto trains?

The company’s standpoint is that it is difficult to implement luggage inspections because convenience would be lessened. If inspections were implemented, the Shinkansen would lose its advantage as a mass-transit system with no waiting time.

Also, modifying train stations to make room for inspections and other changes would be costly. After the self-immolation, the company was hurrying to install more in-car surveillance cameras to strengthen deterrence.

That it was unable to stop this latest incident comes as a major shock. Luggage inspections are carried out at railway stations in the United States and China as part of antiterrorism measures.

With the Rugby World Cup coming to Japan in 2019 and the Olympics and Paralympics to Tokyo the next year, terrorists may seek to enter Japan amid the flux of visitors. Shinkansen trains could present soft targets for attacks.

“Even if deterrence is strengthened with surveillance cameras, it’s impossible to completely prevent terrorism-like incidents. This is not only a problem for railways. We’ve reached a phase where the central government needs to be actively engaged in a leadership role in finding solutions,” said Hitoshi Tsunashima, professor of railway engineering at Nihon University.

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