Japan has beefed up security ahead of a visit by US President Barack Obama and the 20th anniversary of Emperor Akihito's accession to the throne later this week, the government said Wednesday.
"Strengthening security as a matter of course, we will implement full-scale preparations for the president's visit and the emperor's 20th enthronement anniversary," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano told reporters.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department reportedly plans to deploy about 16,000 officers in the capital when Obama arrives Friday afternoon on a whirlwind two-day visit before heading to a Singapore summit.
It will be the highest level of security since Japan hosted a summit of the Group of Eight major economies on northern Hokkaido island in July last year, when around 20,000 police were deployed in Tokyo alone.
Police have set up checkpoints near the US embassy to inspect suspicious vehicles, while anti-riot police were patrolling near Tokyo's Yokota Air Base, where an explosive device was reportedly found last month.
Police have sealed off manhole covers and put extra officers on duty at subway stations, which were targeted by a doomsday cult using Sarin nerve gas in 1995 in an attack that killed 12 people and injured thousands.
Demonstrators plan to stage a rally Friday and march near the US embassy and the prime minister's office against the US military presence on the southern island of Okinawa, a contentious issue between Tokyo and Washington.
Hirano said the government had received no information indicating a security threat but was taking precautionary measures. "We have taken action, but it has not been based on any information about terrorism," he said.
Obama is to hold talks with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama Friday evening and have lunch with the emperor at the Imperial Palace on Saturday before departing for Singapore to attend this year's Asia-Pacific summit.
On Thursday, the government is to hold a ceremony at the Royal National Theatre to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Akihito's accession to the Chrysanthemum throne following the death of his father, Hirohito, in 1989.
Demonstrations against the imperial system are planned around the moated palace grounds in the centre of Tokyo on Thursday. Such rallies have in the past led to clashes with nationalist right-wing activists.
About 30,000 people are expected to gather at a separate ceremony Thursday, open to the public, to celebrate the enthronement, with Japanese pop band Exile scheduled to dedicate a song to the imperial couple.
