G7 Summit Shuts Down Garbage Cans, Lockers Across Japan

In the aftermath of a high-profile political assassination attempt, it’s understandable Japan would increase security. It makes even more sense to clamp down on security with several prominent world leaders visiting Hiroshima for the G7 Summit.

But reports say that police are implementing security measures hundreds of miles away from the event. And it made it harder than ever this weeken for people to toss their trash and stow their luggae.

Japan’s rapidly disappearing garbage cans

If you live in a large city in Japan, you’re likely to notice there aren’t a lot of places to dump your trash. In Tokyo in particular, public garbage cans are a rare sighting. It’s easiest to find one in a convenience store. Otherwise, your best bet when buying something from a combini for consumption on the go is to ask for a plastic bag to hold the waste.

You’re a lot more likely to find garbage bins dedicated to plastic bottle and can waste. You’ll find these mostly next to vending machines, naturally. (You’ll also see a lot of people who’ve ignored the posted signs and used these bins as general rubbish buckets.)

This isn’t an accident. Authorities in Tokyo and other large cities began removing many public trash cans after the Aum Shinrikyo sarin subway attack in 1995. They did another round of removal shortly after the 9/11 attacks in the United States in 2001.

You can still find garbage cans in train stations and select other locations. But if you were anywhere near 1,000 miles of Hiroshima this past weeked, odds are you couldn’t use them…

Security in the wake of assassinations

This weekend in Japan saw the summit of G7 leaders in Hiroshima. Leaders from the United States, Great Britain, and other nations gathered to discuss global issues related to economics, trade, security, and climate change. In a last minute addition, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made an appearance to appeal directly for continued aid in his country’s defense against Russia.

It’s understandable that this event would make security forces across Japan skittish. After all, last year the country lost its longest-serving prime minister, former PM Abe Shinzo, in a political assassination that shokced the nation. Just last month, someone attempted to do the same to current PM Kishida Fumio.

So security in Hiroshima was, understandably, tight. Police put all transit and luggage under tight scrutiny. They also set up additional patrols and inspection points at entry points between Hrioshima Prefecture and neighboring Ehime Prefecture.

No garbage cans for…Osaka?!

But security measures weren’t just limited to Hiroshima. Police also clamped down on everything from garbage cans to coin lockers – often hundreds of miles away.

Twitter user @lidges felt this pain when they found trash cans in Shinosaka and Okayama Stations shut down for the summit. Okayama Station is some 160 kilometers away from Hiroshima; Shinosaka is a good 330km distant.

Tokyo – a full 840 kilometers away from the G7 Summit – wasn’t spared from extreme security measures, either. According to NHK News, Japan Rail shut down garbage cans as well as coin lockers in some 14 stations. And Tokyo Metro closed garbage cans and lockers in 28 stations – including two of the busiest, Shibuya and Shinjuku.

At Hrioshima Airport, they didn’t shut down all of the garbage cans. Instead, they replaced them with clear versions so anyone can easily see the contents (ew).

The coin locker shutdowns proved a big headache for both domestic and inbound international travelers, who now had no temporary storage space for their luggage. Users took to Twitter to complain about having no access to coin lockers in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Station despite the summit occurring over 800 kilometers distant.

What’s more, train stations and authorities gave people little notice of the closures. For example, JR East Japan had no information on their Web site warning that coin lockers would be unavailable. When contacted for comment, JR East said it doesn’t print “detailed information” about security measures it takes surrounding key events.

The strict conditions are expected to lift today, May 22nd, with the conclusion of the G7 Summit.

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Sources

広島船便で手荷物検査も　Ｇ７サミット開幕へ　愛媛も交通機関で警戒強化　【愛媛】. FNN Prme Online

大阪などでも警戒を強化中…G７広島サミットに向け　駅構内のゴミ箱やコインロッカーを“封鎖”でテロ警戒. 8 Kantere

広島から離れていても…コインロッカー使えません. NHK News