Drone may have been on roof of PM's office for days

Drone may have been on roof of PM's office for days

homeless or illegal alien (!)

Investigators were analysing computer memory attached to a camera on the drone, the Yomiuri said.

this is what readers would like to know in all seriousness.

This is one industry that should be highly regulated as the downside of expanded drone use in terms of noise, privacy, security and safety likely outweighs the benefits. At least there should be a serious public debate before allowing their limited use.

At least there should be a serious public debate before allowing their limited use.

I agree, but sadly this IS Japan, public debate is not something that the average Japanese person is comfortable with. It forces them to take a public stance on one side or the other on any given issue and sticking out is one thing they collectively abhor.

Also sadly too is that public debate is needed on a host of issues and this one in the bigger picture of all the problems currently ongoing here is way down on the priority list in my opinion.

I hate drones. I was at the river kissing my girlfriend and over me was tat freaking drone.

How intrusive. Next thing will be some one will actually be looking at the out out of CCTV.

agree on the intrusiveness of drones - though i hear there are some good uses they are far outweighed by the bad ones- from war to invasion of privacy.

Indeed it should be regulated, or forbidden without permission on the city.

Or just wait for the legion of perverts in Japan to start filming the privacy of all the girls in the neighbourhood..

What is surprising is that seeing as it's the PMs office, they don't even have a marksman on the roof! Well i guess it's not really that surprising in 'safety' Japan.

The drone was dry when it was found, indicating that it landed on the roof after April 20 when it last rained in Tokyo

What kind of logic is this? It was found on the morning of the 22nd, which gave it a day and a bit to dry out. That's not an assumption they can safely make.

SpankiApr. 24, 2015 - 09:07AM JST What is surprising is that seeing as it's the PMs office, they don't even have a marksman on the roof! Well i guess it's not really that surprising in 'safety' Japan.

Why would they need a marksman on the roof? He'd have been unlikely to see a single drone, and would probably have been half asleep from boredom. And honestly how could you justify that sort of expense when a few sheets of high-spec bullet-proof glass with coatings to mute sound would do a MUCH better job at a fraction of the cost.

... in fact the entire idea of a marksman on the roof seems more and more preposterous the more I think about it. It wouldn't protect the PM against a sniper because the marksman would only know there was a sniper AFTER the sniper took his shot.

All in all the idea of marksmen on the roof seems like a needless waste of public money.

So, the roof of the building is not regularly patrolled? I think there is a major flaw in their security procedures.

Who is investigating this incident? Does Japan have an elite law enforcement agency? How will gather intel & generate "real" leads? What an innovative way to deploy a Drone!!

Ah yes, of course - more regulations! How else but regulation could they have stopped whoever it was that landed their drone and radioactive bottle on the roof of the PM's office?

Alternatively, the government could spend 500 billion yen installing security drones above all buildings, and have them shoot down any drones that invade airspace without permission. They should also shoot down those pesky kites that kids and old men fly around in parks, while they are at it.

Gotta love technological advances.

Quote: "The drone was dry when it was found, indicating that it landed on the roof after April 20 when it last rained in Tokyo, Kyodo News and the Yomiuri Shimbun reported."

On the news last night they were saying the opposite, ie that a minute amount of water had been found in it, suggesting it had been there at least since the rains of Monday/Tuesday.

@Disillusioned

So, the roof of the building is not regularly patrolled? I think there is a major flaw in their security procedures.

I second that. Considering the importance of the patrol for the "prime minister's office," it's beyond criticism. Hope they have already beefed up the security after this discreditable episode.

traces of radioactivity? Well, at least they know it originated form the Tohoko region.

wait for the legion of perverts in Japan to start filming the privacy of all the girls in the neighbourhood..

Happened already some years ago...

Today drone carry radioactive in future maybe biological virus or bacteria. So every offices must have radar to detect drone and shoot it down.

Some pretty great security, this nation. No wonder Suga's panicking for damage control!

I hate drones. I was at the river kissing my girlfriend and over me was tat freaking drone.

I hope it didn't belong to your wife!

Riiiight Frungy, so no other country has marksmen or security personnel on the roof of their leaders offices? From the outcome of this little stunt, it shows having them could well be useful doesn't it.

Regulating drones is foolish, tobacco and cell phones should be regulated first because they cause far more harm than drones do. It seem like a case of we can't control it so lets regulate it.

Statist fools' reaction to everything is more regulations. There are likely a dozen laws already on the books that could apply to this situation, including illegal dumping.

Laws can't be passed fast enough to keep up with these machines & they will cause major problems in cities around the world. It doesn't help when items such as this are Front Page news given all the lunacy out & about-That fellow landing a gyro-copter on the front lawn of the White House only shows any (& there are many!)dangerous mind the ease it takes to inflict harm.

Creating a breach like this allows them to create regulations. Wag the dog...

I fly radio controlled planes and helicopters. I also own a small indoor quadro-copter. There are places to fly them and responsible enthousiasts do it away from people. This stunt is going to ruin the fun for many if the government starts to put restrictions on them.

This stunt is going to ruin the fun for many if the government starts to put restrictions on them.

I think that's exactly what car owners said when the drivers license was introduced.

Minimal residual cesium has already been blown all over the area, so that may just be a coincidence up on that roof.

The container specifically marked 'Radioactive' makes this a challenge to the government, though, however you cut the cake.

The question is, who would gain by this, within Japan's present political climate?

I can think of a) a nutjob, b) DPRK c) Radical left-wingers, d) the anti-nuclear lobby, e)...?

I think they really need to regulate these things. Remember the ones hovering around power plants in France earlier? There have also been sightings around some British airports. There are UK regulations on them which seem fairly logical.

They can't be flown:-

. over or within 150 metres of any congested area

. over or within 150 metres of an organised open-air assembly of more than 1,000 persons

. within 50 metres of any vessel, vehicle or structure which is not under the control of the person in charge of the aircraft

. within 50 metres of any person except during take-off or landing, the aircraft must not be flown within 30 metres of any person except for the person in charge of the aircraft.

Maybe Japan could introduce something like that?

>The drone was made by major Chinese manufacturer DJI, other local reports said.

Good grief, Japanese media. What on earth does the drone manufacturer have to do with this story, except for yet another chance to slander China by association?

Personal drones wouldn't need regulation at all if there weren't idiots misusing them.

I liken civil code to the rulebook for American football. At the high school level the book is 92 or so pages long. Inside the book are only TWO PAGES that cover all the fundamentals of the rules of the game. Every single fundamental of the game can be displayed on only two pages. So where did the other 90 pages come from? They came from players and coaches trying to gain an unfair advantage during the game. Rule 2 deals ONLY with definitions because coaches and players have spent years parsing the fundamentals into a way for them to gain an advantage. Thus, Rule 2 was created so that (for example) everyone knows exactly when a kick begins and when a kick ends. Safety rules had to be added because players were intentionally trying to injure opponents to remove them from the game. Jersey numbering rules had to be added because coaches were sending in players with duplicate numbers to confuse the opponents.

If you ever wonder why your municipal civil code gets so bogged down, it's because there are idiots who will take something relatively benign like these personal drones and use them for shady purposes.

This is ironic, I thought droning around attracts even unwarranted attention (politicians)

And the answer is, d) the anti-nuclear lobby!

Japanese soil and Japanese cesium for the Prime Minister's attention.