Forgetful janitor triggers Toyko subway terrorism scare

Wednesday 09th July, 06:49 AM JST

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tkoind2 at 08:28 AM JST - 9th July

Even tiny unknown stations in the middle of nowhere are crawling with police. If something really happens, the 20,000 police spread around the area will have a hard time coming together in their usual 20 cop packs to check bicycle accidents. They are pretty much useless anyway.
DeepAir65 at 08:41 AM JST - 9th July

I thought they removed the bins from subway stations years ago - certainly not seen one for years. The occaisional train station has them.

What I want to know is where did all these police come from? And what will they be doing next week?
Zen_Builder at 09:08 AM JST - 9th July

The bins are back for the most part but now got clear sides so you can see what is inside. Myself have the guys rather over-reacting than another sarin attack.

Had fun on Monday, 4 cops survived my home in the morning as we have 2 foreigners(chinese and european/both on PR) living here and a goverment official.

Had a good chat with the cops on duty, we know each other as my son trains MA with them.

Fun times, but I am used to it as back home we had a lot of guys visiting the UN-City.
borscht at 09:09 AM JST - 9th July

This is a good example of why people should have crappy part-time jobs in high school and college. If the security guard that found this stuff had called a cop who had worked as a janitor or other cleaning type job while in school, the cop probably would have recognized these dangerous artifacts for what they are. Conversely, did either the security guard or cop bother to actually really really look at these things?
Altria at 09:24 AM JST - 9th July

Which station?
timeon at 09:25 AM JST - 9th July

　borscht, of course not. looking at them is extremely dangerous and needs 20 cops, 6 fire engines, one weapon expert, one chemicals expert and Bruce Willis
Zen_Builder at 09:33 AM JST - 9th July

timeon.

Or a CSI(TV) team member who can shine a blue light and pronounce things, never mind solve a case in less than 2 days.

Never knew that CSI could interrogate people, arrest them, etc. Heck, who needs cops when you got CSI/Bruce Willis/etc. ;)
smithinjapan at 12:49 PM JST - 9th July

Hard to mock them for overreacting, given the alternative.
cleo at 01:04 PM JST - 9th July

I second Smithy.

Someone who had had a crappy janitor job as a student would be able to determine just by looking whether a bottle containing a suspicious liquid was just a bottle of detergent or a bottle of sarin cunningly disguised as a bottle of detergent?

Wasn't there an incident a year or so ago when some American city, I forget where, was paralysed for hours while police rushed around defusing umpteen 'explosive devices' that turned out to be advertising signs?
TPOJ at 01:21 PM JST - 9th July

Wasn't there an incident a year or so ago when some American city, I forget where, was paralysed for hours while police rushed around defusing umpteen 'explosive devices' that turned out to be advertising signs?

Yeah, and they were REALLY goofy. An electronic alien flipping people off.

Look, terrorism is obviously a major concern, but yes, you CAN mock them for overreacting. Potential ANYthing is not an excuse to let paranoia run rampant. Common sense need not take a holiday.
borscht at 03:30 PM JST - 9th July

Then there was an incident in Tokyo a few years ago where 'experts' determined that a package in a restroom was an explosive capable of toppling the building it was found in. Once dismantled it was discovered to be a package of onigiri. Or something. Some experts on TV even told us that 'where it was positioned' was proof of terrorism - until the cleaning lady said she put it there to get it out of the way while she cleaned the urinals.
wilbur at 03:46 PM JST - 9th July

as someone who missed getting gassed by about 8 minutes in the sarin attack, i gotta agree with smith as well...BUT, its still funny to watch them run around like headless chickens
wilbur at 04:11 PM JST - 9th July

TPOJ: common sense doesn't exist in japan so it cannot take a holiday
RepublicofTexas at 06:09 PM JST - 9th July

In times like this, it's better to be safe than sorry.
drw1926 at 06:10 PM JST - 9th July

and suspending use of vending machines at all stations

Sure...that'll be the day. They were refilling them today at Sakuragicho-eki...although that is JR line...I have not noticed this on either system (speaking as someone who utilizes the things on an almost daily basis...)