Trump arrived in Tokyo more than five o’clock in the afternoon on October 27, and the entire Tokyo was in high security alert, with 18,000 police officers moving out.
What state is?
The capital expressway is closed, Ginza has set up cards, the streets are full of policemen with bomb sniffing dogs, snipers squatting on the roofs, and anti-drone equipment flying in the sky.
The Shanghai Fortress is a movie, and the Tokyo Fortress is really appearing.
Why so exaggerated?
Afraid of something.
Shinzo Abe was shot dead in 2022, Fumio Kishida was attacked in 2023, and people threw Molotov cocktails at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in October last year.
Trump himself was shot in the United States last July.
With this string of cases placed there, can the Japanese Metropolitan Police Department not be nervous?
On October 24, just three days before Trump's visit, an incident occurred near the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. A man was interrogated by the police and suddenly took out a kitchen knife and a dagger and pointed it at the police officer.
Although it was finally confirmed that it had nothing to do with Trump's visit to Japan, it directly filled up the anxiety value of the Japanese police.
The head of the police department in Tokyo said that even if the risk is only one in ten thousand, it must be done 100% prevention.
To tell the truth, Japan deserves to be a Chinese cultural circle before. This statement is quite unique to us, and it is quite neat, but the translation is: I can't afford to lose this person, and I can't afford this responsibility.
So you can see this.
Police deployed police officers on the roofs around the venue and blocked the external stairs. Bomb-sniffing dogs searched every place Trump wanted to go. Teams specializing in handling explosives, chemical protection, and anti-drone vehicles are all on standby. One after another, the interception and questioning procedures are so strict that people doubt life. Social media is monitored 24 hours a day to screen posts that may suggest attacks.
Especially against snipers who tried to shoot from high-rise buildings, police deployed police on the roof near the venue where Trump would appear, fearing Trump was shot again in Japan.
Japanese police are not the most afraid of organized terrorist attacks, which can be controlled in advance.They are afraid of the kind of suddenly emerging individual actors, the second before the ordinary people, the second after the home-made weapons.
Tetsuya Yamama, who shot Abe in 2022, is a typical example.
The veteran self-defense team, self-made double-barrel rifle, single-person, without prior signs.
The scariest thing about this lone wolf model is that it is almost impossible to prevent it. It can only rely on massive manpower to build a seemingly tight protective net and then pray that the probability will be on its side.
18,000 police officers, the Japanese government's people's sea tactic, bet as long as the police are tight enough, inspect frequently enough, and monitor comprehensively enough, you can press that one-thousandth of the probability to unlimited close to zero.
This bet is ridiculously expensive.
18,000 police officers worked three days in a row, how much overtime, logistics security, equipment loss?
Traffic paralysed in the center of Tokyo, the business circle cold and clean, 500,000 travelers around the road every day, what is the economic loss?
What about the delayed time, missed business and accumulated grievances of those who are trapped on the road by dynamic control?
The Japanese government has no choice.
Once something goes wrong, the price is catastrophic.
How will media around the world report the attack on the U.S. president in Japan? Do you still want the Japan-US alliance? Will Japan still need its international security image?
So in a sense, these 18,000 people are not protecting Trump, they are protecting the Japanese government’s own interests.
Trump's visit this time is not only diplomatic etiquette, but also about "hardcore" topics with Japanese Prime Minister sanae takaichi.
Increased defense expenses, investment in the United States, and tariff exchange agreements worth $55 billion.
The last deal alone would equal 10% of Japan’s annual GDP, a huge burden.
As Japan's prime minister's first appearance on the international stage, Gao also prepared a "meeting", and now announced the contents include: purchase of Ford F-150 pickups, soybeans, liquefied natural gas.
While paying for American goods to please Trump, Japan has to spend sky-high costs to protect his safety, which is amazing.
However, it is understandable that Japan, as the most ironclad ally of the United States in Asia, must unconditionally cooperate with all requests of the United States.
When Trump comes, Japan will have to receive the highest standards.
If he wants to be safe, Japan will have to send out 18,000 men.
If he wants money, Japan will have to pay US$550 billion.
Even the Nikkei Shimbun said that sanae takaichi hopes to make the talks a springboard for building personal relationships... to give Trump face on the scene, and to make friendship with Trump privately...
However, the Japanese government can't make it clear that although Japan and the United States claim to be allies, they are essentially subordinate relationships. It can only show loyalty to the United States through this extreme security ostentation and extravagance, prove to the people that "we attach great importance to it" and show the international community that "Japan has the ability to guarantee the safety of foreign heads of state".
Of course, even if Japan does this, Trump will still ask for money if he should ask for money, and he will still find fault if he should find fault.
Because this is the rule of the game between great powers, the strong are always testing the bottom line of the weak.
Japan can do it only once to prove that it is obedient, reliable and valuable enough.
Of course, some of the 18,000 policemen must have stood in the cold wind, staring at the empty streets, whispering ten thousand times.
What do you guys think?