New Delhi: Heads covered with black-and-white scarves and faces concealed behind black cloth, leaving only their eyes visible – this was how men portraying terrorists appeared in a mock anti-terrorism drill at a Japanese government facility in Tokyo.
Photos from the drill were posted on social media, where they drew criticism over the use of costumes that some users said were associated with the Middle East and the Arab and Islamic worlds.
What happened during the drill
The drill was conducted on September 10 in cooperation with a security firm at a government facility in Tokyo. It was designed to prepare officials for potential terrorist attacks and the abduction of Japanese nationals overseas.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry later shared details of the drill on X. It also included a photograph showing a person portraying a terrorist wearing a headscarf and covering a hostage’s head with a bag.
The post drew attention on social media, prompting the ministry to remove the photograph. Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said at a press conference on Friday that the decision was made after the ministry “took various opinions seriously.”
“The drill is very important for the protection of Japanese nationals,” Motegi said. “We will work to release appropriate information at the appropriate time, as well as provide careful explanations.”
The ministry also said the costume was not intended to represent any specific ethnic group, region or religion, and expressed regret over any misunderstanding.
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Why Japan conducts these drills
The ministry has been conducting anti-terrorism drills since 2018, drawing lessons from the 2016 Dhaka terror attack, in which seven Japanese nationals were killed.
According to the security firm involved in the exercises, the drills are designed to be as realistic and practical as possible. The ministry is scheduled to conduct three more anti-terrorism drills this year.
“We’ll consider how best to release information, but it’s really difficult to do that on social media,” a senior ministry official said.
Photos continue to circulate online
Although the ministry deleted the photos from its social media post, the images continue to circulate online. The incident prompted criticism from social media users, who questioned whether using costumes associated with a particular community or region could reinforce stereotypes.
“Japan has no reports of terrorism by Muslims & they have Muslims living there. More than 105 non-Muslim countries have had NO attacks by Muslims. Most attacks (around 90%) happen inside Muslim countries; most are either war-torn or with active insurgency or internal armed conflict,” one user wrote on X.
“Especially hilarious, considering the most infamous terrorist attacks in Japanese history were carried out by Japanese people themselves,” another user wrote.
Edited by Maryam Hassan