U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2004 - Japan

Japan continued its strong counterterrorism stance, both domestically and abroad, in 2004. In May, the Diet ratified a mutual legal assistance treaty with the United States. The treaty will make cooperation in investigations and prosecution of terrorists easier.

Japan is active regionally in building counterterrorism cooperation and capacity among Asian countries. In June, Japan announced its APEC Counterterrorism Capacity Building Initiative and its plans to provide assistance to address aviation, port, and maritime security, as well as terrorism financing shortfalls in the region. The Japanese Coast Guard invited students from Southeast Asian countries to study at its academy, provided training for maritime law enforcement activities, and conducted a human resource development project to modernize and further professionalize the Philippine Coast Guard. Japanese officials have led regional seminars on terrorist finance, customs cooperation, law enforcement, immigration control, and export control. To help stem the flow of terrorist financing to al-Qa'ida and the Taliban, Japan designated under its asset-freezing program all entities and individuals included on the UN 1267 Sanctions Committee's consolidated list and sponsored an experts seminar on establishing financial intelligence units for Southeast Asian countries in December 2004.

There were no serious incidents of international or domestic terrorism in Japan during 2004. The leader of Aum Shinrikyo, a US-designated foreign terrorist organization accused of perpetrating the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995, was sentenced to death in February. Appeals are pending. The Public Security Intelligence Agency is continuing its surveillance of the group through 2005, as authorized by the Public Security Commission in December 2002.