TOKYO, Jan 23 (News On Japan) –
Japan’s Imperial Guard Police, a little-known pressure tasked with defending the Imperial Family and guarding key palace amenities, is marking its one hundred and fortieth anniversary this yr, with consideration turning to the frontline officers who practice every day for emergencies and function with what they describe as a readiness to danger their lives.
The Imperial Guard Police will maintain its annual New Year evaluation ceremony on January twenty third, an occasion designed to spice up morale throughout police models nationwide as marching formations proceed in time with music. Emperor Naruhito is anticipated to attend, following final yr’s ceremony in 2025, which was attended by the Emperor, Empress Masako, and Princess Aiko.
The group traces its origins to 1886, when it was established beneath the previous Imperial Household Ministry because the Imperial Guard Police Station. It later turned an affiliated physique of the National Police Agency and is now often called the Imperial Guard Police Headquarters. Based inside the Imperial Palace grounds, it operates guard stations, which operate equally to common police stations, at areas together with the Akasaka Estate. The pressure has about 900 personnel.
Its core missions are to supply shut safety for the Emperor, the Empress, and different members of the Imperial Family, and to safe the Imperial Palace and associated amenities. Officers might accompany members of the Imperial Family on official visits to regional areas or abroad, and likewise present safety throughout personal actions reminiscent of snowboarding, mountaineering, and tennis.
The unit’s coaching is formed by previous incidents, together with a 1975 assault in Okinawa when a firebomb was thrown throughout a go to by the then Crown Prince and Crown Princess, now Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko. Imperial Guard Police officers responded by evacuating the couple and managing the scenario.
More lately, in 2026, a person was arrested on suspicion of public indecency close to the top of the New Year’s normal public greeting on the Imperial Palace. Officers rapidly restrained the suspect, stopping disruption to the occasion’s proceedings.
Although Japan as soon as had an Imperial Guard, the army was abolished after World War II, and the Self-Defense Forces don’t play a job in defending the Imperial Family. As a end result, the Imperial Guard Police stays a uncommon instance of a police group serving as the first defend for the nation’s royals.
The Imperial Guard Police continues to function throughout a variety of duties, with a few of its actions sometimes seen to the general public, whilst a lot of its work stays out of sight.
Source: TBS