"Airport security checks, some relaxation of long holidays" Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism notice due to labor shortage

In order to cope with congestion at airports due to the shortage of security screeners, it was learned that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism had issued a notice that some inspections of jackets and shoes could be effectively relaxed only during the long holidays.
It also calls for maintaining the security level, and many airports have been inspected as before, but experts point out that "the alert level should be kept high due to the G7 summit and other events, and measures to deal with labor shortages are urgently needed."

As of September last year, the number of airport security screeners has decreased by about 9% from before the spread of infection, and there are effects such as long lines waiting for inspections at airports around the country.

For this reason, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) said that further congestion was expected during the long holidays, and from the 2th to the 27th of last month, it was found that it was possible to effectively relax some of the inspections, saying that it was a flexible operation.

The target items are jackets and platform shoes that are usually required to be taken off and X-rayed, and the jacket can be worn if there are no items in the pocket, and platform shoes and boots can be left on if there is nothing suspicious and can pass through the gate where the metal detector inspection is conducted.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has been strengthening inspections of jackets and shoes for four years with the aim of becoming a "terrorism-resistant airport," and this notification also requires that the security level be maintained, and according to the people concerned, there are many airports where inspections have been carried out as before.

Isao Itabashi, director of the Research Center for Public Policy Research Committee, who is familiar with counterterrorism, said, "X-ray inspections of jackets and shoes are necessary to ensure safety, and the alert level should be kept high due to the G8 summit and other events. Passengers are also expected to understand that the situation is different from before the pandemic and to come to the airport early."