The closures come well in advance of the president’s November 5 visit.
Donald Trump will be making his first tour of Asia as the U.S. president from next month, starting off with a round of golf in Japan on 5 November, with Prime Minister Abe and Japanese pro Hideki Matsuyama.
As always, a U.S. presidential visit brings with it increased safety measures, and today, more than a week before the president’s arrival, some of the precautionary safety measures are already coming into effect at subway stations around Tokyo.
People on Twitter have been alerting people to the fact that, from today, coin lockers at subway stations around the capital will begin shutting down. According to this tweet, the signs indicate that people will no longer be able to use the lockers at stations in the metropolitan area from 26 October to 8 November.
The sign in the above tweet was posted by Tokyo Metro Commerce, the company that operates the coin lockers at subway stations around the city. After thanking users for their service, the sign then informs customers that the lockers will begin closing in progression from 26 October. It goes on to say that any items not picked up from the lockers by 28 October will be held at their Ikebukuro Centre. After apologising for the inconvenience, the sign states the reason for the closure as being “Increased safety measures due to the Japan visit of U.S. President Trump.” Coin lockers will resume service following the visit.
So if you’re around Tokyo during this period, you’ll need to find other ways to store your luggage while you make your way around town, and if you’ve left anything in a locker from today, you might have to head down to the Tokyo Metro Commerce office at Ikebukuro Station to retrieve it.
Given that these safety measures are coming into effect from today, it shouldn’t be long before we start seeing the vending machines at Tokyo stations shutting down, like they did during the Obama presidential visit in 2014.
Source: Hachima Kikou
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