The hostage crisis in Lima ended with the release of all but one of the hostages by Peruvian forces, but questions have been raised about Japan's readiness to deal with a similar situation in the future.
The Japan Times interviewed scholars and experts April 23 about their views on the more than four-month-long hostage standoff and Tokyo's crisis management system.
Isao Itabashi, a senior analyst specializing in crisis management at the Council for Public Policy, believes Japan needs to review its attitude as well as its policies to deal with terrorism because its handling of the situation may have created the impression that Tokyo is not tough enough on terrorism. Although Japan signed an antiterrorism declaration by the Group of Seven industrialized nations last June, it did not necessarily act according to its principles, he said.