The National Police Agency said Friday that it cannot rule out the possibility of Japan becoming a target of terrorist attacks at a time when people expressing support for the Islamic State group had been spotted on the internet in the country.
In its White Paper for 2016, the NPA said it will strengthen measures against terrorism prior to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on the back of increasing threats of terrorist attacks against Japanese nationals following last year's killing of two Japanese hostages by Islamic State militants in Syria.
Using images and maps, the report explained in detail about the global rise of Islamic State and other radical Islamic groups, which have caused terrorism around the world since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
Referring to the January 2013 hostage crisis in Algeria in which 10 Japanese were killed, the report said, "It is feared that Japanese will continue to be a target of terrorism or abduction."
The police compiled an outline on beefing up measures against international terrorism in June last year and are enhancing data-gathering and boarder controls.
As part of such measures, the NPA established an organization in April to monitor and analyze terrorism data on the internet.
The white paper illustrated terrorism countermeasures in other countries, including the U.S. president's authorization of wiretapping without a court order when certain conditions are met.
The report said that Japanese police will continue looking at introducing new measures against terrorism.