The Metropolitan Police Department put 50 surveillance cameras into operation Wednesday in Tokyo's famous Kabukicho district to help fight crime in the seedy area.
Controlled by monitors at the MPD's Shinjuku Police Station, the cameras are intended to keep an eye on the streets of the nation's largest adult entertainment district, which has seen an increase in violent crime.
The MPD, responding to concerns that the presence of surveillance cameras recording their every move will discourage pleasure-seekers from going to Kabukicho, has said police will do their best not to violate individual privacy.
All 50 camera sites carry a sign in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean that warns a surveillance camera is in operation.
MPD officials say the videotapes, recorded at the MPD, will be used only for investigative work and will normally be deleted after one week.
The number of violent crimes in Kabukicho is 185 times the average in Tokyo for an area of comparable size, the MPD said.
But the crime-fighting effort is also raising concerns about invasion of privacy.
The owner of a Kabukicho bar that has been open for more than 20 years said he understands why police want the cameras, but, "I personally hate it and I feel sorry for my customers."
Masao Horibe, a law professor at Chuo University, said he worries that the world depicted in George Orwell's novel "1984" has become a reality with today's advanced information technology.
"Today we have anticrime cameras everywhere -- at department stores and shopping arcades, in addition to the police-installed monitors. We should hold further discussions on the protection of privacy and the way such cameras are installed," Horibe said.
