Society

Body scanners to be tested at Tokyo subway station

Feb 25 (NHK) - Japan's transport ministry says it will be testing body scanners at a busy Tokyo subway station next month. The scanners will screen dangerous objects hidden beneath clothing.

The 4-day experiment will start on March 4th at Kasumigaseki station on the Tokyo Metro.

The scanners will be installed near some of the ticket gates. They are about 60 centimeters high and 20 centimeters wide.

The devices pick up on electromagnetic waves from a person's body and belongings and reveal images of them.

Test participants mixing in with regular passengers will hide mock dangerous objects and pass through the gates to see if the scanners are able to spot them.

During the test period, passengers who don't want to be screened can use gates without scanners.

The ministry hopes to see if the kind of body checks conducted at airports can work at train stations without inconveniencing passengers.

The test comes as ministry officials study ways to boost security on railways in the wake of a knife attack on a Shinkansen bullet train last year. One passenger died and two others were injured in the incident.

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