Osaka Governor Yoshimura’s ‘Tight Security’ Mystery: Bulletproof Briefcases and Guarded Vigilance

On November 6, 2011, Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura held a regular press conference at the prefectural government office. However, something was different from usual. A member of the Osaka Prefectural Police, who had not been present since his inauguration, was on guard duty.

Toward the end of the press conference, a reporter asked, “The guards have become very strict.However, I would like to refrain from going into details.

The same question was asked by a reporter at the regular press conference on November 9, to which Governor Yoshimura responded, “The prefectural police told me to check with them, so please check with the prefectural police.

This security guarding, as far as this writer has been able to confirm, seems to be a little different from the usual security guarding. Normally, the security guard is supposed to protect “the Prime Minister, state guests, and other persons whom the Director-General of the National Police Agency determines are likely to cause harm to the public security of the country.

Based on this, when providing security, security guards generally wear a “security guard badge” on the lapel of their suits to indicate that they are security guards (SP badges are worn by SPs of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department).

However, the security guards assigned to protect Governor Yoshimura did not wear such a badge, but instead wore a police badge on their waists. Currently, Governor Yoshimura is guarded by several security guards at all times, but since they are not wearing such badges, the possibility exists that the prefectural police are guarding him on their own this time without being designated by the Commissioner of the National Police Agency. We inquired about this matter to the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters, but the response was, “We have no comment on matters concerning the prefectural governor’s police protection.