"Blade resistant umbrellas" to be installed on trains in Japan

Whilst violent crime in Japan is fortunately less common than in other parts of the world, JR West are taking no chances and have announced a new product intended to help in the event of a crisis.

Railway police are a common sight throughout train stations in Japan and they’re not just there to catch fare dodgers, but also to protect members of the public in the event of an attack.

Confined spaces such as trains can be an attractive target to someone wishing to commit a violent crime.

With no immediate exits whilst a train is moving, the situation provides captive targets.

Train companies take the security of their passengers seriously and constantly look for ways to counteract any attack swiftly and with minimal harm to train staff, passengers and even the attacker.

Train staff and railway police must be vigilant at all times, as many attacks have been prevented by staff noticing a member of the public acting strangely or appearing to have concealed items.

Current countermeasures available to railway police include batons to help to disarm a prospective assailant, as well as and acrylic shields that are carried on many trains that provide protection from any weapons that may have been concealed and brought on to a train.

JR West are constantly looking to increase security and reduce harm in the event of attacks, so they’ve come up with a new tool to defend specifically designed to combat knife or blade attacks, which have occurred on trains in the past.

The “blade resistant umbrella”, a creation that seems like something from a movie or anime series, has been unveiled and will be installed on trains across Japan’s Kinki region, which includes Osaka and Kyoto.

Made of a special fabric that is tough to cut, the umbrella offers railway police the ability to maintain distance from any weapon – something that was previously tough to do with acrylic shields that only offer close up protection.

The blade resistant umbrella is also said to be lightweight, despite its frame being reinforced by multiple layers of material and being thicker than that of a standard umbrella.

Whilst the “blade resistant umbrella” may give rise to thoughts of martial arts movies whereby an attack is fended off with an everyday item, often in comical circumstances, violent crime is no laughing matter and hopefully the “blade resistant umbrella” doesn’t get too many opportunities for real-life application.

Source: PR Times