TOKYO, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Japan is beefing up security as it gears up to host the Group of Seven summit in Ise-Shima, central Japan, with the National Police Agency saying Thursday that 23,000 police officers will be dispatched to guard the venue of the summit that will kickoff next Thursday.
Almost 5,000 extra police officers will also be deployed to Hiroshima, the police agency said, as U.S. President Barack Obama will make an historic visit to the city that was obliterated by a U.S. atomic bomb during WWII, marking the first time a sitting president has visited the symbolic city.
The policy agency also said its personnel will be specifically deployed to the vicinity of the Shima Kanko Hotel, located on the northern shore of Kashikojima Island, which will serve as the main venue of the summit, as well as to locations in and around Chubu International Airport at which the leaders are expected to arrive.
According to local reports, the collective deployment of police and related personnel will mark the biggest-ever security operation for such a summit, with the numbers involved dwarfing that of the 2008 Hokkaido-Toyako summit, which was the last summit hosted by Japan and involved 21,000 officers.
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