Akihabara on the weekends has always closed off some major roads to vehicle traffic on Sundays to allow a “pedestrian paradise”, allowing shoppers and cosplayers to roam about freely.

But now, the authorities has decided to suspend this Sunday road closing in view of the recent stabbing rampage incident.

While no official information has been release as to when the suspension will end, sources have said it will continue until at least the end of July.

Here’s a video of Fuji TV reporting on the news:

Source: Japan Probe

It seems like a weird decision but I guess the government are just finding ways to try and cope with the tense situation for the moment.

Pedestrians interviewed were generally surprised and disappointed by the decision, and I have to say that I am too. There’s simply no logical reason why authorities should close down the “pedestrian paradise.” This does nothing to stop a copy cat criminal from repeating the crime- anyone can rent a truck and drive into pedestrians by jumping a curb or waiting for crowds to walk across a crosswalk, and a determined madman could attack people on a sidewalk just as easily as in a vehicle street.

AkibaBlog has also reported today that there are now many police officers roaming the streets of Akihabara.

So what do you think of these new measures implemented? I’m sure it wouldn’t help in anyway to prevent a similar incident.