Overview

• The National Police Agency has set up a nine-member expert panel that will hold its first meeting on October 7 to examine changes to the 2016 drone flight-ban law.
• Options under discussion include widening the current roughly 300-meter restriction around the Diet, embassies, nuclear plants, airports and other designated facilities.
• Officials are considering whether flights near protected sites could trigger immediate criminal prosecution without first issuing an on-site measure order.
• The panel will also study how police should coordinate with facility operators such as nuclear plants and whether to impose pre-event restrictions when the prime minister or other VIPs attend regional events.
• Police cite faster drones with greater payloads and kilometer-scale control ranges that complicate locating operators; 21 cases have been prosecuted under the law through 2024.