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SCMP Reporter

TODAY'S Japanese royal wedding is the biggest event on the social agenda for years, and Tokyo has certainly been busy gearing up for the occasion.

  Outside the Imperial Palace in central Tokyo, hundreds of police and guards have been on 24-hour duty.

  Police are everywhere; standing under trees, idling on sidewalks and checking the many vehicles coming and going from the palace gates.

  According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, police strength has been beefed up to more than 30,000 in central Tokyo alone, following threats from leftist extremists to disrupt the wedding celebrations.

    A police spokesman said a militant, left-wing group had vowed on Sunday to wage an armed attack on the post-wedding motorcade, which will carry the newlyweds on a meet-the-people tour of the city.

    In a letter to the Kyodo News Service, the Revolutionary Workers' Party (kakurokyo) said the group would ''wage an armed uprising with the aim of devastating the parade''.

  While the police said they were not particularly threatened by the group, which has waged a long-running and ineffectual war against the Japanese establishment, they were determined that nothing should go wrong.

  ''We have seen twice the number of incidents than usual since January and we are taking the attitude that it is better to be safe than sorry,'' a police spokesman said.

  ''Left-wing extremists have been part of Japanese society for many years. They do not have a broad base of support, but they are capable of blowing up some things.''   Most of the wedding ceremony will be held behind closed doors, and police are concentrating their efforts on the parade, when Crown Prince Naruhito and the new crown princess, will drive through the city in a Rolls-Royce built in 1990 for the Imperial Family.

  ''Obviously the car is not bullet-proof and we will have armed policemen lining the route,'' the spokesman said.

  The extremist group's last attack came when an incendiary device was placed at the home of the former Japanese Ambassador to Moscow, Toru Nakagawa, on May 24.

  Mr Nakagawa apparently was singled out because he had recommended princess-to-be Masako Owada as a possible bride for Prince Naruhito.

     Meanwhile, some citizens' groups are planning small protests today, against what they see as a ''government-imposed event in which the public is being forced to participate''.

    Police are not worried by the possible protests, which are expected to be small.

  ''Our biggest problem is not going to be the bad elements,'' the spokesman said. ''It will be to look after the hundreds of thousands of people who are coming to Central Tokyo for the parade and firework display.

  ''We expect to have the usual array of bloody noses, lost children, sicknesses and small problems associated with such large events.''   One other problem the police have avoided is having to provide security for high-ranking wedding guests.

  That is because there are not any. Following historical precedent, the Imperial Household has not invited foreign heads of state or royalty to the marriage.

  While some, like Britain's Queen Elizabeth - who has already sent a congratulatory telegram to the couple on their engagement - are expected to send their congratulations, foreign guests will be limited to close friends of the Imperial Family.

  While police make sure the wedding passes off without incident, several groups of businessmen in Tokyo are intent on making as much of a song and dance as possible.

   Restaurants throughout the city are offering ''Masako-specials'' and cheap prices to lure city customers.

  Businesses have strung pendants outside their stores and, in typical Tokyo fashion, adorned their windows with high-tech wedding motifs, designed to catch the public's eye.

   Some offices, which officially have the day off, are opening anyway and inviting employees to come and toast the Imperial couple from high-rise vantage points, while others are letting unused office space for private parties.

  The highlight of the occasion is expected to be the fireworks display in the evening.

   The Imperial Household Agency has declined to specify how much money will be spent on the show, but insiders have boasted the extravaganza will be the ''best ever seen in Japan''.



City gears up for highlight of Japanese social calendar