Japan has tightened security at the Japanese Embassy in Baghdad and at other overseas consulates following a recent wave of terrorist activity, including Friday's rocket-bomb attacks in Baghdad.
On Tuesday, shots were fired at the Japanese Embassy in Baghdad, with the bullets hitting one wall of the compound.
On Thursday, Vice Foreign Minister Ichiro Aizawa said, "We believe the (Baghdad) embassy faces the greatest threat of attack among our overseas embassies."
He said the ministry may increase its number of security personnel and use bulletproof vehicles, adding that it has already erected concrete walls outside the complex.
On Oct. 18, a taped message allegedly featuring the voice of Osama bin Laden threatened attacks on Japan and five other countries allied with the United States.
Immediately after this tape was made public, the ministry issued a warning that was automatically sent to about 900 Japanese companies with overseas offices.
At the same time, the ministry ordered overseas embassies and consulates to review their security and crisis-management systems.
The murky security situation has also cast a shadow over Japan's planned dispatch of Self-Defense Forces troops to Iraq.
But Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Friday that there are still places in Iraq that are safe enough for Japan to send its troops.
"There are areas where such incidents are not (expected) to occur," he said.