Planning Shelters against Possible Armed Attack

The government of Japan accelerate building shelters to protect its citizens against military attack by foreign countries. It revised its guideline for securing shelters against armed attacks in late March. However, the people are skeptical about efficiency of the shelters in a contingency. The government, anyway, does not have a viable plan to effectively deter any armed attack by a foreign country. 

The government of Japan enforced in 2005 a law for protecting Japanese citizens in a case of armed attack by a foreign country. Consecutive appearance of unidentified boats in the sea area around Japan, launches of ballistic missiles by North Korea and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or activities of international terrorist organizations encouraged the government to take measures against them. The law mandates the government to formulate basic plan for protecting the people from armed attack.

 

The National Security Strategy of 2022 requires national government and local government to cooperate each other for evacuation of the people before armed attack. The strategy recommends preparing evacuation plan, securing transportation system for it and various type of shelters. The government of Japan accordingly made a plan for evacuation from armed attack, demanding temporary shelters in urban area and isolated islands.

 

The guideline in March 2026 is a revised version of the plan. It requires cooperation of private entities to support evacuation plan of the government, designating underground facilities including train stations, shopping malls and car-parking space for temporary shelter in the case of armed attack. The government encourages investment for building such shelters.

 

It also considers dual-use of shelters for not only armed attack but national disaster. Disaster Measures Basic Act demands mayor of city, town and village to designate shelters for emergency in natural disaster. The national government found that those shelters could be used in a situation of armed attack. The government also considers using digital application for disseminating information about natural disaster for evacuation.

 

The guideline categorizes evacuation in southwestern islands, which is geographically close to Taiwan and China, as special districts for evacuation in armed attack. The government of Japan assumes to build “special temporary evacuation facilities” in five municipalities in the district. They may include conference room in the basement of city hall or underground parking space of a park.

 

Those facilities are dealing with possible conflict over Taiwan, which Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi described as a situation for Japan to use its force. However, some residents of those islands are skeptical about efficiency of the facility. It is necessary for them to evacuate the island and move to mainland of Japan, if military attack is intensified. Japanese government needs to further detailed and comprehensive plan for evacuation in a contingency.

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