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Associated Press

Residents living near US military bases in Japan are facing a fresh reality: their neighbourhoods are on the frontline of North Korea’s dispute with the United States and if Pyongyang were to attack they would have just minutes to shelter from incoming missiles.
“It’s impossible. There is no way we can run away from it,” said Seijiro Kurosawa, a 58-year-old taxi driver in Fussa, near Yokota Air Base.
“We don’t have bunkers, shelters or anything like that.”
His company recently instructed drivers to park their cabs and take immediate refuge in the event of an attack, but he isn’t sure where he could go.
“All we can do is run into a department store perhaps,” he said.

A possible missile strike and what to do about it have dominated TV talk shows and other media in Japan in recent weeks as regional tension has spiked, with the North Korean regime continuing to test-fire rockets and US President Donald Trump sending an aircraft carrier to nearby waters in a show of force.
North Korea has yet to meet its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile that can reach the US mainland, but analysts believe its current arsenal is capable of striking the 50,000 US troops stationed across Japan. The government raised caution levels in March after Pyongyang said four ballistic missiles that landed a few hundred kilometres off Japan’s coast were meant to simulate a nuclear strike on US bases there.
WATCH: North Korea fires ballistic missiles into Japanese waters


While Japanese tabloids and television programmes have reported on nuclear shelters ordered by a handful of rich people or touted gas masks as a more affordable option, it’s largely business as usual in Fussa, a town of 58,000 people in Tokyo’s western suburbs.
“Whatever will be, will be,” said 34-year-old Jumpei Takemiya, who runs a shoe repair shop across from Yokota Air Base.
“Just think calmly about it. Is Yokota really going to be the first one to be hit? I doubt it, and frankly I’m not so nervous,” he said.
Looking out his shop window, he added: “As you can see, there is no heightened security or any other unusual development around here.”

For 75-year-old Yoshio Takagi, the talk of North Korean missiles brings back memories of the second world war, when he had to temporarily relocate to a rural village to avoid American bombs falling in and around Tokyo that killed his two older brothers. He remains opposed to the use of weapons, but is also realistic about current circumstances.
“Tension has escalated and the situation has become more unpredictable under Trump,” he said.
“But Japan relies on the US military and there is a base here. I think we just have to accept the consequences.”
Visits to a government crisis management website surged to the millions in April from a previous record of tens of thousands in March, as the government tweeted and put out fresh instructions for what to do in the event of a missile attack.
The instructions are simple: if you are outdoors, take refuge in strong buildings or underground shopping arcades and if no such facilities are nearby, drop to the ground and cover your head. A chemical weapon is possible, so the instructions advise covering your nose and mouth with a cloth and shutting doors and windows.

A first-ever missile attack drill was held in March in Akita prefecture in northern Japan, and the government recently instructed all 47 prefectures to draw up plans quickly for similar drills. So far, only two others — Yamagata in the north and Nagasaki, home to Sasebo naval base, in the south — have started to make concrete plans for drills in the coming months.
“We need to plan carefully in order to raise awareness, not to scare off the public,” said Keiko Nakajima, a Tokyo crisis response official.
Some think the risk is overblown.

North Korea is “mostly bluffing its military capability, and the missile scare is further hyped up largely by TV,” said Hiroki Fujii, a 40-year-old utility employee who lives near Yokota.
Akinori Otani worries more about a US military plane crashing in the area. At bases around Japan, residents have raised concern about the safety of the tilt-rotor MV-22 “Osprey” aircraft.
“Ospreys are actually flying around,” said Otani, a 42-year-old resident of Hamura, another town near Yokota.
“I’m more concerned about them than a missile that I think is unlikely to hit us.”

In the southwestern town of Iwakuni, home to a US Marine Corps air station, residents began asking about attack response plans after the area was mentioned on TV among possible targets, said Yuji Yamaguchi, an emergency response official there.
He questioned whether it is possible to predict a missile’s course and issue an alert before it reaches Japan and said that without such information, drawing up an evacuation scenario is difficult. It is believed that it would take about 10 minutes for a North Korean missile to reach Japan, yet when the four missiles landed off the coast in March, it wasn’t until 20 minutes after that the government notified local fishermen.
For Reiko Naya, who runs a gift shop just outside the Yokota base, she is concerned that the tension may be used by the government as a justification to bolster Japan’s military capability.
“Japan has renounced war, but it seems we are gradually getting embroiled into a conflict,” she said. “We thought North Korean missiles would never reach Japan, but after all these tests, they now seem routine. Eventually, one of them might come flying.”


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North Korea

Japanese under North Korean missile attack: ‘there is no way we can run away from it’

Residents living near US military bases in Japan are facing a fresh reality: their neighbourhoods are on the frontline of North Korea’s dispute with America and if Pyongyang were to attack they would have just several minutes to shelter from incoming missiles. Photo: AP

epa05934047 (FILE) - An undated file photo made available by the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the state news agency of North Korea, on 07 March 2017, shows four projectiles during a ballistic rocket launching drill of Hwasong artillery units of the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army (KPA) at an undisclosed location, According to media reports on 28 April 2017 state that North Korea has test-fired a ballistic missile an area just north of Pyongyang. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned on 28 April 2017 that failure to curb North Korea's nuclear and missile development could lead to 'catastrophic consequences.' EPA/KCNA EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES *** Local Caption *** 53402522

FILE - In this Saturday, April 15, 2017, file photo, a North Korean national flag flutters as soldiers in tanks salute to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea to celebrate the 105th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, the country's late founder and grandfather of the current ruler. A North Korean mid-range ballistic missile apparently failed shortly after launch Saturday, April 29, South Korea and the United States said, the third test-fire flop just this month but a clear message of defiance as a U.S. supercarrier conducts drills in nearby waters. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

A PAC-3 Patriot missile unit is deployed against the North Korea's missile firing at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo, Saturday, April 29, 2017. A North Korean mid-range ballistic missile apparently failed shortly after launch Saturday, South Korea and the United States said, the third test-fire flop just this month but a clear message of defiance as a U.S. supercarrier conducts drills in nearby waters. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

In this Friday, April 27, 2017 photo, a sign warning people to keep out is seen on a security fence surrounding the U.S. Air Force's Yokota Air Base in Fussa in Tokyo's western suburbs. Residents living near U.S. military bases in Japan are facing a fresh reality: Their neighborhoods are on the frontline of North Korea’s dispute with America and if Pyongyang were to attack they would have just several minutes to shelter from incoming missiles. (AP Photo/Koji Ueda)

In this Friday, April 27, 2017 photo, a U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane flies after taking off from the U.S. Force's Yokota Air Base in Fussa in Tokyo's western suburbs. Residents living near U.S. military bases in Japan are facing a fresh reality: Their neighborhoods are on the frontline of North Korea’s dispute with America and if Pyongyang were to attack they would have just several minutes to shelter from incoming missiles.(AP Photo/Koji Ueda)

In this Thursday, April 27, 2017, photo, taxi driver Seijiro Kurosawa, 58, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in front of Fussa Station in Fussa where the Yokota Air Base is located in Tokyo's western suburbs. Residents living near U.S. military bases in Japan are facing a fresh reality: Their neighborhoods are on the frontline of North Korea’s dispute with America and if Pyongyang were to attack they would have just several minutes to shelter from incoming missiles. "No way, it’s impossible. There is no way we can run away from it," said Kurosawa. (AP Photo/Mari Yamaguchi)

North Korea may be able to attack with sarin-tipped missiles, Japan’s Abe warns

North Korea launches four ballistic rockets in a recent test. File photo: EPA

FILE -- In this Tuesday, April 4, 2017 file photo, provided by the Syrian anti-government activist group Edlib Media Center, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrian doctors treating a child following a suspected chemical attack, at a makeshift hospital, in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, northern Idlib province, Syria. Turkey's health minister, Recep Akdag, said Tuesday, April 11, 2017, that test results conducted on victims of the chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun confirm that sarin gas was used. (Edlib Media Center, via AP, File)

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North Korea has yet to meet its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile that can reach the US mainland, but analysts believe its current arsenal is capable of striking the 50,000 US troops stationed across Japan
