Tokyo simulates first military attack since second world war at amusement park
The drill was held at the Tokyo Dome amusement park, a subway station and a community centre
Hundreds of Tokyo residents scrambled for cover Monday in the Japanese capital’s first evacuation drill for a military attack since the second world war, amid ongoing tensions over North Korea’s nuclear programme.
A loudspeaker blared out a terrifying warning at the drill, held in a Tokyo amusement park: “We have information that a missile launch has occurred. Please evacuate calmly inside a building or underground.”
A park employee ran around, shouting “a missile was launched, a missile was launched” as some 250 local residents and office workers duly evacuated to reinforced concrete buildings and a nearby subway station.
A few minutes later, a second message was announced via loudspeaker: “The missile passed. The missile likely flew over the Kanto (greater Tokyo) region towards the Pacific Ocean.”
People in earthquake-prone Japan are familiar with evacuation drills simulating natural disasters and fires and annual drills are seasonal rituals seen almost everywhere in the country – from schools and workplaces to care homes.
