Japan unveils plan to build shelters on islands near Taiwan

The guidelines say the Japanese central government will pay for the design and construction of emergency evacuation facilities on the Sakishima Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, Nikkei Asia reported on March 30. The islands are Japan’s southernmost and not far from Taiwan.

Construction is expected to take place in communities only accessible by plane or boat. They will have to draft and publicize evacuation plans to all residents and hold joint drills with the central and provincial governments.

The central government has identified five communities in Sakishima that meet the requirements for building shelters and will soon begin negotiations.

Nhật Bản hé lộ kế hoạch xây nơi trú ẩn trên các đảo gần Đài Loan- Ảnh 1. — Yonaguni Island in the Sakishima Islands

The Cabinet Office will assist with the design while Japan's Defense Ministry will provide funding for construction in the cities of Ishigaki and Miyakojima as well as the town of Yonaguni, all of which are home to bases of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF).

The Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency will fund the construction of shelters in Taketomi town and Tarama village, which do not have any SDF bases.

The facilities will be built beneath new public buildings and are designed to house evacuees for about two weeks, according to guidelines revealed on March 29.

These places will have electricity and communication facilities, as well as a supply of 3 liters of water per day and other supplies per person. Each evacuee will have about 2 ^square meters of space in these places. The external walls will be made of reinforced concrete more than 30 cm thick.

If a crisis breaks out, the Japanese government plans to evacuate all island residents in a wide area before facing any military attack, but this would take time on remote islands.

The shelters will therefore be used by government personnel overseeing the evacuation as well as evacuees waiting to leave the island. In peacetime, they will serve as meeting places and parking lots.

The shelters are designed to protect people from coordinated attacks. Some members of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party have called for the construction of structures that can withstand nuclear and electromagnetic pulse attacks.

Okinawa has no subway system and few underground structures. As of April 1, 2023, the prefecture had only eight designated underground emergency shelters. The Sakishima Islands government has asked the central government for shelter support.

"It is necessary to clearly convey to the public that there is a high possibility that the lives of Sakishima island residents will be threatened by a sudden situation in Taiwan or by a missile launch by North Korea," Nikkei Asia quoted professor Mitsuru Fukuda of Nihon University in Tokyo as saying.

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