Japan identifies 1,500 new missile shelters as fears grow over worsening East Asia security

Japan has identified nearly 1,500 additional facilities that could serve as shelters in the event of missile or bomb attacks, amid mounting fears over the worsening security situation in Northeast Asia.The government began a study in 2024 to expand the existing list of facilities where the population could take cover during an attack and has confirmed 1,489 sites – including subway stations and underground car parks – as being suitable for providing short-term protection.The aim, the Sankei newspaper reported on March 12, was to integrate the new sites into the network of 61,142 locations designated as shelters and provide protection for around 10.8 million people, slightly less than 9 per cent of the population.Yonaguni Island, Okinawa prefecture, is just 111km from Taiwan. Photo: Reuters/Kyodo“I do not think that people in Tokyo or Osaka are too worried about missile attacks, but that is different in places that have in recent years become closer to what might be considered Japan’s ‘front lines’,” said Stephen Nagy, a professor of international relations at Tokyo’s International Christian University.“These are the people who live on the outlying islands of Okinawa prefecture, such as Yonaguni Island.”Nagy pointed out that the island was just 111km from Taiwan and hosted a Self-Defence Force base that would have Type-03 medium-range surface-to-air missiles by 2031, which Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi confirmed in February.China issued an official protest after the deployment was announced.Residents of northern parts of mainland Japan and Hokkaido also have good reason to be jittery, according to Nagy, as North Korean missiles have in the past overflown the area before splashing down in the Pacific.