The central government has picked five municipalities on the Sakishima southwestern islands in Okinawa Prefecture to set up emergency evacuation shelters where local residents can stay for around two weeks in the event of a foreign military attack.
The five municipalities are specified in a basic policy for developing such shelters that the government released Friday. The government will accelerate related coordination with the five municipalities, keeping in mind a possible emergency situation in Taiwan.
The five — the cities of Ishigaki and Miyakojima, the towns of Taketomi and Yonaguni and the village of Tarama — were selected because they meet two conditions: they are located on remote islands where evacuation is difficult, and they have drawn up and announced plans for the evacuation of all residents, as well as conducted civil protection drills with the central and prefectural governments.
The central government has also drawn up technical guidelines setting out specifications for the shelters. Assuming four types of armed attacks, such as ballistic missile and aerial attacks, the guidelines stipulate that the shelters’ walls and floors should be at least 30 centimeters thick in principle.
The guidelines also call for stockpiling food and drinks, setting up vital infrastructure and securing space of about two square meters per person.
The government’s National Security Strategy, revised in late 2022, calls for efforts to secure various types of evacuation facilities so that residents can evacuate well in advance of an armed attack.
As of April 1, 2023, a total of about 56,000 emergency temporary evacuation facilities, including concrete buildings and subway stations, had been designated across the country.
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