TOKYO: The Tokyo metropolitan government plans to designate more facilities in the Japanese capital as temporary emergency shelters to protect residents from blasts from possible ballistic missile attacks.

The Tokyo government has started a survey for selecting public facilities that can be designated as such shelters, in response to growing security threats, such as from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a series of missile launches by North Korea.

Such temporary emergency shelters are intended for citizens to evacuate for about an hour or two when missile landing appears possible.

Designation is made by prefectural governors or mayors of ordinance-designated major cities based on the civil protection law after consent is obtained from facility operators.

In May, the Tokyo government newly designated 109 facilities, including stations of the metropolitan government-run subway service and Tokyo Metro Co., a subway operator, on top of schools and facilities for the elderly that had already been given the designation. The number of facilities with the temporary shelter designation in Tokyo now stands at about 3,000.

By further increasing the number, the metropolitan government aims to make such shelters available in any part of Tokyo.

It will draw up a list of facilities that are yet to be designated, planning to consider actively utilizing underground parking spaces, including for bicycles.

Businesses will be asked to cooperate to promote the designation for private-sector buildings and commercial facilities. Specifically, the metropolitan government will seek understanding by assuring them that operators will not face burdens such as stockpiling emergency supplies and guiding evacuees after their facilities are designated as temporary shelters.

JIJI Press