Gov't to hold drills for biological, nuclear attacks in 18 prefectures

Tuesday 03rd June, 03:34 PM JST

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13 Comments

borscht at 12:19 PM JST - 3rd June

Drill for nuclear attack: say goodbye to your loved ones. Quickly! Too slow.

Drills for the biological attacks should be held in a Tokyo subway. During morning rush hour. And then we can see how the evacuation plans work out.

But, better practicing drills than not, just in case some Japanese nutcase gets another ton of sarin gas.
rjd_jr at 12:27 PM JST - 3rd June

I agree, better to practice than do absolutely nothing. Too many people in the world have a false sense of complacency about all sorts of disasters natural and man made. I'm not gonna claim that terrorists are gonna strike constantly like some alarmists would have you believe, but better to do something than nothing.
zanza123 at 12:39 PM JST - 3rd June

But how can you possibly prepare yourself for biological weapons, by carrying a gas mask in those black leather bags along with the text documents? That would be quite a sight to see (everyone doing that). If someone lets loose one of those suckers in one of the underground subway tunnels, it's over! But I guess better to do something to occupy the time and telling yourself that its going to help.
zanza123 at 12:41 PM JST - 3rd June

Same to nuclear weapons... central Hiroshima was FLATTENED... and the area around was a radioactive wasteland, 'nuff said.
Youdontknow at 12:48 PM JST - 3rd June

Well I live in Yamaguchi, and I guarantee they will only do the exercise in Hofu area, where the base is. There's nothing they could do in the event of a nuclear or biological attack anywhere else. Besides which, any invaders would soon be bored to death if they invaded Yamaguchi anyhow!
Betting at 02:04 PM JST - 3rd June

There will be a life after nuclear weapons, not a very pleasant one of course, but society as a whole needs to prepare if that worse scenario becomes a reality. These drills won't help the average Joe, but they are there so that society does have a chance to carry on.

Btw, Hiroshima was never a radioactive wasteland, if it was it wouldn't be what it is today.
skipthesong at 05:03 PM JST - 3rd June

I have on many occasions thought to myself, with all the pushing and shoving on the trains, what would happen if a disaster stuck Tokyo. Can you?

I guess I'll take it that at least there is something in play. Now once one of these events happen, like my brother being on one of the trains close to the Sarin gas attacks, I can at least be assured that some people will at least try to move in an orderly fashion.

Not for nothing, I should not knock people for living a country life, at least they won't see chaos.
Farmboy at 05:51 PM JST - 3rd June

Sure, why not drill? When I was in elementary school, we practiced "Duck and Cover," looked at maps of how much of the city would be destroyed, and learned how to build a fallout shelter. All this preparation prevented nuclear war, I guess, since we never had one....:-) Still, the preparation had some lingering effects: I cringe visibly whenever someone says "nukyuler." I seem to be cringing a lot lately...
OldGuy at 06:11 PM JST - 3rd June

Wondering if the government isn’t gearing up for a major military overhaul: scrapping a pacifist ideology by buying and procuring new weaponry, listening to the those western neocons and their wishful thinking, “Japan ! You could do far more to defend yourself and the region,” to recruiting more army and navy personnel, allowing the military to operate in space, and stretching the military’s role in Afghanistan and abroad ?

Why all of a sudden the “evacuation drills?” And why in Nagano prefecture ?

Sounds like Bulls on Parade.

In other words, the government is saying "War is inevitable in these times of ter-r,"... "get behind us by doing your part: participate in your petty local evacuation drills while we grow the nation’s military mite with your money......oh, and yoroshiku, ne."

Just think of it: Governmental elite horror writers fusing the mind shattering destructiveness of war with otherworldly horror! Line up people. And give us er mane----y.
Farmboy at 06:26 PM JST - 3rd June

OldGuy, Of course you're right about where this is all headed. First build fear, then build weapons and gather troops. This is just a way to get through the pacifism.

I'm getting nostalgic with all this talk of destruction...here's a nice link to "Duck and Cover": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0K_LZDXp0I
USNinJapan2 at 08:08 PM JST - 3rd June

Wow. For a second there I thought that Nagasaki Prefecture was actually going to conduct a nuclear-related drill but then realized after rereading the article that they're just doing map reading and comex's.
NeoJamal at 10:59 PM JST - 3rd June

OldGuy, Of course you're right about where this is all headed. First build fear, then build weapons and gather troops. This is just a way to get through the pacifism.

In other words, the government is saying "War is inevitable in these times of ter-r,"... "get behind us by doing your part: participate in your petty local evacuation drills while we grow the nation’s military mite with your money......oh, and yoroshiku, ne."

So is this a good time to buy shares in defense contractors? Maybe it's already too late to beat the market.
Hughgarse at 11:54 AM JST - 4th June

With a nuke attack I cant say youd have much more time after putting your head between your legs and kissing your @rse goodbye!