A Fukuokan's Notes from Sapporo

The local government introduced how to protect yourself from ballistic missile attacks (it doesn’t specify from which country the missiles would fly though) in a government-issued free paper. According to the article, if a missile warning (!) is issued, you are supposed to take the following actions:

▪      If you are outside buildings, enter a building nearby. Choose one which looks as robust as possible such as ones with concrete structure or underground;

▪      If there is no building around you, take a shelter behind something or lay on the ground with your face down covering your head;

▪      If you are at school, follow the teachers’ direction;

▪      If you are driving, stop the car in a safe place (where, then?) and evacuate if possible as the gasoline could take fire;

▪      If you are on train, move away from the window and crouch low, cover your head in the middle of the carriage;

▪      If you are inside a building, move away from the window or door and go to a room or corridor without them, covering your head.

…are they serious? I don’t think these actions can save my life in such a situation (but I would certainly and desperately do these when we are really attacked). OR haven’t we made progress since when we believed makeshift air-raid shelters in the garden (and Yamato spirit) would save lives from US air raid over 70 years ago (during the WWII)?