May 01, 2022 (Nikkei) - Subways in Ukraine's capital of Kyiv stopped operations following the launch of attacks by Russian troops. Stations, as deep as 105 meters underground, became temporary bomb shelters as citizens brought in blankets and tents to protect themselves from Russia's threat of nuclear attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with CNN that "all of the countries of the world" should be prepared for the possibility that Russian President Vladimir Putin could use nuclear weapons in his war on Ukraine.
The war has shown the international community that any country can suddenly become a field of battle. Japan, located next to Russia, China and North Korea, is no exception.
Subway systems in Japan are among the most advanced in the world, and people ride them more often than in most other countries. The systems are still growing, and in many major cities are connected to underground shopping malls, maximizing the use of space in crowded urban areas. But whether Japanese can use them as shelters is open to question.
Most subway stations in Japan are unsuitable as shelters because they lie at a shallow depth. "Tokyo has only a limited number of facilities that can be safe shelters, such as stations on the Toei Oedo Line that lie more than 40 meters underground," said Mitsuru Fukuda, professor of risk management at Nihon University.
Facilities designated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for use as shelters in case Japan is attacked include no subway stations. Although some other local governments, such as the prefecture of Osaka, do include subway stations among their designated shelters, none are deeper than 30 meters. In short, Japan does not have subways running as deep under the ground as those in Ukraine.
In the 2017 election for the House of Representatives, the governing Liberal Democratic Party adopted the first-ever campaign pledge to "secure emergency shelters by making use of existing underground space in addition to the reinforcement of underground shelters." But momentum toward the prompt construction of underground facilities resistant to blasts from nuclear and other explosions has failed to grow. ...continue reading
