By KURATOSHI YOKOYAMA/ Staff Writer
November 18, 2022 at 07:00 JST
An air filtering device and security camera are installed inside the fallout shelters. (Kuratoshi Yokoyama)
HACHINOHE, Aomori Prefecture--Fallout shelters are all the rage as uncertainties linger over ballistic missiles continuously being lobbed in Japan's direction by North Korea and Russia's threat to use nuclear weapons in its war with Ukraine.
Growth View Inc., a construction firm here, said it had been flooded with inquiries since it began marketing a nuclear shelter for use by ordinary households in July this year.
Carrying a price tag of 6.6 million yen ($44,800), including tax, a model shelter is on display in Hachinohe.
“Maintaining peace is crucial but the prevailing world situation is difficult,” said Tetsushi Nakamura, the company president. “My hope is that consumers will think carefully about securing a safe space for a sum equivalent to a costly automobile.”
Measuring 10 square meters, the shelter has 80-millimeter-thick walls that have lead panels within to protect against permeating radiation. It is outfitted with air filtering equipment for purifying outdoor air polluted by nuclear or biochemical weapons.
What is happening outside can be monitored with four cameras.
As the structure is furnished with an air conditioner and electricity source, the air filter’s ability will allow occupants with emergency toilet kits and food to survive for around two weeks even when they cannot expect any support from outside the shelter.
The facility can double as a study or a children’s room.
Growth View said it began receiving more than 10 inquiries a day after North Korea launched a ballistic missile over an area around Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan on Oct. 4. It had previously received only a few inquiries a week.
Growth View said it is still handling a continuous stream of inquiries as tensions are mounting due to threats by Russian President Vladimir Putin to use nuclear weapons.
Data from the Japan Nuclear Shelter Association shows the penetration rate for fallout shelters is 0.02 percent in Japan, compared with 82 percent in the United States and 78 percent in Russia.
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