Japan wakes up to blaring sirens

Tokyo, Sept. 15: “Missile launch! Missile launch! A missile appears to have been launched from North Korea. Take cover in a building or underground.”

To the accompaniment of blaring sirens and emergency phone alerts, that was the terrifying loudspeaker message that jolted millions of Japanese awake in the early hours as North Korea blasted its second missile over the country in less than a month.

But for local residents on the flightpath over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, there was no question of this becoming a routine event.

“I cannot say that we are used to this. I mean, the missile flew right above our town. It’s not a very comforting thing to hear,” said Yoshihiro Saito, who works in the small fishing town of Erimo on Hokkaido.

“It’s pretty scary. I heard that it went 2,000 km in the Pacific and dropped in the sea” where 16 of his ships were operating under the missile’s flight path.

Mobile carriers in Japan sent automatic text messages to rouse customers awake.

Train services between Japan’s main island and Hokkaido were temporarily suspended after the launch and bullet train services were also halted.

Airports in the area appeared to be unaffected. — AP

If North Korea continues to walk down this path, it has no bright future. We must make North Korea understand this.

— SHINZO ABE, Japan Prime Minister