‘ WAITING FOR THE MISSILE TO HIT SEEMED TO GO ON FOREVER’
Kanako Hosomura, 35, from Yokohama, 30 miles south of Tokyo, describes the terror of being informed that a North Korean missile was heading for her country
I WAS ASLEEP when the alert rang on my mobile phone a couple of minutes before 6am and, at first, I thought it was my alarm. But then I realised that it was a different sound: an electronic note that rises in pitch and urgency, impossible to ignore. I looked at the screen and it was a short and very clear message – a missile had been fired and was heading for Japan.
There was no more information, so it was a shock. My first thought was, ‘Why would they fire a missile at Japan?’ Then I froze. My husband was away with work, so it was just me and our four-year-old son. I knew that the decisions I needed to make could have a serious impact on all of our lives. Should I wake him up and take him to the city hall, or stay at home? Should we get under the table or huddle in a corner? What was the safest place to be? I realised that I didn’t know.
It feels horrible to be so powerless, to not know what is happening. That is a feeling that I cannot forget. The minutes that went by waiting for the missile to hit seemed to go on forever. I was scared, of course, especially for my son. I thought of friends and family – would they be safe? Were more missiles coming? Was this the start of a war?
I did the only thing I could think of and turned on the television. Every channel was reporting on the missile. It was quite confusing at times because there were reports that several missiles had been fired, but later the government said it was only one. Officials said we were safe, that they had monitored the missile and not tried to intercept it because they knew it wasn’t going to hit anywhere in Japan. I didn’t know how they could work that out so quickly, though, so wasn’t sure I believed it.
I have some friends in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost prefecture and the place in most danger, and I phoned them straight away. They told me that they all received the J-alert messages on their phones, but also that the emergency sirens in their towns had gone off. Usually, the sirens only sound when a natural disaster – a big earthquake or a tsunami – occurs, so it was terrifying.
When the all-clear message came through 15 minutes after the first alarm, I was flooded with relief. It was then reported that the missile had crashed into the ocean off Hokkaido.
Since it happened, I have looked at the government’s website about what to do if it happens again, and it’s made me even more frightened. When the alarm sounds, we’re supposed to take cover in a safe place, like a basement or behind a sturdy wall. We have to stay away from windows because there will be flying glass if there is an explosion. If we are outside, we have to find a place to take shelter or just lay flat on the ground, which doesn’t sound very safe.
There continues to be a real sense of danger across Japan. If North Korea used a nuclear bomb the damage would be catastrophic. I have been to Hiroshima and seen what one bomb did to that city, and that was a much smaller bomb than the ones the North Koreans have now.
Now we’re just glued to the endless TV coverage, waiting anxiously to see what will happen next. The uncertainty is so unsettling.