With escalating tensions in the East Asian peninsula triggered by a rogue nation obsessed with nuclear activities, people in Japan are increasingly expressing concern over their safety, consequently buying more underground shelters to seal them from harm than ever before.
One thing seems clear for Japanese people: North Korea can strike anytime. On July 4, the hermit state launched yet another intercontinental ballistic missile that sparked worries not only among the Japanese, but among neighboring foreigners as well.
Japan, however, is not caught in an irrational fear. To begin with, it is the only country in the world that has ever suffered the devastation of a nuclear war, where over 250,000 civilians perished.
Secondly, it recognizes that North Korea has already completed the development of a nuclear missile that specifically targets its territories. This assumption follows a successful missile test conducted by the Kim regime in May, which consisted of a projectile that landed into the Sea of Japan after traveling 15 times the speed of sound.
An initial result of this instability is a chilling national broadcast that Japan aired between late June and early July, alerting citizens to seek shelter in sturdy buildings or lie face down on the ground when the worst comes.
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And comply they plan — Japanese people have been sending inquiries to bunker manufacturers in the United States, on top of correspondence with local distributors. Atlas Survival Shelters, a California-based company that makes around 12 models of bunkers each year, is among those with a booming business.
According to Bloomberg, Japanese buyers have been purchasing the BombNado, among Atlas Survival’s best-sellers, which retails for $18,999. Company owner Rob Hubbard told the outlet, “Japan’s going hog wild right now.”
The same can be said of Texas-based underground shelter-maker Rising S Company, which saw product inquiries double in recent weeks, with a whopping 80% originating from Japan. One of their products is a luxury bunker aptly called The Aristocrat, which sells for $8.35 million for a capacity of 50 people.
Gary Lynch, the company’s general manager, acknowledged North Korea as a catalyst to the fresh interest, but noted that its whereabouts are not so new. He told Bloomberg:
“It’s really not a new threat, it’s just something the media and people are paying attention to.”
If anything, it’s only appropriate to hope that everyone, anywhere in the world, accesses the fundamental human right to safety in the event of whatever catastrophe that poses unnecessary destruction; even better, hope that such never has to occur in the first place.
Cover Image via BombNado
