The warning system was used for the first time in five years on Oct 4, when North Korea fired a medium-range ballistic missile that passed over Japanese territory. The missile flew over the northern part of the country, but an alert was mistakenly issued for a series of remote islands in the Pacific Ocean, which had little chance of being affected by the missile.
The cause of that error has since been fixed, but given North Korea’s continued missile testing, bolstering the system has become necessary.
The system was put in place in 2007 following the enactment of the Civil Protection Law in 2004, and allows the national government to send an emergency message to local governments, which then inform citizens using public address systems and messages sent to cellphones and smartphones.
An alert on the system is initiated when a missile is detected with a course that is projected to land in Japanese territory, including the sea, or when one is projected to fly over the country. It has been used a total of five times.
When such a launch is detected, the defence ministry informs the Cabinet Secretariat, which passes the information on to local governments via the fire and disaster management agency, part of the ministry of internal affairs and communications. Both terrestrial and satellite lines are used.
The system has two main transmission bases, in the Kanto region around Tokyo and the Kansai region around Osaka. The server that monitors the status of satellite communications for the Kansai base has already been found to be out of date, and is in line for replacement. Such a monitoring system is necessary due to satellite signals’ susceptibility to poor weather and other conditions.
Development on replacements for receiving equipment on the local governments’ side of the system is also being sped up.
Many governments are using equipment bought in 2017-2018, which was made from commercially available parts. Each of the more than 1,700 local governments in Japan has at least one such piece of equipment, but if malfunctions occur as they age, it will become difficult to procure replacement parts.
The Japanese government hopes to begin distribution of new equipment in 2024. The system overhaul was included in the package of economic stimulus measures enacted on Friday, and the expenses will be covered in the second supplementary budget bill for the fiscal year 2022.
As North Korea keeps up its missile tests, the pressure is on the Japanese government to prove that its system is working to keep citizens safe. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has stressed the importance of the system in parliament, saying “we must take errors in the J-Alert system seriously. We will do everything possible to prevent a recurrence.”
Oct 4 was not the first time the system has had trouble. When North Korea fired a missile and a J-Alert was triggered in 2017, the message was not broadcast in several local areas, causing confusion.
Since the system started operating in 2007, the government has invested almost ¥20 billion (US$136 million) in it. The system accounts for the majority of civil protection expenses. If citizens cannot properly receive the alert, they cannot evacuate or protect themselves, with critics raising the question of whether this system is worth the cost.