Japanese Organization Calls for Building Nuclear Shelters Amid Increasing Security Threats

A nonprofit organization in Japan has built a model nuclear shelter near Tokyo to raise awareness and encourage citizens to consider digging their own amid growing security concerns about the Russian nuclear threat and North Korea's missile ambitions.

Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported Sunday that although the shelter has not yet been opened to the public, the underground concrete structure was opened on May 10 in a parking lot across from the Japan Nuclear Shelter Association's office in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture.

The shelter has already hosted around 40 tours by builders, national and local politicians, government agencies, and the media.

The organization says it aims to build shelters across Japan that meet the standards.

It added that interest in its activities has increased in the past year, as the number of its members increased from two companies only to about 30 within a year.

The shelter was built according to Swiss specifications, and the structure could withstand an explosion like those caused by the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.