The central government has said that the construction of an evacuation shelter on the country’s westernmost island of Yonaguni, in Okinawa Prefecture, will start next fiscal year, with the completion expected around spring 2028.
The schedule was included in a progress report released Friday that details the construction of such shelters in five municipalities covering Okinawa’s Sakishima Islands, including Yonaguni.
Japan started the project bearing in mind a possible emergency over Taiwan in the Nansei southwestern island region, which includes the Sakishima chain and stretches from Kagoshima Prefecture to Okinawa.
Underground shelters will be built in the five municipalities to accommodate local residents for about two weeks in the event of an invasion or a missile attack.
The town of Yonaguni will build a shelter on the underground level of a new town office complex that will be capable of holding about 200 people.
The city of Miyakojima plans to start the construction of its shelter this winter, while the city of Ishigaki aims to begin such work as early as fiscal 2026. Each facility will have a capacity of about 500 people.
The town of Taketomi and the village of Tarama hope to draw up detailed designs for their shelters as early as next fiscal year.
