“Civil Protection Forum 2006” (Summary of proceedings)
Theme: To Protect Ourselves against Armed Attacks and Terrorism

• I concurrently hold the posts of Minister of State for National Emergency Legislation, Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, and Minister of State for Disaster Management, and have worked to protect peoples・lives, and property.
• I壇 like to give an opening speech as the Minister of State for National Emergency Legislation today. I truly appreciate your attendance today, in spite of your busy schedule.
• In consideration of the security environment surrounding Japan, I think there is a low probability that serious invasive situations would occur in Japan. Nevertheless, North Korea has recently actually launched several ballistic missiles. Therefore, proper responses and measures are required urgently to deal with new threats and various likely situations, such as the intensifying global activities of terrorist groups, and the increased existence of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles.
• It is the national government痴 responsibility to develop legislation necessary to protect Japan痴 peace and independence and maintain the safety of the nation and people against armed attacks from outside. The national government developed a legal framework for war contingencies from 2003 to 2004.
• The Armed Attack Situation Response Law stipulates how to respond when an armed attack situation occurs in Japan. At the same time, it was required to develop the Civil Protection Law, which stipulates how to protect people. The Armed Attack Situation Response Law and the Civil Protection Law were enacted to meet these needs.
• The Civil Protection Law aims to protect peoples・lives and property and to minimize the consequences of emergencies for peoples・daily lives and the economy.
• Naturally, the national and local governments need to deal with emergencies such as armed attacks and terrorism, but at the same time, people must also cooperate with one another and remain calm while listening to and following information and instructions provided by the national and local governments. For that purpose, regular educational activities are necessary, and this forum has also been established in line with that purpose.
• Each ministry and agency and each prefecture finished establishing their Civil Protection Plans for protecting people in case of emergencies by the end of FY2005. From the current fiscal year, municipal Civil Protection Plans and designated local public institutions・Civil Protection Business Plans are being established.
• I壇 like each of you to think about civil protection as your own business. I hope this forum will serve as a significant opportunity for this.
• It is a significant responsibility for the national government to deal with emergencies such as armed attacks and terrorism in a prompt and appropriate way. The national government will further make concerted efforts in pursuing this responsibility, in cooperation with other related ministries and agencies. I would greatly appreciate it if you take a high interest in this issue.

Coordinator : Midori Miyazaki

• Civil protection is a framework whereby the national government protects residents in case of armed attacks or large-scale terrorist acts, in cooperation with local governments and related organizations. There are three main pillars to this framework.
• The first pillar is to evacuate people to safe places as soon as possible. The second pillar is to support victims and evacuees by providing them medical care, refuge areas, and food and water. The third pillar is to make efforts to minimize damage. Specifically, the police, the fire service, and the Self Defense Force will extinguish fires, take countermeasures against a sarin-gas attack, or establish off-limits zones if there are any dangerous places. These responses are basically the same as what local governments would do in the case of an earthquake.
• What the national and local governments should do in case of natural disasters is stipulated by the Disaster Measures Basic Law. However, there were previously no laws to deal with cases of armed attacks and terrorism. Therefore, the Civil Protection Law was newly established.
• Contingency legislation consist of 10 laws, of which two are especially important. One is the Armed Attack Situation Response Law and the other is the Civil Protection Law.
• The Armed Attack Situation Response Law stipulates procedures, such as how to make decisions as a nation, how to decide Japan痴 response strategies, and how to have the Diet involved in the case of war, etc. The Law also stipulates as a basic principle the respect of basic human rights even in the case of emergencies, to provide as much information as possible for people, and to request understanding and cooperation for the UN and global society.
• Discussions have been made and various opinions expressed about contingency legislation. Worries in some quarters were expressed that this law might be established to start a war, but that is not true. This law aims to lay down, in advance in peacetime, how the national and local governments should respond in case armed attacks or terrorism occur.
• Some of you may consider that an emergency would seldom occur. Let us look at domestic and foreign incidents to clarify what we should take to be an emergency.
• On July 5th, North Korea launched missiles. In 1998, a missile, the Taepodong 1, got across Japan and a part of it dropped into the Pacific Ocean. In 2001, an unidentified boat appeared in the sea southeast off Kyushuu, and a patrol boat of the Japan Coast Guard fired warning shots and made it sink eventually. More than 10 years ago, the Tokyo subway sarin-gas attack occurred. Overseas, the 9.11 terrorist attacks occurred in the U.S.A. and terrorist acts involving anthrax occurred alongside. There were also bombing incidents in Spain, London, and Bali.
• Such incidents should not occur in any place, but we cannot assure that Japan is totally free from danger. We should maintain our peaceful nation through diplomatic efforts and international cooperation, but at the same time we need countermeasures in case any such incidents occur.
• The basic guideline predicts four types of armed attacks and terrorism. That is, a landing invasion, attacks by air planes (so called aerial intrusion), ballistic missile attacks, and attacks by guerrillas/special operation forces. Following the end to the cold war, the probability of a landing invasion and aerial intrusion has become lower, but new threats are growing, such as utilization of ballistic missiles, guerrillas/special operation forces, and weapons of mass destruction, etc.
• Emergency response situations refer to large-scale terrorism.
• Specifically, it refers to incidents such as attacks on facilities containing hazardous materials like nuclear power plants and petrochemical complexes, attacks on places like stations where many people gather, release of biological agents or chemical agents, and suicidal terrorism using airplanes like the 9.11 terrorist attacks.
• In the case of emergencies, the national government shall deal with the situations on an around-the-clock basis at the Cabinet Information Collection Center and the Crisis Management Center located underneath the Prime Minister痴 Official Residence in Nagatacho. When an emergency occurs, various kinds of information are collected there and the Countermeasures Office in the Prime Minister痴 Official Residence is set up immediately.
• There is a rule that an Emergency Assembly Team, consisting of directors of related ministries and agencies, must gather within 30 minutes. Related Cabinet Ministers also gather and hold the Security Council of Japan chaired by the Prime Minister, where important decisions concerning national security are made.
• Armed attack situations and emergency response situations are recognized and countermeasures are decided at a cabinet meeting, and then a Task Force is set up headed by the Prime Minister.
• The missile launch by North Korea on July 5th was not recognized as an armed attack situation nor an emergency response situation. However, with information from the U.S. army, etc., the Countermeasures Office in the Prime Minister痴 Official Residence was set up immediately and the Chief Cabinet Secretary, the Defense Agency Chief, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs gathered to confirm the situations. The Chief Cabinet Secretary held a press conference based on these.
• Then the Security Council of Japan was held to decide the government痴 temporary response and policies, based on which the Chief Cabinet Secretary held a press conference. After that, round-robin cabinet meetings were held to take procedures to ban the entry of specific ships, and the Security Council of Japan was held again to determine sanctions against North Korea. Then, the Chief Cabinet Secretary held another press conference.
• In case of an armed attack situation or an emergency response situation, the situation shall be confirmed, countermeasures shall be decided, and then a government Task Force shall be set up.
• Once the situation is confirmed, instructions shall be handed down from the national government to prefectures ,and from them to their municipalities. In case of earthquakes or floods, municipalities first take action, and prefectures start to take action when the situation becomes too serious for municipalities to deal with. The national government takes action after that. The fundamental difference in the case of armed attack situations or emergency response situations is that the national government shall take the initiative.
• However, for example, if people start to faint one after another at a station platform, we cannot tell immediately whether it is an incident, an accident, a terrorist attack, or a war. In such cases, the fire service and the police will have to rush to the particular location. The Self Defense Force is deployed on a disaster relief mission according to need, and local governments shall take the initiative.
• Meanwhile, the national government collects information from various sources. When it is confirmed that a certain nation has a will to attack Japan, the national government recognizes this as an armed attack situation. In any case, the national government and local governments are required to cooperate closely with each other.
• The outline of actions to be taken against various situations is stipulated in the basic guidelines. For example, if ballistic missiles are launched targeting Japanese territories or territorial waters, warnings shall be issued as soon as possible. It is not widely known, but civil protection warning sirens exist. The sirens are sounded over the community wireless system to draw the attention of the residents and make them evacuate indoors.
• During the Gulf War, Iraq launched 40 Scud missiles targeting Israel in the course of six weeks, but the toll of direct victims was only two. One of the factors to minimize the damage is said to be the fact that the government of Israel warned its people with sirens before the launched missiles arrived and successfully led them to evacuate into the strongest buildings available.
• Launched missiles may be loaded with chemical weapons or nuclear weapons, so the method of evacuation shall be decided based on the confirmed situation.
• Last March, the national government established the basic guidelines that stipulate those matters. Based on these, all ministries and agencies, 47 prefectures, 159 designated public institutions, such as entities engaging in electricity, gas, transportation, and telecommunication, have been working on formulating Civil Protection Plans or Civil Protection Business Plans. In this fiscal year, more than 1,800 municipalities and more than 1,000 local designated public institutions are expected to formulate these plans.
• The Civil Protection Portal Site has been established, where you can hear sample siren sounds. We have created a pamphlet, 撤rotecting Ourselves against Armed Attacks and Terrorism (PDF file),・/a> a copy of which you have in your hands now. This pamphlet also explains the national government痴 efforts concerning contingency legislation. Please take a look at it in your free time.