Japan woman buys bomb shelter after North Korea missile alert

TokYO: When North Korea launched a missile over Japan in September, setting off emergency alerts across cell networks, Megumi Morohoshi made a decision: she was going to buy a bomb shelter.

Morohoshi had been concerned about the ever-present danger from Japan's earthquakes, and she had been wanting to expand the house to accommodate her three young children.

The invasion of Ukraine followed by a barrage of North Korean missiles, convinced her that the threat was urgent.

When the alert went off, that was really scary, said Morohoshi, 40, as she sat on the floor of the narrow, solid-steel box that occupies the parking spot of her home.

I'd always wanted a room like this, but then in October I made up my mind that I needed to hurry up and buy one. The family Morohoshi joined the growing number of Japanese who are taking security into their own hands in the wake of political tension.