Closer to China than to the Japanese mainland, these idyllic islands confront the prospect of war
ISHIGAKI, Japan — At the first blare of air raid sirens, the people milling about in a grassy park barely stirred. Five-year-old Tae Sano clung to her mother's hand.
Some of the people around her, all wearing bright-yellow bibs, took a few uncertain steps. But the only real urgency came from a man in a blue uniform, jogging through the confused crowd.
"One more time," he called out through a megaphone.
When the sirens wailed anew, a voice rang through the park: "A missile was just launched. Please evacuate immediately."
This time, people moved. Ayako Sano led her three children to a nearby auditorium, where they crouched, hands over their heads, and waited for the drill to end. The exercise, the first for the island city of Ishigaki — closer to China and Taiwan than to the Japanese mainland — is being repeated across the country as increasingly restive neighbors heighten concerns about war.
"Nowadays, you never know what might happen," Sano, a 37-year-old City Hall employee, said after the drill. "Not just in Ishigaki, but wherever you
