# Incoming missiles! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 12, 2023, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599 "2023-04-12T23:30:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599/1 "2023-04-12T23:30:30Z")
North Korea apparently launched a ballistic missile which should (by now) have come down somewhere around Hokkaido, where I live. > The kids had just left for school, I was getting some coffee and wondering if I should prepare for classes or read the Dope and I get an alert on my phone to take shelter immediately, followed by phone calls from my wife, who is in Tokyo now, and other parents. My son was walking to school with a friend, and his mother went and got them and brought them back, but I pointed out that concrete schools were as good as anywhere. I assume that it’s a test of the missile and not a nuclear strike, and I also assume that small towns with declining populations are not the most likely target, even if we do have a couple of convenience stores and a really nice hot spring. I have been in far greater personal danger before, and I know other Dopers were in actual combat and such, but this was a first for me to get the message “Incoming!” That wakes you up. (And I’m not sure if this is mundane or miscellaneous , pointless or personal, but for some reason I just had to share it.) ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599/2 "2023-04-12T23:52:34Z")
This really isn’t very mundane at all. It is horrible for Japan and very scary for everyone. I hope your kids are OK, processing something like that can be hard. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599/3 "2023-04-13T00:00:44Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > even if we do have a couple of convenience stores There are millions of North Koreans who’d kill for a (stocked) convenience store nearby their home. Your small town might be more of a target than you at first expect. 🙂 Trying to make light of a bad situation. At the same time, the usual overwrought handwringing in the USA in the face of danger can do far more to traumatize your kids than noisy threats from NK can. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599/4 "2023-04-13T00:08:25Z")
> [@JaneDoe42](#): > > I hope your kids are OK, processing something like that can be hard. Fortunately (IMHO) I was here and not my wife. She tends to worry too much, although perhaps I worry too little. When the other mother brought my son back, he could tell I wasn’t particuarly worried. He’s 12, Beta-chan is 14 so they can understand risks. We’ll talk more tonight, but I think they should be ok. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > There are millions of North Koreans who’d kill for a (stocked) convenience store nearby their home. Your small town might be more of a target than you at first expect. 🙂 Damn! I didn’t think about that! Moving to a small town with only a couple of convenience store was a cultural shock for us, but at leas we have them. (Until the real attack comes.) It’s all good! Just a moment of “hmmmm, any danger?” before deciding that reading the Dope trumps anything short of real war. I’ve got to get over to the debate on the most important warship to give my opinion before we get nuked. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599/5 "2023-04-13T00:15:59Z")
Snark and joking aside, I hope that you and yours stay safe, although I’m fully aware that it’s far too close to the usual US response “hopes and prayers” when some nutso with a gun shoots up a bunch of unrelated individuals. For those who want an English language version of the report, I provide the following: > **[North Korea launches new type of ballistic missile, Seoul says](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-korea-fires-missile-into-sea-off-east-coast-south-korea-says-2023-04-12/)** > > North Korea fired a new model of long-range ballistic missile on Thursday, South Korea said, triggering a scare in northern Japan where residents were told to take cover, though there turned out to be no danger. > Japanese authorities later retracted the alert, saying an emergency warning system had made an erroneous prediction the missile would fall near the island. Doesn’t mean @TokyoBayer didn’t have reason to worry now or in the future, but at least for the moment, the convenience store seems safe from being targeted for nuclear devestation. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599/6 "2023-04-13T00:23:49Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > Doesn’t mean @TokyoBayer didn’t have reason to worry now or in the future, but at least for the moment, the convenience store seems safe from being targeted for nuclear devestation. The loss of the TokyoBayer family would be sad, but the loss of a convience store would be a tragedy for this community! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599/7 "2023-04-13T00:33:02Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > I’ve got to get over to the debate on the most important warship to give my opinion before we get nuked. Your opinion might later be adjusted to one of these: > **[Aegis Combat System | JMSDF Aegis Afloat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegis_Combat_System#JMSDF_Aegis_Afloat)** > > The Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) currently operates 4 Kongō class, 2 Atago class, and 2 Maya class guided-missile destroyers as part of its "Aegis Afloat" program (See table below). > Additionally, on 31 August 2022, The Japan Ministry of Defense announced that JMSDF will operate two "Aegis system equipped ships" (イージス・システム搭載艦 in Japanese) (pictured to replace the earlier plan of Aegis Ashore installations, commissioning one by the end of fiscal year 2027, and the other by the end ... Again trying to make semi-light of a semi-bad situation. It’s important for everyone in most of the civilized world to realize that despots with WMD have had them aimed at your house for 60 years now. The world’s despots are seemingly extra-despotic just now, but that stuff comes in waves. We’ve been here before. Not to say this time will end happy, or that a mistake won’t eventually result in a mass death event someplace. But this crap ain’t new. Far from it. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599/8 "2023-04-13T00:53:07Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Your opinion might later be adjusted to one of these: Yes! I love it. Actually, there should be little danger here. Living in Taiwan, we weren’t that far from a military base so any threat of a nuclear attack would have been greater there. We’re about 10 meters above sea level here so for (unlikely) disasters then a tsunami is more likely than random attacks on Seico Mart. [![](https://d20aeo683mqd6t.cloudfront.net/articles/title_images/000/040/681/original/cover-v16.png?2020&d=750x400) ](https://d20aeo683mqd6t.cloudfront.net/articles/title_images/000/040/681/original/cover-v16.png?2020&d=750x400) (random pic from the net) Both of my ex-wife’s parents survived American firebombings of Tokyo as children so I don’t want to compare this little thing to anything really serious. It’s just we have to convince the mad power in Korth Korea to launch possible nukes _after_ I have my morning Joe. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599/9 "2023-04-13T05:32:19Z")
Update: It looks like somethin the natives have experienced occationally so it’s not that big of a deal for most everyone. Even the students were fine. It did make an interesting lesson on weather. “Today’s weather is partly coudy with a chance of falling missiles.” ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599/10 "2023-04-13T13:16:19Z")
Hopefully it wasn’t on a powder day at the resorts. > **[Fear and confusion in Japan's Hokkaido as North Korean missile triggers...](https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/12/asia/north-korea-missile-japan-intl-hnk/index.html)** > > South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired one mid-range or longer ballistic missile from near Pyongyang into the waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula at around 7:23 a.m. local time Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599/11 "2023-04-13T13:29:44Z")
Given North Korean tech, I suspect that which city it was aimed at was a completely irrelevant consideration in where it ended up landing. They’re probably happy with just “somewhere in the general vicinity of Japan”. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599/12 "2023-04-13T13:40:33Z")
From the article: > [@](#): > > “What is the use of the J-Alert, which warns of a missile falling when you do not know where it will fall?” asked one Twitter user. “In the end, it serves no purpose other than to instill in the Japanese people the feeling that Japan is being targeted, and to scare them.” Those were my thoughts as well. We want more money for defense! Let’s scare everyone! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599/13 "2023-04-13T23:10:26Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > I’ve got to get over to the debate on the most important warship to give my opinion before we get nuked. 24 hours later we’re still awaiting your contribution to that thread. If I hadn’t seen you posting here since, I’d have been worried about you. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599/14 "2023-04-13T23:43:21Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > 24 hours later we’re still awaiting your contribution to that thread. If I hadn’t seen you posting here since, I’d have been worried about you. 😉 I’ve had something worse than an incoming nuke. My wife is gone for eight days and I’m single dadding it. My hat goes off to single, working parents who do this all the time. I’m still thinking about that thread. I’m got a very narrow focus of interest in history so my contributions may be a hijack. > [@Chronos](#): > > Given North Korean tech, I suspect that which city it was aimed at was a completely irrelevant consideration in where it ended up landing. They’re probably happy with just “somewhere in the general vicinity of Japan”. So what you are saying that instead of hitting Tokyo, they may just nuke a small town on the coast of Hokkaiko? And that makes me feel better, how? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599/15 "2023-04-14T00:40:01Z")
Yikes! ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599/16 "2023-04-14T00:44:02Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > they may just nuke a small town on the coast of Hokkaiko? That would be singularly stupid, since they would be guaranteeing their absolute extinction without the satisfaction of a high body count. I wish I were kidding, but I’m not. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599/17 "2023-04-14T01:11:39Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > So what you are saying that instead of hitting Tokyo, they may just nuke a small town on the coast of Hokkaiko? Or miss the islands entirely and just nuke a random section of ocean somewhere off the Japanese coast. Which is, of course, how you awaken Godzilla. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599/18 "2023-04-14T01:23:34Z")
I believe that is how you CREATE godzilla. “Godzilla is awakened by mankind’s nuclear weapons tests” > **[Godzilla.com | About Godzilla](https://godzilla.com/about/)** > > What is Godzilla? Find out how the famous monster was born on the official site of Godzilla. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599/19 "2023-04-14T01:29:13Z")
The good news is that Rodan _really_ doesn’t like Godzilla. And Rodan will be awakened by NK’s second miss. Even better news, I’ve seen newsreels of Godzilla stomping a lot of Japanese cities. He seems to avoid small towns. So you’re safe. Especially if you’re far from Lake Biwa. He uses that place like a birdbath. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599/20 "2023-04-14T01:38:31Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > He seems to avoid small towns. Great. @Chronos has me in danger of falling nukes, @gnoitall is pointing out NK’s actions would be stupid, but without any hint if that is useful information or not so finally we’re getting some better news. I will be crossing off Lake Biwa from any potential trip, just to be on the safe side. I can see why there are so many Japanese kids refusing to go to school these days. . . [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incoming-missiles/982599.md?page=2)