It was the first such drill in a prefecture in Japan that hosts a nuclear power station. Niigata, which is located on the Sea of Japan, is home to Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant.

The drill, conducted in the city's Watabe district from 10 a.m. (1 a.m. GMT), followed North Korea's repeated ballistic missile launches into the sea between Japan and mainland Asia.

Eighty-five local residents took part in the drill, hosted jointly by the Tsubame municipal and Niigata prefectural governments, the Cabinet Secretariat and the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry's Fire and Disaster Management Agency. The district is located within 30 kilometers of the nuclear plant.

It assumed a scenario in which a ballistic missile had been launched, setting off the J-Alert early warning system. Authorities called on residents to evacuate using the local wireless communication system and shared information with other municipalities through the Em-Net emergency network.

Participants took shelter at sturdy nearby buildings or ditches.

"I was able to evacuate calmly, but I'm worried because there's a nuclear plant nearby," said Yoshinori Takeuchi, a 70-year-old farmer, who evacuated into a ditch near rice paddies during his farm work. "This (a missile falling into the neighborhood) must never happen, so I want the government to ensure proper handling."

The drill did not assume any problems at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. A municipality within a 30-kilometer radius of a nuclear power plant is required to draw up an evacuation plan in preparation for emergencies at the facility.

Later on Monday, the prefectural government held a mock meeting of its emergency response headquarters at its office in the city of Niigata, the capital of the prefecture, assuming a missile falling into the prefecture. (Jiji Press)