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Japan Activated Air Raid Sirens During North Korea's Missile Test Monday (cnn.com)
"No country should have missiles flying over them like those 130 million people in Japan," the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations said Monday. Though it was only a test, the scene on-the-ground is described by Slashdot reader AppleHoshi:
Our phones went crazy on receipt of an automated alert from the "J-Alert" system. Shortly afterwards, loudspeakers broadcast another alert (there are loudspeakers everywhere in Japan, to warn of earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons). As normal with any disaster situation in Japan, all of the available television channels immediately switched over to full-coverage mode, with a repetition of what the situation was ("There's a missile heading in the direction of north-central Japan") followed by basic instructions of what to do ("If it comes down in your area, try to extinguish any fires and immediately inform your local police and fire departments").
Shortly before twenty past six we got the news that the missile had over-flown northern Japan and landed in the Pacific, about 1,000 km [621 miles] from the coast of Hokkaido. The "all-clear" was broadcast over the local speakers a short while later. Strange as it may seem, this all had an air of normality about it. Japan gets more than it's fair share of natural disasters, so anyone living here gets plenty of exposure to this same routine. (It's just that the reason is usually an earthquake, typhoon or tsunami, rather than a megalomaniac).
Shortly before twenty past six we got the news that the missile had over-flown northern Japan and landed in the Pacific, about 1,000 km [621 miles] from the coast of Hokkaido. The "all-clear" was broadcast over the local speakers a short while later. Strange as it may seem, this all had an air of normality about it. Japan gets more than it's fair share of natural disasters, so anyone living here gets plenty of exposure to this same routine. (It's just that the reason is usually an earthquake, typhoon or tsunami, rather than a megalomaniac).
TFS seems to imply that the alert was activated everywhere in Japan. The subtitle on the linked CNN page mentions Northern Japan.
I live in Tokyo, and heard or saw no such alert.
There is no political reason. The U.S. would be involved whether or not they activated the sirens. The U.S. is obligated by treaties wrapping up the loose ends of WWII to provide for Japan's defense against foreign attack. The treaties and Japanese Constitution limit Japan's military to operating domestically to repel an invasion. The JSDF is not allowed to operate outside Japan, though that clause has been stretched recently to allow Japan to participate in UN peacekeeping missions. Since that leaves Japan extremely vulnerable to foreign attack, the treaties make defending Japan from outside Japan's borders the responsibility of the U.S.
So in this particular case (foreign missile overflying Japan), not only is a U.S. response warranted, it's required.