A false alarm warning of an incoming ballistic missile sent Hawaii — a popular destination for Japanese — into a panic Saturday, with some residents and visitors scrambling for safety in bathtubs, basements and even sewers until officials admitted the cellphone alert was a mistake.
But despite the widespread panic, a number of Japanese tourists and residents of the island state interviewed by The Japan Times voiced a more composed reaction to the false alarm.
Shintaro Wada, who was in Honolulu on vacation when the alarm rang out, said he at first thought it was an exercise, noting that he had seen news reports about periodic emergency drills there.
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