On Nov. 27, 2005, an unidentified terrorist group attacked the Mihama nuclear power plant on the Japan Sea in Fukui Prefecture, damaging the facility and creating fears of a radiation leak.

Local officials on-site at emergency response headquarters in the town of Mihama — as well as at the Cabinet Office, the National Policy Agency, the Defense Agency, the Japan Coast Guard and within numerous ministries — immediately coordinated a response to evacuate local residents from the surrounding area.

If you're surprised by the above and wonder why you missed that particular morsel of "news," it's because the attack was only simulated and the response was a test of the country's emergency response system. But it was the first time ever such a large-scale, comprehensive on-site drill was held that involved a wide range of local and central government officials, as well as members of the public who played the part of "victims."