Emergency Kit Gains Popularity in City’s Furusato Nozei Hometown Program; Increase in Donations for Gift Due to Nankai Trough Advisory

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:42 JST, September 2, 2025

A set of emergency supplies developed by a food processing company in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, has become a popular gift in the city’s hometown tax donation system.

The company developed the kit based on people’s experiences during and after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

The furusato nozei tax donation system promotes a region by letting taxpayers make donations to municipalities they want to support. In fiscal 2024, the amount of donations collected in exchange for the emergency supplies sets under the system exceeded ¥100 million for the first time. This was a five-fold increase from the amount received the previous fiscal year and was due to a rising interest in emergency supplies after an advisory for a Nankai Trough earthquake was issued last year.

Marine Pro, a food processing company that produces retort pouch products in the city, developed the set, called Hijoji Otasukebako (aid box for emergencies). The box, a cube about 30 centimeters on each side, contains drinking water, 15 meals worth of food and sterile wet wipes. There are a total of 12 types of emergency supply, including the outer box, which also functions as a portable toilet.

The box, which went on sale in December 2011, gradually gained popularity after the city began offering it as a gift through the tax donation system five years ago. After the Nankai Trough Earthquake Extra Information was issued for the first time on Aug. 8 last year, the firm began receiving an increasing number of orders for the product from the Tokai region and other areas. According to the city, the number of donations from those that wanted the box reached 3,672 last fiscal year and were worth a total of ¥127.8 million, an increase of about ¥103.5 million from the previous fiscal year. The box has come to generate a sizable part of the city’s total donations of about ¥2 billion.

The company’s president, Koichi Fujiwara, 58, says he cannot forget the scene of a gymnasium crowded with evacuees immediately after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. People expressed their anxiety, lamenting the lack of food, and long lines formed in front of the few available toilets.

The company’s facilities and Fujiwara’s home were not damaged, as they were away from the coast. So, he collaborated with residents to make rice balls and collect clothing to deliver to evacuation centers. Supplies quickly ran out, but a few days later, local governments and the Self-Defense Forces started providing support.

Fujiwara began developing a set of stockpiled supplies in May 2011, determined to pass on his experience as a valuable lesson and help people survive the first three days after a disaster. He surveyed employees on what they thought evacuees would need.

Utilizing his expertise in manufacturing retort pouch products, he decided to include nutrient-rich boiled pumpkin, potatoes and simmered mackerel with miso to help people keep hydrated. He decided to add the portable toilet because he remembered an elderly woman at an evacuation center saying, “I won’t eat because I’ll have to use the toilet frequently.”

The box’s specification sheet comes with a message: “Please stay strong and survive until government assistance arrives.” Fujiwara hopes that the lessons he learned from the disaster will be shared through the disaster relief goods.In addition to the tax donation system, the kit is available from the firm for ¥8,640, tax included, per box.