Disaster camping: Japan's habit of practicing a night without power, water or gas

In Japan, "disaster camping" (防災キャンプ, bōsai camp) is a familiar idea in schools and town halls: spend a night living as if the power, gas and water were out, using camping gear and whatever you have stored. Tokyo's metropolitan government puts it simply in its stockpiling guide: families with children can learn about disaster prevention through camping, and "even if you don't go to a campsite, you can simulate an actual disaster by spending a night with only your camping gear."

This guide explains what Japanese programs actually do, how the idea lines up with U.S. preparedness advice, and how to run your own first night safely.

What Japanese disaster camps look like

Japan's education ministry (MEXT) ran disaster camps that treat a school or community building as an evacuation shelter. Its page notes that, through fiscal 2014, they ran as the "Disaster Camp Promotion Project" within a hands-on learning program, and it lists prefectures that took part as late as fiscal 2017. The prefectural reports describe programs like these:

The common thread is the five basics: sleeping, eating, light, water and toilets, all without the usual utilities. Kumamoto's report says participants came away feeling how much self-reliance matters. It also admits a practical problem: it was hard to find people who could stay all three days. That is a good reason to start short.

How it fits U.S. guidance

No U.S. agency we found tells families to camp at home overnight, so treat disaster camping as one way to follow advice that is already there (our view):

• Ready.gov lists "Practice Your Plan" as step 4 of making a plan: "Practice your plan with your household."
• FEMA's Are You Ready? guide says "It is vital that your family practice your plan once you have developed it—just like you would a fire drill," and suggests that you regularly "Test your evacuation and shelter plan."
• The American Red Cross power outage checklist, under learning emergency skills, says: "Be ready to live without power, gas, and water."
• A Red Cross chapter's preparedness booklet suggests making drills "fun for kids by having a picnic with your emergency supplies."

How much to store is where the two countries differ most. Ready.gov's basic kit starts with "one gallon per person per day for several days, for drinking and sanitation," and the Red Cross suggests a stay-at-home kit with "at least two weeks of supplies." Japan's government says to stock food for at least 3 days and ideally about a week. A night of disaster camping won't settle which target is right for you, but it will show what your household actually uses. For your own numbers, try the household water and food calculator, which shows both the U.S. and Japanese guidelines.

Where to do it

Start with a few hours, not a weekend

Ayase City, near Yokohama, calls its version a "home survival trial" and lays out a sensible ramp-up. Here is our summary:

1. Start small. A full day, then three days, is the usual goal, but Ayase suggests even a 2 to 3 hour trial first, because it only works if the whole family is on board.
2. Turn things off, or pretend to. Flip breakers, close the gas, stop using the tap, or leave everything on and simply agree not to use it.
3. Live off your supplies. Meals, toilets and hygiene all come from your stockpile. This is where you find the things you didn't know you needed.
4. Debrief as a family. List what ran short and what to change, and fix it.

Our suggestion: leave the refrigerator's circuit on, or just pretend, so the trial doesn't spoil real food. Ready.gov notes a closed refrigerator keeps food cold for about four hours.

What to test in one night

Safety

A practice night should never become the emergency.

• Fuel-burning gear stays outside. Ready.gov says generators, camp stoves and charcoal grills "should always be used outdoors and at least 20 feet away from windows." The Red Cross adds: "Do not use gasoline, propane, natural gas or charcoal-burning devices inside a home, garage, tent, or camper — or even outside near an open window." See carbon monoxide at camp.
• Flashlights, not candles, in the Red Cross's words.
• Don't heat the house with the stove. Ready.gov: "Do not use a gas stove or oven to heat your home."
• Japan's version of the warning: Japan's product safety agency (NITE) counted 183 accidents involving camping products over the five fiscal years to 2019, 122 of them fires and 7 fatal, and warned people enjoying "home camping" indoors or on balconies that mishandling camp gear can cause fires and serious injuries.

Doing it with kids (our suggestions)

• Give each child a job: light keeper, water counter, radio operator.
• Keep the tone "look what we can do," not "look what could happen." The goal is a memory of coping well.
• End the way the Mito families did: sit in a circle, say one thing that went well, and turn what ran short into a shopping list.

Food you eat and replace as you go (the Japanese "rolling stock" habit) makes the next practice night easier; see rolling stock. Our Japanese edition has a separate article on the same practice for families in Japan: 防災キャンプの始め方.