Warehouse TERRADA and Japan Post Launch Collaborative Bosai-You-Storage: Box Storage with Parcel Delivery Service for Disaster Prevention

Bosai-You-Storage is a specialized storage service for disaster prevention, letting you safely store your personal aid supplies, such as daily essentials needed in the case of an evacuation, helping you prepare for any eventuality. Users prepare the items they and their families will need in case of a long-term stay at an evacuation site, pack them into dedicated boxes and forward them to us. The boxes are stored in a different prefecture than the user’s place of residence, in warehouses that we manage, which are built on hard ground*1 and meet earthquake-resistant standards.  When required, the user can complete the retrieval process on the Bosai-You-Storage website. Through Japan Post’s Yu-Pack delivery service, their boxes will be sent to the desired location,*2 such as an evacuation site. Special boxes made of polypropylene can be used as tables or chairs at an evacuation site. The service also offers “precious item escapes ” for safe, long-term memorabilia storage such as albums and letters that you couldn’t bear to lose in an emergency.

This service has been supervised by Project Professor Toshitaka Katada of the University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies. The storage item checklist in the usage guide packaged inside the boxes has been overseen by Nobuyuki Kurita, director of the NPO Rescue Stock Yard. Both of them warn that the essential evacuation supplies provided by public authorities in a disaster are minimal. They believe it’s crucial to think about what you and your family will need to support your daily lives over a prolonged period. You can take only so many things in the limited time available when disaster strikes — usually not enough.
We aim to keep up our pursuit of storage-related services that satisfy the needs of as many people as possible.

*1 N-value of 50 based on the JIS A1219 standard penetration test method.
*2 Eligible areas, number of days for delivery, etc., are subject to Yu-Pack terms and conditions. Delivery may be delayed or compromised by disaster circumstances.

Name: Bosai-You-Storage
Date of Release: February 1st, 2022 (Tue) 11:00 AM
URL: https://www.post.japanpost.jp/life/you_storage/introduction/index.html (Japanese)

– Storage item checklist (examples)
The list to consider what should be stored for yourself and your family is included in the service usage guide. This is overseen by Nobuyuki Kurita, the NPO Rescue Stock Yard director.

Examples of purposes and items (excerpted from “Storage item checklist (examples)
– For personal aid supplies: a portable charger, towels, extra clothes in your size, spare glasses or contact lenses, regular medications or prescription records, toothbrushes, plastic bags, tarps, blankets, women’s daily essentials, special food for the Elderly, Children, people with allergies, etc.
– For precious item escapes: albums, maternity health record books, artworks by children, records, books, figures, etc.

– Comments from Project Professor Toshitaka Katada of the University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies

Even if public authorities provide essential evacuation supplies in a disaster, these will only be minimal. In the event of a disaster, there are only so many things you can take with you in the limited time available, and it usually won’t be enough to support you during the evacuation. Going without things for an extended period can cause tremendous emotional stress and even affect your health. Bosai-You-Storage is a unique service that reduces the stress of evacuation by delivering essential items directly to you. I believe that preparing your “personal aid supplies” in case of evacuation will bring peace of mind to your whole family. I also recommend using the “precious item escape” service to protect memorabilia and other items that would be irreplaceable to you and your family. In the unlikely event of a disaster, I believe that protecting the lives of your family and the things you hold dear will provide significant support as you rebuild your life.

– Project background

Japan Post has a nationwide distribution network that acts as a social infrastructure in disasters, supporting communities and aiding swift recovery. More than 20,000 post offices located throughout Japan perform day-to-day operations rooted in their local communities, each with an understanding of the region’s characteristics and a desire to make each customer’s life a little easier.
Since its foundation in 1950, Warehouse TERRADA has provided storage for specialized items such as art, wine and audiovisual media, self-storage and other services. In 2012, we released a minikura service that combines our long-standing storage expertise with IT. minikura is a box storage with parcel delivery service that allows users to simply pack a box with their items and send it to us. The box will be stored in a secure storage facility with controlled temperature and humidity. Users can then go online to withdraw their boxes when needed. This same system is used for Bosai-You-Storage.
In recent years, the two companies have formulated a service to help people stay safe and sound during prolonged periods of evacuation amid heightened awareness of disaster prevention in the wake of major disasters across various parts of Japan.

[Inquiry about the service]
Bosai-You-Storage customer service representative
E-MAIL：support@you-storage.jp