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The story
A thread on 5ch’s Nandemo Jikkyo G board got people talking about their “disaster preparedness” supplies for scenarios like sudden earthquakes or water outages. Alongside staples like water, emergency toilets, and gas canisters, posters brought up everything from disposable underwear for bartering to portable power stations and even hammers for self-defense. The topic that generated the most discussion was the need for emergency toilets, spurred by a personal account from the Tohoku earthquake, where prolonged water outages left shelter toilets “buried in filthy pyramids” — underscoring just how important toilet prep really is. The thread also saw disagreement over hygiene, such as whether it’s acceptable to dump waste into rivers or the ocean, and practical worries about how to respond when other evacuees ask to share your supplies at a shelter.
What people said
I went back and forth on underwear, but figured my regular stuff would do, so I skipped it.
Space is limited too.
A toilet's a must.
I've got 60 uses' worth plus solidifying agent ready too.
Also keep a blanket in the car.
Nice.
The car doubles as extra storage space for basic emergency supplies too.
For food I've got about 15 meals' worth of bagged ramen, some yōkan (sweet red bean jelly bars), and a few canned goods, but the ramen's about to expire so I'll swap it out.
The underwear isn't for me — it's for other people.
For bartering, adult diapers and women's disposable underwear hold real value.
Can't really picture the use case, but fair enough.
I never tell anyone I'm prepping, so I probably wouldn't end up bartering anyway.
We got hit with a quake measuring just under magnitude 5 recently, and when I checked my emergency bag the food had expired, so I scrambled to replace it.
It's not great, but rye bread keeps for about a year and goes down easier than hardtack, so I put that in.
Good idea to check it regularly.
I make a point of checking mine as the year-end approaches too.
Though of course, never needing to use it is best.
What countryside are you even living in?
A portable fridge and solar panel.
Just having these changes your peace of mind completely.
What about dealing with looters?
Isn't it risky to be too well-stocked?
My family was hit by the Tohoku earthquake, and they said the toilets were hell.
The house itself came through almost unscathed, but water service was the last thing restored, so toilets were unusable — anyone without an emergency toilet ended up crowding into the parks and shelter restrooms.
They said the result was piles of filth everywhere, like dirty pyramids.
Would it really be so bad to just flush it into the sea or a river?
It's not exactly the time to worry about hygiene, and it might even be more sanitary than the alternative.
Rivers near the coast barely have any current, so the waste just keeps piling up on the riverbed — even once things get fixed, it stays a poop river forever.
Just go in the woods, no?
If the sewers break down, high-rise condo districts are gonna end up as poop towers, huh.
I'd guess high-rises have their own stockpiles, but…
If it drags on, the toilet situation would get brutal.
Even with an emergency toilet ready, having to carry the waste all the way down would be hell.
I keep stick ramen too.
Easy to cook in a small pot, like when hiking — tastes good and really pulls its weight.
I don't think you need one, but you can get one for about 1000 yen, so it doesn't hurt to have it.
I've got a hand-crank one just in case.
Phones and the like are a worry in an emergency anyway.
It's not like having one costs you anything, so why not grab one of those combo flashlight-radio units?
Even if you had a gun, there's nothing you can do if a group jumps you while you're asleep.
A hatchet's good too.
It can crack a skull, and it can split firewood if it comes to that.
If you need to get warmth from a collapsed wooden building, this kind of gear comes in handy.
Yōkan (sweet bean jelly bars) fit the bill perfectly.
Because otherwise people notice.
Because it draws resentment from the people around you.
More than that — never let anyone see the tents, camping gear, or food you've stockpiled while living in a shelter.
Families with kids will try to take it off you.
And if you refuse, the neighbors will trash-talk you and you'll be ostracized for good.
"Sorry, we've got kids — could you just share a little with them?"
This is seriously a real thing.
Even at the beach with friends, if you set up a tarp for shade, families with kids take it over.
It'd be even worse at a shelter.
Neighborhood association chief: "Ah, about that solo tent you're using — the women would like to use it for nursing and changing, so could you hand it over?"
This seriously happens.
Depends on the quality, but portable water filters can only do so much.
And you still need water to run through the filter in the first place, so I think it's better to stockpile actual water too.
A water cooler/dispenser is actually ideal for stockpiling, in a way.
You rotate through it as "rolling stock," so it keeps fresh and lasts.
For water, I've got a truck and a 2000-liter tank, so pumping water from the river should cover household use.
For drinking water, would boiling river water work?
The fact that you can actually pull this off is exactly why "rural + farmer" is such a strong combo in an emergency.
During a disaster, rivers get contaminated with sewage runoff, so I wouldn't count on them.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Guidelines from Japan’s Cabinet Office and similar bodies recommend stockpiling at least 3 days’ worth of water and food, ideally a full week’s worth — but as the earthquake accounts shared in the thread show, a prolonged water outage can easily exceed that estimate. Emergency toilets in particular become more essential the longer it takes to restore sewage and other utilities, which is why the topic kept resurfacing throughout the thread. On the other hand, dumping waste into rivers or the ocean carries serious hygiene risks and isn’t actually a recommended approach in practice. Portable water filters are also commonly misunderstood — they’re useless without a source of raw water to filter in the first place, so they can’t substitute for an actual water stockpile. And the issue of evacuees being pressured to share supplies at shelters reflects a deeper structural problem: individual preparedness being asked to make up for shortfalls in public stockpiles, a gap that personal ingenuity alone can’t fully close.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “What kind of disaster prep do you guys actually have?“
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