In the face of foreseeable catastrophes, how can design mobilize citizens to actively prepare for the unimaginable?

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police´s handbook for disaster preparedness is a textbook example for successful collaboration in disaster education and communication on eye-level between all stakeholders. In collaboration with design studio Nosigner and advertising company Dentsy Inc., the institution developed a visually appealing disaster package to be sent to 7.5 Mio households free of charge in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area and inform its recipients on preparations for a magnitude-7 earthquake in Tokyo, which is expected to hit the metropolitan area with a probability of 70% in the next 30 years. The “guide to disaster survival and good design” that quickly rose to become a cult object includes an easy-to-read handbook with practical information on disaster preparedness, a map with important emergency facilities, information on recovery, links to digital resources and manga.

The work with a mix of cultural specificity and universal hazard information design. The bright yellow and black striped layout of the book is a take on the easy to recognize design of barricade tapes. Just like the tape, the book wants to catch the passerby´s attention and warn of imminent danger.

The communication design of the handbook taps into Japan´s extensive use of “working characters''. Anthropomorphic illustrated comic figures are commonly used as spokespersons to communicate content between institutions and the public. In Tokyo Bousai, a Rhino-esque mascot equipped with a helmet and emergency kit backpack leads the reader through the chapters and main precautions to prepare for an earthquake.

The book further recognizes the cultural practices of manga comics for storytelling and information distribution across all ages in Japan. In collaboration with renowned manga artist Kaiji Kawaguchi, the handbook includes 15 pages manga “Tokyo X day” in which an office worker navigates the scenes of a major earthquake in the capital and takes the reader along the adventure of his survival through scenes of derailed trains, mobile network outages and crumbling buildings. The manga closes with checking the reader back in with the real urgency of preparedness “This is not a ‘what if’ story. In the near future, this story is sure to become reality.”

Nosigner is a design agency invested in open source and social innovation and has previously been involved in aid and DIY solutions in the aftermath of the big Eastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami and the Covid pandemic.