Japan university students create card game to make disaster preparedness fun

ICHIKAWA, Chiba -- A group of students from Chiba University of Commerce developed a disaster preparedness card game called "Think Fast! Disaster Preparedness Match." This game, roughly translating to "Think Fast! Disaster Preparedness Match," aims to educate people about emergency preparedness through gameplay, similar to Japanese karuta and concentration.

The initiative was led by associate professor Kazunari Togawa's seminar at the Department of Policy Informatics in the Faculty of Policy Studies. Students from the Links design team created illustrations for the cards.

The game presents 16 challenges, covering scenarios such as sudden torrential rain, hazards within the home, and early-stage fire suppression. Each challenge offers three potential responses, resulting in a total of 64 cards. For instance, the "sudden torrential rain" challenge proposes three strategies, including identifying high ground for evacuation, preparing water bags through sandbags or water-filled bags, and organizing patrols to clear drains of fallen leaves.

The students outlined two methods for playing the game: the karuta-style, where challenge cards are read aloud, and players must quickly find the corresponding response cards; and the concentration-style, which involves locating matching response cards among face-down cards. The game's objective is to help individuals quickly visualize their responses to various emergencies, fostering both learning and enjoyment.

In August, Chiba Prefecture faced torrential rain, highlighting the importance of disaster preparedness. Ruito Nedachi, a fourth-year student on the team, emphasized the game's goal of engaging both children and adults in learning disaster preparedness steps. The card game, overseen by a certified disaster prevention specialist, is available for 2,600 yen including tax at the university's online merchandise store.