Stockpile Food for Stranded Commuters | A Practical Guide Compliant with Tokyo Metropolitan Ordinances

Tokyo’s Ordinance for Stranded-Commuter Measures—Is Your Stockpile Food Fully Prepared?

If a Tokyo inland earthquake occurs, up to about 5.17 million stranded commuters are projected within Tokyo. Under its “Ordinance on Measures for Stranded Commuters,” Tokyo imposes on businesses an effort obligation to stockpile 3 days’ worth for employees.

General-affairs managers who think “we’ve bought emergency food, so we’re fine”—hold on a moment. That stockpile—have the best-before dates lapsed? Have you thought about nutritional balance? Do you have enough for all your employees?

This article explains, at a practical level, stockpile food for stranded-commuter measures, aimed at general-affairs and disaster-prevention managers at offices within Tokyo. We’ve covered everything from the ordinance requirements to a specific stockpile item list and operating tips.

What you will learn from this article

• The Specific Requirements of Tokyo’s Ordinance for Stranded-Commuter Measures on Stockpiling
• A Stockpile Item List and Quantities for 3 Days’ Worth per Person
• How to Choose Stockpiled Foods with Nutritional Balance in Mind
• How to Secure Storage Space and Manage Best-Before Dates

What Tokyo’s Ordinance for Stranded-Commuter Measures Requires You to Stockpile

The ordinance’s official name is the “Tokyo Ordinance on Measures for Stranded Commuters.” Enacted in April 2013, it asks businesses to curb the simultaneous homeward rush of employees and to stockpile for that purpose.

The Stockpiling Standards Set by the Ordinance

The ordinance sets a 3-day-per-employee stockpile as an effort obligation. Specifically, the following items.

Why You Can’t Ignore It Even Though It’s an Effort Obligation

The reality is that many companies think, “It’s only an effort obligation with no penalties, so it can wait.” But what you should note here is that if you send employees home in a disaster and an accident occurs, you risk being held liable for breaching your duty of care for their safety.

From a BCP (business continuity plan) standpoint too, having stockpiling in place directly relates to a company’s trustworthiness. Since it also affects the evaluation by business partners and customers, it’s more constructive to think about “how to do it” than to look for “reasons not to.”

Trends in Municipalities Other Than Tokyo

Modeled on Tokyo’s ordinance, other municipalities such as Kanagawa, Osaka, and Aichi have formulated similar guidelines. Companies with headquarters in Tokyo and branches in the regions would do well to set a company-wide unified stockpiling standard.

How to Choose Stockpile Food: Nutritional Balance Tends to Be Overlooked

The image of emergency food as hardtack and alpha rice runs deep, but getting through 3 days on these alone isn’t realistic.

Nutrients That Tend to Fall Short in a Disaster

備蓄食料の多くは炭水化物中心です。3日間の避難生活で特に不足しやすいのが、ビタミン、ミネラル、食物繊維。これらが不足すると栄養バランスが偏りがちになり、ただでさえストレスの多い避難生活がさらに辛くなります。

Complementing Nutritional Balance with Dried Vegetables

What comes into play here are dried vegetables. Storable long-term at room temperature and providing vegetables just by pouring hot water, they can greatly improve the nutritional balance of your stockpile food.

Agriture, based in Kyoto, carefully dries and processes domestically grown vegetables. With a lineup of diverse vegetables such as spinach, carrot, daikon, and burdock, it’s drawing attention as stockpile food, too.

The benefits of stockpiling dried vegetables are summarized as follows.

A Stockpile Item List for 3 Days’ Worth per Person [Practical Version]

We’ve created a stockpile item list that meets the ordinance standards while also considering nutritional balance.

A Specific List of Food and Drink

Turn It into an “Edible Stockpile” with Staple + Vegetables

Frankly, a stockpile of hardtack alone is a “stockpile you don’t want to eat.” Listening to people who actually experienced a disaster, there are plenty of cases where “we had stockpiles, but couldn’t bring ourselves to eat them.”

Add dried vegetables to alpha rice for an instant risotto-style dish, or add dried vegetables to instant miso soup for a hearty bowl. A little ingenuity turns it into a “stockpile you want to eat.”

How to Calculate the Stockpile Amount

Number of employees × 3 days’ worth is the base, but visitors and stationed staff from partner companies also need to be considered. Generally, calculating at 1.1 times the number of employees is the safe approach.

Example: For an office of 100 employees
– People covered by stockpile: 110 (1.1 times)
– Drinking water: 110 people × 9 liters = 990 liters (495 two-liter PET bottles)
– Food: 110 people × 9 meals = 990 meals
– Dried vegetables: 110 people × 9 bags = 990 bags

Tips for Securing Storage Space and Managing It

“I understand the need to stockpile, but there’s nowhere to put it” is the biggest worry for offices in Tokyo.

Save Space with Distributed Storage

You don’t need to gather everything in one place. Storing it distributed across the following places lets you avoid greatly changing your existing office layout.

• Empty space at the top or bottom of cabinets on each floor
• Sideboards and storage shelves in meeting rooms
• Desk drawers (individually distributed portions)
• Warehouse and back-of-house

By choosing lightweight, space-saving stockpile foods like dried vegetables, the storage-space problem is considerably eased. At about 1/10 the volume of fresh vegetables, a single cardboard box can hold a large stock.

Prevent Best-Before-Date Lapses with the Rolling Stock Method

The greatest enemy of stockpile food is best-before-date lapses. Let’s introduce the rolling stock method.

Holding an event to taste stockpile food on the day of a disaster drill lets you achieve consumption and raising disaster awareness at the same time. Agriture’s dried vegetables are of a quality usable in everyday meals, so they pair perfectly with rolling stock.

A Management Ledger Template

Excel or a spreadsheet is enough for stockpile management. At minimum, record the following items.

• Item name
• Storage location
• Quantity
• Best-before date
• Next inspection date
• Supplier / ordering source

Checklist: Confirm Your Company’s Stockpile Status

Finally, a checklist for confirming your company’s stockpile status.

Checking the Quantity and Quality of the Stockpile

Checking the Operating System

Summary

Complying with Tokyo’s Ordinance on Measures for Stranded Commuters is not mere legal compliance—it’s a theme that goes to the core of a company’s duty of care for safety and its BCP.

Let’s organize the key points to keep in mind.

• A 3-day-per-employee stockpile (9 liters of drinking water, 9 meals of food) is an effort obligation
• Stockpile food tends to skew toward carbohydrates. Complement nutritional balance with dried vegetables
• Storage space can be solved with distributed storage and the selection of lightweight foods
• Prevent best-before-date lapses with the rolling stock method, updating the stockpile in everyday use

Reviewing your stockpile can be started right now, without waiting for the next disaster drill. First, try starting by listing your current stockpiled items and checking the best-before dates.

FAQ

Q1: Are there penalties for violating the Ordinance on Measures for Stranded Commuters?

At present there are no penalty provisions—it’s strictly an effort obligation. However, if you neglect to secure employees’ safety in a disaster, you may face a claim for damages as a breach of your duty of care for their safety.

Q2: How much does stockpile food cost per person?

A basic 3-day set (including water, food, and dried vegetables) is a guideline of about 5,000–8,000 yen per person. Choosing products with 5-year storage keeps the annual cost to around 1,000–1,600 yen per person.

Q3: For a tenant building, will the building management company handle the stockpiling?

There are cases where the building management company handles stockpiling for the building’s common areas, but the portion for a tenant company’s employees is each company’s responsibility. Check the building’s stockpile contents and cover any shortfall yourself.

Q4: How long is the best-before date of dried vegetables?

It depends on the product, but generally they keep for 6 months to a year or more at room temperature. Agriture’s products are made with attention to production method, enabling long-term storage while preserving flavor.

Q5: Do stockpile foods need to accommodate allergies?

Yes. If you have employees with food allergies, prepare allergen-free stockpile food separately. Many dried vegetables contain none of the specified raw materials, making them excellent as allergy-friendly stockpiles, too.

Q6: Do we need stockpiles for remote workers too?

Covering all employees who might commute to the office is the safe approach. For fully remote staff, recommend home stockpiles for each, and one method is for the company to distribute dried-vegetable sets and the like.

Recommended reading

Sustainable initiatives / Commercial dried vegetables / Product lineup / 5 Standing Dishes Made with Dried Vegetables | A New Stocking Habit with Zero Make-Ahead, Rehydrating Only What You Use / The Latest Cases and Success Strategies of Japanese Companies Working on Fair Trade