Helping to Protect Babies from Disaster (Japan-Pigeon)

Pigeon Corporation’s “Babies and Preparedness Circle Promotion Project” aims to make the world more baby-friendly by keeping babies safe when disaster strikes. Many local municipalities support the project and find it resonates with their values, and we work with them to protect babies from disaster.

In this article, we introduce a few of our initiatives with the city of Otsuki in Yamanashi Prefecture. Otsuki is one of the municipalities that supports the Babies and Preparedness Circle Promotion Project, and we have worked with them on several activities focused on parenting and disaster preparedness in order to make the city even more baby-friendly.

Nobuyasu Kobayashi, mayor of Otsuki, on why the city supports the project:
“Pigeon have earned tremendous trust by listening to the voices of successive generations of parents. When my children were young, I often used Pigeon’s products myself. As a result, when I learned about this project, I decided that the city should support it in order to gain further insight into what kinds of preparedness and activities are truly necessary.”

Promoting Baby-Centered Disaster Preparedness

In June 2022, a special feature about disaster preparedness for babies was published in Koho Otsuki, the official bulletin of the city of Otsuki. Pigeon provided editorial supervision for the feature, which included a checklist of items to have on hand in case of disaster.

“Ideally, disaster preparedness has three elements: Self-help, mutual aid, and public aid,” said Mayor Kobayashi about the feature. “My understand is that sharing this information through our city bulletin raised awareness of self-help in particular.”

Expanding the Circle of Mutual Aid

Building on these joint activities with Pigeon, in December 2022 the city of Otsuki reached agreements on disaster response with the social welfare organization Tako Fukushikai, which operates the authorized education and care preschool Reiwa Nikoniko-en in Otsuki, and Kusuri no Sunroad, which operates drugstores in the prefectures of Yamanashi and Nagano. A ceremony was held to mark the conclusion of the agreements, under which babies and their families will be included among those to be given special consideration and prioritized for acceptance at emergency shelters and receipt of disaster relief.

To celebrate the occasion, Pigeon made a donation of Emergency Feeding Cups and Antiviral/Antibacterial Compact Beds, both from the company’s “sonaetta” series of products that can be used in everyday situations as well as serving as disaster preparedness goods. The products were distributed among five daycare centers, nursery schools, and education and care preschools, where they will be kept and made available in case of disaster.

　　　　　　Emergency Feeding Cup　　　　　　　　　　　　Antiviral/Antibacterial Compact Bed　　　　

   

Pigeon will continue to work with Otsuki and other municipalities who support the Babies and Preparedness Circle Promotion Project, enhancing our activities to promote disaster preparedness measures that protect babies and their families. 

   

Babies and Preparedness Circle Promotion Project (Japanese only)