Kumacon provides everything you need to deal with up to a three-day bear siege, manufacturer says.

An unprecedented number of bear attacks have been taking place this year in Japan, with the situation having gotten so bad that mail deliveries are potentially going to be disrupted and even the Ground Self-Defense Force has been enlisted to help deal with ursine incidents. “I think the bears really have the upper hand here” one of my colleagues said the other day as we discussed the situation (having recently concluded our scholarly debate on who the best Final Fight character is), and if the government thinks military-grade training and equipment is required for an adequate response, it really does make you wonder what we ordinary civilians can hope to do.

One Japanese company, though, thinks it has the answer. Get yourself a bear shelter.

Pictured above is the latest offering from Jacaon: the Life Shield Container. The company also has a nickname for the product, though: the Kumacon, or “bear container.”

That might make it sound like it’s a container for bears, but it’s actually the opposite, a shelter where you and your fellow humans can take refuge while keeping any bears on the outside of the structure. The Kumakon is a redesigned shipping container, of the sort used on international cargo freighter vessels, but with additional features to keep you safe during a bear attack, even an extended one.

Starting on the outside, the Kumacon, which Jacacon developed in collaboration with Tokyo University of Science (not to be confused with the University of Tokyo), is strong enough to withstand any physical ursine aggression. The bite of a brown bear, the largest breed in Japan, is said to have strength equal to roughly 7 MPa (megapascals), but shipping container steel can withstand up to 350 MPas. Likewise, while an angry bear can pack a wallop with a force of a few hundred kilograms when it barrels into something in full run, the Kumakon can withstand over 192 tons.

While the outside is shipping container-sturdy, plenty of interior improvements have been made to help make your stay, if not necessarily cozy, at least bearable while you wait for it to be safe to step outside again. The Kumacon has a solar energy storage system that can power its USB power outlets. A toilet and ventilation system are standard, but you can upgrade your shelter with motion and infrared sensors to help you keep an eye on the animals, as well as flashing strobe lights and a public address microphone with which to try to scare the bears off. The Kumacon also comes with three days’ worth of emergency food rations, a supply of bottled drinking water, first aid kits, and bear repellant spray.

Jacacon, which specializes in repurposing shipping container designs for use as storefronts and lodging, says it hopes the Kumacon will serve as “a new form of disaster-preparedness infrastructure to protect the lives of people in locations such as on their home property or at educational facilities and camp grounds. In addition to bear attacks, the company says the Kumacon is “a multi-functional life shield” that can also keep you safe during natural disasters, though common sense dictates that it shouldn’t be used as an alternative to following evacuation recommendations when issued by local authorities.

The Kumacon will be offered in three different sizes, 12, 20, and 40-foot (3.7, 6.1, and 12.2-meter) configurations. The largest, if Jacacon’s concept images are anything to go by, looks large enough to hold a dozen people, and while there’s not much room to stretch out with that kind of occupancy, the lack of bears does make it a tempting place to hang out if there’s a potentially dangerous one outside.

▼ Jacacon doesn’t say why everyone is looking in the same direction here. Maybe there’s also a thirteenth person in the Kumacon who’s using its toilet right now.

Prices have yet to be announced for the Kumacon, but Jacacon says it’s going to start taking orders for the shelters in December. Ordinarily, you’d expect most bears to be hibernating by then, but ostensibly customers will have their Kumacons installed and ready by the time the bears wake up in the spring.

Source, images: PR Times
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