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Survival

Reserve your own spot on an uninhabited Japanese island for an unforgettable camping experience

This isn’t just camping. This is advanced, survival-mode camping.

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Fukuoka man survives fall overboard from ferry by swimming to deserted island

A 30-minute boat ride turned into a day-and-a-half struggle for survival.

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Survival tip: fashion an emergency long-lasting oil lamp from a can of tuna with this life hack

You’ll never look at canned tuna the same way again.

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From box to bed: This simple item is making life easier for Kumamoto earthquake victims

With the ability to withstand the weight of up to 20 people, this bed doesn’t mess around!

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Nine tips for surviving Japan’s hellishly crowded trains

If you have ever ridden a train during rush hour in Japan, you know it takes a certain amount of fortitude to survive it. If you are just visiting the country, sometimes you can avoid those super stuffed trains, buy if you live or spend an extended length of time in any big city in Japan you just can’t avoid taking a packed train. Whether it’s rush hour in the morning, rush hour at night, or the last few trains home, you will often find yourself in a position where you have to give up the luxury of personal space in exchange for a ride home.

It takes a certain amount of skill to stay upright as well as a bit of creative ingenuity to pass the time and avoid feeling claustrophobic in order to survive the crowded train. We’ve collated nine of the best tips to help you get through a hell-like train ride.

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How to survive an earthquake (or zombie outbreak): Expert advice and items to prepare

Being the most earthquake-prone country in the world, earthquake drills are as common in schools in Japan as fire drills are in the West. Knowledge of what to do and how to prepare for big quakes is essential, but many foreigners visiting or living in Japan are simply not used to larger tremors and have little or no idea how to respond should the earth start to rumble. Thankfully, even in Japan the chances of being hurt or killed in an earthquake are relatively slim, but it’s important to know what you can do to prepare. Combining our own first-hand experience with the expert advice of a seismologist from the California Institute of Technology, the following article not only discusses how best to respond in the event of an earthquake, but also lists the essential items that anyone living in Japan or any other earthquake-prone country should have stowed away in their earthquake preparedness kit.

Talking safety is never the most exciting subject, and no one’s asking you to go all Dwight Schrute and build a nuclear fallout shelter here, but it pays to be ready. And if the thought of tooling up in the name of earthquake preparedness fails to get your heart pumping, simply substitute the word “earthquake” for “zombie outbreak” and the process will become infinitely more fun.

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What could possibly be worse than having to put down your beloved dog? How about that dog coming back from the grave and hunting you down?

Okay, that’s a gross exaggeration, but as you’ll see, there’s a good reason for that being my first thought when I saw this story.

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