Tokyo's earthquake evacuation center doubles as disaster museum

The Tokyo Rinkai Disaster Prevention Park, opened in 2010, serves both as a central emergency response base for the Tokyo metropolitan area and as an educational museum on natural disasters. Spanning 6.7 hectares (13.2 when combined with the adjacent municipal park), it offers an immersive experience simulating a 72-hour post-disaster scenario. Visitors navigate a dark elevator, a corridor with emergency lights, and a life-sized diorama of a magnitude 7.3 earthquake with collapsed walls and broken utility poles. Interactive quizzes on tablets (available in English) and displays of emergency tents and toilets reinforce survival skills. The park also includes a library, a workshop area for repurposing everyday objects (e.g., making water filters from plastic bottles), and a video simulation of a magnitude 8.0 earthquake hitting Tokyo. A viewing window overlooks the actual operations room. Admission is free. Another notable facility is the Honjo Life Safety Learning Centre in Ikebukuro, run by the Tokyo Fire Department, where visitors can experience magnitude 7 tremors, typhoon rains, and practice using fire extinguishers and first aid.