Disaster Preparedness Education Program Using Transceivers' Held for the First Time at Nagano Junior High School

On May 14, 2026, the 'Disaster Preparedness Education Program Using Transceivers,' developed by our company, was implemented for the first time at Nagano Junior High School.

This school is located in an area between the Arakawa and Tone Rivers, and serves as a designated evacuation shelter during earthquakes and floods, making it a key disaster preparedness hub for the local community. The school has long been committed to disaster education, conducting evacuation drills that cover scenarios such as earthquakes, fires, and tornadoes, so they applied to take part in our disaster preparedness education program.

Our disaster preparedness education program was developed to help students who are accustomed to smartphones learn that alternative means of communication exist during emergencies such as disasters, and to encourage them to be prepared for such situations. To ensure the program can be run by teachers alone — even those unfamiliar with radios — we have put together a free loan kit that includes 20 license-free radios, instructional videos explaining the features of radio and their usefulness in disaster situations, activity tools designed for simulated evacuation shelter scenarios, and a teacher's manual for facilitating the program. In March 2026, our staff conducted a demonstration lesson at Momoyama Gakuin Junior High School to identify any implementation challenges. This time marked the first occasion on which the program was delivered entirely by teachers at Nagano Junior High School.

On the day of the event, Principal Shunichi Ando — who holds qualifications as a Disaster Prevention Officer and licensed amateur radio operator — served as the instructor, using the video materials to explain the strengths of radios. Students then divided into groups and used radios to relay information from cards about evacuees, nutrition, and emergency food supplies that had been placed in advance throughout the school building, transmitting the data to fellow students acting as a command headquarters. The exercise simulated life in an evacuation shelter, with students working in coordination with the headquarters to secure the appropriate amount of food based on the age and number of evacuees.

Following the exercise, students shared comments such as "I thought it was convenient that you could contact everyone at once with the radio" and "I was confused at first, but I got the hang of how to use it," suggesting that their understanding of radios — many of which they were encountering for the first time — had deepened. Principal Ando shared the intent behind the initiative: "I had wanted students to experience using radios as a tool available in disaster situations, but acquiring radio equipment had been a challenge. When I learned about Icom's initiative, I thought this was something we could actually do, and so I applied. I hope that when the time comes, students will be able to draw on this experience and become someone who helps others, rather than someone who needs to be helped."