Transforming Disaster Drills into Events People “Want to Join”: A Tiger Kamado Cooking Experience

Hello from the TIGER MAGAZINE editorial team.

At Tiger, we travel to towns everywhere carrying the Tiger Kamado, a stove that cooks piping hot rice using just a single newspaper—no electricity required. Today, we are sharing a report on the cooking experience held at the “Shimogyo Ward Disaster Prevention Fair” in Kyoto City on Sunday, December 7th.

What is the Shimogyo Ward Disaster Prevention Fair?

The Shimogyo Ward Disaster Prevention Fair is an annual event held to raise disaster prevention awareness among residents of Shimogyo Ward.

The venue featured various booths, including introductions to “records of disaster relief activities” by businesses and experiential exhibits where visitors could learn about “special care required during disasters” for the elderly and people with disabilities.

There were also hands-on booths designed for everyone from children to parents to enjoy learning about safety. These included police vehicle ride-alongs, a “Smoke Experience House” to learn how to navigate through smoke during a fire, and “Manabocha”*—a combination of the para-sport Boccia and disaster prevention (bousai).

The Tiger Kamado Cooking Experience

For this event, we hosted a Tiger Kamado cooking session targeted at elementary and junior high school students living in Shimogyo Ward and their parents. Mr. Murata, the project leader for Tiger Kamado, explained the process and safety points for cooking the rice, and then the challenge began.

Creating Fuel from Newspapers

First, we prepared the newspaper that would serve as fuel for cooking the rice. Participants twisted the newspaper into rod shapes following a specific method.

The children worked hard to make the fuel, receiving advice from the adults around them.

Loading the Intake and Lighting the Fire

Once the newspaper fuel was ready, participants placed it into the right-side intake of the Tiger Kamado and lit it.

One and a half minutes after inserting the first piece, they inserted the next piece into the left-side intake and lit it. From there, they repeated the process in a “Right → Left → Right → Left” sequence.

Many of the participating children do not handle fire in their daily lives, so they looked a bit nervous as they lit the newspapers with the support of the adults.

The billowing smoke was proof that the rice was cooking smoothly. The children, initially tense from the unfamiliar task, soon became fascinated by seeing the rice cook.

During the steaming process, we used the new product, the Tiger Kamado Multi-Cover, to cover the pot and let the rice rest.

From here, there was a short wait until the rice was fully ready. The children waited with bated breath, wondering if they had successfully cooked delicious rice.

Smiles All Around: Children and Adults Eating Together

Once the steaming was finished, the rice was finally ready. When the lid was carefully opened, delicious-looking rice was revealed inside. The children, who had worked so hard to reach this point, let out voices of amazement—”Ohh!”—upon seeing the cooked rice.

With a little help from the adults, the freshly cooked rice was shaped into rice balls. The children who ate the rice were surprised, saying, “It tastes delicious even without furikake (seasoning)!”

In this event, the children basically handled the cooking process themselves, while the adults supervised and provided support with handling the fire. It was memorable to see the adults impressed, commenting, “It’s incredibly delicious and no different from rice cooked in a regular rice cooker!” and “It was great to see the kids having so much fun cooking.” It was a cooking experience overflowing with smiles.

Comments from Mr. Tottori, Disaster Prevention Section, Community Power Promotion Office, Shimogyo Ward Office, Kyoto City

We received comments regarding this Tiger Kamado cooking experience from Mr. Tottori of the Disaster Prevention Section, Community Power Promotion Office, Shimogyo Ward Office, Kyoto City, who is in charge of the “Shimogyo Ward Disaster Prevention Fair.”

“We have held many disaster prevention events in the past, but I felt that many children were unable to strike matches or were afraid of fire. The Tiger Kamado cooking experience is an event well-suited for helping children get used to fire, and the experience of cooking and eating rice themselves also connects to Shokuiku (food education). When I heard that other municipalities had done this, I thought, ‘We absolutely must do this at our event!’ and made the request.”

“Members of local Voluntary Disaster Prevention Organizations also struggle with how to get younger generations to participate in disaster drills, as the content often becomes fixed and repetitive. The Tiger Kamado uses a simple mechanism of ‘putting in a set amount of fuel at set times,’ making it easy for community members to teach one another. I hope that through this event, it will spread throughout the community as a new form of content for disaster drills.”

A Heartwarming Time to Feel Closer to Disaster Prevention

This Tiger Kamado cooking experience provided a heartwarming time where children could engage with disaster prevention while having fun. The simple mechanism of using only newspapers and feeding the fire according to a set procedure made it easy even for first-time participants to jump in, and it was impressive to see them naturally calling out to one another as they worked.

By tasting the rice they cooked with their own hands alongside their families, children can feel that disaster prevention is relevant to their daily lives. For communities struggling with repetitive drill content and how to attract younger generations, the Tiger Kamado may represent a new kind of disaster prevention experience.