Photo/Illutration Guardian72 President Akemi Arima explains about a life jacket with a GPS function under development to find people swept away by tsunami at the Minami-Sanriku town office in Miyagi Prefecture on Aug. 7. (Masataka Yamaura)

MINAMI-SANRIKU, Miyagi Prefecture--Out of the tragedy of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami came an idea for a life-saving device.

A former section chief of Minami-Sanriku town who lost his colleagues in the twin tragedies thought that a life jacket equipped with a GPS function could help quickly locate people swept offshore by a tsunami.

A private-sector project is under way to develop the life jacket. A presentation event was held at the town office on Aug. 7.

"As members of a tsunami-hit community, we can't just sit back and do nothing to prepare ourselves for the next disaster," Mayor Jin Sato said during the event.

"If we distribute (the life jackets) first to hospital staff and others who can't evacuate because they have to take care of patients, we can minimize the number of casualties."

In cooperation with the town office, the development team is planning to conduct a demonstration experiment in early October, with the date to be determined.

The experiment will determine whether communications between life jackets at a point five to 10 kilometers offshore in Shizugawa Bay and a receiving station on land can be established.

The test was originally scheduled for Aug. 29 but was postponed due to a typhoon. 

The project is being primarily run by Guardian72, a Tokyo-based company headed by Akemi Arima, its related general incorporated association and other entities. 

According to the project team, the GPS device installed on the life jacket remains turned on at all times.

When the wearer is swept offshore by tsunami, emergency crews use the location data received on land and quickly go to the rescue.

It is expected that the system will reduce the number of missing persons, and, even if they are found dead, it can help return their bodies to their families at an early stage.

The team said it obtained a patent for a mechanism in which the location data from the GPS device is shown only in times of disaster.

The life jacket comes with a head protection hood and will be sold through its manufacturer.

The team expects it will be provided at schools and other public facilities, as well as nursing homes for the elderly. It plans to put the life jacket into practical use in May 2024.

In Minami-Sanriku, 620 people died in the earthquake and tsunami disaster, while 211 remain missing.

The then chief of the general affairs section at the town office suggested the idea of distributing life jackets after losing his colleagues at a building used for the municipality's disaster-related operations and other areas.

His suggestion led to the creation of the project, the team said.

A simplified, wristband version is also under development, while demonstration trials are planned in Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, one of many municipalities expected to be impacted by a Nankai Trough earthquake, and Samani in Hokkaido.

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