Photo/Illutration During a test run of Lawson Inc.’s disaster food preparation procedures on Aug. 26, a staff member prepares rice balls in the in-house kitchen of a store in Tokyo’s Ota Ward. (Sho Ito)

To boost disaster resilience, convenience store chain Lawson Inc. will equip stores with in-house kitchens to prepare and sell rice balls if supply logistics are disrupted.

The initiative aims to ensure food availability during emergencies when deliveries of pre-cooked foods are halted.

The company aims to roll out the system nationwide by March.

Lawson has equipped 65 percent of its stores nationwide, or about 9,600 outlets, with in-house kitchens.

These kitchens are to be utilized during emergencies to make onigiri, chosen for being warm, easy to eat with one hand and comforting in crisis situations.

The emergency onigiri will be larger than usual, weighing 180 grams—nearly twice the size of standard rice balls.

They will be made simply with rice, without seaweed, fillings or salt, and wrapped in plastic.

Each rice ball will be sold for 200 yen ($1.36), including tax, and will be available only in limited quantities based on the store’s rice stock.

Lawson held a test run at a Tokyo store on Aug. 26 to trial the process and gather customer feedback to help finalize procedures before its full rollout.

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