Preparation and response for natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunami are stressed a lot in Japan. Aside from following proper safety protocol, there is a danger of being isolated due to knocked out power and water, so many houmes have emergency goods to help in case such a disaster occurs. The nature of disasters, however, is unpredictable, so you never know when one is going to strike. Even when you're safe from the initial disaster, outages of power and water can continue for quite some time, and access to household items you've taken for granted may be cut off.

That's why ever since the Great East Japan Earthquake, the phrase "Phase Free" has become popularized. The term refers to eliminating the "phase" of acquiring emergency goods to use in the event of a disaster, and instead using everyday household items to help out, as you can't predict what you'll need to buy in advance.

Recently, the Disaster Countermeasures Division of the Security Department of the Metropolitan Police Department shared some useful Phase Free advice on their Twitter account that has many surprised and giving gratitude. As it turns out, one way that may help you out in a natural disaster is to buy a lot of tofu!

It's something likely taken for granted by many, but the containers tofu comes packaged in can be stacked and stored to use as plates when water isn't available to keep your actual tableware clean. Of course, it doesn't necessarily need to be tofu packages, but these types of containers can really come in handy, and perhaps shouldn't be thrown away and instead stored!