(Adnkronos) – In a summer marked by extreme heat, torrential rains, and other crises caused by climate change, Tokyo – with over 14 million inhabitants – is working on multiple fronts to protect its citizens, with an approach focused on resilience. For example, the startup Sakigake Japan offers emergency preparedness and climate adaptation solutions by leveraging concrete applications, creating value in normal times and becoming essential in times of crisis. One of the solutions is an artificial intelligence and cloud-based platform that visualizes weather conditions and flood risk, a particularly important aspect in Tokyo, where sudden localized downpours can severely test infrastructure. The platform helps estimate flood risks for specific areas, allowing for timely precautions and better planning. Rising temperatures also represent a serious concern to address, as if a major disaster occurs in summer and air conditioning stops working, temperatures inside homes and other buildings can quickly become lethal.
Mobile cold chain solutions could fill this gap. Portable refrigeration units, used for events and logistics in normal times, can then be employed to support the evacuation of food, beverages, and medicines during emergencies. In addition to being mobile, they can operate without external power, allowing for faster and more localized responses in the event of transport and public service disruptions.
In the residential district of Setagaya City, on the other hand, Setagaya Trust & Community Design has been developed, a new urban development model that promotes community ties through green infrastructure initiatives. One of these is rain gardens, which collect rainwater from roofs and paved surfaces, temporarily retain it, and allow it to gradually infiltrate the ground. This helps reduce urban flooding and mitigate the heat island effect, among other benefits. Rainwater stored in tanks can also be used to irrigate gardens or in case of emergency. If every family were to create one, it could help reduce the risk of flooding throughout the community. The initiative therefore focuses on creating rain gardens that are easy to build and pleasant, as an extension of daily gardening, using materials readily available in DIY stores and planting a variety of species to help create a habitat for local wildlife.
Another challenge, however, is to offer practical solutions to ensure people’s safety and comfort: this is the goal of the startup Eztia Materials, which has developed “HydraVolt”, a new generation cooling material designed for those working in sectors with extreme temperatures.
Selected as a finalist in the project presentation competition held at SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026, the largest global innovation conference in Asia, the startup has created this fabric that can be printed or sewn onto clothing and is designed to lower skin temperature via evaporative cooling by up to 10 degrees Celsius, for a maximum of 8 hours, without the need for electricity or batteries. The material recharges on contact with water and can be washed like a normal garment.
The company has achieved positive results in tests with cooling headwear for elementary school children, T-shirts and headbands for the professional baseball team Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, and arm protectors for drivers of Yamato Holdings Co., Ltd., a logistics and parcel delivery company. The results suggest strong potential for the widespread adoption of this technology and its integration into daily life.
